In the past 12 months, 92% of healthcare organizations reported experiencing at least one cyberattack, up from 88% in 2023, an Oct. 8 survey from Proofpoint and Ponemon Institute found. Of those cyberattacks, 69% reported disruptions to patient care as a direct consequence.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a list of prescription drugs it hopes to include in its new Medicare $2 Drug List Model, the agency announced Wednesday. Designed to limit out-of-pocket costs, the plan caps a generic drug’s monthly price at $2. Drugs included in the list help tackle conditions like high cholesterol and blood pressure, but cost-sharing is not uniform across insurance plans due to formulary differences. The voluntary model motivates Part D plans to offer a low, fixed price so cost-sharing fluctuations are eliminated.
More than one-third of health information exchange organizations (HIEs/HIOs) reported that laboratories have limited or refused to provide access, exchange, or use of electronic health information (EHI), according to a 2023 national survey. A recent data brief from the HHS Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) highlighted findings from the survey, but stopped short of characterizing the impediments as “information blocking” under the 21st Century Cures Act without further investigation.
Federal authorities are warning of a new ransomware gang that has already claimed at least one healthcare victim in the U.S. Trinity ransomware, which was first detected around May, uses tactics such as phishing emails, malicious websites and software vulnerabilities to hack organizations then employs "double extortion," according to an Oct. 4 notice from HHS' Office of Information Security and Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center.
Getting 15 new Department of Veterans Affairs medical locations up and running remained sidelined more than two years after their approval because of ongoing bureaucratic wrangling over pricing methodology for location leases, leaving those tracking the issue fearful that veterans will get fewer health care options than promised. Veterans Affairs leaders and congressional officials in recent years have pointed to the proposed medical lease sites as a valuable tool in expanding care options for veterans.
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