New Electronic Prescription Service Unveiled Amid Cyberattack
Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, has announced the completion of its new electronic prescription service, providing a potential solution for pharmacies and physicians grappling with the aftermath of the recent cyberattack. The cyber threat actor breached part of Change Healthcare’s information technology network on February 21, prompting UnitedHealth to isolate and disconnect the impacted systems upon detection.
Change Healthcare offers tools for payment and revenue cycle management, facilitating transactions between providers and major insurance companies. It also provides electronic prescription software. In an update, the company reported the successful testing of a new version of its “Rx ePrescribing service” with vendors and retail pharmacy partners. The service was made available to all customers starting at 2 p.m. ET on Friday.
However, the existing Clinical Exchange ePrescribing providers’ tools are still not operational. UnitedHealth also launched a website providing information about Change Healthcare’s response to the cyberattack, including the establishment of a temporary funding assistance program to aid providers facing interrupted payment distributions.
The assistance program is fee-free, interest-free, and involves no associated costs, with funds to be repaid when standard operations resume. Providers can check their eligibility through a link on the new website. The program is not intended for providers experiencing disruptions to claims submissions, and manual workarounds are recommended for such cases. UnitedHealth is actively addressing the 15% of claims that cannot be resolved through workarounds.
Late Monday night, UnitedHealth reported that over 90% of the nation’s pharmacies had implemented modified electronic claims processing workarounds, while the remaining establishments had offline processing systems. On Friday, the company stated that its data suggests pharmacy claims are flowing at near-normal levels, offering a positive sign amid the 10 consecutive days of system downtime.
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