Seattle Children’s Hospital's Clinical Effectiveness department and Center for Diversity and Health Equity have developed Equity Dashboards to identify disparities in health outcomes among various patient populations. These dashboards aim to challenge racial inequities and prioritize quality improvement initiatives by trending Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) over time and by demographic factors. Available for free in R, Tableau, and PowerBI, these tools help organizations visualize and address disparities in care. The Equity Dashboards are updated quarterly and allow users to organize data by selected demographics to inform regular Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles. Interested users can access the code by completing a form and are encouraged to collaborate with their internal teams for effective implementation.

Seattle Children's Equity Dashboard Seattle Children's Hospital

An appellate court ruled in favor of drug manufacturers, allowing them to impose conditions on pharmacies receiving discounted drugs under the 340B program. This decision upholds a previous district court ruling that sided with Novartis Pharmaceuticals and United Therapeutics, who had sued the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2021. The 340B Drug Pricing Program requires drugmakers to provide discounts to providers serving low-income populations. However, pharmaceutical companies argue that providers abuse these discounts, especially when partnering with multiple pharmacies. The HHS had argued against the restrictions, issuing enforcement letters and threatening fines. The court's decision acknowledges drugmakers' concerns regarding potential abuses in the program but also noted that any conditions imposed by drugmakers must not violate the 340B statute. Provider groups oppose the ruling, arguing it jeopardizes access to discounted medications for disadvantaged patients.

Latest 340B ruling delivers blow to providers healthcaredive

Ascension is collaborating with top cybersecurity experts to investigate and mitigate a recent ransomware attack, ensuring the secure restoration of their systems. Despite the incident, hospitals and facilities remain operational. Regular updates are being provided to patients on a regional basis via the designated webpage, while critical partners and vendors are receiving necessary information to assist in network restoration. Ongoing progress and updates will be communicated through the website.

Cybersecurity Event Update | Ascension publication

In today's digital age, data management is evolving rapidly, with businesses harnessing technology to maximize the return on data investments. Forbes Technology Council members outline emerging trends such as the use of generative AI, private large language models, and retrieval-augmented generation to improve data analysis and usability. Other highlighted strategies include implementing federated learning for decentralized data training, utilizing decentralized ledger technology for enhanced security, and employing low-code platforms to accelerate data projects. Furthermore, integrating data security within ETL pipelines, adopting data fabric approaches, and treating data as a product were identified as practices that significantly enhance data management efficiency and security.

Council Post: Innovative Data Management: Tech Leaders Share Leading-Edge Approaches Forbes