America is in the grips of an epidemic, this epidemic isn’t driven by a mysterious virus but rather a drug being prescribed every day. Opioid use has increased at an unprecedented rate, leading to addictions and overdoses among the masses, and those effected aren’t limited to adults.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released its Draft National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP) in September. Now, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has written a letter focusing on three main topics to improve the plan.

Graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh have compiled a list of recommendations to prevent opioid overdoses that is being presented at the American Public Health Association 2016 Annual Meeting & Exposition in Denver.

Four regional medical center groups will receive $5.5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to begin implementation of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) Cohort program.

Healthcare groups including HIMSS, AMIA and CHIME have written a letter to members of Congress asking for a national patient identifier to increase patient safety and the electronic exchange of data.

Adding fields for medical device information on claims reimbursement forms would help CMS better track how much Medicare spends on recalled or defective devices, according to HHS’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A four-organization biotech group led by San Antonio-based nonprofit BioBridge Global (BBG) has been awarded a $7.8 million contract from the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC).

A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) harshly criticized HHS’s guidance on privacy and security for health information, saying it fails to meet cybersecurity standards of other federal agencies and provides advice to covered entities that doesn’t help prevent future data breaches.