MEMPHIS, Tenn. – If you've been having trouble getting your prescriptions because of last week's cyberattack, the end may finally be in sight.
Change Healthcare said it had found a solution.
The company announced that it has launched a new prescription prescription service in hopes of solving this problem.
“It's been an absolute nightmare,” said Michelle Zulu, chief operating officer of Good Shepherd Pharmacy in Memphis.
It's been a trying week for pharmacists like Zulu. She's looking for ways to get medicine to patients after a cyberattack from Change Healthcare targeted her network.
“It's hard to explain to a patient who just received really bad news and needs to get their medication right away that it's going to cost them $800 versus a $20 co-pay,” she says.
Change Healthcare processes orders and patient payments.
The company said it first became aware of the issue on February 21st and confirmed it was a ransomware attack.
The attack disrupted services that directly impact patient care, such as eligibility verification and pharmacy payments.
Nine days later, the company announced it had launched a new script routing service that it hopes will solve the problem.
“What I'm reminded of is that the healthcare industry is being targeted,” said Melanie Suria, owner and founder of Memphis Computer Support. “Cyberattacks are on the rise in the healthcare industry, in fact twice as many as in the financial industry,” she said.
Cybersecurity experts like Suria said patient information could still be at risk even with the service.
“Probably one in three people is actually affected by this, because this is the biggest healthcare crisis we've ever seen in a cybersecurity incident,” she said.
FOX13 has asked Walgreens and CVS for statements regarding the cyberattack.
Walgreens said the majority of its prescriptions are not affected, but it has procedures in place to continue processing and dispensing affected prescriptions.
CVS said the network disruption impacted some operations, but it also had plans in place to minimize service disruptions.
Change Healthcare says the new service is currently live for all customers, but you can contact them if you have any issues.
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