By NextBestFitCyberattacks can halt payments and care
The 2024 Change Healthcare ransomware attack disrupted claims nationwide for weeks and exposed data on a large share of Americans.
Who's affected
Who is hurt
- Hospitals, clinics, and care organizations: Cyberattacks disrupt claims and leave providers unpaid.
- People with employer coverage: Cyberattacks expose personal health data.
- Uninsured people: Cyberattacks expose personal health data.
- People with unaffordable deductibles or coinsurance: Cyberattacks expose personal health data.
Who gains while it lasts
- Fraudulent operators and cybercriminals: Attackers profit from ransomware attacks on health systems.
Under your mix of paths
Paths that create or worsen it
Paths that fix or soften it
Using your saved plan. 0 paths picked.Edit all picks
Root causes
- Concentration of clearinghouses
- Weak security baselines
Related costs
Open questions
- How much redundancy and security should be required, and who pays?
Caused or worsened by these paths
This problem only matters if one of these paths is chosen.
One claims system and standard rulesAbout $1 trillion a year in administrative costChosen
Concentrating claims in a single system makes that system a target for cyberattacks.
National health record and patient IDRecords don't follow patientsChosen
A national patient record places information in a large database with security risks.
Solution paths (2)
Open a path for what it fixes, what it creates or worsens, who gains and who loses, precedents, and how it connects to other paths. See all paths as a decision tree.
Minimum security rules, and backup payment for providers during outages.
- +Cyberattacks can halt payments and care
- −Adds paperwork, coordination, or complexity
- −Directs benefits or burdens imperfectly
Run the claims system on redundant public infrastructure with offline fallback.
- +Cyberattacks can halt payments and care
- −Raises spending or loosens control over it