New Study Reviews Legal Settlements of 6 Healthcare Software Vendors

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Healthcare is certainly feeling the squeeze between pay cuts, new regulations, short staffing and increased labor expenses. Some estimates show that labor expenses have increased 37 percent above what they were prior to the pandemic. A recent report from Healthleaders indicates that the clinical turnover rate has increased 16 percentage points since 2018. Additionally, the search for more physicians and advanced practice providers has reached an all-time high, indicating that the clinician shortage could be increasing in the coming years.

Between all of these issues, practice managers have their hands full trying to take care of patients and still remain in business while compliant. To address increase patient volumes paired with staffing shortages, many practices are entertaining the idea of implementing automated processes to keep up with the demand. As a result, healthcare is once again focusing on healthcare platforms and software at a rate not seen since the electronic health record requirement that began in 2009.

While providers are in the midst of deciding their software priorities and which software entity they want to use, surveys have indicated providers are overwhelmed with the task. Anyone that lived through the original EHR implementations knows firsthand the headaches that providers  and their staff may be in for. In the first wave of moving to electronic records, many providers quit or retired early just due to difficulty with software. This new wave of software implementations could have an even greater impact as many of the software platforms are not just clinically focused, but will effect revenue processes directly.

While providers are entertaining the thought of new software, they may want to take close note of a recent study from MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare in Washington, D.C. The researchers analyzed the list of settlements with the Department Of Justice and found that 6 well known EHR vendors had reached settlement agreements that totaled $379.8 million. The settlement time ranged from 2011 to 2016, which correlated to the Meaningful Use requirements that were being implemented at the time.

Five of the 6 vendors were involved in settlements that included alleged kickbacks with payments to clinicians. Most of the kickbacks were due to promotion of the software, however one case was related to influencing physicians to prescribe opioids. Additionally, allegations of misrepresentation of the EHR capabilities such as claiming the ability to create standardized patient information export summaries, and over-calculating abilities to integrate with current systems and obtain meaningful use information.

The study serves as a real life cautionary tale for those healthcare administrators that are once again in the throes of implementing far-reaching software changes in the face of multiple challenges. While administrators may be overwhelmed with the task, this example clearly shows it pays to fully understand the software and know its capabilities.

Share This Article: