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Change Healthcare’s systems are down for a fourth straight day after parent company UnitedHealth Group disclosed that a suspected cybersecurity threat actor gained access to part of its information technology network on Wednesday. UnitedHealth, the biggest health-care company in the U.S. by market cap, owns the health-care provider Optum, which merged with Change Healthcare in 2022. Optum services more than 100 million patients in the U.S., according to its website, and Change Healthcare offers solutions for payment and revenue cycle management. (Capoot, 2/24)

Security experts have warned for the past couple of days that the two flaws recently uncovered in ConnectWise’s ScreenConnect app could become the major cybersecurity story of 2024 – and that the healthcare and critical infrastructure sectors were especially vulnerable. ... SC Media has learned that the recent cybersecurity incident at UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare that led to slowdowns at pharmacies was caused by a strain of LockBit malware that was used to exploit the vulnerabilities in ConnectWise ScreenConnect. (Zurier, 2/23)

Patients across the country have been unable to get their prescriptions filled as health tech company Change Healthcare responds to a cyberattack. It's still unclear when Change Healthcare will return to normal operations, and until then, local pharmacies that rely on the company to process payments through patients' insurance say they're facing outages and delays in filling prescriptions. (Sabin, 2/23)

A new report found the majority of Iowa’s rural hospitals no longer have labor and delivery services. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform analyzed federal data and found, as of last month, 61% of rural Iowa hospitals no longer have OB care, and of the 36 rural hospitals still providing care, 58% were losing money on patient services overall. (Krebs, 2/23)

As labor and delivery access diminishes, would-be birthing center operators seeking to bolster the system have encountered resistance from certificate of need laws and hospitals wary of new entrants. Hospitals and industry groups that have opposed new birthing centers contend these facilities should be directed by obstetricians, have transfer agreements with nearby hospitals, and be subject to the same regulatory and licensure requirements as other providers. (Hartnett, 2/23)

New Hampshire officials say they’re still struggling to hire enough workers at state-run health care facilities, forcing them to ramp up spending on temporary staff. At New Hampshire Hospital – the state’s main provider of inpatient mental health care – the vacancy rate for both registered nurses and mental health workers is around 30%. (Cuno-Booth, 2/23)

America needs nurses — and some schools are implementing accelerated programs to train them. To shorten the process, these programs cut training time from up to four years down to one. "I really do think this is a win-win for students and local hospitals and facilities," said Elizabeth Mann, assistant clinical professor at the University of New England, in an interview with Fox News. She's based in Maine. (Schuyler, 2/24)

Houston Community College has shuttered its associate degree program for students training to be registered nurses, according to state licensure documents. The Texas Board of Nursing listed the closure as voluntary, effective Dec. 31. The Associate Degree Nursing program, or ADN, had been operating with “conditional” approval as of last April — a designation that means it didn’t meet state standards for three years. (Ketterer, 2/23)

Doctors and other health care providers accused by patients of sexual misconduct kept practicing – sometimes for years – because of gaps in Illinois laws and a licensing agency that can be slow to take disciplinary action, a Tribune investigation has found. The providers went on to harm additional patients, in some cases, as their licenses remained in good standing with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. (Hoerner and Schencker, 2/25)

The troubled Steward Health Care hospital system submitted some financial data in response to a Friday deadline from Governor Maura Healey, but the administration said it has still not received all the records the governor has demanded. The Dallas-based company provided systemwide audited financial records for several years through 2021, a Steward spokesperson said, but did not provide those records for 2022. (Laughlin and Chesto, 2/23)

Three North Carolina legislators said they are interested in revisiting the state law that gives special privileges to hospital authorities such as Atrium Health, noting that today’s multibillion-dollar hospital systems are nothing like the ones lawmakers had in mind when the law was written. (Crouch, 2/26)

Need a sick note from the doctor? Or have them OK a refill? It might cost you. From signing patient documents to emailing responses to patient questions, doctors are increasingly charging fees for administrative tasks. (Reed, 2/26)

Internationally regarded pathologist Jonathan I. Epstein has resigned his post at Johns Hopkins Hospital, months after he was put on administrative leave amid misconduct allegations, the doctor and the hospital confirmed. The resignation came before the hospital determined whether the allegations that he bullied or intimidated others in his department were founded, Hopkins spokeswoman Liz Vandendriessche said in an email. She did not say whether that inquiry would continue given his departure. (Thompson and Shepherd, 2/24)