In this episode of the MGMA Week in Review podcast, hosts Daniel Williams and Colleen Luckett cover five top stories impacting medical group leaders this week. Topics include the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the ACA’s preventive services mandate, new data on clinician job satisfaction and turnover risk, operational insights on patient encounter volume, expert advice on building a non-punitive workplace culture, and the increasing importance of layered cybersecurity in healthcare. Whether you're in the C-suite or managing daily workflows, this episode delivers strategic updates and real-world insights to keep you informed and prepared.
Timestamps:
00:50 – Welcome and Introduction
01:57 – Breaking News: Supreme Court Upholds ACA Preventive Services Mandate (Healthcare Dive)
04:24 – Clinician Workforce Survey: Job Satisfaction vs. Retention (LT.com Study)
07:24 – Managing Patient Encounter Volume (MGMA Stat)
10:30 – The Importance of a Non-Punitive Workplace Culture (Health Leaders Media)
13:36 – Layered Cybersecurity in Healthcare (Health Tech Magazine)
16:05 – Conclusion and Farewell
Additional Resources:
Email us at dwilliams@mgma.com if you would like to appear on an episode. If you have a question about your practice that you would like us to answer, send an email to advisor@mgma.com. Don't forget to subscribe to our network wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast Sponsor Boost Lingo
This episode is brought to you by Boost Lingo, the language services platform behind MGMA Translate, interpreter delays and high agency fees, strain budgets, and staff morale. Boost lingo on demand fixes both tap once and a qualified medical interpreter joins in about 13 seconds. Video or phone on any device. No steep learning curve. It just works. Tap, connect, care. Choose from 14,000 interpreters covering over 300 languages. Fully HIPAA compliant. Your staff will love the ease and your patients will too. Plus MGMA members save 20%. Visit https://boostlingo.com/mgma/ to see it in action today.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniel Williams (00:55):
Hi, everyone, and welcome to the MGMA Weekend
Review podcast. I'm one of ourhosts here today, Daniel
Williams, a senior editor atMGMA and joined by co host
Colleen Luckett and editor andwriter here at MGMA and as we do
with each week, we're going tobring you the latest health care
industry news. Some of it todayright off the press. We'll also
(01:20):
bring you if there are anypolicy updates, expert insights,
and just stories that we enjoyseeing from the field to keep
medical practice leadersinformed and inspired. Colleen,
what is happening since we lastspoke?
Colleen Luckett (01:34):
Yeah. First, I wanna say welcome back from
Spain. Thank you.
Daniel Williams (01:39):
I'm tan, aren't I? I have a little bit of a tan.
Colleen Luckett (01:41):
Yeah. I
Daniel Williams (01:41):
actually got very sunburned. I went to a
beach and it was a lot of fun.It was very interesting.
Colleen Luckett (01:48):
Yeah. That's nice. I'm very jealous, but
yeah, welcome back. And I hearyou have a lot of work to do, we
will leave you alone for alittle while. All right.
First to the news. And yes, Ihave some breaking news here.
And this first one made me letout a huge sigh of relief as a
patient. It's the kind thatmakes your blood pressure drop
by at least five points. Now Iknow I wasn't the only one on
(02:11):
this one, but medical groupleaders everywhere can finally
stop bracing for anotherpreventable crisis because the
Supreme Court just didn't gut akey part of the Affordable Care
Act.
So in her June 27 article forHealth Care Dive titled Supreme
Court Upholds ACA PreventiveServices Mandate, Reporter Emily
Olsen breaks down exactly whathappened and why this ruling
(02:34):
matters so much, although weknow. On Friday, the Supreme
Court ruled six to three touphold a key provision of the
Affordable Care Act thatrequires private insurers to
cover a wide range of preventiveservices without cost sharing.
That means cancer screenings,prenatal visits, STI testing,
and medications to prevent HIVlike PrEP remain fully covered.
(02:57):
No deductibles, no co pays, nosurprise bills. The case at the
heart of it, Kennedy v.
