Dental organizations and other healthcare companies are still dealing with the aftermath of a cyberattack on Change Healthcare that began Feb. 21.
The cyberattack is affecting dental, medical and pharmaceutical companies, including dentists' abilities to process claims, the ADA said Feb. 27.
Here are eight updates on the cyberattack:
1. Several dental companies have made changes to their claims processing to continue helping customers.
2. Change Healthcare stated that it expects to have its key system functionalities restored by mid-March following. However, the American Hospital Association said it will take several weeks, if not months, before healthcare providers can fully recover from the cyberattack.
3. The American Medical Association said physician practices will face "significant financial disruptions" after Change Healthcare shared that certain key functionalities will not be tested or fixed until March 18.
4. The Department of Homeland Security issued a new warning to healthcare institutions, alerting them to increasing threats on both digital and physical fronts. The agency warned organizations to look out for "malicious cyber actors [that] target the Healthcare and Public Health Sector for financial gain, cyber espionage purposes or ideological reasons."
5. At least five federal lawsuits have been filed this month against the healthcare claims and payment processing company, court records show. The complaints include three in Tennessee and two in Minnesota from individual patients seeking class-action status.
6. HHS said March 5 it would help accelerate payments to hospitals affected by the Change Healthcare cyberattack and institute other workarounds for providers.
7. The cybercriminal organization responsible for hacking Change Healthcare has received a multimillion dollar payment in bitcoins.
8. Will Weider, CIO and senior vice president of Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus Health, shared five thoughts on LinkedIn Feb. 29 about the cyberattack, saying, "Whatever you planned to spend to improve cybersecurity, double it."