Hospitals and healthcare organizations are becoming targets for cyber-attacks with potentially deadly consequences. In 2020, there was a ransomware attack on The University of Vermont Health Network. It’s estimated that the attack cost the health system $63 million dollars. In partnership with the Ponemon Institute, Cynerio released a study in early August titled “The Insecurity of Connected Devices in Healthcare 2022.” The study surveyed healthcare leaders from 517 hospitals in North America and found that 56% of them said they’ve been attacked in the past 2 years. And 47% of those attacked paid the ransom. The study also showed how these frequent cyber-attacks are impacting patient care. On today's episode, Fierce's Annie Burkey talks with Chad Holmes, a security consultant and current security evangelist at Cynerio, about what this means for safety and privacy.  

Also under discussion is social determinants of health. Believe it or not they drive up to 70% of health outcomes. They impact access to nutritious food or safe housing. Social determinants have always existed, but it wasn’t until recently that the federal government officially decided to measure them. Last year, The Physicians Foundation published a comprehensive framework for addressing social determinants. They proposed quality measures to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which were approved in August, becoming the first time social drivers are recognized in federal payment programs. As of 2023, participating hospitals will be required to report what portion of their population is screened for social drivers and how many screen positive for each kind. Fierce's Anastassia Gliadkovskaya speaks with Gary Price, president of the Physicians Foundation.

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• CMS approves first measures to track social determinants at federal level 
• Most doctors have patients affected by social drivers but feel ill-equipped to address them, survey finds 
• Industry widely sees equity as important, but lacks concrete steps to address it, survey finds 
• New legislation calls on CMMI to create model based on health equity 
• Medical devices are a weak link in hospital cyber defenses, putting patients in the crossfire: study
• Ransomware attacks impact patient care, including increased mortality rates, report finds
• Healthcare data breach costs reach record high at $10M per attack: IBM report 
• Amid warnings of potential Russian cyberattacks, new Senate bill directs CISA, HHS to shore up digital defenses

Podnosis is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey with managing editor Querida Anderson and senior editors Heather Landi and Paige Minemyer. The sound engineer is Caleb Hodgson. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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