Medtrade preview: Prepare, test, communicate 

DALLAS – Consistent communication and strong security are the keys to navigating cyberattacks at your business, says Medtrade speaker Seth Weinstein of Medical Service Company. 

HME News spoke with Weinstein, vice president of finance for MSC, about why cyberattacks like the Change Healthcare breach in 2024 will continue to be part of doing business and why providers need be prepared. 

HME News: What do you think is the biggest lesson learned from the Change Healthcare attack last February? 

Seth Weinstein: DME providers need to understand where all of this information exists outside of the clearinghouse and what other portals are out there. They are still feeling the ramifications of the Change breach, specifically to the cash-posting function. They need to know where to get that payment information, the remittance, the explanation of benefits – everything you need to get that information again and posted to speed up cash receipts and be able to work denials and everything else. 

HME: What are some step providers can take to protect themselves? 

Weinstein: While I view it as the biggest nuisance, I think enabling multifactor authentication for all of your own systems is also the easiest. They should also be doing some penetration and vulnerability testing, whether internally or using third-party consultants to identify if there's any vulnerabilities in your own system. 

HME: What do you want to be the biggest takeaway from your session? 

Weinstein: One thing that really helped us navigate this challenge at MSC was communicating that we were dealing with challenges on multiple fronts: We can't submit claims, which is going to impact cash flow; we can't check eligibility, etc. We communicated with our vendors, with our patients, with our health system partners quickly and promptly. That gave our vendors confidence in us that while things were very murky and just unknown in the first week or two after, it gave them trust in us that we were going to navigate this and come out the other side.