Massachusetts lawmakers recently passed legislation that requires providers and pharmacies to switch to electronic prescribing of opioid medication by 2020, further validating the significant role technology can play in combatting our national prescription drug abuse epidemic.

Passed by the Mass. state House of Representatives, the bill represents the latest legislative push to create a more secure opioid distribution chain by requiring that prescriptions for controlled substances be completed electronically.

Controlling and securing access to protected health information (PHI) is one of the most critical issues facing healthcare organizations today. In this day and age of cybersecurity threats, rapid changes (like mergers and acquisitions, employee turnover, and evolving regulatory demands), provisioning solutions offer a robust method for role-based identity management, compliance with organizational policies, and risk management by proactively monitoring risk-areas.

Drivers such as HIPAA compliance, general PHI privacy, and concerns around unauthorized use have led to increased regulations for medical device security. While healthcare organizations look to implement critical security measures for Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) components, such as medical devices, it’s important to do so in a way that does not impede clinical productivity.

Wait times across all types of healthcare settings averaged nearly 19 minutes in 2017, according to a Vitals2 study. Practitioners with the longest wait times were emergency physicians (24.75 minutes on average) and general practitioners (22 minutes). Offices with shorter-than-average wait times tend to have more satisfied patients. The Vitals2 study found physicians with five-star ratings had average wait times of less than 13 minutes, while those with 22-minute wait times received only three stars on average.