The BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware attack on Change Healthcare’s systems continues. At this point, the Optum systems website doesn’t show anything other than a chronological trail of updates and a long list in very small gray type of Change Healthcare systems affected–no more individual checks on working systems and red Xs on the ones that weren’t. UnitedHealth Group is setting up a program to loan funds, the “Temporary Funding Assistance Program,” to providers who cannot receive payments while Change systems are down. While without fees or interest, the loans will have to be repaid. In a Tuesday 27 Feb conference call with... Continue Reading
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BlackCat is back, claims theft of 6TB of Change Healthcare data
...procedures to avoid the Change Healthcare issues. While this cybertheft appears breathtaking in its scope and perfect revenge as a “dish best eaten cold” for the December takedown of their websites, the amount and type of data in the exploit may be exaggerated for purposes of negotiating a rich settlement. As of today, BlackCat has not offered a number for ransom. This theft may be worth far more in selling the data to other cybercriminals in Russia, Eastern Europe, and China than demanding a ransom from UHG/Optum, which may decide to rebuild systems rather than pay up [TTA 27 Feb].... Continue Reading
Breaking: VillageMD exiting Illinois clinics–in its home state–as closures top 80 locations
VillageMD to cut six locations in the Chicago area–five standalone, one attached to a Walgreens store. The clinics will close on 19 April. The irony is that VillageMD is headquartered in Chicago. In October, Walgreens announced that 60 Village Medical clinics would close. The Florida closings announced last week were in two phases, 14 and 38, a total of 52. With Illinois, the total would be 58. However, Crain’s Chicago Business stated late on Wednesday in its article that 12 Massachusetts locations closed in February. Last month, three locations in New Hampshire and all 12 Indiana clinics closed, bringing the... Continue Reading
Roundup: Walgreens’ new chief legal officer; Digital Health Collaborative launched; fundings/M&A defrosting for b.well, R1 RCM, Abridge, Reveleer; Veradigm likely delists, buys ScienceIO–mystery? (updated)
Walgreens’ CEO Wentworth’s final add to Executive Committee named. Lanesha Minnix was announced on Monday as the company’s new global chief legal officer and EVP, effective 15 April. She comes from being general counsel and corporate secretary for Ecolab, a Fortune 500 water, hygiene and infection prevention company. As chief legal officer, she will oversee Walgreens’ global legal, compliance, corporate governance and corporate security functions. Ms. Minnix succeeds Danielle Gray, who left in January to “pursue an external opportunity” (Reuters). Yahoo Finance from PR Newswire A new organization to ‘advance digital health adoption’ launched last week. The Digital Health Collaborative,... Continue Reading
Change Healthcare cyberattack persists–is the BlackCat gang back and using LockBit malware? BlackCat taking credit. (update 28 Feb #2)
...adding insult, not even under a new name. Bleeping Computer today reported that BlackCat’s hack went through a critical ConnectWise ScreenConnect auth bypass flaw (CVE-2024-1708 and 1709) which was actively exploited in attacks to deploy ransomware on unpatched servers. This was confirmed by Reuters and Health-ISAC, a healthcare-focused organization engaged in cyber best practices and threat intelligence, via the American Hospital Association’s AHA Cybersecurity Advisory today (26 Feb). AHA is advising healthcare organizations to actively reevaluate their connection or disconnection status of Change Healthcare systems which have been deemed safe by Optum. As of today, BlackCat did not claim credit... Continue Reading
Weekend reading: AI cybersecurity tools no panacea, reality v. illusion in healthcare AI, RPM in transitioning to hospital-at-home, Korean study on older adult health tech usage
A potpourri of current articles. Hope you don’t feel like Pepper the Robot after you read them! AI won’t boost cybersecurity, that’s cutting corners (Cybernews) AI tools that make cybersecurity more effective and faster in response are increasingly available. They are estimated in a Techopedia article rounding up multiple studies to be a global market of over $133 billion by 2030. IBM claims that organizations with AI cybersecurity took 100 days less to identify and contain data breaches. Yet AI can also leave organizations more vulnerable to cyberattack. Hackers and ransomwareistes have been using AI for years in phishing and... Continue Reading
Breaking: Walgreens’ VillageMD shutting in Florida; Change Healthcare system websites cyberattacked (updated 23 Feb)
...Reuters Update 23 Feb: Further corroboration in Fox Business on the above and continuing effects on pharmacies. Tricare, which covers active and retired military, stated on its website in a news release that this is impacting all military pharmacies worldwide. “Military clinics and hospitals will provide outpatient prescriptions through a manual procedure” until the ongoing cyberattack against Change Healthcare “is resolved.” In more unwelcome news that this cyberattack is ongoing, the American Hospital Association (AHA) is formally advising healthcare facilities to not only disconnect from Change/Optum, but also check their own IT for vulnerabilities. AHA notice. Also WSJ (not paywalled)... Continue Reading
Mid-week roundup: Cotiviti’s $10.5B stake to KKR; Cigna buys back $3.2B shares; VA Oracle Cerner faulty med records; LockBit ransomware websites cold-busted at every level, principals indicted; Trualta partners with PointClickCare
...California. According to Europol, “Two LockBit actors have been arrested in Poland and Ukraine at the request of the French judicial authorities. The French and US judicial authorities have also issued three international arrest warrants and five indictments.” LockBit’s ‘heart’ is of course in Russia, where nearly all cybercrime is located–they are free to operate there as long as they don’t target anything in RU. Cybernews Trualta partners with PointClickCare for family caregiver education and support. PointClickCare is a leading EHR for long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) providers. Trualta provides educational resources to support family caregivers when a patient is... Continue Reading
Teladoc closes 2023 with improved $220M loss, but weak forecast for 2024 leads to stock skid
A falling tide sinks most boats. If you were riding the telehealth pandemic tide, as Amwell [TTA 15 Feb] and Teladoc did, these last two years were the worst kind of shock. Teladoc’s 2022 was an annus horribilis–the Livongo acquisition went $6.6 billion worth of sideways [TTA 3 Feb 23], wiping out their 2022 with writedowns culminating in a $13.7 billion annual loss. Their 2023 was a lot better, beating analysts’ estimates, but forecast growth is slowing to a crawl. Q4 revenue was up 4% to $661 million, powered by a 15% gain in international revenue of $96 million and... Continue Reading
Telemental news roundup: Brightside Health expands Medicaid/Medicare partners; Blackbird Health gains $17M Series A; Nema Health’s PTSD partnership with Horizon BCBSNJ
...Wellcare Medicare Advantage. Optum for UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members Lucet for Florida Blue members Under traditional Medicare, coverage now includes Texas, California, Delaware, Arizona, New York, Washington, Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, and Illinois. Beneficiaries and members can access Brightside’s virtual psychiatric therapy including medication, plus cognitive and behavioral therapy with independent skill practice, and Crisis Care, Brightside’s program for those with elevated suicide risk. With the new partnerships, Brightside is now estimating that they cover approximately 100 million lives–one in three US covered lives–and is seeking to further expand these partnerships as well as to traditional (original) Medicare Part B... Continue Reading
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