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Data breaches are preventable. Here's how a health exec can safeguard health data.

Guarding Against Negligence: How Healthcare Providers Can Detect and Diagnose Cyber Risks

New data provide insight into the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitals and insurers.

The Decline in Non-COVID-19 Hospitalizations Is Financially Affecting Hospitals

Small healthcare businesses must manage remote and virtual care models with appropriate support, training, reimbursement, and incentive models.

Small Healthcare Businesses Struggling to Leverage Remote and Virtual Care During COVID-19

Electronic signature pads save money and reduce paper waste at health systems.

How One Chicago-Area Health System Eliminated Paper Signatures

The updated guidance focuses on asymptomatic providers who are exposed to COVID-19.

CDC Updates Guidance on COVID-19 HCP Shortages

Automation technologies for healthcare revenue cycle operations may be unnecessarily complex to deploy.

Health Systems Need Help Managing Revenue Cycle Automation

Experts from the front lines of COVID-19 discuss how lessons learned could help close health disparities. 

Supply Chains, Data, Equity, and Trust: COVID-19 Reveals Healthcare Gaps

A Health Affairs survey finds physicians have poor attitudes towards patients with disabilities, and lack of education is a likely cause.

The Other Disparity: Doctors Lack Confidence Treating Patients With Disabilities

Medical debt is an enormous problem, as more than half of all U.S. adults have gone into debt because of medical or dental bills, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In our latest episode of the “Data Book” podcast, we talked about medical debt with Ryne Natzke, the chief revenue officer of Sphere. Sphere is a technology company that works with health systems on patient billing systems.

Ryne discussed the difficulties for patients. And he says medical debt could be considered a social determinant of health.

“Medical debt is the largest overall contributor to personal debt,” Natzke says.

We also talked about the challenges for providers. Healthcare providers, which are facing tremendous financial pressures in the pandemic, also need to collect as much as possible from patients, Natzke adds.

“Hospitals don’t love having all this money sitting out there uncollected,” he says.

We talked about how health systems can sustain their operations without leaving their patients with catastrophic debt. He talks about the need for health systems to use technology to help determine which patients may be facing financial hardships due to their medical costs, and how to help them. 

But systems also need to give patients the human touch, and allow them to reach a person when they truly need assistance.

Reminder: You can subscribe to Data Book on Apple, Spotify, Google, iHeart Radio and virtually everywhere you get your podcasts.

In our latest episode, Ryne Natzke of Sphere talks about how providers need to take different approaches to ensure they are getting paid without leaving patients with heavy debt.

Data Book podcast: Medical debt and the impact on patients and providers 

On this episode of Healthy Bottom Line, we spoke with Mark Spinner, CEO of AccessOne, a patient financing solutions company that conducted a survey on the needs and concerns patients have regarding healthcare financing. We discussed some of the results from this survey as well as how hospitals and health systems can address the issues that were mentioned by patients. We also talked about the importance of having clear communication and price transparency between providers and patients.

To read more about AccessOne’s recent survey, click 

Mark Spinner, CEO of AccessOne, discusses some of the financing concerns that patients expressed in a recent AccessOne survey as well as some solutions that hospitals and health systems can implement to improve communication and price transparency.

Healthy Bottom Line: The Critical Need for Better Communication, Price Transparency in Healthcare

In this episode of Healthy Bottom Line, we spoke with Joe Polaris, senior vice president of product and technology at R1 RCM, a revenue cycle management company providing technology-based solutions to improve the patient experience and the financial performance of healthcare organizations. We discussed the effect that concerns over healthcare costs can have on patients’ willingness to seek out care and how price transparency can help. We also talked about CMS’ recent hospital price transparency rule as well as other avenues health systems can take to address cost concerns.

Joe Polaris, senior vice president of product and technology at R1 RCM, discussed how price transparency can increase hospital revenues and address patient concerns regarding exorbitant healthcare costs as well as the impact that CMS’ new price transparency rule could have on hospitals.

