62
HEALTHCARE
NEWS
62
ADVERTISINGINDEX
Note: Ad page number(s) given in parentheses
Baxter. baxter.com / (888) 229-0001 (pg. 32)
Cardinal Health. cardinalhealth.com/labkittingservices (pgs. 3, 63)
CareCredit. carecredit.com/beckers / (844) 365-3207 (pg. 64)
Healthmark. hmark.com / (800) 521-6224 (pg. 28)
Innomed. info@innomed.net / innomed.net / (800) 548-2362 (pg. 54)
Innovative Medical Products. impmedical.com / (800) 467-4944 (pg. 59)
Innovative Sterilization Technologies. thetotalsolutionsystem.com / (937) 619-0138 (pgs. 10-13)
J.H. Winokur, Inc. jonvick@vick-company.com / jasonw@jhwinokur.com / jhwinokur.com (pg. 48)
MedEvolve. info@medevolve.com / medevolve.com / (800) 964-5129 (pg. 7)
Medvanta. medvanta.com / (301) 291-5095 (pg. 50)
nimble solutions. nimblercm.com / (877) 236-5245 (pgs. 24-25)
Olympus. medical.olympusamerica.com/ambulatory-surgical-centers / (800) 401-1086 (pgs. 37-40)
ProAssurance. proassurance.com / (800) 282-6242 (pg. 44)
Smith+Nephew. smith-nephew.com/asc / (978) 749-1000 (pg. 5)
Stryker. stryker.com/asc (pg. 2)
Surgical Notes. surgicalnotes.com / (800) 459-5616 (pgs. 17-20)
Unify Medical. unifymedical.com (pg. 35)
Wexler Healthcare Properties. healthcare-properties.com / (212) 836-1075 (pg. 56)
How the Change Healthcare hack affected patient care
By Giles Bruce
W
hile the financial impacts of the Change Healthcare hack
have gotten a lot of attention, the cyberattack has also
harmed patients, health system leaders say.
"It has and continues to interrupt patient care," said Scott MacLean,
board chair for the College of Healthcare Information Management
Executives and CIO of Columbia, Md.-based MedStar Health, at an
April 16 congressional hearing on the ransomware attack.
He gave some examples: "patients being unable to get their
prescriptions filled, being forced to pay out-of-pocket prices; patients
with complex conditions and costly medications like chemotherapy
therapy treatments searching for a way to pay for their medications;
and the inability of patients to use medication coupons."
CHIME surveyed its membership, which includes health system
CIOs and other senior IT leaders: "On a scale of 1-5, how much of an
impact did the Change cyber incident have on any patient care?" Mr.
MacLean testified. e results:
— Somewhat impacted: 40%
— Moderately impacted: 25%
— Very significantly impacted: 15%
— No impact: 13%
— Extremely impacted: 5%
"ese responses underscore the complex consequences of the
incident, ranging from minor disruptions to critical delays and
impact on patient care," Mr. MacLean said at the hearing. "Because
patient care is at the heart of each of our members' core mission, even
one member reporting that this incident impacted patient care is
unacceptable."
To protect patients from cyberattacks in the future, he suggested
Congress increase cybersecurity funding for small and underresourced
health systems, provide financial support to implement HHS' cyber
performance goals, and ensure payers and third-party vendors share
liability with healthcare providers aer breaches. n
