Engineers from software giant Oracle mistakenly triggered a five-day software outage at hospitals in the Community Health Systems system, forcing the facilities to temporarily revert to paper-based patient records. According to trade publication Becker’s Hospital Review, 45 hospitals were impacted by the epic tech blunder.
CNBC reports that a significant software outage caused by Oracle engineers has recently disrupted operations at numerous Community Health Systems (CHS) hospitals across the United States. The incident, which began on April 23 and lasted for five days, forced the affected hospitals to activate “downtime procedures” and temporarily return to paper-based patient records.
According to a CHS spokesperson, the outage was caused by Oracle engineers who were conducting maintenance work on the company’s electronic health record (EHR) system, known as Oracle Health. During the maintenance process, the engineers inadvertently deleted critical storage connected to a key database, resulting in the prolonged outage. The spokesperson clarified that the incident was not related to a cyberattack or any other security breach.
CHS, a Tennessee-based medical system comprising 72 hospitals across 14 states, confirmed that “several” of its hospitals were impacted by the outage. However, trade publication Becker’s Hospital Review reported that the number of affected hospitals was as high as 45.
Electronic health records play a crucial role in the U.S. healthcare system, serving as digital versions of patients’ medical histories that are updated by healthcare professionals. Outages in such systems can lead to serious disruptions in patient care, making it essential for EHR providers to maintain the stability and reliability of their software.
Despite the severity of the outage, CHS praised its clinical and support teams for their professionalism and dedication to delivering high-quality, safe care for patients throughout the multi-day incident. The spokesperson stated, “Despite this being a major outage, our hospitals were able to maintain services with no material impact.”
Oracle, which entered the EHR market in 2022 through the $28.3 billion acquisition of Cerner, has now become the second-largest player in the industry, behind Epic Systems. However, the company has faced challenges in recent times, including a thorny, years-long EHR rollout with the VA. The VA launched a strategic review of Cerner in 2021, before Oracle’s acquisition, and temporarily paused the deployment of the software in 2023 due to patient safety concerns.
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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