Hospitals across the Dayton, Ohio, region are stepping in to support Kettering (Ohio) Health, after a May 20 cybersecurity incident disrupted the health system’s electronic systems.
Here are four things to know:
- The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association said in a May 21 news release shared with Becker’s that its member hospitals are coordinating to manage patient care and are increasing staffing at unaffected facilities to handle the higher demand resulting from the incident at Kettering Health, which canceled all elective inpatient and outpatient procedures across its facilities on May 20.
- The association warned patients and community members about potential scam calls. Kettering Health reported receiving notifications of individuals impersonating its team members and requesting credit card payments for medical expenses.
- To mitigate fraud risk, Kettering Health has paused all phone-based billing communications. Patients are urged to report suspicious calls to local law enforcement.
- Emergency medical services across the region are receiving updates through a statewide EMS platform to inform patient transport decisions during the outage. The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association said it is continuing to work with Kettering Health and other local partners to monitor the situation and maintain care access.
- In a May 21 update on its website, Kettering Health stated that procedures are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis through collaborative decision-making among care teams, with patient safety remaining the highest priority. The health system also emphasized that there is no evidence personal cell phone apps, such as MyChart, or the information contained within them, have been compromised.