Braidwood Management Inc, wasbrought by two Christian owned
businesses who argued that theUS Preventive Services Task
Force, which recommends whatservices insurers must cover,
was unconstitutional. Theirclaim was the task force members
(03:18):
hadn't been appointed by thepresident or confirmed by the
senate. But justice BrettKavanaugh, writing for the
majority said, nope. The taskforce members are inferior
officers. They're appointed andsupervised by the secretary of
health and human services whowho is answerable to the
president.
That chain of command meets theconstitution's appointments
clause, plain and simple. Sojoining Kavanaugh and the
(03:40):
majority were justices Roberts,Barrett, and the court's three
liberal judges. Meanwhile,justices Thomas, Alito, and
Gorsuch dissented, claiming theHHS had invented a brand new
legal theory to justify theappointments. The supreme
court's final word now clearsthat confusion. The ACA's
mandate stands, the task forcestructure holds, and preventive
(04:01):
care coverage stays intact.
Whew. For medical groups, thisruling avoids a major
operational headache. Noreconfiguring coverage, no
guessing games on benefits, andno scrambling to explain to your
patients why their screeningsjust got more expensive. So,
yes, breathe that sigh ofrelief. We all deserve it.
Okay, Daniel, over to you.
Daniel Williams (04:22):
Yeah. Thank you so much, Colleen. For our second
story, I wanna dig into somefresh research that's really
caught my eye. We're gonna havea full podcast on this about a
month or so from now, but asneak peek for today. So a new
research study came out.
It's a clinician workforcesurvey. It's from
(04:42):
locumtenens.com and the advisoryboard. And here's the headline:
Even satisfied clinicians areplanning to leave their jobs.
You heard it. So based on theirresearch, 76% of clinicians say
they're satisfied where theyare, but almost 30% of those
(05:04):
same folks are thinking aboutswitching jobs in the next two
years.
And it's not just the youngercrowd either. Nearly half of
clinicians 40 are eyeing theexit, but so are a third or more
of clinicians in their 50s and60s. In short, job satisfaction
doesn't guarantee retentionanymore and organizations that
(05:28):
assume otherwise might be in fora surprise. So let's dig a
little deeper into this survey.It also looked at what
clinicians actually value in ajob, and compensation is still
number one across the board.
But here's where it getsinteresting. When you combine
non comp factors like scheduleflexibility, work life balance,
(05:51):
and benefits, those actuallyoutweigh compensation alone. For
example, nearly sixty percent ofclinicians said they preferred
full time work, but they wantcontrol over when that work
happens. Not necessarily fewerhours, just different hours. And
when asked about work lifebalance, the top responses were
(06:14):
all about time.
Time for family, time off, timeto actually rest. Another
finding that jumped out to me,no employer type comes out as a
clear winner. Corporate groupsscore highest on pay and work
life balance. Independentpractices lead on clinician
(06:34):
loyalty and work environment.Hospitals sit squarely in the
middle.
But regardless of where theywork, more than forty percent of
clinicians are considering achange. That's a big red flag.
And interestingly, cliniciansplaced through staffing firms
scored their work environment anaverage of 14% higher than those
(06:57):
who weren't. So, there might besomething to learn from how
these matches are being made.Bottom line, if you're trying to
attract or retain clinicians,it's not just about throwing
more money at the problem.
Today's workforce is looking forflexibility, balance, and a
culture that actually walks thetalk. Compensation will get them
(07:19):
in the door, but it won't keepthem there. Colleen, back to
you.
Colleen Luckett (07:24):
And now let's talk about another hot topic
that's been keeping practiceleaders up at night, encounter
volume. Because let's face it,managing fluctuating patient
visits today feels like tryingto hit a moving target in a
windstorm with one eye closed.According to the June 24 MGMA
stat poll, forty eight percentof medical groups reported an
(07:46):
increase in patient encounterscompared to 2024. Another 26%
said volumes stayed about thesame, while 26% saw a decrease.
The responses came from 254practices across the country
offering a solid snapshot ofwhat's driving volume shifts and
what's stalling them.
