Pharmacies across the United States are grappling with disruptions due to an ongoing cyberattack targeting Change Healthcare — a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group and one of the nation’s largest commercial prescription processors. The attack has hindered pharmacies’ ability to process prescriptions for patients.
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UnitedHealth has attributed the cyberattack to suspected government-backed hackers, although the company has not disclosed the suspected nation. In response to the attack, UnitedHealth took its online systems offline to safeguard patient information, and it claims to have contained the impact.
“The company is working diligently to restore those systems and resume normal operations as soon as possible, but cannot estimate the duration or extent of the disruption at this time,” UnitedHealth Group Inc. stated in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition to some retail pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens, the cyberattack is also affecting military clinics and hospitals worldwide.
Straight Arrow News confirmed that online prescription services at three major Veterans Affairs medical centers and the 55th Medical Group at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska remain disrupted.
To mitigate the impact, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) has indicated that affected clinics and hospitals will manually process outpatient prescriptions until the issue is resolved.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is advising health care providers to disconnect from Change Healthcare and to examine their own systems for any signs of the attack. The AHA is coordinating with the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in response to the situation.
The outages have led to prescription delays for patients at affected retail pharmacies. TRICARE, the health program for military personnel, is prioritizing urgent prescriptions at its pharmacies to address the issue.
