Hospitals and healthcare systems have become a major target for hackers. The recent announcement that LifeLabs, Canada’s largest medical testing company, paid a ransom to retrieve the data of 15 million patients is just the latest in a string of cyber attacks aimed at stealing data or extracting money from healthcare organizations. Read more in CMAJ.
healthcare
Coupons for healthcare a sign of creeping privatization?
The online discount site Groupon, home to cut-price gym memberships and spa visits, may seem like a strange place to find deals on medical procedures, but some Toronto-area clinics are offering just that. One medical imaging clinic in Vaughn, Accurate Imaging Diagnostics, recently offered a hefty discount on a full body scan used to measure […]
Designed in Canada, deployed in Mozambique
How a Mozambican expat in Saskatchewan designed a motorcycle ambulance to help improve maternal health in his homeland. It’s a problem that plagues Mozambique. The southern African nation has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, at 489 deaths per 100,00 live births (compared to seven deaths per 100,000 live births in Canada), and […]
Doctors call for change in union tactics in health care strikes
Two bitter strikes at health care clinics in Ontario this summer have left doctors and patients questioning the tactics of union members on picket lines, which they say have put people’s health at risk. In each strike, both sides alleged insults, intimidation and violence. The clinics allege that union tactics put patients at risk. Read more in […]
How many doctors do we actually need?
In many parts of Canada, there is a shortage of doctors. The New Brunswick Medical Society, for example, says the province has 39 vacancies for family physicians and 50 new positions are needed to meet demand. In British Columbia, family medicine is in “crisis mode” with shortages across the province, says Dr. Shelley Ross, cochair of Doctors […]
CMA adopts patient focus
The Canadian Medical Association’s new three-year strategy, CMA 2020, aims to make the organization more outward-facing and patient-focused. The changes came after a period of soul-searching on what the purpose of the CMA was, and how it could best serve its members and the public, said Dr. Brian Brodie, chairman of the board of directors. “We […]
Maternal health enters the information age in Peru
How the Wawared project is using technology to collect and share health data that will improve the lives of women and, perhaps eventually, everyone in the nation. In much of the developing world, women suffer higher rates of maternal mortality and morbidity than necessary — most of the causes of ill health that lead to […]
Stronger rules needed for medical device cybersecurity
Experts say that health systems in the USA and other countries are not prepared for cybersecurity threats and existing and draft regulations are weak. The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) latest draft guidelines for post-market management of cybersecurity risks in medical devices are a good start, but need to be given greater force to […]