HIMSSCast

Top Stories for 1/7

January 07, 2022 HIMSS Media
HIMSSCast
Top Stories for 1/7
Show Notes Transcript

This week: Former Theranos CEO found guilty of fraud; Broward Health reports data breach incident . Plus: Healthcare is among the top three industries cited in a 3% rise in the monthly "quits rate."

Links to the stories:

Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes found guilty on 4 of 11 charges

Hackers breach info of 1.3M in Florida health system incident

Healthcare second largest sector hit by Great Resignation


Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes will face the music following years of scandal. What will be her ultimate fate? I’m Jeff Lagasse with Healthcare Finance News, and we’ll find the answer to that and more in this week’s Top Stories.

 A jury found Holmes guilty of fraud Monday after Theranos’ blood-testing technology couldn’t live up to its promises. According to MobiHealthNews (https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-found-guilty-four-11-charges), Holmes was convicted of conspiracy to defraud investors and three counts of wire fraud. The jury found her not guilty on four other fraud charges tied to patients who had taken Theranos’ tests, and were unable to come to a verdict regarding three counts of defrauding specific investors. Each fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but those sentences could be served concurrently. Theranos is a health tech startup that claimed its devices could perform a full range of tests on a small finger-stick sample of blood. Former COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani will face the same charges in court in February.

 Florida-based Broward Health recently announced that a data incident in October had affected the personal information of more than 1.3 million patients and staff members. As we see in HealthcareITNews (https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/hackers-breach-info-13m-florida-health-system-incident), a notice posted to the health system's website said an intruder accessed its network through the office of a third-party medical service provider. A report to the Maine Attorney General said that almost 1.4 million people had been affected by the incident. The details of the attack, including any suspected perpetrator identities, were not made public, though the intruders reportedly had access to the system from Oct. 15th through the 19th. The attackers removed information including names, dates of birth, social security numbers and insurance information and account numbers.

 Finally this week, The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released job numbers showing that healthcare is among the top three industries cited in a 3% rise in the monthly "quits rate," matching a high from September. The number of quits surged to more than 4.5 million for the month. Healthcare Finance News reports (https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/healthcare-third-largest-sector-hit-great-resignation) that quits increased in several industries, with the largest increases in accommodation and food services; healthcare and social assistance; and transportation, warehousing, and utilities. Workers are reportedly leaving for better paying jobs that expose them less to COVID-19, such as positions that allow them to work from home. Demand for workers is allowing for increased mobility in the labor market.

 I’m Jeff Lagasse with Healthcare Finance News, and this has been Top Stories.