On February 21st, 2024, Change Healthcare announced that they are experiencing an outside threat to their platforms and subsequently disconnected their systems to protect their partners and patients.
Foothold partners with Change Healthcare to provide E-Labs functionality in AWARDS, and the Change Healthcare Clearinghouse is utilized by the AWARDS BillingBuilder.
We want to assure you that we continue to stay connected to the situation. Our Security Team is actively engaged with security leadership at Change Healthcare who are working to resolve the issue and will provide updates for us to share with you as they continue to learn more. You can also follow along with Change Healthcare's status updates here: https://status.changehealthcare.com/incidents/hqpjz25fn3n7
We will post all "AWARDS & Change Healthcare" updates here on this page, along with any guidance we have for how to proceed with your work during the outage. We will also continue to send updates via email and all emails will also be posted here for easy reference. If you are not on the Foothold Technology email list, please message us at connect@footholdtechnology.com and we will add you to the distribution list!
We are so sorry for the challenges you are experiencing. We are advocating for swift accommodations for our customers to be able to move forward with safety and confidence.
Jump to:
8/5/24 Update - E-Labs
We are happy to let you know that Change Healthcare has successfully re-enabled their E-Labs connections. We performed thorough testing to ensure the connections are working properly, and today, E-Labs functionality is restored in your AWARDS database!
If you have any questions or technical difficulties, please reach out to the Help Desk for assistance.
7/18/24 Update
A few weeks ago we let you know that the RPA clearinghouse platform is back up and running, allowing you to submit files for billing. At that time, remittance/response file retrieval was not yet available. We are happy to let you know that this has also been restored and you can now retrieve remittance/response files!
Click here for guidance on how to retrieve remittance/response files in the BillingBuilder.
We are now at the stage of this journey where Change Healthcare is required to provide transparent notification of the full extent of the breach and all data that was impacted. Since this was a Change Healthcare breach, not Foothold/AWARDS, Change Healthcare will be managing the breach notifications on behalf of our customers. If you or your agency have any questions about the breach notification process, you can connect directly with Change Healthcare in the following way:
- Click here to access the Information on the Change Healthcare Cyber Response page.
- Scroll down to the section titled Let us know how we can help.
- Select Data notification inquiries.
- This will take you to a form where you can submit your questions.
We know this has been a long and tedious process as we've worked with Optum to bring all systems back online, and we are so happy that all systems are now fully restored! If you have any questions or technical difficulties with retrieving your remittance/response files in the BillingBuilder, please reach out to your billing specialist.
6/13/24 Update
We have great news! You are now able to submit files to the RPA clearinghouse platform using the Transmit button in the AWARDS BillingBuilder.
Before you get started, please note: If you were using another method to submit claims during the RPA outage, you may need to modify settings in your billing configuration pages. See below for guidance.
iEDI Users
When you started submitting claims to iEDI, you added data to two fields on your payer configuration pages. Please remove the data in these two fields before creating claim files for RPA.
Other Claim Submission Methods
If you have been submitting claims via another clearinghouse or directly to payers and you want to return to submitting claims via RPA, you will need to restore settings on the Payer configuration pages and Billing Type configuration pages to their previous settings.
Please note: Remittance/Response file retrieval is not yet available. We expect this feature to be back up in the next few weeks. We'll send another update when it becomes available.
We know this has been a long process. Thank you for your patience and participation as we've worked with Optum to get to this point of restoration. If you have any questions or technical difficulties, please reach out to your billing specialist.
5/9/24 Update
Change Healthcare E-Labs Update!
We are excited to share that Change Healthcare is starting to re-enable their E-Labs connections, starting with the larger ones like Labcorp and Quest. We are working alongside Change Healthcare to test out the updated connections to ensure they are working properly. Very soon, we will connect with your agency to help you re-establish the E-Labs functionality in your AWARDS database.
Please watch for more communication from us as we work through this process. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
4/29/24 Update
Thank you to the customers who shared communications that were sent from Optum (formerly Change Healthcare) about access to RPA. Foothold Technology wants to clarify that Optum stating "access to RPA is restored" means you can log in to the RPA web interface and manually upload claims.