For those with risingencounters, the big factors
(08:07):
included better schedulingprocesses, extended hours,
improved access, and expandedcare teams, including PAs and
NPs. Some practices saw a boostfrom strategic marketing or a
growing patient population dueto hospital referrals or
community outreach. But forpractices with flat or declining
volumes, staffing shortages werethe recurring villain. Other
(08:29):
obstacles included provider PTO,aging clinician departures, EHR
transitions, bad weather, fewernew patients, and, of course,
the ever persistent issue ofpatient no shows. Pediatric
practices especially noted ashift from sick visits to more
mental health care driven by alack of specialty support.
(08:52):
And then there's telehealthstill hanging in the balance.
With parity protections onlyguaranteed through September,
some practices are alreadyseeing hesitation and decreased
volume in virtual care. Thearticle also dives into
specialty specific strategies tohelp stabilize encounter volume.
So primary care groups areleaning into open access
scheduling, chronic care codes,and AI scribes to free up
(09:14):
provider time. Surgicalpractices are optimizing
scheduling, streamliningdischarges, and integrating
robotics and PAs to boostthroughput.
Nonsurgical specialties aredeploying ambient AI and
expanding remote monitoring toincrease revenue without
additional in person visits, andmultispecialty groups are
(09:34):
focusing on internal referrals,centralized scheduling, and
cross training staff to bettermanage demand across
departments. The big takeaway,whether you're running a solo
practice or a largemultispecialty group, success in
2025 means getting strategic.That means smarter scheduling,
greater staffing flexibility,and, yes, embracing the tech
(09:56):
that gives providers back theirtime. If you're looking for more
detailed benchmarks andinsights, MGMA members can check
out the 2025 providercompensation and productivity
data report we just released,which ties encounter trends
directly to work RVUs, compmodels, and collections. And as
always, if you want your voiceto help shape insights like
(10:17):
this, join the MGMA stat poll bytexting s t a t to 33550, and
you'll get those poll questionsin your text messages weekly.
Okay, Daniel. Back to you.
Daniel Williams (10:29):
Colleen, thanks for that. Now, our next story
dives into why a non punitiveworkplace culture isn't just a
nice to have. It's essential forpatient safety according to
three top CMOs featured in arecent Health Leaders piece.
Here's the core insight. Whenstaff feel safe to report safety
(10:50):
concerns without fear of blameor retaliation, that's when real
improvements happen.
Doctor. Jennifer Kalil fromVertuo says if caregivers worry
they'll be penalized forflagging a medication error,
staffing issue, or faultyequipment, they simply won't
speak up. And Doctor. Kevin Postat Avira took it further. Quote,
(11:14):
they can speak up for the safetyof patients and their coworkers
without fearing retaliation.
In their view, leadership mustactively cultivate that
environment and then rewardpeople for stepping forward.
Let's break down the mechanics.Providence's Sylvain Trepanier,
a DNP, notes that in a nonpunitive culture, people
(11:39):
actually report errors they wereinvolved in. Rarely are they
hidden. Then the team focuses onprocess failures, not individual
blame.
That shift is huge. It turnserrors into learning
opportunities. At Avera, forexample, their Good Catch award
(11:59):
recognizes team members whoidentify near misses before harm
occurs. That's not just a pat onthe back. It's a signal that
vigilance is valued and sharedacross the system.
But what does this look like dayto day? First, leaders need to
be visible, on the floor, in thetrenches. Khalil emphasizes the
(12:21):
importance of thanking peoplefor speaking up and then
following through when thoseconcerns lead to real change.
That kind of full circlefeedback builds trust. And
structurally, systems need to bein place to review and share
those near miss learnings acrossthe organization.
(12:41):
Think anonymous reporting, crossteam communication, and a rhythm
of regular reflection. And it'sworth saying, this kind of
cultural shift doesn't happenovernight. It requires long term
commitment from leadership, notjust CMOs, but department heads,
nurse managers, HR, all the wayup to the c suite. It's about
(13:05):
creating psychological safety atevery level. You can't fake it
if your team sees retaliation oreven silence after someone
reports a concern, the trustbreaks.
