healthcare

Healthcare providers across the United States are struggling to get paid following the week-long ransomware outage at a key tech unit of UnitedHealth Group, with some smaller providers saying they are already running low on cash.Large hospital chains are also locked out of processing payments with some absorbing the upfront costs of being unable to collect, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA), which represents nearly 5,000 hospitals, healthcare systems, networks, and other providers.Reuters could not…

In October, Melissa began an in vitro fertilization cycle. A resident of Birmingham, Alabama, her fertility journey to that point had been not just difficult, but harrowing—earlier that year, she had nearly bled to death during a procedure to resolve a second-trimester miscarriage. When the IVF process yielded just a single viable embryo, she had it frozen, and a few months later started another cycle. “It’s very easy to lose an embryo,” she says. “This is such a delicate process.”Melissa has a daughter, born when she was…

An ongoing cyberattack at U.S. health tech giant Change Healthcare that sparked outages and disruption to hospitals and pharmacies across the U.S. for the past week was caused by ransomware, TechCrunch has learned. A healthcare executive with knowledge of the incident, who was on the call briefed by the company’s executives, said the healthcare tech giant attributed the cyberattack to the BlackCat ransomware group. Reuters first reported the news linking the cyberattack to BlackCat, citing two people familiar with…

The Supreme Court is considering the fate of two state laws that limit how social media companies can moderate the content on their platforms. In oral arguments on Monday, the justices grappled with a thorny set of questions that could reshape the internet, from social networks like Facebook and TikTok to apps like Yelp and Etsy. In October, the Supreme Court decided to hear the two parallel cases, one in Florida (Moody v. NetChoice, LLC) and one in Texas (NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton). In both instances, signed into law…

U.S. health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group said Thursday in a filing with government regulators that its subsidiary Change Healthcare was compromised likely by government-backed hackers. In a filing Thursday, UHG blamed the ongoing cybersecurity incident affecting Change Healthcare on suspected nation state hackers but said it had no timeframe for when its systems would be back online. UHG did not attribute the cyberattack to a specific nation or government, or cite what evidence it had to support its claim. A…

U.S. healthcare technology giant Change Healthcare has confirmed a cyberattack on its systems. In a brief statement, the company said it was “experiencing a network interruption related to a cyber security issue.” “Once we became aware of the outside threat, in the interest of protecting our partners and patients, we took immediate action to disconnect our systems to prevent further impact,” Change Healthcare wrote on its status page. “The disruption is expected to last at least through the day.” The incident began…

Uber has signed a memorandum of understanding with an Indian government-supported program that aims to make transportation and business more accessible across the South Asian region. The ride-hailing giant said Thursday that it will explore an integration with the network to expand the range of its mobility offerings on the Uber app. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Uber has signed a memorandum of understanding with an Indian…

Foo Fighters are heading to Washington, D.C. for a one-night-only show on March 5 to advocate for healthcare price transparency. Fat Joe and Chuck D will also be in attendance. The private event is hosted by Power to the Patients, a nonprofit dedicated to creating “a more affordable, accessible, and equitable healthcare system through price transparency.” The band joins Fat Joe, who has helped lead the charge by meeting with members of Congress to urge them to pass legislation that will codify and expand healthcare…

There’s a reason smartwatches haven’t replaced clinically-validated gear when you visit the hospital — accuracy and reliability are paramount when the data informs medical procedures. Even so, researchers are looking for ways in which these devices can be meaningfully used in a clinical setting. in the UK has explored if a and dedicated companion app could be used to free up doctors and nurses, six minutes at a time.The Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) is used to diagnose and monitor a number of cardiovascular maladies. This…

Security and Privacy of Big Data in Healthcare Organizations The digitalization of the healthcare sector has seen a major fundamental transformation in the last few years. Big data analytics in healthcare has huge potential for healthcare sector development as well as raises concerns about data security and privacy. The healthcare sector is susceptible to major data breaches of the patients. The data mining procedures to find out sensitive data and spread it to the public leads to data breaches. Healthcare…