Escondido, Calif.-based Graybill Medical Group and Palomar Health, which merged in 2020 to form Palomar Health Medical Group,will split following a cyberattack, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Sept. 25. Here are nine things to know:
1. The split was initiated by Graybill, a primary care provider, which notified Palomar in August that it would terminate a management services agreement with the public healthcare district due to "inadequate support and response to the aftermath of the May 2024 cyber attack directed against Palomar Health Medical Group."
2. The attack shut down both organizations' computer systems, including digital phone services, rendering their EHR system inaccessible for months and resulting in staff having to document appointments, prescriptions and other administrative and clinical tasks on pen and paper.
3. There is still disagreement over the extent to which the fallout of the data breach was resolved. Graybill says "critical functions [are] still not fully restored," while Palomar says that they have been, according to the report.
4. Vanessa Peters, MD, Graybill's chief physician officer, said that the organization has tried to keep the split amicable, according to the report. Graybill's 100 physicians and affiliated medical providers will continue to refer patients to Palomar specialists in Escondido and Poway, Calif.
5. Graybill notified Palomar of the split Sept. 10, stating that it was terminating the partnership and would need to be out of the facility by Nov. 11, Dr. Peters said in the report.
6. All but two of Graybill's nine locations will be impacted. Locations in Vista and Oceanside, Calif., will not have to move.
7. Graybill estimates that somewhere between 91% and 93% of its 50,000 patients will have to follow their existing physicians to new locations.
8. Palomar rejects Graybill's characterization of the split as an "eviction," saying that physicians can choose to stay in their current facility as a part of Palomar Health Medical Group if they wish. Dr. Peters said that only six specialists have reached out to Palomar to stay at the facility.
9. Dr. Peters doubled down on saying the split is resulting in Graybill's eviction from their current facility with Palomar, as the organization transferred its long-term leases to Palomar when the groups first partnered in 2020.