March 18 (Reuters) - Ratings agency Fitch said on Monday

the recent cybersecurity incident at UnitedHealth Group's ( UNH )

technology unit, Change Healthcare, could negatively

affect credit profiles of smaller healthcare providers and

pharmacies that use its services.

Change Healthcare was hit by a cyberattack on Feb. 21 and

had a knock-on impact across the country's healthcare system

that depends heavily on insurance.

Fitch said it was assessing the degree of impact on smaller

pharmacies and healthcare providers' cash flows following the

cyberattack.

It was also assessing the adequacy of existing sources of

liquid capital available to these firms, the agency added.

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini

Ganguli)