Cyberattack on nonprofit health system triggers scam calls to patients
A nonprofit health system in Ohio said Tuesday it’s experiencing an ongoing cyberattack that’s disrupted operations and caused significant downtime. Further, patients are receiving spam phone calls from an imposter seeking credit card payments for alleged debts, the hospital confirmed in an announcement.
Kettering Health, a Seventh-day Adventist healthcare delivery system of hospitals and clinics, said it first noticed the attack on the morning of May 20, and is currently relying on backup systems to see as many patients as possible. Due to a large-scale technology outage, it’s been forced to cancel many outpatient care services and appointments to prioritize emergency room functions.
“Earlier this morning, Kettering Health experienced a system-wide technology outage which limited our ability to access certain patient care systems across the organization. We have procedures and plans in place for these types of situations and will continue to provide safe, high-quality care for patients currently in our facilities,” the health system wrote, adding that it is still investigating the undefined cybersecurity incident.
Kettering did confirm, however, that nefarious actors had gained unauthorized access to its network. While not confirmed, the data breach has the hallmarks of a ransomware attack, given the lockdown of its network.
“We have taken steps to contain and mitigate this activity and are actively investigating and monitoring the situation,” its statement reads. The health system said it's working to reschedule patient appointments as soon as possible.
Imposters demand money from patients
By early evening, Kettering added that it had confirmed reports that “scam calls have occurred from persons claiming to be Kettering Health team members requesting credit card payments for medical expenses,” but denied anyone with the organization is doing the outreach.
Patients in the Kettering database are the ones receiving the illegitimate requests for money, but the health system said it has yet to establish if the scams are related to the cyberattack and subsequent system outage.
“While it is customary for Kettering Health to contact patients by phone to discuss payment options for medical bills, out of an abundance of caution, we will not be making calls to ask for or receive payment over the phone until further notice,” it added.
Patients are advised to report the calls to law enforcement to aid in an ongoing investigation. While the health system has yet to confirm patient data was stolen in the incident, the calls are evidence that may very well be the case.
HealthExec reached out to Kettering for more details, including whether protected medical information was exposed and if the ongoing incident is in fact a ransomware attack.
No known hacker group has claimed credit for the attack.
We’ll update this story with any statement we receive. In the meantime, Kettering is continuing to notify the public about the situation on its website.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.