What We’re Reading: Hospital Cybersecurity Mandates; Rise in Measles Cases; Untestable Colon Cancer Screening Kits

New York Governor Proposes Hospital Cybersecurity Mandate

Governor Kathy Hochul proposed this week that New York become the first state to require health systems to implement cyber defenses, like preparing response plans for a potential attack, according to Axios. This would require all New York hospitals to have a cybersecurity program, designate a chief information security officer, perform risk assessments, and utilize multifactor authentication; if the proposal goes into effect, hospitals would have 1 year to comply. The proposal demonstrates the shift of viewing health care cyber attacks as a privacy issue to a patient safety issue since they disrupt how and where health systems provide care. Experts told Axios they expect this proposal to be the first of more hospital cyber mandates nationwide.

Measles Cases Jumped by 18% in 2022, Health Agencies Found

A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC identifies a staggering rise in measles cases and deaths in 2022, according to Reuters. The health agencies found that cases jumped 18% to about 9 million, and there were 136,000 deaths, mostly among children. The outbreaks occurred in 37 countries, most in Africa; in comparison, measles outbreaks occurred in 22 countries in 2021. The health agencies attributed this uptick in cases to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting routine immunization efforts as 22 million children worldwide missed their first dose in 2022, and an additional 11 million children missed their second dose. Kate O’Brien, WHO’s director of immunization, said this should be an “alarm bell for action” for countries and global health stakeholders.

High Rate of Untestable Colon Cancer Screening Kit Samples

A study published this week in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention claimed that more than a tenth of fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) used for routine colorectal cancer screening contained samples that could not be processed by labs, according to Stat. The study analyzed the Dallas-based Parkland Health System's electronic health records of 56,980 patients aged 50 to 74 years who got a FIT screening between 2010 and 2019 either in a clinic or through the mail. Of the 5819 patients with an unsatisfactory test, a little above half had an inadequate specimen, 27% had incomplete labeling, 13% had an old sample, and 8% involved a broken or leaking container. The proportion of returned and unprocessed samples is over twice the amount recommended by the US Multi-Society Task Force, which recommended that no more than 5% should go unprocessed.