HOW TRUSTWORTHY IS YOUR EHR VENDOR?

It was back in May 2017 eClinicalWorks (ECW) became the first EHR vendor to pay a fine totaling $155 million to resolve a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that ECW misrepresented the capabilities of its software. (See https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/electronic-health-records-vendor-pay-155-million-settle-false-claims-act-allegations) to learn more.

In its complaint-in-intervention, the government contends that ECW falsely obtained that certification for its EHR software when it concealed from its certifying entity that its software did not comply with the requirements for certification. For example, in order to pass certification testing without meeting the certification criteria for standardized drug codes, the company modified its software by “hardcoding” only the drug codes required for testing. In other words, rather than programming the capability to retrieve any drug code from a complete database, ECW simply typed the 16 codes necessary for certification testing directly into its software. ECW’s software also did not accurately record user actions in an audit log and in certain situations did not reliably record diagnostic imaging orders or perform drug interaction checks. In addition, ECW’s software failed to satisfy data portability requirements intended to permit healthcare providers to transfer patient data from ECW’s software to the software of other vendors. As a result of these and other deficiencies in its software, ECW caused the submission of false claims for federal incentive payments based on the use of ECW’s software.

Under the terms of the settlement agreements, ECW and three of its founders (Chief Executive Officer Girish Navani, Chief Medical Officer Rajesh Dharampuriya, M.D., and Chief Operating Officer Mahesh Navani) are jointly and severally liable for the payment of $154.92 million to the United States. Separately, Developer Jagan Vaithilingam will pay $50,000, and Project Managers Bryan Sequeira, and Robert Lynes will each pay $15,000.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 established the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program to encourage healthcare providers to adopt and demonstrate their “meaningful use” of EHR technology. Under the program, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) offers incentive payments to healthcare providers that adopt certified EHR technology and meet certain requirements relating to their use of the technology. To obtain certification for their product, companies that develop and market EHR software must attest that their product satisfies applicable HHS-adopted criteria and pass testing by an accredited independent certifying entity approved by HHS.

With this type of deception, why would the federal government allow (ECW) or any other EHR vendor that knowingly fabricated their EHR certification to continue selling EHR software to healthcare providers in the USA? These types of EHR vendors should be banned from selling software to healthcare providers in the USA. This brings into account the importance of being able to fully trust your EHR vendor and the importance of avoiding EHR vendors with deceptive practices or past violations.

The MD Logic EHR Software is engineered and supported by a team of U.S. based employees located in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Our management team abides by a strict rule of ethics with the focus of always putting our customers first. The MD Logic EHR Software is ONC 2015 certified and backed by the best support team in the industry.

To learn more about all the MD Logic Software solutions available please contact our corporate headquarters today at 800-273-7750.