Health Care / Medicine

Ascension’s May cyberattack compromised 5.6 million patients’ personal and health information, including Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and addresses. However, there is no evidence that any data was stolen from Acension’s EHR or other clinical systems, the health system said.

Walgreens is reportedly exploring selling itself to private equity firm Sycamore Partners. It might be the right decision for the company, some experts say.

Congress released a stopgap funding bill with a significant healthcare package, and provider groups are reacting favorably. They are mainly applauding provisions that reign in PBMs’ business practices, extend telehealth flexibilities, and boost payments to hospitals and physicians.

Zocdoc CEO Oliver Kharraz has some predictions about how healthcare will change in 2025 — including the rise of cash-pay services and the potential restructuring of Amazon’s healthcare assets.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley and Representatives Diana Harshbarger and Jake Auchincloss introduced the Patients Before Monopolies Act on Wednesday. It aims to prohibit the parent company of a PBM or insurer from owning a pharmacy business.

In a letter, Families USA and numerous other organizations called on Congress to extend the enhanced premium tax credits that are set to expire at the end of 2025.

Come January 1, CMS will begin enforcing new price transparency requirements for hospitals. Experts doubt that these regulations will do much to help patients shop for care, but they are optimistic that increasing the amount of publicly available pricing data will help tech companies develop tools that simplify pricing for patients.

After the FTC filed a lawsuit in September, accusing the three major pharmacy benefit managers of anticompetitive rebating practices related to insulin, the defendants reversed roles and became plaintiffs. In November, they countersued the agency, arguing that its lawsuit is unconstitutional.

Incorporating PbD into the software development process of EHR systems presents a strategy to protect information starting from the initial stages of development, and throughout the entire lifecycle of the software.

A Beverly Hills surgeon has sued Medtronic, alleging that the medical device giant stole her design for a hernia mesh device. One lawyer pointed out that this is not a typical patent infringement case.

President-Elect Donald Trump nominated celebrity physician Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead CMS. Healthcare leaders have mixed feelings on the news — for instance, one CEO pointed out that Dr. Oz could advance the food-as-medicine movement, and others noted that his appointment may decrease pharmaceutical innovation and access to certain medications.

Experts aren’t sure what the outcome of the DOJ’s recent lawsuit against the proposed UnitedHealth Group/Amedisys merger will be under the incoming Trump administration. The Biden administration has focused more on supporting clinicians, while the previous Trump administration favored corporations. Additionally, one expert noted that this case differs from other antitrust lawsuits because it does not seem to focus on a potential price increase.

The DEA recently announced the third extension of COVID-19 flexibilities for the virtual prescribing of controlled substances. Telehealth advocates applaud this move but remain hopeful for a more permanent solution in the future.

In the 2024 election, seven out of 10 states passed ballot measures protecting abortion rights. But the effects won't be seen immediately, experts say.

Jason Hill, Ochsner Health’s innovation officer, said he goes to sleep most nights and wakes up most mornings worried about one thing: the state of generative AI governance in healthcare. To him, providers and other healthcare organizations are in dire need of frameworks to ensure their AI tools are safe and perform well over time.

In a recent interview, Elizabeth Mitchell, president and CEO of the Purchaser Business Group on Health, discussed employers' challenges in accessing medical data, emphasizing the need for transparency and potential strategies to enhance their fiduciary responsibilities.

Most Americans don’t understand how an administration's view on healthcare data sharing interoperability could directly impact them, pointed out Arcadia CEO Michael Meucci. More requirements around data sharing could lead to better care continuity, improved outcomes and lower costs.

After the FDA delayed the approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, there's still a way forward for psychedelic medicines, experts said at HLTH.

More than two dozen Black and Latino health tech leaders have endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Another group of over 500 women healthcare leaders has also come out in support of Harris.

A panel of experts at the HLTH conference agreed that states with strict abortion measures are likely to see negative economic impact as medical residents decline to train there and physicians move out.