St. Louis-based Ascension has restored EHR access across its health system following a May 8 cyberattack.
"This means that clinical workflow in our hospitals and clinics will function similarly to the way it did prior to the ransomware attack," the June 14 statement said. "This also means patients should see improved efficiencies in appointment scheduling, wait times for appointments and prescription fulfillment."
The 140-hospital system took its IT network offline after the May 8 hack, leading to ambulance diversions, delayed appointments and longer wait times across the country. Ascension noted that its "investigation into this incident is ongoing, along with the remediation of additional systems." The organization said June 12 that hackers stole files that likely contained patient data.
Ascension's patient portals have been restored, but it will take time for them to be updated with information collected on patients when the Catholic health system went back to using paper records, according to the statement.
"The developments shared today represent a highly encouraging milestone in our organization's journey toward full recovery," the statement said. "On behalf of our Ministry, we want to thank our patients for your support and patience during this time. To our dedicated clinicians, thank you for your ongoing hard work and commitment."