El Paso healthcare providers recovering after cyberattack
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Following a cyberattack on Change Healthcare, many healthcare providers across the nation are struggling to keep their businesses open as insurance payments are unable to be processed. That includes some providers in El Paso.
ABC-7 is reaching out to hospitals and health clinics in the Borderland to see how strongly they are feeling the impact of this cyberattack as insurance payments are unable to be processed by Change Healthcare.
Watch ABC-7 tonight to learn more.
The cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a company which is part of the U.S. health care market, has prevented insurance payments on prescription drugs from processing.
Change Healthcare, part of UnitedHealth, offers various services including allowing doctors to look up patients' insurance, giving pharmacies the ability to process prescriptions, and allowing health clinics to submit claims in order to get paid.
Alfredo Arellano, a local psychiatric nurse practitioner, told ABC-7 this current situation is nerve racking for him and his patients since there are those who are having difficulty accessing medication which they rely on.
“We immediately started working with our electronic medical record vendor to look and see what other options are available. But the claim submission reimbursement process is so interconnected with Change Healthcare, it is difficult to pivot from one day to the next and go with another provider. Many providers have signed contracts that all their billing and claim information will be done online. So even if we submit the fax, many insurances are not equipped to handle the inordinate amount of claims via fax. They don't have the resources," said Arellano about trying to find solutions to the problem.
