UPDATE 2-Option Care Health says UnitedHealth hack may hit financials in near term
(Adds shares in paragraph 4, details in para 3)
March 14 (Reuters) - Homecare health services provider Option Care Health said on Thursday it has been affected by the cyberattack at UnitedHealth Group's Change Healthcare unit, and the hack could impact its near-term financial results.
More than half of the company's claims for services rendered since the hack remain unprocessed, Option Care said in a regulatory filing.
Option said it anticipates a hit to its cash flow and working capital due to the inability to process a number of claims, with inefficiencies in patient registration and billing also among factors that can affect the company.
Shares of Option were down nearly 2% in extended trading.
Option Care utilizes Change Healthcare's services to verify benefits for existing and prospective patients, submission of claims to health plans for processing and payment as well as application of cash remittances.
"The company cannot predict the ultimate impact on its operations and financial results given the dynamic and ongoing nature of the situation," Option said.
Option, however, said it has not identified any compromise or unauthorized access of its systems or networks due to the incident, adding it had disconnected its operations from Change Healthcare applications.
Change Healthcare processes about 50% of medical claims in the U.S. for around 900,000 physicians, 33,000 pharmacies, 5,500 hospitals and 600 laboratories.
The data breach, which has disrupted healthcare across the United States, is now under investigation by the U.S. government. (Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
