News 4/24/24

Top News

Sources say that members of the BlackCat ransomware group broke into Change Healthcare’s systems nine days before initiating the February 21 ransomware attack, using stolen employee credentials to log in to a remote network access application. They also confirm that parent company UnitedHealth made a ransomware payment to the group, a fact that the company has since substantiated, though it hasn’t specified the amount. Reports over the last several weeks have put that payment at $22 million.

UnitedHealth Group, meanwhile, issues its own update on the ransomware attack. The highlights:

• An ongoing data review determines that files containing the PHI or PII of a “substantial proportion” of American consumers were stolen.
• The company expects it will take several more months before it is able to fully identify and begin notifying impacted customers and individuals.
• It has set up a website and call center to begin helping those impacted by the breach.
• Publication of stolen data by bad actors seems to have been limited to 22 screen shots of files that were posted to the dark web for about a week.
• Pharmacy services, medical claims, and payment processing are back to nearly pre-incident processing levels.
• Eighty percent of Change Healthcare’s functionality has been restored, with remaining services expected to come back online in the coming weeks.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Lumeris, a tech-enabled population health management company, raises $100 million in a funding round led by Deerfield Management. Lumeris also operates a Medicare Advantage plan through its Essence Healthcare business, which Oracle Health (then Cerner) invested heavily in back in 2018.

Sales

• Community Health Network (IN) selects care-at-home technology from Biofourmis.
• Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in Puerto Rico will implement Oracle Health’s EHR and patient accounting software.

People

Availity names Sean Barrett (R1 RCM) chief product officer.

Laurie McGraw (McGraw Advisory) joins Transcarent as EVP.

Announcements and Implementations

WakeMed (NC) goes live on Agfa HealthCare’s Enterprise Imaging Platform.

PriMale Health (TX) implements EHR and patient engagement technology from EClinicalWorks, and AI medical scribe software from Sunoh.ai.

Government and Politics

The VA reassures the public that the Change Healthcare ransomware attack did not result in harm to its patients, though it did delay the filling of prescriptions, most of them refills, for 40,000 veterans. The department’s IT team did have to develop workarounds to deal with issues related to CommonWell connectivity, access to clearinghouse services for its Community Care Network claims, inbound prescription orders, and configuring medical imaging storage and retrieval systems. 

The HHS Office of Civil Rights launches a web page featuring frequently asked data breach questions about the Change Healthcare ransomware attack.

Sponsor Updates

• Revuud adds its new AI Matching Algorithm to its IT talent acquisition technology.
• Bamboo Health will exhibit at the California Medical Association HIT Summit May 7-8 in San Francisco.
• The Alliance of Women in Workers’ Compensation names Bardavon SVP of Client Experience and Network Expansion Saray Meyer an ambassador of its Northeast Florida chapter.
• AvaSure, Care.ai, EVisit will exhibit at ATA Nexus 2024 May 5-7 in Phoenix.
• Clinical Architecture releases a new episode of The Informonster Podcast, “Data Quality in Healthcare: Inside the Patient Information Quality Improvement (PIQI) Framework.”
• CloudWave will present at the HealthTech Community Hospital Leadership Conference May 5-8 in Nashville.
• Canyonville Health and Urgent Care (OR) expands to chronic care management services using EHR technology from EClinicalWorks and AI medical scribe software from Sunoh.ai.

Blog Posts

• Live Event Day 1: Agfa HealthCare demonstrates steadfast commitment and engagement to industry at the KLAS Summit in Utah. (Agfa HealthCare)
• 5 Trends in Healthcare Delivery and Revenue Cycle Management (AGS Health)
• What do we need from technology to improve patient flow? A frontline clinician’s perspective (Altera Digital Health)
• How interoperability streamlines CMS reporting (Arcadia)
• SATRE: Standardised Architecture for Trusted Research Environments – Supporting Capabilities (Aridhia)
• Navigating Governance in Healthcare Communications: Identifying Existing – or Future – Challenges (Artera)
• 5 Digital Surgical Scheduling Breakthroughs for Better Patient Care (CereCore)
• The Rise of Employer Branding: Building a Talent Magnet in Today’s Competitive Job Market (Direct Recruiters)
• Achieving Digital Maturity with Divurgent’s Assessment Guidance (Divurgent)
• Data Dysfunction: Is Patient Burnout the Next Public Health Crisis? (DrFirst)
• Support Value-based Care with Sunoh.ai (EClinicalWorks)
• Women in Health IT – Lisa Rawlins (Ellkay)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
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