In response to the significant ransomware attack on UnitedHealth subsidiary Change Healthcare by Russia-based ALPHV BlackCat, industry experts have urged Congress to implement minimum cybersecurity standards for healthcare organizations. This attack highlighted the vulnerabilities of the healthcare sector, with the FBI indicating it as a top victim of ransomware in 2023. Addressing the incident, legislators and cybersecurity professionals recommended increased Federal support, funding for under-resourced organizations, and the development of a Federal playbook for cybersecurity in healthcare, emphasizing the importance of preparedness and quick response to future cyber threats. Additionally, proposed legislation aims to incentivize healthcare providers to enhance their cybersecurity measures through financial rewards for meeting established standards.

Congress Urged to Enforce Minimum Healthcare Cyber Standards Meritalk

Elevance Health has announced a partnership with private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice to launch a new primary care venture expected to generate $4 billion in annual revenue. This payer-agnostic initiative will serve 1 million members across Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial markets, combining the services of Apree Health and Millennium Physician Group with Elevance's Carelon health services. This joint effort emphasizes value-based care and physician enablement, targeting chronic and complex care patients, aligning with Elevance’s overall care delivery strategy. The financial specifics of the deal remain undisclosed, and the venture is not expected to impact Elevance's 2024 earnings significantly.

Elevance Health's new $4B primary care venture: 5 things to know Becker's Payer

Net neutrality is on the path to being reinstated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which plans to vote on bringing back Obama-era web-browsing protections. Experts explain that net neutrality involves rules that prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminately managing web traffic, ensuring all data is treated equally. These rules, aiming to avoid ISPs charging both consumers and content providers for access, could redefine regulatory oversight by applying Title II of the Communications Act to broadband companies. This move would enhance the FCC's capability to address issues like network outages and data throttling, with potential impacts on public safety and broadband oversight. While there are concerns that reinstating net neutrality could influence broadband pricing, historical trends suggest little immediate effect on consumer costs.

What does the revival of net neutrality mean? Emerging Tech Brew

The 2023 AI Index report from Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence reveals significant trends in AI. It covers the proliferation of multimodal foundation models, with open-sourced models increasing significantly though still lagging behind closed-source models in performance. The report highlights the dominant role of industry, especially big tech companies like Google, in advancing AI technology and underscores a substantial increase in the costs associated with training these sophisticated models. Furthermore, the report notes a shift in global AI investment leadership towards the U.S. and increasing corporate adoption of AI technologies. It also discusses new regulatory measures being implemented in the U.S., reflecting growing attention to the governance of AI application.

AI Index: State of AI in 13 Charts publication