Community Health Centers are experiencing disruptions as a result of the recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a health care technology company that is part of Optum and owned by UnitedHealth Group. This page shares resources for health centers.
NACHC has met with Change Healthcare and is participating in ongoing incident response calls hosted by its parent company, United Health Group (UHG), regarding the breach. View our FAQs (frequently asked questions) for details.
NACHC encourages health centers to continue to work through the process set up by UHG but welcomes ongoing feedback or requests for assistance from health centers to aid in this process.
Resources – Updated 4/5/24
- NEW – The Impact of the Change Healthcare Security Breach on Health Centers (4/26)
- NACHC Blog: Update on Community Health Centers and the Change Hack (3/26)
- Payment Assistance: Find details about payment assistance by MCOs, broken down by state (3/18)
- Change Healthcare Security Breach: Frequently Asked Questions for Health Centers (3/13)
- Readout of Biden-Harris Administration Convening with Health Care Community Concerning Cyberattack on Change Healthcare (3/12)
- NACHC Letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on the Impact of the Change Healthcare Cyberattack (3/11)
- Statement from the Department of Health and Human Services (3/5)
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI, and the Department of Health and Human resources have released an update to the joint advisory #StopRansomware: ALPHV Blackcat. (2/27)
- NACHC Data Security Resources
- Health Center Resources Clearinghouse on Cybersecurity and Breach Defense
PLEASE NOTE: Sign up for Noddlepod – a temporary group developed as an open discussion forum and repository for additional resources relative to the UHG/Change Healthcare Cyber Incident.
Community Health Centers are experiencing disruptions as a result of the recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a health care technology company that is part of Optum and owned by UnitedHealth Group. The cybersecurity attack on Change Healthcare has extensively impacted clearinghouses, applications, claims processing, prescriptions, and labs. As this is a developing situation, NACHC is fielding reports from Community Health Centers, Primary Care Associations, and Health Center Controlled Networks regarding the impact on the field, which include:
- Cash flow challenges due to unpaid or unprocessed claims.
- Extra charges resulting from health centers being switched to another application.
- Extra staff time spent implementing workarounds for securing reimbursement.
- Difficulties meeting the narrow loan program criteria available through United Health Care.
- Electronic Health Record limitations that make it difficult to switch to another system.
If your health center is experiencing challenges related to the cyberattack, we would like to hear from you. Please fill out this form so we can better understand how you and your organization have been impacted.
NACHC staff contacts:
Vacheria Keys, AVP, Policy and Regulatory Affairs
Julia Skapik, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer, Clinical Care and Quality
What NACHC is Doing to Assist
NACHC is also in contact with our partners at the Bureau of Primary Health Care on resources and support for affected Community Health Centers and is in the process of outreach to HHS for further support for affected health centers.
NACHC will continue to coordinate with UHG and Change Healthcare in their response to the incident and will assist health centers in finding answers to questions and solutions to unaddressed problems. Please fill out this form to reach out to NACHC on this issue.
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NACHC is the leading innovative change agent collaborating with affiliates and partners to advance Community Health Centers as the foundation of an equitable health care system free from disparities, and built on accessible, patient-governed, high-quality, integrated primary care.