Category: Health Information Technology
No-charge prescription contraception may be required of all health insurance plans if the Institute of Medicine has its way.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Health insurance providers may have to offer prescription contraception at no up-front cost to women if Health & Human Services secretary Katherine Sebelius accepts the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine.
The FDA releases guidance on how it plans to categorize and review medical apps for mobile devices.
The FDA released draft guidance today informing manufacturers, distributors and other med-tech entities about the agency's intentions to regulate mobile health apps as medical devices.
Medical applications on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices range from programs that allow patients to watch their calorie intake or keep records of blood pressure readings to apps that allow physicians to view and share medical images on the go.
An unguarded Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center computer is hacked by a computer virus that gets away with more than 2,000 patient records before being shut down by hospital staff.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is trying to make up for the exposure of more than 2,000 patients' personal information that was hacked from a hospital computer.
The hospital told reporters that a computer repair vendor, who remains unnamed, failed to restore the computer's security settings after servicing the machine. The computer was later found to have contracted a virus that snagged patient files and sent them to an unknown recipient.
Does modern reliance on digital resources leave us unprepared for an emergency?
By Westby G. Fisher, MD, FACC
* Bzzzzzaaaaapp *
Suddenly, the light went out. There was complete and utter darkness. Then, about 3 seconds later, the lights returned. My computer with its flat screen poised before me, remained dark. I hesitated a moment, then pushed the power button. Within a few more moments, the computer restarted. All seemed intact.
But what if it wasn't?
Policy and technology need to be developed hand-in-hand to avoid storage and processing pitfalls for hospital databases.
By John D. Halamka, MD
As CIOs we have significant responsibility but limited authority. We're accountable for stability, reliability, and security but cannot always control all the variables.
Here's an example of random events coming together to create a problem, which is now well on its way to resolution. However, there are many lessons learned that I'd like to share with you.
Medtronic gets a conditional go-ahead for trials of its Symplicity renal denervation catheter system for treating resistant hypertension.
Medtronic Inc.'s (NYSE:MDT) got the go-ahead to pursue trials of its Symplicity catheter system for treating hypertension via renal denervation.
The system includes a catheter inserted into the renal artery near each kidney via the femoral artery in the upper thigh. A generator on the tip of the catheter delivers lower-power radio-frequency energy to "deactivate" the sympathetic nerves, lowering blood pressure.
The Mayo clinic takes a broad step into social media by launching its own networking site for patients past, present and future.
Mayo Clinic has built its own Facebook.
But don't expect Mayo's service to be anything like Google+, another freshly launched direct challenger to Facebook's hold over online social networking.