On the flip side, when leadersrespond with curiosity instead
of blame, it builds a loop ofcontinuous improvement. That's
(13:28):
when safety, retention, andmorale all move in the right
direction. With that said,Colleen, back to you.
Colleen Luckett (13:37):
If your practice or health system is
still thinking that patching isenough to keep cybersecurity
threats out, you will want tolisten up to this last story.
Dominique Sorrentino, web editorfor State Tech Magazine, gives
it to us straight in his articletitled exploitation trends
underscore the need for layeredcybersecurity and health care
(13:58):
published on June 26 inHealthTech. According to
Sorrentino's reporting, new datafrom SonicWall's 2025 threat
brief shows that attackers aregetting faster, smarter, and
more opportunistic. While remotecode execution flaws accounted
for 40% of vulnerabilities, theywere only responsible for 19 of
(14:20):
actual attacks. Meanwhile, lessobvious threats like elevation
of privilege bugs were the mostexploited, driving 38% of real
world incidents.
Why? Because attackers aren'twasting time. They're going for
what's easiest to exploit, notnecessarily what's most obvious
on paper. SonicWall's researchalso revealed that security
(14:40):
feature bypass methods made upjust 8% of known vulnerabilities
but nearly a third of real worldexploits. Translation, volume
doesn't equal priority.
It's not about how manyvulnerabilities you patch. It's
about which ones are likely tobe exploited. Douglas McKee,
SonicWall's executive directorof Threat Research, put it
plainly. He said patching aloneisn't enough. He emphasized that
(15:05):
organizations need a, quote,smarter, faster approach, one
that layers protections andaligns with how attackers
actually operate today.
That means detecting andstopping privilege escalation
attempts, neutralizing malwarehidden in office docs. Yes.
Still a thing. Blocking exploitsbefore they reach end users,
(15:26):
integrating protections acrossendpoints, email, and network
infrastructure. So what's thetakeaway for our health care
leaders?
Don't just rely on CVEs orcommon vulnerabilities and
exposures, severity scores, orpatch volumes. Build layered
defenses. Prioritize based onreal world exploitability. And
(15:47):
treat threat intelligence as aliving, breathing necessity, not
a check the box task. In otherwords, don't just patch and then
throw salt over your monitorwhile whispering, please don't
crash three times.
It's time to patch and prepare.And that's a wrap for me today,
Daniel. Back to you.
Daniel Williams (16:05):
Alright. And that is gonna do it for this
episode of MGMA's Weekend ReviewPodcast. We say it every week,
but thank you so much for beingMGMA podcast listeners, and
please send us a note. I'll putour emails in the episode show
notes. Send us a note and let usknow if you have a story you
want us to share or if you wantto appear on an MGMA podcast.
(16:28):
Until then, have a greatweekend.
Colleen Luckett (16:31):
Bye, everyone. See you next time.
Hi, everyone, and welcome to the MGMA Weekend
Review podcast. I'm one of ourhosts here today, Daniel
Williams, a senior editor atMGMA and joined by co host
Colleen Luckett and editor andwriter here at MGMA and as we do
with each week, we're going tobring you the latest health care
industry news. Some of it todayright off the press. We'll also
(01:20):
bring you if there are anypolicy updates, expert insights,
and just stories that we enjoyseeing from the field to keep
medical practice leadersinformed and inspired. Colleen,
what is happening since we lastspoke?
Colleen Luckett (01:34):
Yeah. First, I wanna say welcome back from
Spain. Thank you.
Daniel Williams (01:39):
I'm tan, aren't I? I have a little bit of a tan.
Colleen Luckett (01:41):
Yeah. I
Daniel Williams (01:41):
actually got very sunburned. I went to a
beach and it was a lot of fun.It was very interesting.
Colleen Luckett (01:48):
Yeah. That's nice. I'm very jealous, but
yeah, welcome back. And I hearyou have a lot of work to do, we
will leave you alone for alittle while. All right.
