A letter to our patients.
On Feb. 21, 2024, Change Healthcare disclosed that it had been impacted by a cyberattack and therefore shut down operations completely.
"Change Healthcare, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group, manages health care technology pipelines connected to tasks such as processing insurance claims and billing, reportedly handling 15 billion transactions annually. "(usnews.com)
"The Change Healthcare platform helps healthcare providers with claims processing and payments as well as integrating a system for appeals management from claimants for denied claims. The Change Healthcare Platform is one of the largest health information exchange (HIE) platforms in the U.S. The company manages 15 billion claims a year, totaling over $1.5 trillion." (techtarget.com)
Too big to fail, but it has.
An organization called “BlackCat/ALPHV” claimed responsibility for this attack and demanded money to return services online. This type of cyberthreat is known as a ransomware attack, a type of malware that encrypts data on the victim's systems, making it inaccessible until a ransom is paid. Change Health reportedly paid the 24-million-dollar ransom within the first week of the shutdown but DID NOT RESTORE SERVICES.
"The impact of the Change Healthcare cyberattack has been devastating for the healthcare industry and hundreds of millions of Americans who rely on services powered by victimized providers. Hospitals and doctors are losing over a billion dollars a day" because there are no payments coming in to your providers from Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurers! Since 2/21/2024!!!
"Among those who have been affected by the Change Healthcare attack are millions of Americans who use Change Healthcare's platform either directly or indirectly. More than half of all patients in our country were affected. Change Healthcare often serves as a “backend services provider” for various healthcare insurance providers in the U.S.
Physicians and hospitals are impacted in their ability to bill, manage and issue prescriptions and healthcare procedures.
Pharmacies are unable to get information and properly fill prescriptions.
More than half of all patients in our country are affected. Individuals who are looking to make health claims as well as fill prescriptions have been affected by the breach." (techtarget.com)
This CRISIS made headlines in late February, but mysteriously disappeared from the news as quickly as it appeared despite the scope of the data breach disaster.
It is like not reporting that LA or NYC was hit by a Tsunami and therefore sending no aid.
How does this affect a DOCS! or Kids! patient?
Like the majority of hospitals and doctors’ offices in the US, DOCS has not been able to connect to any of your insurance companies through normal means since 2-21-24. The staff has gone to extraordinary measures to process claims to your insurer through a very tedious manual process. Because of the hard work of our stellar staff, we believe we are doing better than other doctors office affected by this crime, but it is a laborious project that is far from ideal.
Like the majority of hospitals and doctors’ offices in the US, DOCS is receiving minimal assistance from our government.
We ask that if you receive an erroneous bill or something that does not seem correct on your account, please do not be alarmed. PLEASE message Ellen Sherman, Head of Billing, in the portal.
Please do not call the front desk. Ellen, Dr. Teekell-Taylor and the staff will work diligently to resolve the issue for you, but remember, we are flying blind for the time being and cannot predict when this will all go back to “normal.”
We wanted all of you to know that we are pedaling as fast as we possibly can. We respectfully ask for your understanding and patience during this immensely difficult time. We have no control over how fast or slow Change Healthcare proceeds with fully restoring service to this country. We do not know when we will be back in real time connectivity with your insurance companies.
Sincerely,
Dr. Leah Teekell-Taylor and Dr. Garner