Opticians “no longer able to offer third-party payment”

Following the hacking suffered by Viamedis and Almerys, the damage seems to be limited for most businesses connected to the medical sector. But even though the purchase of those glasses represents a significant expense for their customers, it is different for those who can no longer request support.

First Viamedis, then Almeris. In quick succession, these two third-party payment management platforms, which serve as intermediaries between health professionals (doctors, pharmacists, opticians, etc.) and complementary services, were victims of cyber attacks. In total, more than 33 million French people have had their data stolen, according to the National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties (Cnil).

Fortunately, these leaks will not involve sensitive banking or medical information, nor postal details or telephone numbers. On the other hand, hackers were able to seize data such as marital status, social security number, name of mutual insurance company and contractual guarantees.

Pharmacists had little effect

For healthcare professionals, not everyone faces the same difficulties. For pharmacists, for example, they remain relatively peripheral.

“We have suffered the suspension of payments by Viamedis” (for the part covered by supplementary health insurance, editor’s note), mentions Valerian Poncenet, president of the Commission on Digital Systems within the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF).

“But we were able to continue generating care sheets and billing clients,” he adds.

Valerian Poncinnet assures that payment delays are also “slowly catching up”, while the third-party payment service for pharmacists has been operational again since Wednesday.

Opticians were fined

The story is not the same among opticians. “Viamedis has not informed us of a date to restore their service. We learned through the press that they had been hacked,” laments Hugues Verdier-David, president of the National Federation of Opticians of France (FNOF).

The sums involved in the purchase of glasses are usually considerable, so opticians find themselves in a delicate situation.

“Certainly, we can no longer offer third-party payment to customers who come to the store to pick up glasses,” explains Hugues Verdier-David.

A service failure that he condemns in the context of inflation, where households are particularly cautious in their spending. As a result, consumers who cannot afford the expense are invited to postpone the purchase of glasses, even though the portion covered by the mutual is sometimes substantial.

“For the optician, there are also consequences in terms of cash flow. He is waiting for the liquidation of the files”, underlines Hugues Verdier-David, to receive payments from the supplementary health insurance.

“Years of Failure”

The President of FNOF deplores the “problem of securing flows” more generally.

“Our federation has been calling the CNIL for years to note the failures in the flow process between opticians and supplementary health insurance.”

He believes that mutual societies collect a lot of data, which is not always necessary for their operations. “They don’t need a lot of details, especially since some are subject to medical confidentiality,” assures Hugues Verdier-David.

The CNIL has opened an investigation to determine whether Viamedis and Almerys have implemented the security procedures required by the European data law (GDPR).

“There have already been breaches and frauds but they have never reached this magnitude,” says Hugues Verdier-David. Its federation wants the CNIL to “clearly define the role and responsibility of each actor” with regard to consumer data, from opticians to complementary health insurers, including software publishers and third-party payment operators, such as Viamedis and Almeris.