First to the news. And yes, Ihave some breaking news here.
And this first one made me letout a huge sigh of relief as a
patient. It's the kind thatmakes your blood pressure drop
by at least five points. Now Iknow I wasn't the only one on
(02:11):
this one, but medical groupleaders everywhere can finally
stop bracing for anotherpreventable crisis because the
Supreme Court just didn't gut akey part of the Affordable Care
Act.
So in her June 27 article forHealth Care Dive titled Supreme
Court Upholds ACA PreventiveServices Mandate, Reporter Emily
Olsen breaks down exactly whathappened and why this ruling
(02:34):
matters so much, although weknow. On Friday, the Supreme
Court ruled six to three touphold a key provision of the
Affordable Care Act thatrequires private insurers to
cover a wide range of preventiveservices without cost sharing.
That means cancer screenings,prenatal visits, STI testing,
and medications to prevent HIVlike PrEP remain fully covered.
(02:57):
No deductibles, no co pays, nosurprise bills. The case at the
heart of it, Kennedy v.
Braidwood Management Inc, wasbrought by two Christian owned
businesses who argued that theUS Preventive Services Task
Force, which recommends whatservices insurers must cover,
was unconstitutional. Theirclaim was the task force members
(03:18):
hadn't been appointed by thepresident or confirmed by the
senate. But justice BrettKavanaugh, writing for the
majority said, nope. The taskforce members are inferior
officers. They're appointed andsupervised by the secretary of
health and human services whowho is answerable to the
president.
That chain of command meets theconstitution's appointments
clause, plain and simple. Sojoining Kavanaugh and the
(03:40):
majority were justices Roberts,Barrett, and the court's three
liberal judges. Meanwhile,justices Thomas, Alito, and
Gorsuch dissented, claiming theHHS had invented a brand new
legal theory to justify theappointments. The supreme
court's final word now clearsthat confusion. The ACA's
mandate stands, the task forcestructure holds, and preventive
(04:01):
care coverage stays intact.
Whew. For medical groups, thisruling avoids a major
operational headache. Noreconfiguring coverage, no
guessing games on benefits, andno scrambling to explain to your
patients why their screeningsjust got more expensive. So,
yes, breathe that sigh ofrelief. We all deserve it.
Okay, Daniel, over to you.
Daniel Williams (04:22):
Yeah. Thank you so much, Colleen. For our second
story, I wanna dig into somefresh research that's really
caught my eye. We're gonna havea full podcast on this about a
month or so from now, but asneak peek for today. So a new
research study came out.
It's a clinician workforcesurvey. It's from
(04:42):
locumtenens.com and the advisoryboard. And here's the headline:
Even satisfied clinicians areplanning to leave their jobs.
You heard it. So based on theirresearch, 76% of clinicians say
they're satisfied where theyare, but almost 30% of those
(05:04):
same folks are thinking aboutswitching jobs in the next two
years.
And it's not just the youngercrowd either. Nearly half of
clinicians 40 are eyeing theexit, but so are a third or more
of clinicians in their 50s and60s. In short, job satisfaction
doesn't guarantee retentionanymore and organizations that
(05:28):
assume otherwise might be in fora surprise. So let's dig a
little deeper into this survey.It also looked at what
clinicians actually value in ajob, and compensation is still
number one across the board.
But here's where it getsinteresting. When you combine
non comp factors like scheduleflexibility, work life balance,
(05:51):
and benefits, those actuallyoutweigh compensation alone. For
example, nearly sixty percent ofclinicians said they preferred
full time work, but they wantcontrol over when that work
happens. Not necessarily fewerhours, just different hours. And
when asked about work lifebalance, the top responses were
(06:14):
all about time.
Time for family, time off, timeto actually rest. Another
finding that jumped out to me,no employer type comes out as a
clear winner. Corporate groupsscore highest on pay and work
life balance. Independentpractices lead on clinician
(06:34):
loyalty and work environment.Hospitals sit squarely in the
middle.
