VIDEO: Cybersecurity attacks in health care a ‘patient safety issue for all of us’
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In a Healio video exclusive, Edward V. Loftus Jr., MD, discusses the mounting threat of cyberattacks on health care organizations and how employees are often “the weakest link” in their defense.
In this month’s Healio Exclusive, Healio reported on the aftermath of the Feb. 21st ransomware attack on Change Healthcare that required it to pay $22 million in ransom to regain control of its system.
Following the cyberattack, the American Hospital Association surveyed U.S. hospitals about its impact. Results from the nearly 1,000 responses showed 74% of hospitals said the attack directly affected patient care. This included the inability to file claims, receive payment for care they continued to provide, confirm patient insurance eligibility, submit electronic prescriptions and process electronic prior authorizations.
Another survey from April showed hospitals still felt the ratifications of the attack in claim submission (75%), inability to receive electronic remittance advice (79%) and disruptions in claim payments (85%).
“This is really a patient safety issue for all of us,” Loftus, the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic and chief medical editor of Healio Gastroenterology, said. “An individual employee is often the weakest link for different kinds of social engineering scams and you have to be aware of this. I think organizations are trying to strengthen their cybersecurity training sessions.”
Loftus emphasized that institutions need to be prepared and have a plan in place on how to respond in the event a cyberattack were to occur.
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