The medical devices industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by increased need for homecare, preventative treatments, early diagnosis, reducing patient recovery times and improving outcomes, as well as a growing importance in technologies, such as machine learning, augmented reality, 5G and digitization. In the last three years alone, there have been over 450,000 patents filed and granted in the medical devices industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Environment Sustainability in […]

Long-term care providers who have had their attention diverted by pandemic and other urgent matters need to start preparing for new HIPAA requirements as soon as possible, a pair of health-records experts stressed at the PointClickCare CONNECT@SUMMIT 2022. The complexity of demands on providers will ramp up considerably and there is little time to waste devising new plans and processes, noted Jayne Warwick, a one-time facility director of operations and currently the senior director of […]

When it comes to workplace safety, hospitals, and health systems must be proactive, not reactive. Most often, in the wake of tragedy, leaders get together to discuss what could have been done to prevent such a shocking incident, but what if that plan were already in place? Recently, HealthLeaders hosted a Now Summit event on the topic of workplace violence within the hospital and health system space. In the first of three sessions from the […]

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a landmark piece of legislation, but why is HIPAA important? What changes did HIPAA introduce and what are the benefits to the healthcare industry and patients? HIPAA was introduced in 1996, primarily to address one particular issue: Insurance coverage for individuals that are between jobs. Without HIPAA, employees faced a loss of insurance coverage when they were between jobs. A second goal of HIPAA was to […]

New England Dermatology agreed to pay $300,640 to resolve a potential HIPAA violation after it threw away specimen containers labeled with PHI in an unsecured garbage bin. The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) settled a case with New England Dermatology and Laser Center (NEDLC) to resolve a potential HIPAA violation involving improper protected health information (PHI) disposal. NEDLC paid $300,640 to OCR and agreed to implement a corrective action plan. The Massachusetts-based practice filed […]

With the U.S. now leading the world in monkeypox cases, providers should be aware of the symptoms and how to properly treat patient. On July 23, the World Health Organization declared the recent monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Two days later, the CDC released data that showed the U.S. with more confirmed instances of the disease than any other country at 3,846 cases, surpassing Spain’s 3,100 cases. In all, more than […]