Thepractice number, allocated to all registered healthcare providers is the essential billing code that triggers the process of reimbursement of a claim to either a medical scheme member or service provider. This is in accordance with the requirement of the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998 wherein it is stated that a medical scheme may only reimburse a member or a provider of relevant healthcare services for services rendered against a valid practice code number.
Hundreds of dental practice offices in the US have had their computers infected with ransomware this week, ZDNet has learned from a source.
The incident is another case of a ransomware gang compromising a software provider and using its product to deploy ransomware on customers’ systems.
In this case, the software providers are The Digital Dental Record and PerCSoft, two Wisconsin-based companies who collaborated onDDS Safe, a medical records retention and backup solution advertised to dental practice offices in the US.
COMPANY PAID RANSOM DEMAND
Over the last weekend, a hacker group breached the infrastructure behind this software, and used it to deploy the REvil (Sodinokibi) ransomware on computers at hundreds of dentist offices across the US.
The security breach came to light on Monday, when dentists returned to work, only to find out they couldn’t access any patient information.
A source impacted by the ransomware tells ZDNet that the two companies opted to pay the ransom demand. The Digital Dental Record and PerCSoft have been sharing a decrypter with impacted dental offices since Monday, helping companies recover encrypted files.
The recovery process has been slow, as most ransomware recovery operations tend to be, with some dental offices claiming on a Facebook group that the decrypter either didn’t work, or didn’t recover all their data.
The Digital Dental Record and PerCSoft did not return phone calls or emails seeking additional information prior to this article’s publication.
HAS HAPPENED TWICE BEFORE
This incident is the third time a hacker group has compromised a managed service provider (MSP) and used its infrastructure to deploy the REvil (Sodinokibi) ransomware.
The first one happened in June, when a group breached several yet to be identified MSPs and used the Webroot SecureAnywhere console to infect customer PCs with REvil (Sodinokibi).
In a report published today, Fidelis Security ranked REvil (Sodinokibi) as one of the most active and widespread ransomware strains this year,with a market share of 12.5%, fourth behind Ryuk, Phobos, and Dharma.
Ironically, The Digital Dental Record advertises DDS Safe on its website as a way to safeguard files from ransomware attacks.
By law registered dispensing General Practitioners are allowed to add a mark up to the exit price of medicines.
Medinol allows for and deals with only the SEP or single exit price as published together with the NAPPI code by the manufacturer. It is a legal requirement that this price is retained throughout the health care value chain till right before the end user application. Medinol fully complies with this requirement.
Medinol maintains an internal programmable setting for the dispensing parameters: a) dispensing markup as a percentage, b) threshold as a Rand value, and c) fixed markup as a rand value. You can alter these at any time by invoking the “System Maintenance” function.
At the time of billing or invoicing, Medinol uses the SEP and calculates the markup based on the dispensing parameters. This is used to determine the final value of the claim at the time of treatment.
All calculations are based on VAT inclusive pricing. Current dispensing settings are: a) 30 percent, b) R78, and c) R26.68.
There are two known anomolies in the market:
1. Medikredit calculation (ex. VAT on threshold fixed value)
2. GEMS calculation (using ex.VAT as incl. VAT figures) basically giving themselves a 14% discount at the expense of the GP’s.
Health Professions Council of SA bows to pressure.
CAPE TOWN: In the face of strong opposition from the private medical industry as well as threats of legal action, and if necessary, mass protest, the Health Professions Council of SA will delay the publication of its controversial tariff guide.
Issued a week ago, the tariff guide sets out the pricing that private doctors, dentists and other specialists should charge for they work they do.
The guide was to have been gazetted on Friday August 17, but this will be delayed until after a meeting hosted by the HPC on the September 3.
The meeting will allow industry stakeholders like the SA Dental Association and the SA Medical Association to make presentations on the tariff guidelines.
Both organisations had fiercely criticised the guides for being out of touch with reality. The Council used the last published tariff guide – published by the Board of Healthcare Funders in 2006 – as its starting point for the new rates. It adjusted the rate by consumer price inflation, which is well below medical inflation. The older guides also did not include codes for hundreds of new procedures.
“The decision was taken by the Council president, who believed that pressing ahead with the tariffs as they are would destabilise the health industry,” says Council spokeswoman Bertha Scheepers.
The decision was welcomed by the health industry. “This [meeting] is what we asked for,” says acting chairman of the South African Medical Association, Mark Sonderup. “The tariff is not being gazetted which means it has no legal standing.”
The tariffs as they stand are completely inadequate, he says. “All we are asking for is an inclusive process that takes into account the arguments we have previously put forward. We don’t think that is unreasonable.”
Setting tariffs and charges is not a straightforward process. “People have this notion that doctors charge a fee and pocket the money. But in reality doctors are SME’s – they employ bookkeepers and receptionists; they buy equipment; they pay insurance, rates and taxes. Those are costs that must be properly accounted for.
“Getting the pricing right is fundamental,” he says. If they had not been heard, he says, health professionals would have resorted to mass action. “This is the way to go in SA in 2012. We would march on the HPC and demand. This is a serious issue – particularly as we move towards NHI.”
While Sonderup believes this is a genuine attempt by the HPC to hear the industry’s concerns, he questions whether setting pricing is the job of the Council – a statutory body charged with regulating the industry. “Is this not the job of the envisaged pricing commission?”
It is however a step in the right direction.
The ‘sword of Damacles’ hanging over the formation of a pricing commission is a 2003 decision handed down by the Competition Commission which prevents any type of tariff setting within the health industry. “It must go down as the worst ruling the competition authorities have ever made,” says Sonderup. “This is what has created the space for anyone to charge any price.”
From: Channel Support Sent: Monday, 25 June 2018 2:33 PM Subject: Mines administered by Sanlam health
Good day
Following meeting with Sanlam Health please note that the following has been implemented in respect of the activation for the mines administered by Sanlam Health
Harmony Health
Admin of employees of the Moab Khotsong mine incorporated with Harmony Health
Activation code: 018P (Medinol users use: 018)
Destination code: HHSE0001
Vaal Main Reef Mine
Admin of employees of the Kopanong and Lekoa mine’s employees incorporated with Vaal Main Reef Mine
Activation code: 398P (Medinol users use: 398)
Destination code: VMRM0001
Both destinations are activated and practices can submit claims for the mine’s employees.
