Federal officials confirmed the Dec. 1 outage was caused by cyberattackers, prompting calls to bolster security. Meanwhile, in Houston, reports say the local crisis hotline center answers nearly half of Texas’ call tally. An IT security issue in Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare is also reported.
AP:
Feds Say Cyberattack Caused Suicide Helpline’s Outage
A cyberattack caused a nearly daylong outage of the nation’s new 988 mental health helpline late last year, federal officials told The Associated Press Friday. Lawmakers are now calling for the federal agency that oversees the program to prevent future attacks. “On December 1, the voice calling functionality of the 988 Lifeline was rendered unavailable as a result of a cybersecurity incident,” Danielle Bennett, a spokeswoman for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said in an email. (Seitz, 2/3)
Houston Chronicle:
Houston 988 Crisis Hotline Center Answers Nearly Half Of State’s Calls
Calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline have surged in Texas and the United States since its launch last summer, highlighting the demand for mental health services in the wake of the pandemic and the related workforce challenges. (Bauman, 2/3)
In related news about cyberterrorism —
Health News Florida:
IT ‘Security Event’ At Tallahassee Memorial Postpones Procedures And Diverts EMS Patients
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare has canceled elective surgeries through Monday and diverted some emergency patients as it continues to work through an online IT “security event.” The health system said the issue began affecting its systems late Thursday and forced the hospital to shut down its IT network. After that, nonemergency procedures were halted and EMS diversions began. (2/6)
On billing and finances —
Indianapolis Star:
Indiana Lawmakers Try To Force Hospitals To Lower Prices
Indiana lawmakers are pursuing measures to lower health care costs by empowering competition in a marketplace dominated by huge hospital conglomerates. Their ideas include making certain processes more efficient and, most significantly, imposing penalties if hospitals don’t bring prices down in line with national averages. (Dwyer, 2/6)
Axios:
Only A Quarter Of Hospitals In Full Compliance With Transparency Rule, Per Report
Only a quarter of hospitals studied were fully compliant with a federal price transparency rule, according to a new report by Patient Rights Advocate — but compliance is a spectrum. The findings come as Congress has expressed bipartisan concern over compliance with the Trump administration rule and potential interest in legislating on the topic. (Owens, 2/6)
Modern Healthcare:
Cigna 2022 Profits Swelled Thanks To Evernorth Subsidiary
The growth of Cigna’s healthcare services subsidiary helped fuel a 24% increase in net income to $6.7 billion last year, the health insurance reported Friday. Revenue rose 4% to $180.5 billion in 2022, according to Cigna’s financial report. The company’s Evernorth operations, which include pharmacy benefit management, specialty pharmacy and care delivery, generated $140.3 billion last year, a 6% improvement over 2021. (Kacik, 2/3)
AP:
Mississippi Weighs Easing Restrictions On Public Hospitals
The Mississippi Senate voted Friday to ease some restrictions on community-owned hospitals by letting them consolidate or collaborate with health care facilities outside their current service areas. Republican Sen. Joey Fillingane, of Sumrall, said the bill is an effort to maintain access to health care in a state where several hospitals face financial difficulties because they serve large numbers of uninsured patients. “There’s all sorts of barriers that we’re trying to eliminate to allow these hospitals to have as much flexibility as they can in order survive and thrive,” Fillingane said. (Pettus, 2/3)
Fierce Healthcare:
Should There Be More Public Benefit Corporations In Healthcare?
Health tech unicorn Aledade recently announced that it made the strategic decision to become a public benefit corporation (PBC). The company joins just a handful of others in healthcare that are structured this way. So what exactly is a PBC, and why does it matter? (Landi, 2/3)
More health care industry news —
Philadelphia Inquirer:
U.S. News Best Medical School Rankings Debated As Penn, Harvard And Other Elite Schools Drop Out
When Glenn N. Cummings met with Bryn Mawr College students recently to discuss preparing for the medical school admission exam, he casually mentioned some news that stopped the meeting cold. Top-ranked Harvard had just announced it would no longer participate in the annual rankings of the best medical schools by U.S. News & World Report. (Avril, 2/4)
Modern Healthcare:
Is Virtual Reality Healthcare? Here’s What’s Preventing Adoption
Kids undergoing a bone-setting procedure scuba dive with brightly colored fish while physicians complete their work. Residents of a skilled nursing facility use a headset to guide their physical therapy exercises. It’s not science fiction or a video game: Healthcare organizations are increasingly turning to virtual reality to complement care. (Turner, 2/6)
Modern Healthcare:
Post-Acute Care Providers Use Technology To Save Time, Fight Burnout
Six years ago, clinicians at Vitas Healthcare were struggling. The organization, which operates 49 hospice programs in 14 states, was maintaining information about patient care manually. Because about 80% of the company’s end-of-life services are delivered in the home, staff members were carrying overflowing binders, paper planners and weekly schedules from site to site. Any patient condition changes or schedule updates had to be called in, often several times a day. (Devereaux, 2/6)
This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
