From Brew Healthcare, by Quinn Sental:
Change Healthcare, a prominent health tech firm owned by UnitedHealth Group, suffered a cyberattack, disrupting patient payments and prescription processing across the US. The company, part of Optum, handles 15 billion healthcare transactions annually.
The cyberattack was first noticed as disruptions in the company’s applications, later identified as “enterprise-wide connectivity issues”, and eventually confirmed as a cybersecurity issue. In response, Change Healthcare disconnected its systems to prevent further spread.
The incident has affected pharmacies nationwide, preventing them from processing prescription orders. Some pharmacies could accept prescriptions but were unable to process them through patients’ insurance.
Change Healthcare said the disruption is expected to last at least a day and is specific to their systems, with all other UnitedHealth Group systems remaining operational.