The communications indicated that additional steps are required to set up the SFTP, which is how claim files are transmitted from AWARDS to RPA. Optum reached out to us last week to start the process of restoring the SFTP from AWARDS to RPA. This includes establishing a new SFTP server for each customer and issuing new SFTP login credentials. This work, currently in Optum's court, is in process and we will let everyone know when SFTP transmission between AWARDS and RPA is restored.
As always, thank you for your patience and partnership with us as we work through this process.
4/18/24 Update
ChangeHealth Clearinghouse Update
It's been a couple of weeks now, and we are happy to hear that those customers who signed up for iEDI have been successfully submitting claims. We know it has been quite a process, but we celebrate this success!
We've also heard from some customers that their access to RPA has been restored. This is great news! Currently, if your access to RPA has been restored, you should be able to log in, but you won't be able to transmit claims from AWARDS until the new SFTP credentials are set up. We are currently working with Optum to get these credentials set up. We don't have a clear timeline for completion just yet, but we will continue to update you as we learn more!
Thank you for your patience and partnership with us as we continue to navigate through this process.
4/4/24 Update
E-Labs Update
We have learned from Change Healthcare that their timeline has been extended (from our 3/21 update) and they now anticipate having some parts of Clinical Exchange Lab Orders and Results available to start reconnecting to labs beginning the third week of April.
We have limited information but will continue to share updates whenever we learn more. We know this is a challenging situation and hope to have more encouraging news soon!
3/28/24 Update
ChangeHealth Clearinghouse Update
We are happy to let you know that Change Healthcare confirmed this week that the medical claims portion of the clearinghouse should be back online by the end of this week, with testing happening throughout next week. While we are still waiting to learn the timeline for Foothold’s customers to be reconnected, we are encouraged by their progress and should have a more defined timeline next week.
Meanwhile, we continue to pursue getting our customers connected to the Optum iEDI clearinghouse (see our 3/21 Update below) so you can resume the submission of your claims and receive payment. If you have not already done so and are interested, please be sure to complete the iEDI Clearinghouse Sign-Up Form so we can help you get connected.
Lastly, don’t forget to review the Relief Funding update we shared, as some customers have had success in acquiring relief funds with the expanded eligibility options made available.
We will share more information as it becomes available.
3/21/24 Updates
ChangeHealth Clearinghouse Update
For your review, here is the iEDI User Guide and the iEDI List of Payers.
E-Labs Update
We know that updates regarding the restoration of the Change Healthcare E-Labs connection have been minimal. We’ve just learned from Change Healthcare that they are making substantial progress and expect to have some parts of Clinical Exchange Lab Orders and Results available to customers the first week of April. It is not clear yet which parts will be available initially, but as we learn more, we will share more information with you.
Change Healthcare has indicated that though they are migrating to a new secure environment, existing connections should still function in the new environment. Users will likely need to re-validate their identities, be issued new logins, and set up their MFA credentials. And they are still determining how recent the data will be when they restart the system.
We continue to work closely with Change Healthcare to advocate for our customers' needs and will share more updates as they are available.
3/14/24 Update
ChangeHealth Clearinghouse Update
We are happy to share that Change Healthcare is on track to begin testing its claims network and software starting next week Monday, March 18th. After testing is complete, the reconnecting of claim submission systems like AWARDS will follow a structured implementation schedule defined by Change Healthcare. They have also provided more clarity on their additional temporary relief funding options.
Relief Funding Information
We have been assured by Change Healthcare that the new funding options have expanded eligibility and should include our customers. They strongly encourage all Foothold customers to apply again. To do so:
- Fill out this brief form on their website, even if you already submitted it and were denied funding. This form is the only way to apply for the newly expanded funding.
- Note: You will need to have payment volume information available when you complete the form.
- Change Healthcare will review your submission and a representative on their end will be in touch with you once they have processed their request.
