Communication

Top health care data company to provide medical records for free Leading health data logistics company Datavant announced Tuesday it will no longer be charging patients for health records requests as part of what it calls its commitment to ensuring a “safe… jchoi The Hill

Leading health data logistics company Datavant announced Tuesday it will no longer be charging patients for health records requests as part of what it calls its commitment to ensuring a “safe flow of patient information across the healthcare ecosystem.”

Florida health officials provide scant details on measles cases, worrying health experts Health experts are expressing concern about a dearth of information about the measles cases in Florida. Helen Branswell STAT

... notices are standard public health practice during measles outbreaks. Alerts of this sort may also warn that someone with measles had been in a crowded public location — an airport, a shopping mall, a theme park.

As COVID cases rise, doctors worry about the consequences of misinformation Misinformation is still shaping how people perceive the virus and tools designed to protect individuals and communities against COVID’s worst outcomes, public health experts and doctors say. PBS NewsHour

Seeing COVID rates hit another high, and vaccine uptake remain low, doctors don’t have an antidote for something they see as an ongoing risk factor: the spread of misinformation, including on the presidential campaign trail.

Health data breaches hit an all-time high in 2023 At least 116 million individuals were impacted by large and numerous health data breaches reported to federal regulators this year. Katie Palmer STAT

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As many as 116 million individuals have been impacted by large health data breaches reported to the Department of Health and Human Services this year, according to records from its Office for Civil Rights as of December 21. That number has more than doubled over recent counts, driven primarily by a surge in hacking and ransomware attacks on health care organizations regulated by the privacy rule HIPAA.