Lurie Children’s has resumed email communications after a cyberattack
In an announcement on the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital website, incoming and outgoing email to and from external email addresses have been restored, as have most phone lines after the hospital, part of Northwestern University, disconnected the service. shutting down its communications systems after a cyber security issue.
WHY IT MATTERS
Lurie Children’s, which said it was the victim of a “known criminal threat actor,” took its MyChart patient portal and other communications and IT systems offline on Jan. 31, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
“We have done this in an effort to protect the information of our patients, staff and the organization at large,” said Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, the chief doctor, at a hospital press conference, according to the story.
Patients awaiting procedures and appointments at all Lurie Children’s locations are still scheduled and seen unless their provider contacts them directly to reschedule, the hospital said in a new statement on its website Thursday afternoon.
The children’s hospital also noted that downtime procedures are being used.
“As MyChart remains offline for the time being, the call center remains the best way for patient families to reach providers and service lines.”
Despite continued activities, the Sun times reported this on Monday The disruption can be felt outside the hospital.
Some pediatricians are sending urgent patients elsewhere because of the communication breakdown, while some practices are reporting on social media that they cannot access billing associated with the hospital.
“If you receive a busy signal, please try calling us back due to high volumes,” Lurie Children’s said.
THE BIG TREND
The increasing ransomware attacks are resulting in the shutdown of hospitals’ computer networks and denying physicians access to patient information, which can take three to four weeks.
“We’ve learned some hard lessons,” said John Riggi, cyber risk advisor for the American Hospital Association, at the HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum in September.
The loss of diagnostics, PACS systems and other IT infrastructure ultimately impacts the delivery of patient care – and hospitals must be ready, he said.
“Business continuity is not the same as clinical continuity, and we must be prepared to continue operations for up to four weeks,” Riggi said.
ON THE RECORD
“As an academic medical center, our systems are very complex, and these incidents may take some time to resolve,” Lurie Children’s said in its latest statement. “The restoration of our network systems is ongoing and progressing. We are grateful to our staff for their continued efforts as we bring our systems back online and for the support and patience of our patient families, community providers and the community at large.”
Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.