The emphasis on patient experience has heightened its value in the healthcare revenue cycle, adapting to a patient-consumer market where individuals bear more care costs. Patient portals have expedited processes and increased patient engagement in their care, aiding tasks like billing, scheduling, and payment plans. Allegheny Health Network utilized a financial engagement platform for integrated billing, while Lake Washington Physical Therapy saw a 47% reduction in accounts receivable with electronic billing. The pandemic-driven need for telehealth expanded digital services, with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital boosting portal usage significantly through targeted initiatives. Digital tools, like at Springfield Clinic, streamline front-end tasks and reduce administrative burdens, aiming to enhance patient interactions through technology.

How Leaders Are Using Patient Portals to Drive Patient Experience, Improve Collections HealthLeaders

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized a principal set of encryption algorithms designed to withstand future cyberattacks from quantum computers. These new standards emerge from NIST's post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standardization project and are ready for immediate deployment. As quantum computing advances, it poses significant threats to current encryption methods, potentially compromising security and privacy within a decade. The finalized standards include detailed instructions for implementation and focus on safeguarding general encryption and digital signatures. NIST continues to evaluate additional algorithms for future backup standards to ensure comprehensive protection against quantum threats.

NIST Releases First 3 Finalized Post-Quantum Encryption Standards nist.gov

Tenable Research discovered critical security vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Azure Health Bot Service that allowed access to cross-tenant resources due to server-side request forgery (SSRF) flaws. The Azure Health Bot Service enables healthcare providers to deploy AI-powered virtual assistants to streamline administrative workflows and interact with sensitive patient data. Tenable found that by exploiting the “Data Connections” feature, they could bypass filters and access internal metadata and customer resources. Microsoft promptly addressed these issues by implementing fixes across all affected regions, ensuring no customer action was necessary. A similar vulnerability was also found in endpoints validating FHIR data connections, but it did not allow cross-tenant access. Both issues have now been resolved, emphasizing the need for robust web and cloud security in AI services.

Compromising Microsoft's AI Healthcare Chatbot Service Tenable Blog

Hospitals are increasingly adopting home-based healthcare services, shifting some treatments traditionally administered in hospital settings to patients' residences. This approach aims to alleviate hospital congestion, lower healthcare costs, and offer more personalized care. Advances in telemedicine and remote monitoring technology support this transition, allowing medical professionals to oversee patient recovery and administer treatments remotely. Key challenges include ensuring consistent quality of care, managing logistics, and overcoming regulatory and insurance hurdles.

Hospitals’ New Push: Treating Patients in Their Homes Wall Street Journal

The emphasis on patient experience has heightened its value in the healthcare revenue cycle, adapting to a patient-consumer market where individuals bear more care costs. Patient portals have expedited processes and increased patient engagement in their care, aiding tasks like billing, scheduling, and payment plans. Allegheny Health Network utilized a financial engagement platform for integrated billing, while Lake Washington Physical Therapy saw a 47% reduction in accounts receivable with electronic billing. The pandemic-driven need for telehealth expanded digital services, with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital boosting portal usage significantly through targeted initiatives. Digital tools, like at Springfield Clinic, streamline front-end tasks and reduce administrative burdens, aiming to enhance patient interactions through technology.

How Leaders Are Using Patient Portals to Drive Patient Experience, Improve Collections HealthLeaders

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized a principal set of encryption algorithms designed to withstand future cyberattacks from quantum computers. These new standards emerge from NIST's post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standardization project and are ready for immediate deployment. As quantum computing advances, it poses significant threats to current encryption methods, potentially compromising security and privacy within a decade. The finalized standards include detailed instructions for implementation and focus on safeguarding general encryption and digital signatures. NIST continues to evaluate additional algorithms for future backup standards to ensure comprehensive protection against quantum threats.

NIST Releases First 3 Finalized Post-Quantum Encryption Standards nist.gov

Tenable Research discovered critical security vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Azure Health Bot Service that allowed access to cross-tenant resources due to server-side request forgery (SSRF) flaws. The Azure Health Bot Service enables healthcare providers to deploy AI-powered virtual assistants to streamline administrative workflows and interact with sensitive patient data. Tenable found that by exploiting the “Data Connections” feature, they could bypass filters and access internal metadata and customer resources. Microsoft promptly addressed these issues by implementing fixes across all affected regions, ensuring no customer action was necessary. A similar vulnerability was also found in endpoints validating FHIR data connections, but it did not allow cross-tenant access. Both issues have now been resolved, emphasizing the need for robust web and cloud security in AI services.

Compromising Microsoft's AI Healthcare Chatbot Service Tenable Blog

Hospitals are increasingly adopting home-based healthcare services, shifting some treatments traditionally administered in hospital settings to patients' residences. This approach aims to alleviate hospital congestion, lower healthcare costs, and offer more personalized care. Advances in telemedicine and remote monitoring technology support this transition, allowing medical professionals to oversee patient recovery and administer treatments remotely. Key challenges include ensuring consistent quality of care, managing logistics, and overcoming regulatory and insurance hurdles.

Hospitals’ New Push: Treating Patients in Their Homes Wall Street Journal