Healthy Bottom Line: Why More Price Transparency Is Needed to Address Healthcare Cost Concerns

On this week's episode of Data Book, Chief Healthcare Executive spoke with Ira Tauber, president of Triose, which works with health systems and hospitals on supply chain solutions. We discussed the supply chain issues that emerged at the beginning of the pandemic and how they were addressed, as well as potential upcoming supply chain issues at hospitals and health systems with an aging U.S. population.

Ira Tauber, president of Triose, discussed the supply chain issues that emerged at the beginning of the pandemic, as well as potential upcoming supply chain issues as hospitals and health systems care for an aging U.S. population.

Podcast: Setting Up a Supply Chain Strategy for Success

On this episode of Healthy Bottom Line, Barry Sample, PhD, director of science and technology at Quest Diagnostics, discusses the rise in drug positivity rates among healthcare professionals over the course of 2020 and the consequences of drug use among employees in healthcare settings. He also talks about the role that marijuana legislation has played a role in this increase as well as some solutions to reduce positivity rates.

Barry Sample, PhD, director of science and technology at Quest Diagnostics, discusses the rise in drug positivity rates among healthcare employees, the reasons behind the rise, and what can be done to combat them.

Healthy Bottom Line:  COVID-19 and Marijuana Laws: Why Employee Drug Positivity is on the Rise in Healthcare

On this week's episode of Data Book, Chief Healthcare Executive™ spoke with Peter Urbanowicz, managing director and co-head of Alvarez and Marsal’s Healthcare Industry Group. We discussed the FDA’s recent shift in priorities to address supply chain issues, device shortages, and the backlog of drug approvals as well as how technology can help. We also talked about how hospitals are handling these issues and what they can do as they wait for the FDA to catch up.

Peter Urbanowicz, managing director and co-head of Alvarez and Marsal’s Healthcare Industry Group, discusses the FDA’s new focus in addressing supply chain and device shortages posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and what hospitals should be doing in the meantime to adjust.

Waiting for FDA to Catch Up: What Hospitals Can Do to Address Supply Chain and Device Shortages

On this week's episode of Data Book, Chief Healthcare Executive™ spoke with Sundar Kamak, global head of manufacturing at Ivalua. We discussed some of the current supply chain issues that have manifested during the pandemic and how technology can help solve them. We also talked about why these issues are persisting despite life in the Unites States beginning to return to normal.

Sundar Kamak, global head of manufacturing at Ivalua, discusses the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on healthcare supply chains and how technology can help alleviate those issues.

Podcast: How Technology Can Help Solve Healthcare Supply Chain Issues with Sundar Kamak

 spoke with Kaveh Safavi, MD, JD, global health lead of Accenture Health.We discussed some of the results from Accenture’s 2021 Digital Health Tech Vision Report showing how the COVID-19 pandemic has forced healthcare organizations to adopt new technologies. We also talked about these technologies are influencing patient care and the role that they can play in a post-pandemic world.

Kaveh Safavi, MD, JD, global health lead of Accenture Health, discusses how the pandemic influenced the speed at which healthcare organizations adopted new technologies and how this adoption is impacting patient care.

Podcast: Adoption of Healthcare Tech in the Age of COVID-19 with Dr Kaveh Safavi

™ launches Healthy Bottom Line, a new podcast that will focus on policy issues of importance to health system decision makers. Like our popular podcast Data Book, which brings you perspectives from leaders in the world of technology and informatics, Healthy Bottom Line will help you get to the know the people behind the leading issues facing today’s health system leaders.

Our first segment, “Maternity Care and Today’s Risk Environment,” brings together leaders from the world of risk management. Heather Moore is vice president, Risk Management, Quality and Compliance at 

, and Merita R.C. Tan, M.D., is a clinical instructor in obstetrics/gynecology, Northwestern University Medical School and a board member of 

 a healthcare practice insurer based in Illinois that now operates in all 50 states.

Serving as moderator is Mary Caffrey, associate editorial director for Managed Care at MJH Life Sciences™, which includes 

™. In 2002-2003, Mary served as assistant commission in the New J Department of Banking and Insurance in 2002-2003, during the last “hard market.”

