HHS Tells Health Systems: Get Serious About Cybersecurity
The six-page document builds off of the Biden administration’s National Cybersecurity Strategy, which was unveiled last March, and follows recent actions taken by federal agencies to boost security, including the release of healthcare-specific practices and training resources, guidance on medical device security from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and new telehealth guidelines from the HHS Office of Civil Rights.
Health Systems Can Now Validate Their Data Use Methods
The organization has unveiled a voluntary Responsible Use of Health Data (RUHD) Certification program for US hospitals, including critical access hospitals, which aims to “provide guidance and recognize healthcare organizations navigating the appropriate sensitivities needed to safely transfer data to third-party organizations, also known as secondary use of data.”
Biden’s AI Plan Spurs ‘Cautious Optimism’ in Healthcare
Specifically for healthcare, the President is giving the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Department six months to draft a strategy to determine whether AI meets the standards for delivering healthcare, and he asks HHS to create a task force within the year to create a plan for responsible AI use.
DEA Extending Telemedicine Prescription Waiver Through 2024
The DEA and Health and Human Services Department will publish the extension in the Federal Register this week. The decision comes after two public listening sessions last month and a public comment period on proposed telemedicine rules that garnered more than 38,000 comments, many of them critical.
ACHC Reapproved as Accrediting Organization for Another 4 Years
CMS approved ACHC as a hospital accrediting organization (AO) for another four years but only after a few adjustments to survey processes and standards, according to a notice set to be published in the Federal Register September 6.
Healthcare Industry Group Predicts Patient Care Disruptions Due to EPA Regulations
The Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) predicts “significant” patient care “disruptions” will result from the EPA’s proposed regulations to slash ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions by 80%, according to Radiology Business.
Joint Commission Issues Guidelines for Dealing With a Cyberattack
The Sentinel Event Alert, titled Preserving Patient Safety After a Cyberattack, lists a number of steps that health system leadership should take to ensure that patient care is safe. One of those most important recommendations is that leadership include all hospital staff in the process, not just IT staff.
The CMS’ State Operations Manual Appears Updated—But Not by Much
After years of changing and adding new Conditions of Participation (CoP), CMS has finally updated its only guidance for surveyors, State Operations Manual, Appendix A (SOM). But not entirely.
Florida Healthcare Facility Cited for Nearly 200 Workplace Violence Incidents in 2022
According to the federal probe, workers at the UHS of Delaware Inc.-Wekiva Springs Center LLC (operating as Wekiva Springs Hospital) were assaulted, confined by patients, and suffered broken bones, concussions, and wounds from being scratched, bitten, punched, and kicked.
Update: Concerns Growing About CMS Crackdown on Survey Early Alerts and Complaint Process
The orders came on June 16 in a surprise joint memo from CMS’ Center for Clinical Standards and Quality and the Quality, Safety & Oversight (QSO) Group that said it was re-enforcing rules long outlined in CMS’ State Operations Manual (SOM) and previously mandated in a memo from 2009.