‘We’re hemorrhaging money’: US health clinics try to stay open after unprecedented cyberattack

For more than two weeks, a cyberattack has disrupted business at health care providers across the US, forcing small clinics to scramble to stay in business and exposing the fragility of the billing system that underpins American health care.

For more than two weeks, a cyberattack has disrupted business at health care providers across the United States, forcing small clinics to scramble to stay in business and exposing the fragility of the billing system that underpins American health care. “We’re hemorrhaging money,” said Catherine Reinheimer, practice manager at the Foot and Ankle Specialty Center in the suburbs of Philadelphia. “This will probably be the last week that we can keep everybody on full-time without having to do something,” she told CNN. The center is considering taking out a loan to keep the lights on. The cyberattack disrupted the computer networks of Change Healthcare, which serves thousands of hospitals, insurers and pharmacies nationwide. It prevented some insurance payments on prescription drugs from processing, leaving many care providers effectively footing the bill without reimbursement. Change Healthcare, part of UnitedHealth, is one of handful of companies that make up the central nervous system of the US health care market. Its services allow doctors to look up patients’ insurance, pharmacies to process prescriptions, and health clinics to submit claims so they can get paid. Health care groups have pleaded with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to offer medical practices a financial lifeline. The department on Tuesday said it was taking extraordinary steps to help get claims processed, but some care providers say it’s not nearly enough. Mel Davies, chief financial officer of Oregon Oncology Specialists, told CNN she is worried that the private clinic that treats 16,000 cancer patients annually could be forced to close if she doesn’t get financial relief soon.