Cyberattack costing hospitals millions

A cyberattack on payments processor Change Healthcare last month is costing the state’s hospitals tens of millions of dollars every day, according to a new survey from the Massachusetts Hospital & Healthcare Association. The hospital association on Monday said 12 hospitals and health systems together told the group that the disruption from the Change cyberattack is collectively causing them about $24 million in reimbursement losses each day. For many physician practices and hospitals, the trade group said, the cash shortfalls may mean the medical providers will be unable to cover their payrolls without loan or bridge payments, at a time when most hospitals in the state are experiencing negative operating margins. With regard to the attack on Change, a unit of UnitedHealth Group, about 75 percent of the MHA respondents reported disruptions related to claims processing, pharmacy services, and the ability to obtain patient data. UnitedHealth has offered workarounds as well as a temporary funding assistance program that the hospital industry says is insufficient. Last Thursday, UnitedHealth said it hopes to have its payment platform network and its medical claims network operational again by March 15 and March 18, respectively. “We’ve heard from members that it’s truly shocking how quickly this problem cascaded, and that it hits especially hard on top of the ongoing capacity, workforce, and financial challenges hospitals already are facing,” MHA’s senior director of managed care Karen Granoff said. — JON CHESTO