Joseph Goedert

As hospitals seek to care for patients beyond their walls, they’ll need systems that will extend care to new settings.

As hospitals seek to care for patients beyond their walls, they’ll need systems that will extend care to new settings.

Analytics can get employees into appropriate health optimization programs, says one industry expert.

Analytics can get employees into appropriate health optimization programs, says one industry expert.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield first learned in May 2014 of malware on an information system that was hacked a month later, according to two health information security consultants. But the Blues plan apparently did not realize the malware was not completely eradicated and the system was hacked a month later.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners will investigate the security posture of health insurer Anthem following its huge hacking breach.

Commentary: The FBI is still investigating the potential causes of the data breach at Anthem, the nation’s second-largest health insurer. There is still no clear indication who perpetrated the attack, reported Feb. 5, how they did so, or what could’ve been done to stop it, but informed sources point to a number of strong possibilities on all counts.

Proposed legislation the White House is sending to Congress to fight cyber attacks includes more protections for consumers than new requirements on companies to better protect the data that they hold.

Walgreens and WebMD have announced a new partnership that will create a virtual wellness-coaching program on Walgreens.com.

Apple's new watch shows promise to improve medication adherence by tracking when medications should be taken and sending a reminder to an individual who is wearing the watch.

Millennials are 10% more likely to lack health coverage than adults age 30 and over despite paying lower costs, receiving subsidies based on income and possibly staying on their parent's health insurance policy until age 26.

Search engine giant Google will soon introduce Google Fit, a new mobile platform service to collect, aggregate and analyze data from wearable health fitness tracking products and health care apps. Google's service will enter a competitive market that got larger on June 16 when WebMD launched a program to make biometric data understandable and actionable on iPhones.

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a total of $181 million in grants to assist six states in establishing health insurance exchanges under authority of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Forty-two percent of respondents have used social media to access consumer reviews of treatments or physicians, 30% have supported a health cause, 25% have posted content about their own health experiences and 20% have joined a health forum or community, according to the Health Research Institute of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

With the Supreme Court tackling constitutional challenges to the Affordable Care Act during oral arguments March 26-28, the Kaiser Family Foundation has published a 10-page primer of the issues and arguments before the court.

A large annual survey of consumer satisfaction with health plans finds 41% of members of employer-sponsored insurance plans would shop for coverage through a private health insurance exchange if their employer provided vouchers for purchasing insurance independently.

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded grants totaling $229 million to 10 states to establish health insurance exchanges, authorized under the Affordable Care Act.

Six federal agencies have issued a final rule requiring insurers to provide to consumers at the time of enrollment a plain-English summary of benefits and coverage, and a uniform glossary of terms.

The Department of Health and Human Services has rolled out an enhanced version of a public website, mandated under the Accountable Care Act, to aid small businesses and consumers in comparing and purchasing health care coverage.

The Supreme Court has officially announced it will consider the constitutionality of the health care reform law during its current term, with an opinion expected in May or June 2012.