On this photo illustration the UnitedHealth Group logo displayed on a smartphone screen.
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UnitedHealth Group on Thursday said it expects to revive Change Healthcare’s systems by mid-March, offering a possible resolution to the ransomware attack that has disrupted crucial operations across the U.S. health-care system.
The corporate discovered that a cyber threat actor breached a part of the Change Healthcare’s information technology network on Feb. 21, in keeping with a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
UnitedHealth isolated and disconnected the impacted systems “immediately upon detection” of the threat, the filing said, but doing so interrupted pharmacy services, payment platforms and medical claims processes.
UnitedHealth said in a release Thursday that electronic prescribing is “now fully functional,” and payment transmission and claim submissions are currently available. The corporate said it expects electronic payment functionality to be restored by March 15, and it should begin to test connectivity with its claims network and software on March 18.
There may be “no indication” that another UnitedHealth systems were compromised within the attack, the corporate said in the discharge.
“We’re committed to providing relief for people affected by this malicious attack on the U.S. health system,” UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty said in the discharge.
On Friday, UnitedHealth announced a short lived funding assistance program to assist health-care providers which are experiencing money flow problems because of this of the attack. The corporate said Thursday it’s providing “further funding solutions” for providers, which is able to mean “advancing funds each week.”
UnitedHealth said it recognizes that this system doesn’t meet the needs of each provider, so it’s expanding this system to incorporate those ” who’ve exhausted all available connection options, and who work with a payer who has opted to not advance funds to providers through the period when Change Healthcare systems remain down,” in keeping with the discharge.
UnitedHealth said the advances won’t should be repaid until claims flows are back to normal.
In late February, Change Healthcare said that ransomware group Blackcat was behind the cybersecurity attack. Blackcat, also called Noberus and ALPHV, steals sensitive data from institutions and threatens to publish it unless a ransom is paid, in keeping with a December release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Ransomware attacks might be particularly dangerous inside the health-care sector, as they could cause immediate harm to patients’ safety when life-saving systems go dark. UnitedHealth didn’t specify in the discharge what kind of knowledge was compromised within the attack or confirm whether the corporate has paid a ransom to bring its systems back online.
