It has been six months since Change Healthcare suffered a cyberattack that many are calling the biggest cybersecurity assault in U.S. healthcare historical past.

The fallout from the catastrophe remains to be being felt: Some well being programs are nonetheless lacking funds for affected person encounters relationship again to February, in accordance with a brand new report from Strata Resolution Know-how.

The report analyzed information from greater than 1,600 hospitals to grasp the continuing impression of the cyberattack. It discovered that almost all well being programs had largely closed the gaps in lacking funds by the top of the second quarter.

This was significantly true for the nation’s largest well being programs, although they suffered the best income losses within the months instantly following the occasion. On the finish of the primary quarter of 2024, well being programs with $1 billion to $2.5 billion in working bills had an estimated 18.2% fee hole for companies supplied in February. Well being programs with greater than $2.5 billion in working bills had a 20.3% fee hole.

The nation’s smaller well being programs are feeling probably the most lasting results from the assault on Change Healthcare, with the report discovering they’re nonetheless lacking out on about 3-5% of their anticipated web patient-facing revenues from February.

The smallest well being programs, with annual working prices of lower than $500 million, have an 11.1% shortfall in estimated lacking funds in comparison with complete funds for Medicare affected person care supplied in February, the report discovered.

Amongst mid-sized well being programs (these with annual working prices between $500 million and $1 billion), that they had a shortfall of only one.5% in Medicare funds to sufferers for companies supplied in February.

Well being programs with working bills of $1 billion to $2.5 billion had a 4.3% deficit in February on Medicare funds for hospital sufferers. Well being programs with working bills of greater than $2.5 billion had a 5.5% deficit.

The report finds that the numbers are comparable when taking a look at scientific care information for sufferers with business insurance coverage.

“Well being programs throughout the nation felt the impression of lacking and delayed funds all through the primary half of 2024, however many bigger programs had been capable of shut these gaps by the top of the second quarter,” stated Steve Wasson, chief information and intelligence officer at Strata Resolution Know-how, in a press release. “Even with the assistance of bridge funds and accelerated funds supplied by some payers, smaller well being programs proceed to really feel the impression as a result of they’ve fewer assets to soak up a majority of these disruptions.”

Picture: nito100, Getty Photos