Guidelines on women’s health; tracking diversity in health care; putting a face to the ransomware – Morning Medical Update

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Women’s health

The Women’s Health Initiative is the largest study of women’s health in the nation. It followed more than 161,000 post-menopausal women for up to 20 years. The latest findings involve hormone therapy, calcium plus vitamin D supplementation, and low-fat diets. It turns out those treatments have some health benefits, but perhaps not the ones you thought. JAMA has this review that could affect the health of approximately 55 million women in the United States and 1.1 billion women worldwide.

Data on diversity

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the new “Resource of Health Equity-related Data Definitions, Standards, & Stratification Practices.” The 13-page paper will allow physicians, health systems and other organizations to harmonize with CMS when collecting or analyzing data related to equity in health care. It reflects the first of five CMS priorities for reducing health disparities. You’ll find it here.

Somebody nab this guy

Ransomware has been a dirty word and feared attack in health care cybersecurity. This year it went from bad to worse to even more worse when a ransomware attack on Change Healthcare hobbled payments for physicians and pharmacists around the nation. Who are the actual people behind these hacks? One is Russian national Dimitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, leader of the LockBit ransomware scheme, the most prolific in the world, according to the U.S. Departments of Justice, State, and Treasury. Khoroshev is wanted by several nations and allegedly pocketed $100 million from ransomware attacks across the globe.