Epic denies anticompetitive claims made in Texas AG's suit
In response to the lawsuit, Epic detailed its efforts to advance interoperability and its customizable software that enables health organizations to comply with state laws.
EHR giant Epic Systems is vehemently denying anticompetitive conduct in its response to a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last month.
The response, filed in a Texas district court, rebuts various claims made in the Texas AG's lawsuit. For instance, the lawsuit alleged that Epic "monopolizes" the EHR industry. However, in its response, Epic highlighted its commitment to interoperability and data sharing, noting that it has helped develop and participate in nationwide interoperability frameworks, such as Carequality and TEFCA.
Further, Epic denied that it acts as a "gatekeeper" of third-party access to its customers' data, as alleged in the state's lawsuit.
"Indeed, the State's 'gatekeeper' allegations are contradicted by the very mechanics of Epic's EHR software. Epic implements a federated deployment model for its primary EHR software offering, which provides each customer autonomy over its own instance of Epic EHR software and whether to permit access to its data," the response document states.
The state also claimed that Epic charges private application programming interface (API) rates and should not be allowed to do so. However, Epic noted that the API charges "reflect the value of Epic's innovation," including the underlying functionality the APIs leverage and the costs of ensuring they work.
In addition to the information blocking and API cost claims, the state alleges that Epic restricts parental access to minors' patient portal accounts. In its counter, Epic stated that its software is configurable, allowing healthcare organizations to determine which workflows and functionalities are needed to achieve compliance in their region, including parental access to medical records.
The company pointed out that it provided its Texas-based customers with a software guide to prepare for updates to Texas EHR law last year, including measures to ensure parental access to minor records.
"What Epic would not do, however, was attempt to unilaterally go into each of its customers' systems to change their individualized settings," the company said in response. "This lawsuit followed."
"What appears to be going on here is that the State has decided to target Epic over a politicized issue regarding proxy access that Epic does not belong in the middle of," it continued. "The State confirms as much in its press release, calling Epic a 'woke corporation[]' that supposedly 'undermine[s]' parents' rights. That simply is not true. The medical records at issue here do not belong to Epic, and any decisions about who can access them are not Epic's to make."
According to Epic, the civil investigation conducted by the state of Texas before bringing the lawsuit "revealed nothing anticompetitive, deceptive, or illicit about Epic's conduct." The company plans to file a Rule 91a motion to dismiss the Texas lawsuit.
Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.
