LeadingAge Seeks Flexibility for Providers Affected by Kronos Ransomware Attack

Posted on January 13, 2022 by Jonathan Lips

This week LeadingAge and the American Health Care Association sent a joint letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recommending accommodations for skilled nursing facilities impacted by a ransomware attack that human resources company Ultimate Kronos Group faced on Dec. 10, 2021.

The associations estimate the attack caused 1,000 or more nursing homes across the nation to lose access to their time and attendance-keeping systems. The letter explains that these facilities cannot provide PBJ data because of the attack. Once systems are restored, providers have been informed by Kronos that they will submit the data. Kronos staff are aiming for the end of January for that restoration.

The letter asks CMS not to penalize nursing homes affected by the Kronos situation for submitting data for the fourth quarter of 2021 and to provide other accommodations. We will provide updates to this story as the Feb. 14 reporting deadline approaches.