Hospitals in California are being warned not to violate state law on staffing levels or face fines. New state policy narrows the circumstances under which hospitals can claim “unpredictable circumstances” for violating the mandate.

Dr. Benoit Desjardins, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, discusses ways hackers can access medical records from understaffed healthcare organizations – and how those organizations can best mitigate their cyber risk.

Burnout among doctors and nurses has been well documented in recent years, but physician assistants are also susceptible to this trend, with a National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants survey showing that 30% have at least one symptom of burnout, while almost 8% say they plan to leave the profession within the next year.

The biggest factors influencing retention in the fast-moving, competitive Medicare Advantage market are trust and the ability to resolve problems or complaints, according to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Medicare Advantage Study.

Walgreens has made another move into primary care through a partnership with provider enablement company Pearl Health. The move expands value-based care in collaboration with community-based primary care physicians, Walgreens said.

Following approval on Monday by the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. Updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna will be available later this week, the CDC said.

Electronic health records that are difficult to use are also less likely to catch medical errors that could harm patients, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open.

According to Dr. Brian Anderson, chief digital health physician at MITRE, hackers are using AI models to write code for attacks. While defensive AI tools can monitor networks for malicious traffic, humans should be part of the process.  

The North Carolina Department of Insurance has approved a 4% average rate decrease for individual customers and families who enroll in Affordable Care Act plans in 2024, according to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. This average rate decrease will lower total premiums by an estimated $130 million, said Blue Cross NC.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved and authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines formulated to more closely target current variants.