Change Healthcare has been a silent partner in our operations before now, as it is a healthcare technology company that is a subsidiary of Optum and owned by UnitedHealth Group. This software has been utilized to transfer billing details for insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare claims. This software also allows us to receive payments from insurance companies. Payments from insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid have had to be processed manually since February 21, 2024. This is a very cumbersome and slow process.
Family Health West has continued to adapt to the current circumstances brought about by the cyber attack on Change Healthcare and works tirelessly to uphold our commitment to providing quality medical care to our community. Change Healthcare has notified us the software system will begin processing payments to healthcare facilities on March 18. At this time, we are taking them at their word. Also, we are working directly with our insurance contracts to work through this payment processing problem.
Our mission continues to see patients and heal them. We have not stopped treating patients, nor have we had any delays in treating patients. However, patients may see a delay in processing the insurance portion of their medical visit(s). Our patients may not even realize we’ve experienced this issue. We can still provide medical estimates, accept payments, issue prescriptions, and treat patients with grace and kindness, just like we did yesterday.
If you, as an FHW patient, have concerns about the cyber attack impacting you directly, Change Healthcare has established a website to assist. That website is http://changecybersupport.com/.
