Back in early May, I posted a blog article on the approved draft of the 21st Century Cures Act—a bill designed to streamline funding and hasten approvals for new biomedical research, cures, and medical treatments for rare, terminal, and chronic conditions. In that article, I also promised that I would keep everyone up to speed as things developed. Well… things are developing. Don’t worry, though… it looks like mostly good things are happening, for once.

Some of you may have read my blog article on the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), and the decade long history of “doc fixes” leading up to it, posted back in April. At that time, there were certain details of the new law that were still being ironed out. And there are a number of things that still remain in development limbo when it comes to how MACRA is going to play out in the future (even Paul Spitalnic, Chief Actuary of the CMS, has claimed that MACRA is not sustainable past the year 2048).

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has teamed up with the American Medical Association (AMA) to provide additional measures designed to ease the ICD-10 transition when the Oct. 1 deadline approaches.

Selecting an EMR vendor is more than just implementing the software, it’s a relationship, too.

With Meaningful Use, the ICD-10 transition and other changes to the health care industry as of late, many providers are considering big changes to the way they utilize technology. Major concerns range from adapting to exponentially growing amounts of data as well as the shift toward value-based payment models. Perhaps the greatest driver for change, however, is the need to align revenue cycle management and clinical data, thereby improving the operations of the business.

Welcome to the second half of our brief blog series on the dangers of fake apps and rogue security software. In Part 1, we took a look at fake apps. Among those discussed was the infamous Virus Shield, a fake mobile antivirus app that did not actually do anything. However, those who downloaded the fake app may want to consider themselves lucky that it didn’t. Had it been a rogue security software loaded with a virus (or worse), as we will show in this second installment, their situations could have been far more troublesome. In fact, a 2010 study by Google found that 15% of all malware is downloaded due to rogue or fake antivirus software.

Forgeries, fakes, and counterfeit products have been around for thousands of years. About 2,000 years ago, Roman sculptors were copying preexisting sculptures from the ancient Greeks. Of course, back then, no one really cared that the statues weren’t authentic. They just liked how the sculptures looked and copies were more affordable than the rarer originals. In 1496 Michelangelo, the legendary Renaissance artist (just in case you thought I meant the ninja turtle) was hired by an unscrupulous art dealer to create a fake reproduction of what was supposed to be an “ancient” Cupid statue. The dealer who then sold the work was later caught for selling the fake and was forced to refund the buyer’s money. Luckily for Michelangelo, he was allowed to keep his fee.

Consumers in the technology age are ingrained with convenience and accessing information within seconds. So it’s only natural that those desires would eventually make its way into healthcare, which is where telemedicine has made its mark.