On the one-year anniversary of the 2024 healthcare cyberattack, Availity launches a tool built with technology trusted by military and financial organizations to protect critical healthcare infrastructure.
Availity, the nation’s largest real-time health information network, announced the launch of its groundbreaking Rapid Recovery model. This innovative framework is designed to ensure the rapid restoration of critical healthcare operations following a large-scale catastrophic event, pioneering an unprecedented level of resiliency and security in the healthcare industry.
Rapid Recovery was created in the wake of the Feb. 21, 2024, ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, the most significant security breach in the history of the U.S. healthcare system. The ransomware lasted months, trapping hundreds of billions of dollars in claims and other electronic transactions and delaying patient care across the country.
Rapid Recovery leverages cutting-edge technology trusted by U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including the financial, communication, and defense industries, to deliver a level of resiliency and speed-to-recovery unmatched in healthcare.
“Availity understands that healthcare cannot afford downtime,” said Russ Thomas, Availity CEO. “Our Rapid Recovery model, which is unique to the healthcare sector, is designed to provide an unparalleled safety net for our clients, ensuring they can continue to deliver critical care and services even in the face of catastrophic events. This launch represents our unwavering commitment to innovation, resilience, and the security of the healthcare ecosystem.”
Key Features
Rapid Recovery assures that the 95 percent of payers and 3.4 million providers who rely on Availity to process more than 13 billion electronic healthcare transactions annually can maintain seamless business continuity, even in the face of a catastrophic outage. Key features of Rapid Recovery include:
- 5-Day Recovery Objective (RTO): Industry-leading recovery time for full system restoration and functionality. A recent failover test was brought online within 18 hours. This capability complements Availity’s existing Disaster Recovery posture, which enables the company to switch data centers within a six-hour RTOand is tested quarterly
- Air-Gapped Recovery Environment: A wholly separate and secure backup location, ensuring no contamination from compromised systems
- Comprehensive Backups: Includes data, uncompiled code, and configurations to bring us back to fully operational faster
- Third-Party Certification: Availity’s deep partnership, one of the industry’s most trusted information security experts, enables Availity to respond swiftly and effectively even in the face of catastrophic system disruptions through independent validation and attestation
Availity’s Rapid Recovery is a Game-Changer
Rapid Recovery is a direct response to the increasing sophistication of cyber threats in the healthcare industry. Availity’s proactive approach to recovery not only safeguards critical healthcare operations but also minimizes the financial and reputational impact of such events.
“The severity and duration of the 2024 ransomware attack demanded more than a standard response. It challenged us to rethink the boundaries of our already robust security protocols, compelling us to be more ambitious and innovative in safeguarding healthcare operations,” says Mike Green, Availity’s Chief Information Security Officer. “The 2024 cyberattack underscored a critical truth: cybersecurity isn’t a one-time effort; it’s an ongoing mission. Rapid Recovery is more than a solution; it’s a strategic safeguard and our dedication to making Availity secure by design.”
Rapid Recovery is part of Availity’s Enterprise Security strategy, which follows a defense-in-depth model, employing overlapping controls to safeguard the company’s assets. In the event of a security incident, Availity is well-prepared to respond swiftly and effectively, thanks to the company’s robust incident response plans and continuous testing and training exercises.
Availity also leverages multiple industry leading third-party vendors to provide real-time, prospective analysis and feedback of the company’s attack surface and external risk posture to feed active monitoring and defense. And partners with peers in the healthcare community to share intelligence and guidance to better secure the ecosystem as a whole.
Supporting the Healthcare Ecosystem
Availity’s Rapid Recovery capabilities are specifically tailored to the unique demands of healthcare, where delays in operations can have direct consequences on patient outcomes. By restoring critical workflows such as claims processing, eligibility verification, automated authorization review and payment reconciliation, Rapid Recovery ensures that payers, providers, and patients remain connected and supported.
Rapid Recovery represents the latest demonstration of Availity’s industry leadership in the wake of the 2024 ransomware attack.
- Within 48 hours of the 2024 cyberattack, Availity launched Lifeline. Offered at no cost to providers, payers, and trading partners, Lifeline was a robust business continuity program that delivered accelerated connectivity to send and receive key electronic transactions, including Eligibility and Benefits, Claim Status, Claims, Remittance Advices, 835 EDI Batch, and 837 EDI Batch via Availity Essentials™, our clearinghouse portal, and Availity Essentials Pro™, our revenue cycle management platform.
- More than 300,000 providers representing more than 120 organizations and 50 health plans utilized Lifeline during the cyberattack. Availity processed more than 186 million claims with an estimated dollar value of $350 billion. More than 85% of the providers who took advantage of Availity Lifeline have since converted to Availity as their preferred revenue cycle partner.
- Availity continues to work with key congressional leaders and HHS to discuss the importance of standardizing cybersecurity regulations for healthcare clearinghouses.
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