Market dynamics and the effects of COVID-19 on the premium environment are topics in this conversation about malpractice coverage in the maternity setting, one of the more challenging areas of the insurance sector.

Healthy Bottom Line will focus on policy issues for health system decision makers. 

Healthy Bottom Line: Maternity Care and Today’s Risk Environment

The small hospital points to difficulties under the state’s abortion ban and a shortage of doctors in its ‘difficult decision’ to eliminate obstetrics service.

Idaho hospital cites ‘political climate’ in move to end labor and delivery

The system based in Kansas City has seen low readmission and high patient satisfaction. Michael Nassif of Saint Luke’s talks about the program. 

Saint Luke’s Health System sees early success with hospital at home

A host of healthcare groups are coming together for the effort. They say drug companies are covertly trying to cut the program, even as they say they want to save it.

Hospitals, other health groups push to preserve 340B program

The directors of home hospital programs say they offer new opportunities to improve patient care for all populations. 

Hospital at home and health equity: Aiming to close disparities

Health systems say without more support, dozens of hospitals in California are ‘at great risk.’

California hospitals urge Gavin Newsom, Kevin McCarthy for help

Doctors and leaders say hospital-at-home programs offer 

David Levine of Mass General Brigham talks about his system’s work to help patients who have challenges in their home environment. He’s the clinical director of research and development for Mass General Brigham’s “Healthcare at Home” program. Mass General Brigham has provided hospital-level care in patient’s homes for more than eight years.

“I think considerations for health equity are paramount in home hospital care,” he says. “And our program, and I know many programs across the country, have taken this very seriously and put in real service offerings to make sure that health equity is top of mind, and being sure that we're able to treat all sorts of patients at home.”

Mass General Brigham has helped patients get enrolled in programs offering assistance with housing needs. For patients in public housing with issues such as leaky windows or holes in the floor, the health system will push the landlord or superintendent to make necessary repairs.

“We bring an element of a power dynamic with us, when there's a doctor or a nurse in somebody's home,” Levine says.

Levine and others say by treating patients in the home, clinicians can see other challenges such as food insecurity, or issues patients may be reluctant to discuss in the hospital.

“I think there's a real opportunity and responsibility to address some of the social determinants of health that we see when we're working closely with our patients in their homes," Levine said.

One of the nation's leading experts on home hospital programs talks about how they can help close health disparities.

David Levine talks about hospital at home and health equity

Information security is changing so fast, healthcare systems need to work on shorter strategies so they can pivot to what’s current, said Jesse Fasolo, PhD student, director, technology infrastructure & cybersecurity, information security officer, St. Joseph's Health.

Health systems and hospitals have obviously been thinking about cybersecurity for years now: how can they ensure they are staying ahead of threats?

Well, healthcare systems really need to work on a shorter strategy. Somewhere in the area of one to two years, versus the historical three years. Information security is changing too much. The threats are changing and evolving. So, you really need to focus on what's present and what's current. And the tools that are actually coming out really need to be focused on, some of the other areas concern [like] really security operations. While we're all comfortable with information security, and how it's running, those plans, procedures and policies really need to be looked at to make sure they're up to date, and continue into the future with different regulations or different changes.

New tools that are coming out also have different synergies and interconnected components, where you can actually have a toolset that all work together for a better cost. Really, understanding the data that you have. Healthcare systems are known for unstructured data, legacy data, new data. It's really hard and difficult sometimes to find out who needs access to what, and healthcare systems leaves that open. So really, finding those out and finding the identities that really need to access that data is important. And then classification of that data for security purposes is really understanding who has access and what level of access they need. Is that data really secure or not?

Trending analysis, right? Looking at the trends that are happening in the industry, looking at what's happening on a landscape, the threat landscape, and then adapting to it, really as it happens, is something really important that healthcare systems cybersecurity professionals need to do. Within healthcare, what I've seen also is partnership. You really need to partner with business units such as risk, legal, compliance, and really get everyone on the same page.

