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On April 22, 2024, UnitedHealth Group issued a press release, providing an update on the Change Healthcare cybersecurity incident that occurred on Feb. 21, 2024. Given the size of the data impacted, the investigation to determine whose data is impacted is expected to take several months. UnitedHealth Group believes this situation will impact “a substantial proportion of people in America” and is offering immediate credit monitoring and identity protection services, as well as a dedicated contact center to address questions. Visit Change Healthcare Cyberattack Support and/or reach out to the contact center at 1-866-262-5342 regarding any questions.

Change Healthcare Cybersecurity Incident and Its Impact to Sunflower Health Plan

Date: 03/01/24

On February 21, Change Healthcare, a software and data analytics subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit, experienced a cybersecurity incident that has impacted its network and operations. The cybersecurity incident has created a service disruption impacting Sunflower Health Plan’s members and provider network in several ways.

As of now, Change Healthcare has not provided a timeline for resolution. To protect our members and providers, Sunflower Health Plan fully disconnected system access to and from Change Healthcare on Feb. 21. We are working on multiple solutions to restore provider functionality and ensure continuity of care for our members. We will continue to provide updates as this situation evolves.

Electronic Claim Submission

The ability to electronically submit claims to Sunflower Health Plan through Change Healthcare is currently down. Providers can easily submit electronic claims to Sunflower Health Plan via many alternative methods including:

  • Other claims clearinghouses
  • Sunflower’s secure provider portal
  • KMAP’s Provider Secure Portal or EDI (for Medicaid claims - free)
  • Or mail

Our preferred clearinghouse for electronic claims submission is Availity. To enroll, please visit Availity's website and/or call Availity Client Services at 1-800-AVAILITY (1-800-282-4548). For step-by-step instructions for Availity, visit the Availity Lifeline page. Additional information on claims submission can be found in our Provider Manual.

Reimbursement via Paper Check and Virtual Credit Card (VCC)

Some paper check and virtual credit card payment processes for Sunflower Health Plan have been disrupted due to this incident. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes. Please know we are working quickly to implement a new process to ensure payments are operational as soon as possible. An alternate way to speed up your payment process is to set up an automated clearing house (ACH) for electronic funds transfer (EFT). Sunflower Health Plan’s preferred ACH/EFT partner, PaySpan (now part of Zelis), has offered to help expedite the sign-up process for providers by calling 1-877-331-7154 or visiting the Payspan website.

Chart Retrieval

Change Healthcare performs retrieval of medical records for several of our programs, such as HEDIS® and Risk Adjustment. You may have received a request via phone or fax from Change Healthcare on behalf of Sunflower Health Plan, where you either scheduled appointments or provided medical records. Change Healthcare is unable to honor any fulfillment requests at this time; however, we will be employing one of our existing medical record retrieval vendors, Ciox/Datavant, to satisfy these prior commitments.

These retrievals are required to report on clinical quality measures and diagnosis data to Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). We ask that you please honor the same commitment dates for this vendor, even if you have already committed to providing medical records to Change Healthcare.

If you have provided medical records from the time period of Feb. 19, 2024, to current, you may be asked to provide these medical records again.

Also see KMAP General Bulletin 24052 (PDF).

Thank you for your patience and partnership as we navigate this situation. We apologize for any inconvenience in this matter. If you have any questions, please contact your Provider Engagement representative or our Provider Services team at the numbers below or visit https://www.centene.com/change-healthcare.