The electonic system used to manage medication in aged residential care, hospices and disability services, was shut down after health workers discovered it was hacked on Sunday.
Names, ages, residential status and prescribers for some patients had been altered. Media reported that some patients were marked as dead when they were alive, others’ names were changed to Charlie Kirk — an apparent reference to the US right-wing activist shot dead last year.
A media statement released by MediMap on Tuesday said the company had found “unauthorised activity” in its system on Sunday.
With the platform shut down while it was fixed, customers had “reverted to their standard alternative manual processes”, the release said.
Speaking to Kaitiaki, NZNO college of gerontology nursing chair Bridget Richards, a nurse practitioner, described the complex medication needs in aged residential care.
Some residents were on controlled drugs, others were palliative patients on syringe drivers; others needed insulin multiple times daily depending on their blood sugars, she said.
“All of those need to be charted appropriately and properly. There’s others that are on immuno-suppressant medications they have once a week, so you have to remember what day of a week they are. It’s not easy.”
With the MediMap system, including its records, shut down where she worked, Richards said their pharmacy was able to send some charts with the normal packed medications already on them — “so as the prescriber I was able to sign and date those”.
“And then we’ve had to go through each resident and chart the non-packed medications: insulins, Warfarins, any other injectables, creams that they need regularly, inhalers, eye drops — all of those things have then had to be put onto the medications chart.”
On top of this were the as-needed medications, which might not have been required for months — “none of us can remember all of the things people are charted for”. “We’ve gone with the things that we know they use regularly, so those are being re-prescribed.”
The last time she’d used paper systems was about five years ago in a couple of facilities before they all went electronic, she said.
“[now] Instead of it being all automatically being filled in for you, we’re having to go back to basics.”
The day before she’d been helping nurses for about four hours on residents’ charts — “to try and make sure we got everything charted properly”.
Richards said she’d been lucky in that she’d always written up any medication adjustments in her notes — “so I’ve got somewhere to go back to”.
“I think somewhere in my past this must’ve happened before so I’m a bit careful in making sure I’ve got another area where I’ve got that information . . . I really feel for people that are left with nothing.”
An NZNO member working in a Christchurch aged care facility, who wished to remain anonymous, said they had to double the registered nurses (RN) on each shift, just to give medications.
“This requires a paper form from the pharmacy, everything from paracetamol through to controlled drugs requires a second checker to observe and sign along with the RN administering.”
This, the member said, made each medication round longer and heightened the risk of residents not getting their medication on time. There were 80 residents at the facility — not being able to access MediMap risked their safety, the member said.
“Everything from paracetamol through to controlled drugs requires a second checker to observe and sign along with the RN administering.”
“We are scared for our residents, and for ourselves.”
In its release, MediMap said it was in contact with Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand, and had notified the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and police.
“We are continuing to investigate the impact on patient data while implementing a safe restoration pathway.”
On Wednesday afternoon, MediMap announced it was seeking a court injunction against the release of private information from the hack, after it was reportedly offered to media organisations.