- In the meantime, be sure to create an Optum Pay account if you don't already have one. This will be required in order to receive the funding if/when you're approved.
Foothold continues to advocate for meaningful accommodations for our customers. To better assist us with these efforts, we are asking you to please complete this brief survey that will help us determine what level of funding assistance our customers have been able to obtain to date. Thank you for taking your time with this to help us better advocate for you!
Alternate Clearinghouse Options
Our Change Healthcare contact informed u s that their iEDI clearinghouse - which was unaffected by the security event - is now being made available to Foothold customers. We are working to connect with the appropriate team at Change Healthcare to determine what this process involves and will be in touch with you as soon as we have more information.
Many of you have asked about switching over to other clearinghouses. At this time, we do not partner with any other clearinghouses, but we've been researching options. As we continue to work with Change Healthcare around iEDI, and continue our research, we will keep you updated.
In the meantime, if you could please answer the clearinghouse-related questions in our survey, we would appreciate that information. Also please see the FAQ we've posted about alternative claim file submission options.
3/12/24 Update
ChangeHealth Clearinghouse Update
As we anticipated, last Friday Change Healthcare confirmed their timeline for re-establishing connections. See details below:
- For the Payments Platform: electronic payment functionality will be available for connection beginning this Friday, March 15th.
Note: This does not directly impact Foothold customers but must be completed before our customers can get paid after submitting claims. This step is reconnecting the payers into the medical insurance system.
Note: This is the part of the timeline that directly impacts Foothold customers. |
|---|
We understand the urgency of this event along with all of its challenges, and while UHG tracks forward according to its restoration plan, Foothold continues to explore options with other unaffected clearinghouses to determine if there are any opportunities for our customers to alleviate their challenges more swiftly.
Additionally, Change Healthcare announced two new sources of temporary funding, in addition to the Optum Temporary Funding Assistance Program. While we are not yet clear on the qualification criteria, you can check out Change Healthcare's updates page to learn more.
Lastly, for Foothold's E-Labs customers, we recognize that priority is being given to the restoration of the Clearinghouse portion of this event; however, once this timeline is achieved, we expect E-Labs to be prioritized.
3/6/24 Update
ChangeHealth Clearinghouse Update
The Foothold Security Team continues to engage with security leadership at Change Healthcare to stay informed of progress and advocate for swift resolution and restoration for our customers. We are happy to share that Change Healthcare has committed to providing a timeline by end-of-day Friday, March 8th, for the restoration of services. You can expect another update from us on Monday, March 11th, once we've had a chance to review their timeline and determine the best path forward. We will update you via email, and here on this status page. If you're not yet on our email list and would like to be, send us a note at connect@footholdtechnology.com.
Also, we've added a Frequently Asked Questions section to the bottom of this page. We will continue to add information there as we learn more.
Here is the email that went out to customers yesterday. We've also linked it in the Emails section below.
3/2/24 Update
ChangeHealth Clearinghouse Update
**Attention AWARDS Change HealthCare Clearinghouse Customers - Temporary Funding Assistance Program Available Through Optum Financial Services For Impacted Providers**
Change Healthcare has established a Temporary Funding Assistance Program for provider organizations impacted by the payer system outage. This opportunity may help to alleviate some of the funding pressures that your organization may be experiencing due to this event and its ongoing challenges.
Please note: This temporary assistance program is offered through Optum Financial Services and is NOT affiliated with Foothold Technology. The program is fully managed by Optum Pay and as such, all questions regarding the process will need to be directed to them.
To find out if you are eligible to receive temporary assistance funds, visit the website to learn more. Be sure to review the FAQs they have provided, and be aware that if your organization receives assistance, the funds will need to be repaid once standard payment operations resume.
The Foothold Technology Security Team continues to engage with security leadership at Change Healthcare to advocate for our customers' needs. As we have additional updates we will share them with you - in the meantime do not hesitate to reach out with any additional questions you may have.