Security is historically seen as kind of the wall, right? It's a hurdle, it's always an inefficiency. But now security is seen as something that can protect the organization from extended downtimes, right? We've seen a downtimes in this industry longer than we've ever seen before. So, you really need to protect yourself to be resilient against it.

And then emerging threats is really sharing data, right? So, knowledge sharing, information security is really important to share what you see, and then attach and connect to other sharing networks that share that information with you. So, you can find that data or find the threat or find the vulnerability before it's really attacked or leveraged in the wild. And then also, probably now more than ever is third-party. Third-party assessments and third-party partners is a vector where you see now they're going after the partner or the vendor or manufacturer to really attack them, which in turn impacts your business.

What are the biggest threats or weak points that are vulnerable?

Honestly, I think the biggest weak point and/or the biggest threat right of right now is really the increased amount of phishing attacks that are targeted to healthcare systems. Just our organization alone, we receive 50 million emails a year, on average, and we only allow 4 million in. That's a huge vast number of what emails are actually identified as malicious. And those are just increasing as we go through. And that's really a big threat in the industry, because that's the entry point for a lot of issues within cybersecurity, right? So, talking about ransomware, and all these bad malware and viruses that can happen, phishing is one of the biggest vectors.

Another area is really understanding, like I mentioned before, is identity. Who's accessing the data? So right now, there's a big push for identity management, where you really understand the individual and you identify and put a profile around that user, where the user can only access certain things in the organization and nothing else, right? Locking it down to specific targeted appliances or systems. And then on the same vein with identity is really passwords, right? So, the biggest weak point in healthcare is, we have doctors, we have nurses that don't want to use strong passwords. And it's an impact to their operations because they have to type it a lot. So, really leveraging products like badge swiping, you know tap-and-go type of systems, and then also, using changes with your passwords, using password list checks where you check for previously pawned or previously breached passwords. Right now, there's a publicly available database of over 600 million passwords, where they're well known. You should not allow your healthcare individual's staff to use those passwords. Right? It's an easy, it's an easy win.

Those are those are some of the, I think the biggest threats I'm seeing. And then one other is really back to third party. We don't know what they're doing all the time, right? It's a third party. You're putting your trust into another organization. And you signed a deal or a contract or an agreement based on what they're offering you, and you can only understand their security based off of your initial assessment. So, ongoing posture assessments, ongoing checks, ongoing scans of the environment, and really holding your vendors accountable.

Technology Expert Jesse Fasolo Highlights Cybersecurity Threats to Healthcare

In some parts of the country, hospitals and health systems are well prepared to address a surge in flu cases on top of COVID-19 ones; however, in other areas, the staff is burned out from COVID-19 surges, said Leslie Kantor, PhD, MPH, chair and professor of the Department of Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health. As a result, vaccination against both COVID-19 and influenza is crucial.

COVID-19 and its various surges in cases have tested the capacity of hospitals and health systems over the last 20 months: does that mean they are better prepared to face added flu hospitalizations or burnt out and less capable?

Healthcare systems around the country are really in different situations. For some healthcare systems, in areas where there have been very big surges due to the Delta variant, they're still dealing with overfilled hospitals, a lot of staff burnout. While in other places, there has been more of a chance to take a little bit of a break and prepare for an upcoming potential flu and COVID season.

One thing though, that all health systems are facing around this country is a shortage in many healthcare roles, particularly nursing. So, one of the outcomes of this very tough COVID pandemic is that some people really have decided that healthcare is too stressful. So, all around the country, there's a lot of demand for people to come and work in healthcare.

The flu season peak tends to change year to year, and with COVID-19, we’ve seen surges come and go. How do hospitals and health systems factor these uncertainties into their preparations?

In the United States, the flu season really does begin officially in October, but tends to really get going in those winter months — November, December, January, February — when people are more inside in the colder climates. And flu can spread very, very rapidly.

Even though the peak shifts, what we all need to remember, starting now, is if we haven't gotten our flu vaccine yet, now's the time. It's not too early. It takes about two weeks until you're actually covered, and we are now officially in flu season.

