AHIP's chief executive criticized the hospital lobby's response to the Change Healthcare cyberattack as "opportunistic" and "maintaining the status quo."
AHIP President and CEO Mike Tuffin pointed to comments that hospital lobbyists made to the media about the hack being "another talking point" to prevent health systems from implementing site-neutral payments, as well as an industry association's opposition to cybersecurity mandates.
"Insisting on maintaining the status quo simply makes the healthcare system a more inviting target for the ever-more sophisticated hacking operations targeting the sector," Mr. Tuffin wrote in the April 12 article. "Instead of taking a constructive leadership role in what can be done to protect consumers and the system moving forward, the hospital lobby chooses to use the moment to point fingers and shirk responsibility."
Rather than "playing politics," all industry stakeholders should be focusing on preventing and preparing for future healthcare cyberattacks, he said.