2/28/24 Update
Status Update emails were sent to those customers who utilize the ChangeHealth Clearinghouse or the Change Healthcare E-Labs integration within AWARDS. Please message us at connect@footholdtechnology.com if you wish to be added to our email distribution list. You can view all emails in the Emails Sent to Foothold Customers section below.
2/28/24 Update
The American Hospital Association (AHA) has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to request support and potential financial assistance to those affected. Click here to read the letter.
2/26/24 Update
Update email sent to customers on 2/26:
Emails Sent to Foothold Customers
8/5/24 Status Update: E-Labs Restored in AWARDS!
7/18/24 Status Update: Remittance/Response Files Are Now Available in the BillingBuilder
6/13/24 Status Update: Access to RPA Has Been Restored!
4/29/24 Status Update: Optum's RPA Access & AWARDS
4/18/24 Status Update: AWARDS & Change Healthcare Restoration Timeline
4/4/24 Status Update: Progress Towards Restoring the E-Labs Connection
3/28/24 Status Update: Confirmation of Restoration Timeline
3/21/24 Status Update: Progress Towards Restoring the E-Labs Connection
3/21/24 Status Update: Sign-Up Form to Connect to the iEDI Clearinghouse
3/14/24 Status update: Change Healthcare Restoration Timeline & Additional Funding Opportunities
3/12/24 Status Update: Change Healthcare Timeline for Restoration Announced
3/6/24 Status Update: Change Healthcare to Provide Timeline for Restoration
2/28/24 Status Update: Change Healthcare Outage & E-Labs Functionality -
2/28/24 Status Update: Change Healthcare Outage for ChangeHealth Clearinghouse
Regarding the Service Alert - E-Labs and Change Healthcare Clearinghouse- Sent 2/26/24
Service Alert - E-Labs and Change Healthcare Clearinghouse- Sent 2/22/24
Frequently Asked Questions
-
What occurred on Wednesday, February 21st, 2024, with Change Healthcare?
Foothold Technology was informed that Change Healthcare (the third-party vendor Foothold uses for E-Labs functionality and the ChangeHealth Clearinghouse utilized by the AWARDS BillingBuilder) experienced a network interruption related to a cybersecurity event. Specifically, Change Healthcare reported that it took some of its systems offline to isolate the Change Healthcare systems from other connecting systems in the interest of protecting their partners. This was not a Foothold Technology or AWARDS issue.
-
Has this event affected the security of AWARDS?
No. The incident occurred outside of AWARDS and there was no direct security impact to AWARDS, based on our analysis.
-
Has Change Healthcare stated how long this outage may last?
-
Do you partner with other clearinghouses and/or have you been made aware of other clearinghouses having this difficulty?
We do not currently partner with any other clearinghouses and are not aware of any others experiencing a similar challenge right now. Service integrations like those that we have with Change Healthcare are complex connections that require time and resources to develop and maintain. Transitioning to a new vendor is a resource-intensive project that requires time and effort both on our part and that of our customers - who would need to wait for and adjust to a new tool. Based on our engagement with Change Healthcare during this process, we are continuing to evaluate the situation, keeping our customers' needs front and center, and will make the decisions necessary to ensure the best path forward.
3/12 Update: Change Healthcare is currently testing an Optum clearinghouse (iEDI) to determine if it will be an option for our ChangeHealth Clearinghouse customers.
3/14 Update: Foothold is currently researching options for alternate clearinghouses for our customers. We'd appreciate your input via our brief survey to help us learn more about your needs and priorities.
-
Does AWARDS support alternative claim file submission?
AWARDS does allow for generating and manually exporting claim files for you to harness as needed outside of AWARDS, but the ChangeHealth Clearinghouse is our only electronic connection. You can choose to take those exported claim files and submit them to a different clearinghouse or directly to the payers, but that would be outside of our scope as your vendor. Our involvement in the process would end once the files are extracted from AWARDS. We can't speak to the work or timelines involved in those alternate options. As a reminder, Change Healthcare has established a Temporary Funding Assistance Program for provider organizations impacted by the payer system outage, which you can also explore.