As you are likely aware, Change HealthCare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group (UHG), was impacted by a cybersecurity attack in late February.

The American Dental Association is providing updates as needed for member dentists and has made recommendations for working through the disruption. For your convenience, some of the key points are listed below.

• Practices should seek alternate options, such as using payer portals or provider service lines for eligibility and benefits verification, asking vendors for alternative clearinghouse options, and carefully tracking claims, or consider using paper claim forms until services are restored.

• Watch for communication from your vendors and payers regarding restoration of services.

• Alternatives and temporary solutions are available through Henry Schein One, Open Dental, Curve Dental, and Patterson Dental. Details are included in the full article at ada.org found here.

The US Department of Health & Human Services has shared guidance specific to Medicare & Medicaid Services. Please click here for the HHS statement on this incident.

This incident shines a light on data security and serves as a good reminder for dental practices to review their IT infrastructure. The ADA News recently published an interview with a cybersecurity expert about how to avoid data breaches, view it here.

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Change Healthcare manages healthcare technology pipelines connected to processing insurance claims and billing and reportedly handles 50% of U.S. healthcare claims through Change’s “electronic data interchange clearinghouse.”  The ongoing disruption has led to prescription backlogs and missed revenue for providers across the pharmacy, hospital, physician, and dental sectors.