This week’s digital health news…
Slack earns HIPAA compliance
Slack, a cloud-based team collaboration service, has earned a HIPPA compliance certification from the U.S. Department of Health and Human services. Industry insiders speculate that the certification indicates that healthcare providers could soon utilize Slack’s services to securely share sensitive medical information. In gaining HIPPA compliance, Slack joins a number of competitors– such as Stitch and Dropbox– in moving towards secure and streamlined healthcare communication services.
NewYork-Presbyterian develops machine learning to address opioid crisis
Prominent academic healthcare organization, New York-Presbyterian Weill Medical Center is developing a new controlled substance monitoring platform that utilizes machine learning analytics. The medical center is working with machine learing vendor, Splunk Enterprise to enable enhanced tracking of electronic health records, EPCS platforms, and pharmacy dispensing systems. The system would monitor and report the prescription and potential use of medication for illegitimate purposes. In a public statement, Jennings Aske, senior vice president and chief information security officer at Presbyterian noted: “At a time when overdose deaths are at crisis levels across the country and in New York City, largely due to the opioid epidemic, healthcare providers have a responsibility to safeguard against any potential diversion of drugs.
DOJ Issues Warning to EHR Vendors
Florida-based electronic health record (EHR) vendor, Greenway Health has agreed to a $57.25 million settlement after receiving a false claims and anti-kickback charge from the U.S. Department of Justice. The charge claims that Greenway “falsely obtained EHR certification and incentivized clients in exchange for promoting or recommending its product to prospective new customers.” Upon completing the settlement, the DOJ cautioned all EHR vendors against illegitimate marketing communications. In a public statement, United States Attorney for the District of Vermont Christina Nolan remarked: “This resolution demonstrates my office’s initiative and resolve to vigorously uncover and to doggedly pursue these complex cases. We will be unflagging in our efforts to preserve the accuracy and reliability of Americans’ health records and guard the public against corporate greed. EHR companies should consider themselves on notice.”
Federal Grants Announced for School-Based Telehealth Centers
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have announced grant funding worth $11 million for over 120 school-based health centers. The grants mark the government’s continued role in encouraging the development of telehealth services. In a press release, Jim Macrae, Associate Administrator of the HRSA’s Bureau of Primary Health Care stated: “School-based health centers play a critical role in preventing, screening, and treating some of the most common behavioral health issues known to affect student performance, overall health, and personal safety, including depression, anxiety, social conflict, adverse childhood experiences and attention disorders,”.
MIT works to Develop MIT Insulin Pill
A research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is developing a compressed insulin capsule intended to replace traditional insulin intake options. In a statement, MIT reported that “The researchers used computer modeling to come up with a variant of this shape for their capsule, which allows it to reorient itself even in the dynamic environment of the stomach.”
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