GAO urges HHS to strengthen cybersecurity oversight
Editor's Note A November 13 report from The Government Accountability Office (GAO) identifies critical gaps in the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) ability to manage cybersecurity risks in the healthcare and public health sector. HHS, the lead federal agency for cybersecurity in this sector, faces challenges in monitoring…
Third-party vendors drive healthcare cybersecurity risks
Editor's Note Cybersecurity threats in healthcare are increasingly driven by third-party vendors, affecting millions of patients and hospital systems globally, experts John Riggi and Richard Staynings emphasized at the HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum. Healthcare Finance News reported on the experts’ testimony November 5. According to the article, cyberattacks have surged…
2025 Medicare reimbursement cuts spark concern among physicians
Editor's Note Doctors facing inflationary and operational cost increases are decrying recently finalized 2025 Medicare reimbursement rates, according to a November 4 report in Healthcare Dive. The 2025 rates reduce physician payments by 2.9% while increasing rates for hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) by 2.9%, the outlet…
Session: Staff resilience during extended downtime
Editor's Note The story of how the perioperative team at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital responded to a recent cyber event revealed insights about resilience, communication, team-building, and preparedness in one of the concluding sessions of this week’s OR Manager Conference in Las Vegas. The session was presented…
Survey: Pay increases continue for healthcare executives
Editor's Note Base salaries for healthcare executives rose by a median of 4.6%, according to the 2024 Health Care Management and Executive Compensation Survey from consulting firm SullivanCotter. Published October 17 on Business Wire, the survey includes data from nearly 3,300 organizations and 45,000 leaders. According to an October 17…
Feds warn of increased healthcare cyber threats from Iranian actors
Editor's Note Iranian cyber actors employing techniques such as brute force, password spraying, and multifactor authentication (MFA) "push bombing" to compromise healthcare and other critical infrastructure sectors, the American Hospital Association (AHA) reported October 17. The report cites an October 16 joint advisory issued on October 16 by the FBI,…
FDA designates Class 1 recalls for infusion pump software, ventilator software
Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated software-related recalls for Fresenius Kabi USA’s Iveni Infusion Systems and Philips Respironics Triology Evo ventilators as class 1, the most severe category indicating serious risk of injury or death. According to FDA’s October 1 announcement, Fresenius recalled the Ivenix Infusion…
Health systems face declining margins, cut leadership amid rising costs
Editor's Note Four consecutive months of reduced health system margins have resulted in significant layoffs and restructuring in top leadership, Becker’s Hospital Review reported September 30. According to the article, which cites Strata Decision Technology's August Healthcare Industry Financial Benchmarks report, average health system margins fell to 1.9% in August,…
Bill aims to strengthen cybersecurity standards for healthcare providers
Editor's Note The Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act, introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), proposes new mandatory cybersecurity standards for the healthcare sector, with oversight from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Nextgov/FCW reported September 26. The bill, which amends the Health Insurance…
Iranian group intensifies cyberattacks on US healthcare
Editor's Note Cyberattacks in August 2024 are the latest examples of a specific Iranian group intensifying efforts against US organizations since 2017, Healthcare IT News reported September 3. Citing an advisory issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Defense…