MGMA statement on support needed following Change Healthcare cyberattack (April 8, 2024)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 8, 2024

Media Contact:
Emily Dowsett
Associate Director, Public Affairs
edowsett@mgma.com
 

MGMA statement on support needed following Change Healthcare cyberattack

Anders Gilberg
Senior Vice President, Government Affairs
Medical Group Management Association

"The cyberattack on Change Healthcare made it evident that there are significant vulnerabilities in our healthcare system, which must be addressed – especially as the threat of such attacks only continues to rise. Moving forward, health plans, clearinghouses, and other third-party vendors must have safeguards and contingency plans in place to better protect physician practices from such significant cash flow and administrative impacts resulting from a cyber incident. Physician practices must work to ensure they have adopted ironclad cybersecurity policies and procedures to best protect the data of their patients and their ability to provide high-quality care. It’s important to note that physician practices have access to different levels of cybersecurity resources depending on their size. The President’s budget acknowledged the need to bolster cybersecurity resources within the healthcare sector, allocating $800 million to assist “high-need, low-resourced” hospitals to help implement cybersecurity practices. The budget also proposed $500 million for an incentive program for advanced cybersecurity practices for hospitals. Ensuring that all physician practices are afforded resources similar to those of the hospitals is critical."

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About MGMA

Founded in 1926, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is the nation's largest association focused on the business of medical practice management. MGMA consists of 15,000 group medical practices ranging from small private medical practices to large national health systems representing more than 350,000 physicians. MGMA helps nearly 60,000 medical practice leaders and the healthcare community solve the business challenges of running practices so that they can focus on providing outstanding patient care. Specifically, MGMA helps its members innovate and improve profitability and financial sustainability, and it provides the gold standard on industry benchmarks such as physician compensation. The association also advocates extensively on its members' behalf on national regulatory and policy issues.