Capital Region Medical Center, an affiliate of the University of Missouri Health Care, spent nearly a week battling a system-wide network outage affecting its phone and computer systems.
Although IT health news‘Attempts to reach Jefferson City-based facility were unsuccessful, spokesperson told local ABC Affiliate that the decision to shut down the network was triggered by “unusual activity” in the telephone system in early December 17.
“The Capital Region Medical Center is currently experiencing a service outage. The network has been disabled throughout the system, ”the spokesperson said.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
On December 17, the hospital posted an article about the outage on its Facebook page, describing it as a “system-wide network outage impacting telephone and computer systems.” “
We are working to remedy the situation as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience. We are working diligently to keep our systems functioning properly, ”the message continued.
The social media account then went silent for more than three days.
Calling the system repeatedly returns a busy signal and the website currently listed on the page displays an error. Patients in the comments to the public post expressed confusion and anger.
“All I want is a renewed prescription!” I’ve been trying since 5 a.m. this morning. Still unable to pass. Just wow… .. Appreciate the staff, but their hands are tied with computer issues, ”one said.
“What are we [supposed] to do when we have surgery scheduled for tomorrow and don’t know what time it is [supposed] happen? ”another asked.
On December 21, the facility announced it would offer a seven-day supply of medication to patients in need of refills.
“Patients should bring their prescription vials with them. Right now, 7-day top-ups are available TODAY ONLY, ”the facility said.
The hospital’s Facebook account also responded to a few comments from patients, saying doctors were still seeing patients in the office on Tuesday.
According to information from a local point of sale, the Newsstand, the hospital board of directors scheduled to discuss the outage on Tuesday afternoon. Cole County Emergency Medical Services also reportedly diverted patients to another hospital for a brief period over the weekend.
“I was there yesterday! I had my pre-op [appointment]! Everyone treated me well and everything went well! posted a patient on Dec 19th.
THE BIGGEST TREND
Although CRMC did not disclose the nature of the unusual activity, high profile outages have arisen from ransomware attacks.
One of the most notable incidents of the past year took place in Health Scripps, who knew weeks of post-ransomware downtime.
Then the healthcare system struggled even more when patients applied. handful of class actions.
ON THE RECORD
“CRMC continues to operate using downtime procedures. We continually train and plan various scenarios to ensure continuity of care, ”the spokesperson told ABC 17.
Kat Jercich is Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
E-mail: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
