4 cyberscams for hospitals to watch out for

Fake sign-ups for vaccine appointments and falsified vendor contracts are a few of the ways scammers have targeted healthcare workers.
Fake sign-ups for vaccine appointments and falsified vendor contracts are a few of the ways scammers have targeted healthcare workers.
CMS estimates the changes will save the federal government $75.4 million over the next decade in Medicare Advantage and Part D payments.
The rapid expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations to senior citizens across the U.S. has led to bottlenecks, system crashes and hard feelings in many states because of overwhelming demand for the shots.
The Food and Drug Administration will issue draft guidance encouraging developers to explain how they plan to upgrade artificial intelligence and machine learning software in medical devices, among other steps.
In an email, Cigna said its political action committee will “discontinue support of any elected official who encouraged or supported violence, or otherwise hindered a peaceful transition of power.”
The study shows that 53.6{7694d17399014051e9f7f6784cdd00d54ac1842544a7b2c264a1d7ae31c84700} of patients with a behavioral health condition sought treatment via telehealth from mid-March to early May of 2020. By comparison, 43.2{7694d17399014051e9f7f6784cdd00d54ac1842544a7b2c264a1d7ae31c84700} of patients with a chronic physical condition used telehealth to receive care during the same period.
CommonSpirit’s CHI St. Luke’s on Friday reached a new contract agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, ending a dispute that could have prevented 65,000 patients on those plans from accessing its hospitals.
Houston-based CHI St. Luke’s had pushed BCBSTX for a price increase in the middle of its current contract, which expires at the end of 2021. The health system threatened to take its 16 Texas hospitals out-of-network for Blue Cross and Blue Shield by Dec. 16 if the two companies didn’t reach an agreement.
“As this new agreement goes into effect, our focus remains where it has always been—on patients,” St. Luke’s Health President Douglas Lawson said in a statement. “We’re eager to continue working with those BCBSTX customers who have remained under our care, and to working with those who find themselves in need of hospital-based care in the future.”
The new contract went into … Read the rest
Reports of hesitancy among healthcare workers to take the COVID-19 vaccine have emerged, forcing health systems to think creatively about encouraging staff to get their shots.
President-elect Joe Biden will release most available COVID-19 vaccine doses to speed delivery to more people, a reversal of the Trump administration policy, his office said Friday.
Many of the deals listed were for small amounts or had undisclosed financial terms, although three deals were valued above $1 billion this year, in contrast to only one in 2019.