But regardless of where theywork, more than forty percent of
clinicians are considering achange. That's a big red flag.
And interestingly, cliniciansplaced through staffing firms
scored their work environment anaverage of 14% higher than those
(06:57):
who weren't. So, there might besomething to learn from how
these matches are being made.Bottom line, if you're trying to
attract or retain clinicians,it's not just about throwing
more money at the problem.
Today's workforce is looking forflexibility, balance, and a
culture that actually walks thetalk. Compensation will get them
(07:19):
in the door, but it won't keepthem there. Colleen, back to
you.
Colleen Luckett (07:24):
And now let's talk about another hot topic
that's been keeping practiceleaders up at night, encounter
volume. Because let's face it,managing fluctuating patient
visits today feels like tryingto hit a moving target in a
windstorm with one eye closed.According to the June 24 MGMA
stat poll, forty eight percentof medical groups reported an
(07:46):
increase in patient encounterscompared to 2024. Another 26%
said volumes stayed about thesame, while 26% saw a decrease.
The responses came from 254practices across the country
offering a solid snapshot ofwhat's driving volume shifts and
what's stalling them.
For those with risingencounters, the big factors
(08:07):
included better schedulingprocesses, extended hours,
improved access, and expandedcare teams, including PAs and
NPs. Some practices saw a boostfrom strategic marketing or a
growing patient population dueto hospital referrals or
community outreach. But forpractices with flat or declining
volumes, staffing shortages werethe recurring villain. Other
(08:29):
obstacles included provider PTO,aging clinician departures, EHR
transitions, bad weather, fewernew patients, and, of course,
the ever persistent issue ofpatient no shows. Pediatric
practices especially noted ashift from sick visits to more
mental health care driven by alack of specialty support.
(08:52):
And then there's telehealthstill hanging in the balance.
With parity protections onlyguaranteed through September,
some practices are alreadyseeing hesitation and decreased
volume in virtual care. Thearticle also dives into
specialty specific strategies tohelp stabilize encounter volume.
So primary care groups areleaning into open access
scheduling, chronic care codes,and AI scribes to free up
(09:14):
provider time. Surgicalpractices are optimizing
scheduling, streamliningdischarges, and integrating
robotics and PAs to boostthroughput.
Nonsurgical specialties aredeploying ambient AI and
expanding remote monitoring toincrease revenue without
additional in person visits, andmultispecialty groups are
(09:34):
focusing on internal referrals,centralized scheduling, and
cross training staff to bettermanage demand across
departments. The big takeaway,whether you're running a solo
practice or a largemultispecialty group, success in
2025 means getting strategic.That means smarter scheduling,
greater staffing flexibility,and, yes, embracing the tech
(09:56):
that gives providers back theirtime. If you're looking for more
detailed benchmarks andinsights, MGMA members can check
out the 2025 providercompensation and productivity
data report we just released,which ties encounter trends
directly to work RVUs, compmodels, and collections. And as
always, if you want your voiceto help shape insights like
(10:17):
this, join the MGMA stat poll bytexting s t a t to 33550, and
you'll get those poll questionsin your text messages weekly.
Okay, Daniel. Back to you.
Daniel Williams (10:29):
Colleen, thanks for that. Now, our next story
dives into why a non punitiveworkplace culture isn't just a
nice to have. It's essential forpatient safety according to
three top CMOs featured in arecent Health Leaders piece.
Here's the core insight. Whenstaff feel safe to report safety
(10:50):
concerns without fear of blameor retaliation, that's when real
improvements happen.
Doctor. Jennifer Kalil fromVertuo says if caregivers worry
they'll be penalized forflagging a medication error,
staffing issue, or faultyequipment, they simply won't
speak up. And Doctor. Kevin Postat Avira took it further. Quote,
(11:14):
they can speak up for the safetyof patients and their coworkers
without fearing retaliation.
In their view, leadership mustactively cultivate that
environment and then rewardpeople for stepping forward.
