News From Around the Web
> Columbia Casualty Company, an insurance business, wants back $4.125 million it paid to settle a class action lawsuit with California-based Cottage Health System after a data breach at the provider, according to Health Data Management. The insurer says Cottage Health didn't follow the required practices for protecting data. Article
> A data brief by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT looking at the efforts to expand online access to health records in 2013, before Meaningful Use Stage 2 came into play, found that most health IT activity involved patients communicating with providers electronically. The brief also found that use of health IT was higher for middle aged patients, those 40-49, who had incomes of more than $50,000. Brief (.pdf)
Provider News
> The movement to add a fourth component to the healthcare industry's ideal of the Triple Aim appears to be gaining steam. In its current form, the Triple Aim--better care, better health and lower costs--fails to acknowledge workers' critical role in transforming healthcare, Rishi Sikka, of Advocate Health Care; Julianne Morath, of the Hospital Quality Institute; and Lucian Leape, of the Harvard School of Public Health, write in an opinion piece in the BMJ Quality & Safety journal. Article
Health Insurance News
> Following the publication of Vanity Fair photos with Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce, transgender issues are being brought up in the health insurance industry as more insurers start paying for gender reassignment surgery, making it easier for this consumer population to access the expensive procedure. Article
And Finally... That's not a bucket list item I've seen before. Article