Blockchain has been touted—to the point of being called overhyped—as the technological breakthrough healthcare organizations need to more easily secure and store patient data. Five companies are now launching a pilot program to see if blockchain can live up to its promises by applying the technology to the common problem of inaccurate provider directories.

The firing of David Shulkin, MD, as Veterans Affairs Secretary may threaten the $16 billion deal for Cerner to bring an electronic health records (EHR) system to the VA, according to Nextgov.

Six years ago, the non-invasive cardiovascular lab (NICL) at 540-bed St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, faced something of an uncertain future. The rules for maintaining accreditation, set by intersocietal accreditation commissions, require that all vascular exams get interpreted within 48 hours of image acquisition. For cardiac exams, the read must wait no longer than 24 hours.

Chris Wlaschin, who has served as chief information security officer (CISO) at HHS since January 2017, will leave the post at the end of March amid allegations cybersecurity vendors had given gifts and privileges to lower-level government IT leaders involved with the Healthcare Cybersecurity Communications and Integration Center (HCCIC).

The promise of precision medicine is bringing together patient data and accounting for factors like genetic variability, environment and lifestyle to tailor treatment to an individual. Fulfilling that potential, according to Acxiom and LiveRamp’s global chief data ethics officer Sheila Colclasure, MA, requires using the available data ethically and gaining the trust of patients.

The broader goals of the MyHealthEData initiative announced by CMS at HIMSS18 have the support of Vice President Joe Biden, but he also criticized the Trump administration for a lack of specifics on the proposal and put blame for the lack of interoperability squarely on the healthcare industry.

AUSTIN, Texas, February 25, 2016 – Scrypt, Inc. (OTC Pink: SYPT) developers of secure and compliant productivity tools for regulated industries, announced today that it is launching Stak, a document management platform built expressly for the healthcare industry. Stak comes with powerful functionality that can be used in organizations of all sizes from a single physician to enterprise-level hospital groups.

NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--lifeIMAGE, the nation’s most adopted medical image exchange platform across health care networks, providers and patients, today announced it has joined CommonWell Health Alliance, an industry consortium of health information technology-focused companies that use their diverse, collective experience across the care continuum to break down the barriers that have stood in the way of nationwide data exchange.