Michael DePeau-Wilson writes:
A ransomware attack at one healthcare system had a significant impact on two neighboring emergency departments (EDs) that weren’t targeted in the attack, researchers found.
Daily mean ED volume rose 15.1% at the two facilities, from 218.4 in the pre-attack period to 251.4 in the attack period (P<0.001), Christian Dameff, MD, MS, of the University of California San Diego, and colleagues reported in JAMA Network Open.
Mean ambulance arrivals rose 35.2% from 1,741 prior to the attack to 2,354 during the attack (P<0.001), and there was a 127.8% increase in visits where patients left without being seen (from 158 to 360, P<0.001).
The researchers also reported increases in patients who left against medical advice (50.4% increase), median waiting room times (47.6% increase), and median total length of stay for admitted patients (33.9% increase).
Read more at MedPage.