VA EHR Slammed in OIG Report, Molina Pays $4.6M Data Breach Settlement
Cerner’s EHR contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was challenged by another negative report, and Molina Healthcare will pay a large settlement after whistleblowers sued the firm.
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By Sara Heath
- A recent Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report states that Cerner’s VA EHR project has generated patient safety issues and led to harm in more than one hundred instances. This is not the first time the project has been under fire, and lawmakers are now actively pushing to pause the further implementation.
Meanwhile, rulings in several legal cases have made waves this week. First, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) will pay almost half a million dollars to plaintiffs involved in a 2020 data breach. And Molina Healthcare was fined $4.5 million by the State of Massachusetts for filing false claims from 2016 – 2018. Lastly, the US Supreme Court reversed half a century of abortion rights after deciding to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24.
VA Postpones Cerner EHR after OIG Report
The VA postponed the implementation of its Cerner EHR system at one site after a draft OIG report chronicled 148 cases of harm produced by flaws in the technology. In addition, the OIG report included evidence that officials at the VA knew about the system faults and neglected to share that information with Congress. Issues from earlier reports remain unresolved, leading to the VA announcing its postponement of final implementation at a site in Boise. READ MORE.
UPMC Settles $450K Suit for Data Breach
UPMC reached a settlement with plaintiffs worth $450,000 following a data breach that affected 36,000 patients and their sensitive data. UPMC did notify patients of the breach in 2020, but in their statements, they neglected to elucidate the extent to which data was stolen. On those grounds, plaintiffs proved the material damage necessary for lawsuits of this type. READ MORE.
Molina Healthcare Pays $4.6 Million to Settle False Claims Violations
Four former Molina employees won a lawsuit they filed in 2016 after the managed care company improperly submitted claims in the state of Massachusetts. From 2016 to 2018, Molina failed to comply with regulatory requirements while continuing to profit from claims paid by MassHealth—the state of Massachusetts’ Medicaid program. Molina is now forced to pay the state $4.625 million, some of which will go to the former employees involved in the suit. READ MORE.
CISA Warns of Additional Log4Shell Security Issues
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint cybersecurity advisory concerning the Log4Shell exploitation of VMware Horizon systems. VMware issued fixes for the vulnerabilities in 2021, but CISA is urging caution and asking organizations without patches to assume they have already been compromised. The advisory also asks that any breaches be reported to CISA directly. READ MORE.
Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade
Last Friday, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal protection of abortion and forcing the decision on state lawmakers. Twenty-six states will or are likely to ban the practice of abortion within their borders after the ruling. READ MORE.
