Becker's Hospital Review

73 CIO / HEALTH IT US investigating 100 types of ransomware, FBI director says By Jackie Drees T he FBI is investigating about 100 different types of ransom- ware as the U.S. grapples with a sharp rise in cyberattacks, which FBI Director Christopher Wray compared to challenges posed by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported June 4. "There are a lot of parallels, there's a lot of importance and a lot of fo- cus by us on disruption and preven- tion," he told the Journal on June 3. "There's a shared responsibility, not just across government agencies, but across the private sector and even the average American." The U.S. in May and June experienced at least two major ransomware at- tacks: In May, a ransomware attack shut down Colonial Pipeline, prompt- ing the company to pay $4.4 million to regain control of its operations and restore gasoline services along the East Coast. At the beginning of June, hackers took the world's largest meat processor, JBS, hostage. These ransomware hacks represent only a fraction of the 100 types of ran- somware the FBI is investigating. Each of the 100 different malicious software variants has affected between a dozen and 100 targets, Mr. Wray said. The wave of ransomware attacks has drawn attention to the toll cyber- attacks can have on all Americans, Mr. Wray said, adding that, for years, FBI officials have likened the need to confront rising cyber threats to the post-9/11 efforts against international terrorism. On June 3, the White House penned an open letter to business leaders with advice for protecting themselves against ransomware attacks. These steps include implementing multi- factor identification, endpoint detec- tion and response, encryption and a skilled cybersecurity team. n 4 challenges hospital-at-home initiatives face By Katie Adams T he pandemic accelerated "hospital-at-home" programs, which use re- mote monitoring and telehealth technologies to provide patients with hospital-level care in their homes. However, uncertainties about the care model's future remain, according to a May 24 Kaiser Health News report. Proponents of the care model aim to move 10 percent of hospital patients to home care settings. Here are four challenges threatening that goal: 1. Health systems that have spent millions on new inpatient facilities will de- lay hospital at home initiatives, as they need patients to fill beds so they can recoup their investments. 2. Scaling up existing hospital-at-home programs means two difficult feats: maintaining safety amid rapid growth and recruiting enough medical staff (particularly nurses, paramedics and technicians) willing to travel to patients' homes. 3. Patients without reliable internet access may not be able to participate, as they may not be able to effectively communicate with their care team. 4. Patients who live alone may not qualify for hospital-at-home programs because they won't have enough assistance, and patients who live in crowd- ed households may not have enough room or privacy to qualify. n Cerner adopts new office model, won't require all employees to return to office By Jackie Drees C erner plans to launch a hybrid work model this fall that will let employees choose between working at the Kansas City, Mo.-based company's headquarters or from a remote location, e Kansas City Star reported June 3. In a June 3 blog post, Cerner Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Offi- cer Tracy Platt said the EHR vendor will take a new approach to the workplace this fall by letting employees choose if they want to come into the office, work remotely or choose a mix of the two. A small number of Cerner's workforce will be designated as on-site or virtual workers, but most will be classified as "dynamic," meaning they can work from home or in the office "as determined by the activities and work to be completed and their work style preferences," Ms. Platt wrote. Cerner has no specific date in the fall for returning workers to the office, but a company spokesperson told the Star that it will let individual teams pick their own time frames and Cerner will take on a "slow, phased approach" through the rest of 2021. Cerner houses more than 14,000 employees across several campuses in the Kansas City region. Cerner's hybrid workplace model differs from its largest EHR competitor Epic, which an- nounced on May 28 plans to start a phased approach to employees returning to campus. Epic's new back-to-work plan will require employees to return to its Verona, Wis.-based campus at least three times a week starting July 19. n

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