The HCA News Top 5: The Road to Better Healthcare Payment

For the first time in our ongoing C-Suite Q&A series, Healthcare Analytics News spoke with a Chief Data Scientist. ZirMed is an analytics company trying to refine the process of provider reimbursement through predictive modeling. Their chief data scientist is Paul Bradley, who spoke with us this month.

2. Chief Data Scientist: How Better Payment Systems Might Improve Patient Relations: In Part 2 of the interview, Bradley discussed what makes analytics in healthcare unique, the breadth and integrity of provider data, and how better financial interactions with patients may improve their perception of healthcare providers overall.

3. Data Breach at Neurological Clinic Highlights Threat Against Smaller Practices: Being a small or single-practice facility doesn't make you any less appealing as a target for cybercrime. That’s the takeaway from the recent news of a malware attack at an Atlanta-based neurological clinic. Administrators there discovered while investigating a malware attack that the clinic unknowingly was the victim of another breach that went undetected for more than a year.

4. Cybersecurity: How the World Measures Up, Country by Country: As it pertains to cybersecurity threats, most of the world has its guard down. That’s according to findings recently released by the United Nations in its Global Cybersecurity Index. To formulate its report, the UN gauged commitment in 134 member countries to defend against cyberattacks, according to five pillars: technical, organizational, legal, cooperation and growth potential. Most countries, the report finds, have much room for improvement.

5. Sticky Situation: New Nanomesh for Wearables is Safer, Comfortable, Researchers Say: Continuous health monitoring without the discomfort caused by adhesives is now a reality, a group of Japanese researchers say. The team has developed a skin-friendly nanomesh structure that can be worn for up to a week without discomfort. The scientists say the nanomesh allows skin to breathe, avoiding inflammation.