A security flaw has been fixed on MNsure, Minnesota's health insurance marketplace — one that had left users vulnerable to data interception by hackers. The fix follows an MPR story last week and a meeting Monday between forensic analyst Mark Lanterman and the state's chief information security officer, Chris Buse. At the meeting, Lanterman explained how he discovered the flaw and how the state could resolve the problem. Lanterman tested for the flaw again Tuesday. "I'm happy to report that MNsure is no longer vulnerable to this attack," he said.
Nurses and technicians have returned to work at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital two days after the hospital announced it would end the lockout against them. This came after a three-month negotiation to reach a new contract agreement failed. Around 800 employees went on strike on Nov. 27, accusing the New London hospital of laying off union workers and shifting work from Lawrence and Memorial to shell corporations that operate clinics outside of the hospital setting. The strike lasted four days, but hospital administrators locked out striking workers, with the stipulation they would not be allowed to return to work until the union agreed to a new contract.
Compensation for CEOs of the top 25 nonprofits in the state, including hospitals and health plans, ranged from more than $487,000 to approximately $8.8 million, according to a new report released today by Attorney General Martha Coakley. "Massachusetts is unique," Coakley says, "in that many of our largest employers are non-for-profit institutions." These hospitals, health plans (and universities included in Coakley's report) "must compete with national for-profit companies for CEO talent while staying true to their charitable mission." So do these CEO salaries achieve that balance?
Three organizations will collaborate to research the best ways to automate patient care outside of hospitals and doctors' offices. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the Gary and Mary West Health Institute (WHI), and West Corp. will "identify ways technology can provide real-time feedback and guidance to patients and to alert care coordination teams before health issues escalate," according to an announcement. Under the agreement, the organizations will translate protocols based on nationally accepted treatment guidelines into automated clinical and operational workflows.
When Tanner Martin, 17, developed excruciating back pain last year, he was sure he needed an X-ray to find out what was wrong. So was his mother, who worried that the pain might indicate a serious injury that could cause permanent disability. But Konnie Martin was no ordinary parent. As chief executive officer of San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in Alamosa, Colorado, she is at the center of an experiment, known as value-based insurance, that could transform American healthcare. One of the central features of a value-based system is a financial "stick." If patients insist on medical procedures that science shows to be ineffective or unnecessary, they'll have to pay for all or most of the cost.
The nation's health insurance industry decided Wednesday to extend the deadline until Jan. 10 for Americans to pay for coverage that starts on New Year's Day, as enrollment through the new federal and state insurance marketplaces appears to be surging. After meager participation during the first two months, more than half a million people have chosen plans in the federal exchange since the beginning of December, according to government figures that have not been made public. Several states running their own exchanges are reporting sizable enrollment upswings, as well. Just a few days remain before a Dec. 23 deadline to sign up for coverage that will begin Jan. 1, and the last-minute blitz that federal health officials have predicted appears to be materializing.