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A single breach impacting any of the multiple cloud-based or internally connected tools, devices, and hardware and software solutions found in the typical dental practice or dental services organization (DSO) can put a stop to thousands of dollars of billings per day.

Add to that the cost of recovery and potential fines related to compliance issues if any of those devices or solutions touches patient information, and the outcome can be financially devastating.

For some, it is insurmountable.

As evidenced by the ongoing and massive fall out from 2024’s Change Healthcare ransomware attack, small healthcare organizations are just as vulnerable to cyberattacks and IT events as their large counterparts—but their more limited resources translate into outsized risk profiles.

Surging cybersecurity threats don’t discriminate by a healthcare organization’s size, sector, or geographic footprint. In today’s high-risk security environment, an attack in one form or another is all but inevitable—along with the associated compliance issues and financial penalties.  Which is why even small healthcare organizations should undertake a self-audit to identify and address security and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

With no effective prevention or long-term treatment, receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease can seem like a fate worse than death for patients and their families and caregivers. However, a wave of innovation is bringing new hope to the 7 million Americans already living with Alzheimer’s disease and the 500,000 who will receive this devastating diagnosis each year.

The urgency to bring new treatment options to market is escalating in tandem with the disease’s prevalence as the nation’s 65-plus population—the group most at risk for Alzheimer’s—grows.

When it comes to providing comprehensive preventive care, more than annual checkups are required. A patient-facing approach is needed to support the establishment of a health-forward routine comprised of proper nutrition and exercise, mental and emotional health, and chronic condition management.

Numerous studies back this preventive care model, which produces wide-ranging benefits, from improved health outcomes to lower care utilization to lower healthcare costs.

It's already been a busy and contentious couple weeks in Washington, with battles across a wide array of government and policy fronts in the early going of the second Trump Administration. Soon, we'll be learning a lot more about how healthcare and health IT policy will be taking shape going forward.

Robert F. Kennedy, Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has not been confirmed yet, but he inched one step closer with a party-line Finance Committee vote on Feb. 4.

PHILADELPHIA – January 29, 2024 – While mass outages like 2024’s CrowdStrike event can bring small businesses and major corporations alike to their knees, small technical issues or IT events are far more common and can shut down business functions with equally devastating effects. Cybersecurity threats raise the stakes even more, especially for small- and mid-sized businesses that rarely have strong protections in place to stave off potentially business-ending attacks.

“Surging security and cybersecurity threats don’t discriminate by company size, industry, or geographic footprint. In today’s high-risk security environment, an attack is all but inevitable,” says Erik Eisen, CEO of CTI Technical Services, a leading provider of IT support and cybersecurity services. “Which is why every business today needs to make—and keep—a resolution to start the year with an evaluation of their network and security status to identify and address areas of weakness so they’re around next year.”

Integrating emerging technologies can make a huge difference in your organization. New technology can ease the clinical burden on your staff, which can be the difference between your staff facing burnout or not. Access to providers and healthcare can be increased with technology which can be the deciding factor for a patient to choose your organization over others. Emerging technologies can even detect anomalies or mistakes which can help a patient get the care they need faster or give you more accurate data.

Today, we are going to focus on emerging technologies in regard to health information management. We reached out to our talented Healthcare IT Today Community and asked them — how can health information management professionals leverage emerging technologies, such as AI, to enhance data integrity and streamline processes? The following is what they had to share.

As cyber threats evolve, infostealers—data-harvesting malware—are gaining traction in the criminal underground. These tools are used to siphon sensitive information like banking credentials and email passwords, which are then sold on the dark web, driving identity theft and financial fraud.

Infostealers are increasingly central to ransomware campaigns, acting as reconnaissance tools to gather login credentials, enabling attackers to move laterally across networks and escalate privileges before deploying ransomware. The rise of malware-as-a-service (MaaS) has made these tools widely accessible, even to those with little technical expertise, putting organizations of all sizes at risk.

Niagara Falls, N.Y. – December 18, 2024 – Harris Data Integrity Solutions, the leading provider of best-in-class person data integrity services and software, announced today the appointment of Julie Pursley, MSHI, RHIA, CHDA, FAHIMA, as its director of industry relations. In this role, which oversees all facets of sales activities, Pursley will focus on building team and client success and business operational efficiencies through a strong blend of management, strategic selling principles, industry presence, and thought leadership.

“Julie’s experience, reputation as a change agent in the evolving health information landscape, and her focus on ensuring the integrity, accuracy, and completeness of health data complements Harris Data Integrity Solutions’ commitment to providing innovative person matching and MPI management solutions and services,” says Rachel Podczervinski, MS, RHIA, senior vice president, Harris Data Integrity Solutions. “We are fortunate to have her as part of our team and are excited to see the results of her focus on leading and cultivating strategic initiatives and to promote thought leadership and best practices in health information management.”

Depending on its size, a dental practice or dental service organization (DSO) could have millions of dollars invested into tools, devices, hardware, and software that are connected to each other, the cloud, or other systems. When one is breached, it can put a halt to thousands of dollars of billings per day, not to mention the cost of recovering from a breach. Compliance issues also come into play for any of those devices or software solutions that gather, store, or exchange patient information.

This year our annual predictions will include some topics that look at how AI could help solve the challenges in our healthcare system. We begin with AI in Revenue Cycle Management. When we look at RCM we can identify these areas; patient check-in, insurance verification and pre-authorization, billing and coding, claims, patient payment and collections, to insurance denials.

We asked our experts what we might see in AI innovations for RCM in 2025. Here is what they had to say. And check out all our prediction posts looking to 2025.

Health IT Answers»

HIM continues to evolve, especially as technological advances like artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly infiltrating health care. As the health care industry experiences this unprecedented transformation, HIM leaders offer their perspectives on the top leadership skills and strategies they consider crucial in the field today.

Like many heavily regulated industries, healthcare has seen limited progress towards the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, despite the enormous potential they hold for improving productivity, accuracy, care access, and the bottom line. Much of that promise comes from use cases that span the revenue cycle management (RCM) continuum, where legacy automation tools are already having a positive impact through activities like patient reminders, insurance verification, coding, and claims status transactions.

Today, generative AI (GenAI) is poised to upend, in a positive way, healthcare’s approach to front- and back-end financial operations. It has the potential to re-imagine the massive volumes of historical and real-time revenue-related data that is flowing through RCM departments and create entirely new approaches to optimize revenue and minimize financial risk.

TAMPA, Fla. – November 15, 2024 – NeuroEM Therapeutics^® was honored last night as one of 30 companies recognized by the Tampa Bay Inno Awards for sparking change in the Tampa Bay community. The clinical-stage biotechnology research company, which is focused on delivering radio wave-based technologies to treat Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases without drugs, was honored in the Healthtech category.

Through its awards program, Tampa Bay Inno aims to showcase the startups and entrepreneurs elevating the Tampa Bay region as a leading innovation hub, celebrating those who are working above and beyond to set the ecosystem ablaze.

Wellesley, MA — November 14, 2024 — External audit volume more than doubled in 2024 over 2023—including higher rates of pre-payment audits—and total at-risk dollars increased fivefold to $11.2 million per MDaudit customer, impacting healthcare provider organizations’ cash flow and exposing them to higher potential denial rates. Additionally, improvements in revenues and operating margins throughout 2024 were tempered by higher denial rates, including an increase in coding-related denials of more than 125% and in medical necessity-related denials of 75% for outpatient claims and 140% for inpatient claims. These trends highlight the pressing need to overhaul revenue cycle management (RCM) strategies in the coming year.