One of the California organizations faced a cyberattack this week which resulted in some services being shut down at affiliated locations and some patients having to rely solely on paper records. The cyberattack disrupted hospital computer systems in several states on Friday, some emergency rooms were closed and ambulances diverted. Most primary care services remained closed, while security experts investigated that the damage was extensive.
It was reported Thursday that a "data security incident" had taken place at Prospect Medical Holdings' facilities in this state as well as in Texas, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. These facilities are owned and operated by Prospect Medical Holdings, based in Los Angeles. Prospect Medical Holdings is based in Connecticut and operates 16 hospitals and more than 165 clinics and outpatient centres across Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Southern California. Prospect Medical spokesperson was unable to provide an estimate regarding when services will resume on Saturday. At the moment, there is no indication of the number of sites affected by this system.
As of now, the company has seven hospitals in California's Los Angeles and Orange counties. Prospect's website says the company has two behavioural health facilities and a 130-bed acute care hospital in Los Angeles.
Connecticut hospitals, including Manchester Memorial, Rockville General and Thornwood Hospital, closed their emergency departments from Thursday morning to evening. Patients were transferred between nearby facilities. Connecticut's FBI has issued a statement stating that it is working with "all the law enforcement agencies in the state as well as the victims' entities" but was unable to go into further detail regarding the investigation in progress.
In addition to elective surgeries and outpatient appointments, blood drives and other services, the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, which operates the facilities, also announced that many primary care services were closed on Friday. While the emergency departments reopened late Thursday, many primary care services were also shut. Upon looking at the website for this network, the website indicates that all patients have been contacted individually.
There were ongoing technical difficulties on Eastern Connecticut Health Network's website on Saturday night, which, among other things, caused the closure of its services like outpatient medical imaging, outpatient blood draw, and others, as it is a part of the Prospect health system. In a report published by the Hartford Courant on Thursday, two hospitals that are part of the network had to divert patients from their emergency rooms.
As hospitals digitize and upgrade their medical records to cloud-based servers, ransomware is becoming a more common form of attack, including attacks on healthcare systems. The American Hospital Association's cybersecurity adviser, John Riggi, said that cyberattacks on hospitals have become increasingly common over the past few years.
It has been reported that Waterbury Hospital, in Waterbury, Conn., has been experiencing disruptions throughout the afternoon and evening. Furthermore, the hospital said some of its outpatient imaging, as well as outpatient surgery services, had been unavailable on Friday and Saturday as well. The company said that it will be using paper records from now on.
On February 24, 2022, One Brooklyn Health, a hospital group that delivers health care to low-income neighbourhoods in New York, was a victim of a cyberattack that forced hospital employees to use paper records to keep track of patient information. The employees at the time of the attack said that they were a little behind on learning the new system, given that most hospitals have been using electronic records since the mid-1990s, and that some diagnostic tests were taking longer to return due to the attack.
NBC reported that commonSpirit Health, which operates over 140 hospitals and more than 700 care sites across the country, was hit by a cyberattack last year, which resulted in cancelled surgeries, cancelled doctor's appointments, and other delays in the delivery of care. In 2020, Russian hackers launched a ransomware attack against United Health Services, which is affiliated with over 400 hospitals, making it one of the largest attacks of its kind in history and one of the largest attacks in the history of cybercrime.
Despite these alarming facts, the incident clearly illustrates the vulnerability of healthcare systems to cyberattacks. Critical services are being disrupted across several states as a result. Due to the need for robust cybersecurity measures being urgently needed, the reliance on paper records is an indication of the need.
As a result of the outbreak of the pandemic, the healthcare sector has been exposed to an increased level of cyber threats. Keeping the data of our patients secure and ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of care in a world that is becoming more interconnected is a vital task of healthcare providers and technology partners working together.
