Ascension confirmed Saturday that a May 8 cybersecurity incident was a ransomware attack. But the 19-state health care system said it is making progress in updating systems and has provided separate updates for facilities in each state and the District of Columbia.
Meanwhile, some patients are expressing frustrations about a lack of access to care — and that includes nurses fielding patient calls without being able to provide an answer.
Concerns that protected data may have been breached during the attack were also reflected in three class action lawsuits filed this week.
WHY IT MATTERS
Ascension reported on its website that emergency departments remain open, urgent care centers are operating and patients with upcoming elective surgeries should plan to arrive as scheduled unless otherwise noted.
“As a result of the transition to manual patient documentation systems, patients may experience longer than normal wait times and some delays,” Ascension said in its report. Cybersecurity event update.
The health care system asks patients to bring notes about symptoms — such as printed copies of summaries from previous visits — and a list of current medications, “including prescription numbers or bottles.”
In some states, only certain Ascension Rx pharmacies are operational or functional, such as in Alabama. In other states, health care system pharmacies cannot currently fill prescriptions, including Florida, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
While activities continue – even though longer wait times are expected – Patients and nurses would be frustrated.
Delays in imaging and lab results and non-stop phone calls from patients are just some of the challenges a Wisconsin ER nurse told FOX6 Milwaukee on Tuesday that Ascension staff in Wisconsin are facing.
Connie Smith, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and an Ascension employee, told the local news station that manual processes and lack of access to patient records are particularly challenging in outpatient care and radiology services.
The business affairs manager at TJ Jesky’s Chicago offices, Mark F. DeStefano, confirmed that lawsuits have been filed against the health care system on behalf of Ascension patients in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois, Western District of Texas and Eastern District of Missouri for potential HIPAA violations. No explanation is available at this time.
THE BIG TREND
After the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center alerted hospitals to the Russian-backed ransomware group Black Basta and the American Hospital Association sent a cybersecurity advisory with technical mitigation recommendations to its members about the variant, Ascension confirmed the cybersecurity incident had been triggered. the result of a ransomware attack on May 11.
ON THE RECORD
“Ascension, with the support of leading cybersecurity experts, worked around the clock throughout the weekend to respond to the ransomware incident impacting our systems, a spokesperson said Monday in the healthcare system’s latest update. “We focus on safely restoring systems. We are making progress, but it will take some time before we can function normally again.”
Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.