Aaron Martin, executive vice president and chief digital officer of Renton, Wash.-based Providence and managing general partner of Providence Ventures, joined the Becker's Healthcare Podcast to talk about how the health system thinks about innovation and the strategy for its venture fund.

Stephanie Lahr, MD, CIO and chief medical information officer of Monument Health in Rapid City, S.D., appeared on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast to talk about technology challenges and opportunities for rural healthcare institutions.

In July, 4,584,411 patients and employees across 39 healthcare organizations were hit by data breaches.

When COVID-19 started making waves in March 2020, researchers around the world raced to develop algorithms that could help physicians make decisions, triage patients and predict surges, according to a July 30 Technology Review report.

Nearly 40 hospitals and healthcare research organizations received gifts, pledges and bequests from individuals so far in 2021. 

Healthcare providers are ramping up digital transformation projects and turning to new technology to stay connected to patients and improve care experiences. 

Corydon, Iowa-based Wayne County Hospital began notifying 2,016 patients that their data may have been exposed after hackers launched a phishing attack on its employee emails.

The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published new security guidance July 28 urging public and private organizations to secure their IT networks and unveiled the top 12 commonly exploited vulnerabilities hackers target. 

IU Health in Indianapolis launched an innovation lab to test the security of medical devices the health system uses for patients, Inside Indiana Business reported July 29. 

Cerner posted $1.457 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2021 and $32.7 million in net earnings, the Kansas City, Mo.-based EHR vendor reported July 30. 

Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google all witnessed soaring profits in the latest quarter as the tech giants find new industries to dominate.

Most Americans (80 percent) are concerned that getting a COVID-19 vaccine digital passport would jeopardize the security of their personal health information, Fast Company reported July 29. 

Orlando (Fla.) Family Physicians began notifying 447,426 patients that it was the victim of a phishing attack on its employee email accounts.

Health data company Datavant and health information management company Ciox Health finalized their $7 billion merger agreement, the companies announced July 28. 

University Hospitals in Cleveland partnered with Edgility to provide the technology platform for its hospital-at-home offering, the companies said July 28. 

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health and Epic are launching MyChart Bedside at 12 hospitals to enable hospitalized patients to chat with their care team and give them insight into their care plan.

Before the flood of ransomware attacks, robocalls or data breaches, not all hospitals had chief information security officers. Now, these security executives are in high demand, and salaries are skyrocketing to attract candidates, according to a July 29 report by The Wall Street journal.

Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health and Chapel Hill School of Medicine begin notifying patients that their data may be exposed in a data breach.

The Federation of State Medical Boards warned July 29 that physicians and other healthcare professionals could be at risk of losing their medical licenses if they spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on social media, online and in the media. 

Google and Facebook are two of the first big tech companies to require all employees at their U.S. campuses to be vaccinated against COVID-19, The Wall Street Journal reported July 28.