Doctor and senior woman wearing facemasks during coronavirus and flu outbreak. Virus protection. COVID-2019..

» The Department of Health and Human Services released a draft report on a health information technology framework on April 3. It proposes three health IT categories based on function and level of risk that focus on what a product does, rather than the platform on which it operates. The first category would include software for billing and claims processing. The second would include software for health information and data management, including medication management. The third would include medical devices with health IT functions, such as software for bedside monitor alarms. Comments will be solicited.

» A stolen flash drive that belonged to an employee of Michigan’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Office contained unencrypted information on 2,500 individuals and more than 1,500 records with a Social Security or Medicaid identification number, the state’s Department of Community Health said in April. Authorities said they were working to tighten security.   

» Twitter can be used for influenza detection, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University. Scientists created an influenza infection detection algorithm that pulled out relevant tweets during the 2012-2013 flu season. The system’s influenza prevalence estimates were strongly correlated with surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the United States and data from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of New York City.

» Smartphones and tablets may offer a new way for healthcare providers to help people quit smoking, according to a study from the Columbia University School of Nursing. The mobile tools not only made nurses more likely to screen, but also might level out discrepancies with minority patients, the researchers said.  

» New medical technologies should either reduce total healthcare spending or have health benefits that make the increases in spending worthwhile, according to a new analysis from the RAND Corporation. The policy options discussed in “Redirecting Innovation in U.S. Health Care” include offering prizes for inventions, buying out patents, and expediting Food and Drug Administration reviews.