Cybersecurity in healthcare is a must in the digital age—more so now than ever before. The recent Change Healthcare attack perfectly illustrates the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and why safeguarding private data is so essential.

Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, is one of the largest healthcare payment processing companies in the world. It acts as a clearing house for approximately 15 billion medical claims annually, handling around 40 percent of claims in the U.S. each year.

In the wake of the Change Healthcare breach, here’s what you need to know about protecting your long-term care (LTC) pharmacy from future attacks:

Breaking Down the Change Healthcare Attack

In early 2024, Change Healthcare suffered a ransomware attack where hackers encrypted private data and demanded money to restore access. Change Healthcare discovered the breach after noticing unusual activity on its network, which was ultimately traced back and attributed to a lack of proper multi-factor authentication (MFA) layered security being implemented on compromised accounts.

The attack impacted approximately one-third of Americans, with estimated costs reaching up to $1.6 billion. Change Healthcare’s pharmacy services were delayed, causing widespread disruption. Medical claims processing and payment faced substantial delays, affecting hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies nationwide—a backlog that created significant cash flow problems for many organizations. These reimbursement delays were substantial enough that several healthcare facilities with high volume reimbursement delays were forced to close their doors and file for bankruptcy.

The attack compromised patients’ protected health information (PHI), including sensitive data such as medical histories, treatment plans, and insurance information. This is particularly concerning because it involves highly personal and confidential information, raising significant privacy and security concerns for millions of individuals.

LTC Pharmacy Cybersecurity: 6 Lessons Learned

The Change Healthcare attack was a real wake-up call for many healthcare organizations—and it certainly taught us some very critical cybersecurity lessons.

1. Pharmacies need robust cybersecurity measures.

The Change Healthcare attack spotlights the need for robust cybersecurity measures to protect PHI from future threats. According to experts in the field, examples of pharmacy cybersecurity measures include:

• Implementing vulnerability assessments.

• Employing multi-factor authentication.

• Encrypting sensitive patient data.

• Monitoring networks for unusual activity.

2. Vendor management and oversight is critical.

Connecting with your vendor partners on cybersecurity can provide you with peace of mind that they are taking appropriate measures, such as performing frequent software updates and patches. For example, upgrading to new versions of FrameworkLTC when they are released can help protect your LTC pharmacy from future vulnerabilities—an investment that’s well worth the minor inconvenience and downtime costs.

3. Incident response planning can save the day.

Incident response planning is your best friend in the event of a cyberattack. Your LTC pharmacy must take steps to secure private data and be ready to implement data backup and recovery plans should an incident occur. Training your LTC pharmacy staff on the optimal protocols can help you restore operations quickly and greatly minimize damage.

4. Collaboration with healthcare IT teams is important.

Communication is key. Collaboration with healthcare IT teams is essential for maintaining robust cybersecurity. Regular, proactive communication between pharmacy and IT personnel allows for the sharing of emerging cyberthreats and best practices—and having this knowledge can make all the difference should a security incident arise.

5. Professional cybersecurity assistance is available.

Don’t forget to bring in the experts! Professional cybersecurity assistance is a great investment for any (and all) healthcare organizations. Cybersecurity firms can provide your LTC pharmacy with specific, proactive measures to follow. Additionally, cybersecurity insurance can help with covering any potential financial losses resulting from an attack.

6. Keeping up with emerging security trends is essential.

Of course, keeping up with evolving security trends is also a must. Your LTC pharmacy staff needs to be aware (and stay aware) of healthcare security protocols, continuously educating themselves on new cybersecurity threats and best practices.

As you can see, cybersecurity should be a top priority for all healthcare organizations—LTC pharmacies included. Have questions about what to do next? Watch the on-demand cybersecurity webinar to learn more.