ATLANTA — The worldwide software glitch that caused havoc on Friday also caused delays and disruptions at Northside Hospital, impacting both patient care and surgeries.
“If a patient comes in and I don’t have access to their chart on my computer. I don’t know allergies. I don’t know current prescriptions," said Dr. Sujatha Reddy adding that her team realized early this morning there was a problem.
Thankfully, only some of her office computers were offline. According to an I.T. and cyber expert, Wikenson Andre the issue actually started Friday night.
“There’s a software update that took place overnight. Apparently, there was an issue with one of their files, and it caused what we call the blue screen of death for Windows users," Andre said. He explained that CrowdStrike, one of the world’s largest cybersecurity providers, was behind the update that malfunctioned and disrupted many systems.
“CrowdStrike moved very swiftly to release a patch to roll back the software," said Andre.
Dr. Reddy reported that some surgeries had to be delayed due to the issue.
“Even in the hospital, they were holding off on elective surgeries until they felt it was safe. The patients were being asked to wait to be checked in," said Reddy.
The hospital's I.T. team is working diligently to resolve the issue and ensure patient care continues smoothly.