Let's break down the mechanics.Providence's Sylvain Trepanier,
a DNP, notes that in a nonpunitive culture, people
(11:39):
actually report errors they wereinvolved in. Rarely are they
hidden. Then the team focuses onprocess failures, not individual
blame.
That shift is huge. It turnserrors into learning
opportunities. At Avera, forexample, their Good Catch award
(11:59):
recognizes team members whoidentify near misses before harm
occurs. That's not just a pat onthe back. It's a signal that
vigilance is valued and sharedacross the system.
But what does this look like dayto day? First, leaders need to
be visible, on the floor, in thetrenches. Khalil emphasizes the
(12:21):
importance of thanking peoplefor speaking up and then
following through when thoseconcerns lead to real change.
That kind of full circlefeedback builds trust. And
structurally, systems need to bein place to review and share
those near miss learnings acrossthe organization.
(12:41):
Think anonymous reporting, crossteam communication, and a rhythm
of regular reflection. And it'sworth saying, this kind of
cultural shift doesn't happenovernight. It requires long term
commitment from leadership, notjust CMOs, but department heads,
nurse managers, HR, all the wayup to the c suite. It's about
(13:05):
creating psychological safety atevery level. You can't fake it
if your team sees retaliation oreven silence after someone
reports a concern, the trustbreaks.
On the flip side, when leadersrespond with curiosity instead
of blame, it builds a loop ofcontinuous improvement. That's
(13:28):
when safety, retention, andmorale all move in the right
direction. With that said,Colleen, back to you.
Colleen Luckett (13:37):
If your practice or health system is
still thinking that patching isenough to keep cybersecurity
threats out, you will want tolisten up to this last story.
Dominique Sorrentino, web editorfor State Tech Magazine, gives
it to us straight in his articletitled exploitation trends
underscore the need for layeredcybersecurity and health care
(13:58):
published on June 26 inHealthTech. According to
Sorrentino's reporting, new datafrom SonicWall's 2025 threat
brief shows that attackers aregetting faster, smarter, and
more opportunistic. While remotecode execution flaws accounted
for 40% of vulnerabilities, theywere only responsible for 19 of
(14:20):
actual attacks. Meanwhile, lessobvious threats like elevation
of privilege bugs were the mostexploited, driving 38% of real
world incidents.
Why? Because attackers aren'twasting time. They're going for
what's easiest to exploit, notnecessarily what's most obvious
on paper. SonicWall's researchalso revealed that security
(14:40):
feature bypass methods made upjust 8% of known vulnerabilities
but nearly a third of real worldexploits. Translation, volume
doesn't equal priority.
It's not about how manyvulnerabilities you patch. It's
about which ones are likely tobe exploited. Douglas McKee,
SonicWall's executive directorof Threat Research, put it
plainly. He said patching aloneisn't enough. He emphasized that
(15:05):
organizations need a, quote,smarter, faster approach, one
that layers protections andaligns with how attackers
actually operate today.
That means detecting andstopping privilege escalation
attempts, neutralizing malwarehidden in office docs. Yes.
Still a thing. Blocking exploitsbefore they reach end users,
(15:26):
integrating protections acrossendpoints, email, and network
infrastructure. So what's thetakeaway for our health care
leaders?
Don't just rely on CVEs orcommon vulnerabilities and
exposures, severity scores, orpatch volumes. Build layered
defenses. Prioritize based onreal world exploitability. And
(15:47):
treat threat intelligence as aliving, breathing necessity, not
a check the box task. In otherwords, don't just patch and then
throw salt over your monitorwhile whispering, please don't
crash three times.
It's time to patch and prepare.And that's a wrap for me today,
Daniel. Back to you.
Daniel Williams (16:05):
Alright. And that is gonna do it for this
episode of MGMA's Weekend ReviewPodcast. We say it every week,
but thank you so much for beingMGMA podcast listeners, and
please send us a note. I'll putour emails in the episode show
notes. Send us a note and let usknow if you have a story you
want us to share or if you wantto appear on an MGMA podcast.
(16:28):
Until then, have a greatweekend.
Colleen Luckett (16:31):
Bye, everyone. See you next time.
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