Question: Regarding the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, much has been written about the billing difficulties but what about the patient data?
Answer: UnitedHealth Group, Change Healthcare’s parent company, has said little about this aspect of the Feb. 21 ransomware hack, which paralyzed an electronic payment network that handles 1 in 3 U.S. patient records. As of Wednesday, to the question of whether patient health information was compromised, the company was still saying on its website that “our privacy office and security information teams are actively engaged and working to understand the impact to members, patients and customers.” See more at unitedhealthgroup.com.
Other readers have asked about the scope of the crisis in Hawaii, which nationally, Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, has described “as the most significant and consequential incident of its kind against the U.S. health care system in history.” The AHA posts updates at aha.org.
Hawaii associations of physicians or hospitals are gathering information from and for their members to help keep them in the loop, including about actions the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has taken to ease the processing of Medicare and Medicaid claims.
The Hawaii Medical Association, composed of doctors, residents and medical students, directs its members to the national American Medical Association website for the latest information, linked from ama-assn.org, and says members can email information about how the Change Healthcare cyberattack is affecting them to ama. advocacy@ama-assn.org. “Advocacy staff will use the information in our discussions with the Biden administration as well as UnitedHealth Group,” HMA’s notice says.
The Healthcare Association of Hawaii, which includes acute-care hospitals, public and private skilled nursing facilities, type II adult residential care homes, Medicare-certified home health agencies, hospices, assisted living facilities, durable medical equipment suppliers and home infusion/pharmacies, could not immediately estimate the number of affected members, although there are some.
“Healthcare organizations across the state who are impacted, are working to ensure that patient care is not compromised, as UnitedHealthcare, Optum and Change Healthcare work to resolve this situation. In addition to the impact on retail pharmacies, the cyberattack is having an impact on hospitals and other healthcare organizations because it is impacting the ability of these organizations to bill payers for care provided to patients. If healthcare providers cannot bill, their ability to receive payments from insurers is compromised. For larger healthcare organizations with cash reserves, they can continue to meet payroll and pay for pharmaceuticals, supplies and utilities. However, smaller organizations may not have sufficient cash reserves and they may have to defer payment to vendors and suppliers. While UnitedHealthcare has offered to provide cash advances to healthcare providers, there is not a lot of clarity about the process, the amount of payments available, and the reconciliation process that needs to be gone through once all systems are hopefully restored,” Hilton Raethel, HAH president and CEO, said in an email Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, as of late Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Health reported no ill effects on its operations.
“Currently, DOH’s services have not been impacted, and the department has not been notified of any vaccine service disruptions from vaccine providers enrolled with the state. DOH defers to health plans regarding their status on claims processing and payment for pharmacy and other health care services,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble said in an email.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
