How a medical billing dispute led to blocked patient data
By - Full Circle Health Care, a small medical office in Presque Isle, Maine, made a rather disturbing discovery over the summer: employees could not access electronic health records of the organization’s patients. Due to a billing dispute with its vendor, Full Circle was blocked from electronic access to the medical histories of approximately 4,000 patients.
E. Victoria Grover, the physician assistant who owns and operates Full Circle, told The Boston Globe that her organization stopped paying the vendor – CompuGroup – its $2,000 monthly fees about 10 months before the shutoff. However, Grover explained that Full Circle and ComputGroup argued for months over various charges. The fees were high, sometimes unexpected and there was also hardware that was never delivered, Grover said. CompuGroup refused to acknowledge the disputed billings or correct them, according to Grover.
“At some point [CompuGroup] implanted a ‘kill switch’ into the software we bought from HealthPort,” Grover told the news source. “The implant modifies our software so that it sends a message to [CompuGroup] asking for permission to let us use the system, every time we try to log on. CGM did this without our knowledge and without our consent.”
While Grove hired another EHR vendor this year, the old records contain important patient information that is key for how staff members treat patients, she said.
According to CompuGroup, Full Circle ignored its attempts to negotiate a settlement of the overdue charges. The situation is similar to someone not paying his or her electric bill, said Tetyana Buescher, general counsel of CompuGroup Medical USA.
Buescher added that this situation is unusual because providers will typically negotiate with their service provider. Shutting down access to records “is absolutely the last measure that we have.”
“Full Circle had a lot of opportunities to resolve this, including getting on a payment plan; they chose not to do that,” Buescher said. “You can make an inference about…who is at fault in endangering patients, if that is the case.”
Full Circle’s original contract was with HealthPort, which was purchased by CompuGroup several years ago. According to the Globe, the contract says that Full Circle owns a copy of the HealthPort electronic health record software. However, it adds that if the software works in conjunction with the vendor’s off-site application systems, then the vendor has continued authority over its use.
Currently, Full Circle has not filed a lawsuit against CompuGroup, according to the Globe, and it is also not yet clear what legal recourse the medical organization has to open the records.
The unfortunate situation brings to light how important it is for providers to choose EHR vendors carefully and review all language concerning data transfers. The Office of the National Coordinator even released an EHR adoption contract guide designed to help providers avoid predatory clauses in sales agreements. However, this is not the first instance of vendors arguing with a healthcare provider.