And we all need to remember that when we have any kinds of symptoms, we could, in fact, have flu or we could have COVID, and there is testing and treatment available for both.

The possibility of hospitals and health systems being hit by both COVID-19 and flu hospitalizations makes it crucial people get vaccinated against both, said Leslie Kantor, PhD, MPH, chair and professor of the Department of Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health.

Dr. Leslie Kantor Examines the Potential “Twindemic” Impact on Health Systems

Craig Newman, the chief strategy officer at HealthChannels for ScribeAmerica, discusses how technology can be used to help reduce the amount of time and energy providers spend doing administrative tasks.

How can technology help reduce the administrative workload for doctors so that they can provide better care to patients?

Great question. I think everything is all about how do you make it easier for physicians to focus in on patient care? The last thing we want to do is actually create new sequential processes or new workflows that take the provider away from the patient.

And so, when I think about the model itself, and this is going to be different, again, based on the care environment that the providers working in — I'll just use an ambulatory clinic — I think about segmenting that work pre-visit, during the visit, and post-visit and looking at how we can offset some of that work with technology. For some, the technology is still not up to snuff to offload everything for that provider.

So, let me give you a prime example. So, let's talk about documentation of the physician itself and doing a clinical documentation. There's a whole notion of how do we leverage artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence) to actually drive value at the point of care to help with physician documentation. AI is incredibly effective when we talk about like radiology, or coding, or billing practices because there's tremendous data and very little variability.

Think about your primary care office. You've got different voices, different templates, different processes, different people coming in and out, maybe different caregivers, a ton of variability that exists for providers today. Technology alone — AI and machine learning models — can't solve the problem. And so, I think what we're seeing happen in the market, and what we've done with our product line Speke, is actually blend front-end technology that creates a seamless workflow for the provider. Imagine being able to walk into a room, hit a single button, and it could capture the entire conversation between a patient provider. No periods, no stop phrases, no clicking around in the EMR (electronic medical record), no nothing. And then, you leave the room, you hit stop, you can verbalize something after the fact, move on to your next patient, and never be tethered to the computer. And then, within moments to 24 hours, that note is structured in the EMR.

How did that happen? Well, we take that smart technology optimization process — sort of audio preprocessing, and speaker segmentation and machine learning — we route it to back-end labor to do QA (quality assurance) and CDI (computer design and integration) and then offload the clerical task from the doctor, doing that work behind the scenes a little bit asynchronously. Just by doing that little step, you can free up time. And getting back to that what we talked about previously around time driven activity-based cost, you've got to create time for the physician and offload those clerical tests.

We're seeing the same thing to providers, pre- and post-visit who were using technologies like chatbots or robotic process automation technologies, that can help make sure that we automate as many processes as possible. But then, we still need to make sure that there's human glue involved, who can help them with support strategies like doing comprehensive chart prep, helping tee up where there are care gaps to close, helping them with their specificity, acuity, documentation, or even making sure their charts are completed, efficient, and on time so the bills get out, so they don't have outstanding charts and their DSOs [daily sales outstanding] don't get screwed up throughout the course of the week or month.

So, I think it's a balance of technology and labor working in concert together. It's not an and/or [situation]; it's a both.

Craig Newman: How Technology Can Reduce Administrative Burden for Physicians

As COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rise in the United States — especially due to the delta variant — groups led by the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association have 

In a recent interview with Chief Healthcare Executive™ Hilary Babcock, MD, MPH, infectious disease specialist, Washington University and BJC Healthcare in St. Louis, Missouri, discusses a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, as well as other vaccine mandates in healthcare settings. Babcock said healthcare workers signed up to look out for the health of themselves and others, and getting vaccinated is part of that job.

 With the delta variant surging, and new data showing breakthrough cases are increasing, what steps can be taken in healthcare settings to keep the virus at bay among uninfected patients and personnel?

