DHI Editors Reveal Top Picks and Trends from 2024

Last week, we shared the stories you loved most. This week, the DHI team reveals their top picks—impactful digital health insights that deserve another look.?

We hope you enjoy!

Cybersecurity: The Year Healthcare Learned Hard Lessons

A Wake-Up Call: The Change Healthcare Breach? Ransomware disrupted payment systems, forcing healthcare providers into dire financial decisions. This breach highlighted the urgent need for robust cybersecurity and ultimately asking the question,?Who pays the price of the Change Healthcare cyberattack??

In response to the attack, testimony to Congress revealed? key takeaways from the Change Healthcare hearing: regulators should treat such attacks as national security threats, consolidation in healthcare increases cyber risk, and Third-party vendors must meet stricter security standards.?

Similarly, the HHS released [voluntary] healthcare cybersecurity goals,?a step toward unified standards amidst fragmented guidance.?

Amid rising ransomware incidents, a polarizing question emerged: Should healthcare leaders pay up when ransomware hits to safeguard stolen data? Industry leaders continue to remain divided.?

Earlier this year, our Cybersecurity summit explored key themes including generative AI, IoMT security/risk, and legislative developments. Replay the 2024 Cybersecurity Summit On Demand, and reserve your spot for the 2025 Cybersecurity Summit— an expert from NIST and a ransomware negotiator top the speaker list, and resiliency and business continuity and IoT management top the topic list.

AI’s Year of Progress and Provocation

If one area could rival cybersecurity in 2024’s digital health spotlight, it was artificial intelligence (AI). A surge in demand for AI-driven solutions spurred innovation and tough conversations.?

2024 saw groundbreaking Healthcare AI innovations in 2024 transforming healthcare. These tools are setting new standards in multimodal AI, improving diagnostics, streamlining operations, and enabling more precise, patient-centered care.?

Specialty-specific tools showed how context drives value by Unlocking ROI for AI through specialty-specific solutions. AI applications in billing, diagnostics, and care management proving their worth.?

AI chatbots showcased how Empathetic AI chatbot can transform reproductive health conversations by combining NLP with patient-centered care models can foster trust and empower patients. Is this a blueprint for the future?

All the while, Federal regulators have started target healthcare AI bias in algorithms, but how will it work? This signals a commitment to fairness in healthcare AI. But can we detect bias in real time, or will it be too late??

Key Digital Health Trends of 2024

• Hospital at Home: Exploding in popularity, this model improves outcomes and reduces costs. Hospital at Home programs provide an up-close view of SDOH, offering insights that traditional hospital settings often miss. Read: Social determinants of health come to light in hospital at home?

• Rise of the Patient Consumer: Digital tools drove patient empowerment and personalized care. But as patients take more control over their health and care, are they finding accurate, helpful information? Read: Are Google AI overviews helping or hindering consumer health education??

• Workforce Burnout & Solutions: Technology helped alleviate burnout, streamline workflows, and improve satisfaction. Read: To address nurse burnout, a little tech help can go a long way?

• Telehealth’s Evolution: Hybrid models gained traction, but regulations remain a challenge. The last-second government funding bill passed with a small 90-day telehealth extension, but other related provisions were left out. Read: Telehealth, Hospital at Home at stake during government funding debate

• Health Equity and Access: In an inspiring keynote Q&A at the 2024 CHIME Fall Forum, Dr. Sangita Reddy detailed how her family’s Apollo Hospitals transformed healthcare access and quality in underserved areas of India. Read: Giant steps - Digital health mavericks shine at CHIME Fall Forum

Final Pick: The TikTok Ban’s Healthcare Impact?

TikTok has become a vital platform for healthcare content creators and organizations sharing health information. How might a ban disrupt their efforts — and public health messaging??

Read our final pick here: How a TikTok ban will impact healthcare?

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