Vendor Notebook: New Cybersecurity and EHR Performance Upgrades

By Liam On Sep 19, 2024

A new set of artificial intelligence and zero trust integrations into the Crowdstrike Falcon cybersecurity platform could enhance detection and response capabilities for users, devices and applications connected to the cloud, according to an announcement Tuesday from Zscaler.

Also this week: Oracle rolled out a series of updates that improve the display of critical patient data, mobile mapping capabilities and medication safety processes in electronic health records. And Suki AI said 12 new health systems using Meditech now have access to its clinical environment documentation assistant. In care management, Innovaccer launched a copilot that it says can increase patient access while reducing costs.

Zscaler Integrates with Crowdstrike

Security operations centers are under constant pressure to assess and manage risk, and detect and respond to threats. As a result, they are hampered by siloed data streams that complicate and slow monitoring activities.

Thanks to a partnership with CrowdStrike, Zscaler, a zero trust exchange platform for cloud modernization, new features in Falcon support SOC efforts to coordinate threat intelligence and gain greater visibility into vulnerabilities and exposures across an enterprise, the company said in a statement.

According to Zscaler, the new tools help organizations using Falcon enhance zero trust enforcement from endpoint to application. This can help healthcare organizations improve data protection and HIPAA compliance.

The integrations can “simplify day-to-day operations for IT security and SOC teams,” said Punit Minocha, executive vice president of business development and corporate strategy at Zscaler, in a statement.

Joint customers can leverage pre-built threat intelligence sharing scripts and quickly build custom workflows, such as risk analysis tools that pull rich incident, asset, and vulnerability data from the Falcon platform or correlate common vulnerabilities and exposure data.

Zscaler also noted that active security incident signals from the Falcon platform enhance the Adaptive Access Engine to better coordinate threat intelligence, improve policy enforcement, and better secure device access.

“Organizations must transform the SOC by harnessing the power of AI and automation to eliminate blind spots and stop adversaries,” said Daniel Bernard, Chief Business Officer at CrowdStrike.

CrowdStrike also announced Monday that it is partnering with Amazon Web Services and NVIDIA to host its second annual Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator to support the next generation of AI and cloud security startups.

“For startups looking to tackle today’s most pressing security challenges, the Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator provides the AI technologies, accelerated computing resources, and technical expertise they need,” said Bartley Richardson, director of cybersecurity engineering at NVIDIA, in CrowdStrike’s announcement.

In July, the security tech giant caused a global IT outage with a flawed security update for Microsoft Windows, in what was considered one of the worst IT disasters in history and disrupted healthcare worldwide. Some organizations took days to recover, others weeks.

Adam Meyers, senior vice president of counter adversary operations, must be submitted to a Congressional subcommittee on Homeland Security on September 24 to discuss the incident and how the increasing reliance on interconnected IT systems has increased the risk for organizations.

Oracle Updates Productivity and Security Goals

Oracle on Wednesday announced improved health data exchange, along with simpler workflows by expanding access to data in Oracle Health Seamless Exchange through the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, along with a series of new EHR enhancements.

“Since acquiring Cerner, Oracle has invested tens of thousands of hours and millions of dollars to enhance our core clinical applications and improve the performance, usability and security of our EHR,” said Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager of Oracle Health and Life Sciences, in a statement.

The company said it has worked closely with customers on user-friendly improvements that enhance clinical decision-making. The updates include:

Streamlined file reviews to quickly surface important patient information.
Advanced documentation tools to support updates and consultations.
New medication processes that help identify errors and thus increase safety.
Updated order management capabilities with closed-loop tracking.
Near real-time mobile charting capabilities.

Oracle Health Ambulatory Referral Management users can also view and track patient referrals in the Oracle Health Provider Portal, helping to reduce the time between making a referral and scheduling an appointment, the company said. Earlier this year, Oracle launched a mobile clinical decision assistant tool that combines generative AI, clinical intelligence, and a multimodal voice and touch interface for outpatient clinics.

The new patient record features in Oracle Health products will be rolled out quarterly, the company said in a statement.

Meditech and Innovaccer add more AI co-pilots

Meditech, the latest in a string of health technology vendors including Cerner, Epic, Athena and Amwell to integrate the Suki Assistant, is rolling out its ambient documentation technology to 12 health systems, according to an announcement from Suki AI on Thursday. The self-updating ambient voice documentation software is also being used by group practices and rural providers.

Suki said it began working with Meditech last year to address its customers’ administrative burdens and their workforces’ work-life balance. The EHR vendor said it integrated Nuance’s DAX co-pilot earlier this year.

St. Mary’s Healthcare outside Albany began using the Suki AI assistant for EHR documentation on Meditech Expanse earlier this year to reduce clinician workload and improve the quality of clinical notes.

The provider’s first group of users reduced the time to complete the notification by 50%, the company said.

“Ambient listening has shown that it can help us achieve both goals. Our clinicians who use Suki tell us that they not only experience a significant reduction in administrative burden, but they are also able to communicate with their patients in a more profound way,” Julie Demaree, executive director of clinical innovation and transformation at St. Mary’s Hospital, said in a statement.

The AI assistant has also improved the detail in clinical notes, says Natasha Struewing, a nurse practitioner at Decatur County Memorial Hospital in Greensburg, Indiana, one of several hospitals deploying the AI documentation assistant across its organization.

“As a critical access hospital, the number of patients seeking care on any given day can vary greatly,” she said. “With Suki, I can see more acute patients and provide the care they need in a timely manner, which is essential to achieving the best possible outcomes.”

Last week, Innovaccer announced that it has added Sara, the AI assistant, to its care management platform.

The new Care Management Copilot automates documentation, patient summaries and care plan recommendations, saving care managers more than 10 hours per week, allowing them to spend more time with patients and reach 30-40% more patients, the company says.

In addition to documenting patient interactions and syncing care documentation with leading EHRs, the new AI copilot for care managers generates patient summaries that can help them understand a patient’s status across the continuum of care. Sara also identifies barriers to care and urgent red flags and recommends next steps, the company said.

According to Malcolm Smith, an expert in advanced clinical education at Dignity Health MSO, AI enables a holistic approach to care planning that integrates nursing and social work perspectives and reduces costs.

“We can now better prioritize and thus ensure cost-effective, appropriate care.”

Andrea Fox is Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email address: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.

The HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum is scheduled for October 31-November 1 in Washington, DC More information and registration.