There are a lot of things that healthcare organizations have been doing over the whole past year to protect patients and employees during this COVID pandemic. And a lot of those continue today and need to continue. And those include using our personal protective equipment, doing screening of patients to be sure we identify people who may have COVID quickly so they can be appropriately isolated, screening of our employees to be sure that people aren't coming to work sick. And then the biggest advance in being able to control this spread in healthcare is the same as it was in the community was the availability of these very effective vaccines. So really encouraging and doing everything we can to get high vaccination rates in our communities, and then also among our employees, as well.

 for healthcare personnel part of the “ethical commitment” of healthcare workers to patients. Can you address that and what it means to you?

 As healthcare workers, we all, you know, signed up for a job that was primarily providing care for others and putting others first and looking out for their health and well-being. And so the vaccine is one way that we can protect ourselves. And that serves two purposes. One, it keeps us healthy and safe and able to go to work and continue to do our jobs and be sure that staffing doesn't create safety problems for our patients. And it also protects our colleagues and coworkers and patients, because if we were to come to work with COVID, we would put all of these people at risk. And putting people at risk is not why we went into healthcare. We went into healthcare to keep people safe and to try and make them well.

 Your organization is already requiring COVID-19 vaccinations. When was that decision made and what went into it?

We decided to require COVID vaccination as a condition of employment, probably near the end of May. It was announced in mid June and our deadline for compliance is in September. We already have in place requirements for influenza vaccination every year and for other recommended vaccines for healthcare workers. For us, in many ways, it was just a natural progression for that, here is another vaccine that is recommended for healthcare workers that can protect our patients and our employees. And so we should treat it the same as these other vaccines that we already require.

 What was the reaction from personnel at the hospital and was there any fallout?

In general, I would say most people were not super surprised because we already have this in place for other vaccines. And so it wasn't, you know, out of left field for us to require or recommend a vaccine for our employees. Many of our employees are pleased because they would prefer high vaccination rates in their colleagues and coworkers, and so they were pleased that it would be treated the same way. You know, some employees still had some concerns about the vaccine, still have some worries about the vaccine. A mandate or condition of employment is not just a switch that you can turn on. So it goes along with continued education and outreach. We had a lot of town halls for our whole organization. We've had smaller town halls on request for specific areas where people have concerns. We had a specific town hall focused on women's health and fertility and pregnancy and breastfeeding, and concerns and questions around that with some of our OB-GYN and fertility specialists. We've done a lot of outreach and education and we are now also including, it's an incentive program for people who have been vaccinated get entered into a raffle and could win some money for being vaccinated. So that condition of employment is important. It puts a deadline, it shows our commitment, but it doesn't get us out of having to do all of these other things that we want to do with our employees to be sure that they feel safe and comfortable getting this vaccine.

 It is not uncommon for healthcare organizations to require other vaccinations. How are those typically handled and what is the difference with the COVID-19 vaccine?

 I think the main difference between the other vaccines that we require and this one is that we don't yet really know exactly what the schedule will be. So we don't know for sure whether this is a one-and-done vaccine series or whether we will need boosters. And if we need boosters, when will we need boosters, who will need boosters? So we know that we can require the vaccine of everyone right now with allowances for medical and religious exemptions. But we don't know whether we will have boosters we need to require, whether those will apply to everyone or just to some of our population. So that's a little bit different than the other vaccines that we've required.

 for the vaccines, do you expect or hope to see some of the resistance melt away?

 I'm hopeful that the FDA will provide full licensure soon. I don't think there's any doubt that they're going to license the vaccines. We have really extensive data — they’ve been used in millions of people — we have a lot of safety data, we have a lot of efficacy data. I don't think there's any question that it will be licensed. I think having it fully licensed will be reassuring to some people and so hopefully that will help with some of the concerns. I don't think it will take care of everything. There is a lot of active misinformation that is being put out there for whatever nefarious reasons to try and discourage people from getting these vaccines. And so that's a real barrier and that will not be addressed, I think, by the licensing.

 You coauthored a paper supporting the CMS rule that hospitals must report COVID-19 vaccination coverage among healthcare providers. Why is a similar rule in place for flu vaccines and what is the benefit of enacting it for COVID-19 vaccines?

