Cyberattacks are pummeling doctors, dentists and community hospitals around the U.S., causing some to turn away patients and others to shut down
By Adam Janofsky Oct. 6, 2019 9:00 am ET Andy Fitzgerald, chief executive of a community health system in Wyoming, was visiting his son in Georgia last month when he received a distressing text message from his chief operating officer: Their company had been hit by a cyberattack.
In the days after the attack, the health system, which operates a 90-bed community hospital and other facilities, was forced to cancel services including radiology, endocrinology and respiratory therapy. The organization transferred patients to hospitals as far away as South Dakota and Denver. Cash registers, email and fax were unavailable.
Health organizations are an attractive target for cybercrime thanks to their valuable medical and billing information, said Jennifer Barr, a health-care analyst at Moody’s Corp. The data can be sold for insurance-fraud purposes or it can be locked up and used to extort money from the affected health organization, she said.
Three Alabama hospitals have been operating under emergency procedures since a cyberattack on Oct. 1, spokesman Bradley Fisher said Friday. The hospitals—DCH Regional, Northport and Fayette—are part of the same system and share IT resources. A Wisconsin dentist who asked not to be named said she has been “overwhelmed dealing with the incident [and] there are more repercussions than one might assume.” She declined to give details.
A ransomware incident in August is forcing Wood Ranch Medical in Simi Valley, Calif., to close its doors Dec. 17, according to a note posted on its website.
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