The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) is urging CMS to expand its hospital Conditions of Participation (CoP), or at least the interpretive guidelines for the current CoPs, to improve oversight of the cybersecurity of networked medical devices. 

The OIG is concerned that neither surveyors from CMS state agencies nor those from the four accreditation organizations (AO) are asking hospitals enough questions about their cybersecurity plans unless a problem becomes evident or the facility has included cybersecurity in its emergency management risk assessment. 

Making changes to CMS’ interpretive guidelines for surveyors within existing hospital Conditions of Participation (CoP) may be the quickest way to increase focus on the security of networked medical devices, according to a report from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). Cybersecurity of these networked devices has become a critical patient safety issue as their use has increased over the last few years along with a rise in ransomware and other cyber intrusions into health systems, said the OIG in a report released in June. 

It’s not every day that doctors, nurses, and other clinicians get to help design their new hospital. Providers are doing just that at Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital in California. The organization is planning a new, nine-story hospital building and hopes to begin construction in November.  It’s not every day that you get to design your new hospital or clinic, so when the time comes you need to make the most of it. And that’s what Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital in California is doing. The organization has designed a new, nine-story hospital building and hopes to begin construction in November.