 Influenza vaccination is reported as a quality and safety measure to the CDC and has been for years. And the goal of that is to encourage healthcare organizations to take seriously the importance of reaching high influenza vaccination coverage rates among their employees to keep, again, their employees, their colleagues, and coworkers, and their patients safe from influenza. And having it publicly reported and using it as a safety measure encourages organizations to really push for those high levels and do whatever it takes to get to high levels of vaccine coverage. Adding the COVID-19 vaccine to that program would have the same effect. So we’ll really show that the government thinks it's important, that the CDC thinks it's important, that it is a quality measure for a healthcare organization to have high levels of COVID vaccine coverage among their employees. And so we’ll really have a similar impact, hopefully, in driving people to do whatever it takes to get high levels of vaccine coverage among their employees.

 Is there anything you would like to add?

 The most important thing that anyone can do to help get us through and out the other side of this pandemic into a more normal life again, is to get vaccinated. Get your friends and family vaccinated, tell all of your acquaintances and colleagues to get vaccinated. Really just whatever we can do to get that vaccination rate up higher will really help us get through this faster.

Hilary Babcock, MD, MPH, infectious disease specialist at Washington University and BJC Healthcare in St. Louis, Missouri, discusses the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccine mandates in healthcare settings.

Infectious Disease Expert Dr Hilary Babcock Addresses Vaccine Mandates in Healthcare Settings

The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for organizations to think about how they can be proactive and monitor new regulatory changes in real time, said Ogi Kwon, a manager in the regulatory team at 

Kwon explains how he feels price transparency as a whole while be something that continues to be iterated upon going forward and how requirements could take different forms. 

R1 RCM is a revenue cycle management company that offers technology-driven solutions to transform health care providers' patient experience and financial performance.

Ogi Kwon, of R1 Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) offers insights on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and the future of price transparency. 

The Effects of COVID-19 on Patient Experience and Price Transparency 

Four months have passed since the implementation of CMS's price transparency requirements for hospitals. To gain insights into the effectiveness of these rules, 

spoke with Ogi Kwon, a manager in the regulatory team at R1 RCM's advisory and assurance department. 

While some hospitals have gone above and beyond what CMS has asked for, others have failed to do so. In this interview, Kwon discusses whether consumers are using the information gathered in meaningful ways, and offers comments on the future of the consumerization of health care. 

R1 RCM is a revenue cycle management company that offers technology-driven solutions to transform health care providers' patient experience and financial performance. 

Ogi Kwon, of R1 Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) speaks on the effectiveness of CMS' price transparency requirements and offers insights into the future of consumerization of health care. 

Ogi Kwon Discusses CMS's Price Transparency Rule, Consumerization of Health Care

Now more than ever, it is crucial to have diversity in healthcare. Given what is known about how COVID-19 affects different races and ethnicities, a more diverse workforce could help bridge the gap of care.

André Blackman is the chief executive officer and founder of Onboard Health, a specialized executive recruiting firm dedicated to building an inclusive future of health. In a recent interview with 

, Blackman spoke about the need to make diversity in healthcare a priority, challenges that might arise, and how to ensure a health system is diverse from top down.

“If you start looking at leadership of companies that are building the future of health and tackling things like chronic disease, heart disease, diabetes, mental health, all of the conditions that are adversely affecting people of color in underrepresented communities, if you have leadership in place to build the products and services in a more equitable way, it only makes sense that we have leadership reflecting the communities that we have in our society,” Blackman said.

Diversity should be a top priority in healthcare, especially when looking at value-based care and outcomes, Blackman said. There was a massive uptick in COVID-19-related deaths when the disease riddled Black and Brown communities. If health systems want to serve communities, having diversity and equity built into programs should be at the top of their list.

To be more diverse, leaders need to be more competent and look at who they are bringing in. But it can be difficult to get people of color to join the medical field in general. Hiring practices also must be more inclusive.

André Blackman of Onboard Health discusses the need for diversity in healthcare.

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