Home Health & Hospice Week

Take these steps to ward off HIPAA disaster.

Many lucky home health and hospice providers aren’t seeing much fallout from the cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare division. But they should still be paying close attention.

For example: Clients of FORVIS “have only seen minor impacts so far, such as delayed remittance advices,” reports FORVIS’ M. Aaron Little. The consulting and advisory firm offers billing and revenue cycle services.

“Our typical client doesn’t necessarily submit claims directly through Change Healthcare, but rather through another clearinghouse — such as Waystar, Availity, etc.,” Little tells AAPC. “In turn, that clearinghouse may submit claims to Change Healthcare because some payers require claims to go through Change Healthcare, even if billed through another clearinghouse,” the billing expert explains.

But providers should keep in mind that this will be far from the last cyberattack in the healthcare arena, says accounting and advisory firm Dean Dorton, which merged with VonLehman & Co. as of Jan. 1. This attack has “implications for everyone, suggesting that the future of healthcare cybersecurity will be even more difficult and destructive than in the past,” the firm cautions in online analysis.

UnitedHealth has reportedly paid a $22 million ransom in the incident. “Since these criminals just secured an eight-figure payout by putting pressure on a healthcare organization, expect to see a wave of copycat attacks, and no one is exempt,” Dean Dorton warns. “More aggressive cyberattacks in higher volumes will be a source of stress for the entire industry.”

Do this: Investing in cybersecurity infrastructure, conducting regular security audits and risk assessments, and implementing ongoing cybersecurity training programs for all employees will help you protect your systems, advises the firm with offices in Kentucky and North Carolina.