Ascension Healthcare has restored electronic health record access to some Michigan hospitals more than a month after a cyberattack may have exposed patients’ health information and information identifying them, according to the health system this week.
Ascension has evidence that hackers took files from seven of the health system’s roughly 25,000 servers used for daily and routine tasks, according to an update Wednesday. They believe some of the files contained health information and personally identifiable information.
The hackers gained access to Ascension’s systems after an employee accidentally downloaded a malicious file, which the health system called an “honest mistake.”
“Right now, we don’t know precisely what data was potentially affected and for which patients. In order to reach those conclusions, we need to conduct a full review of the files that may have been impacted and carefully analyze them,” an Ascension spokesperson said in Wednesday’s update. “While we have started this process, it is a significant undertaking that will take time.”
Ascension is offering patients free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. Patients can enroll in the services at 1-(888) 498-8066.
The health system said it cannot answer individual patient’s questions about their data and whether it was affected during the cyberattack at this time.
Access to electronic health records in Ascension’s Genesys, Rochester, Saginaw and Tawas hospitals in Michigan was restored as of Tuesday and the health system was working to restore access across all hospitals by Friday. Access had already been fully restored in eight other states on Tuesday.
Ascension first detected unusual activity in its network May 8 and labeled it a cybersecurity event. The electronic health records system, MyChart, some phone systems and some systems used to order tests, procedures and medications initially were unavailable. Ascension sites switched to downtime procedures or manual protocols. Some elective procedures, appointments, diagnostic imaging, testing and pharmacy services were temporarily paused or delayed.
“Ascension Michigan Medical Partners doctor’s offices and care sites are operating with normal business hours, and all scheduled appointments are proceeding as planned,” the health system said in a regional update. “Due to the transition to manual systems for patient documentation, patients may encounter longer than usual wait times and some delays.”
hmackay@detroitnews.com