Electronic Health Records Vendor to Pay $57.25 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations | OPA…

Greenway Health LLC (Greenway), a Tampa, Florida-based developer of electronic health records (EHR) software, will pay $57.25 million to resolve allegations in a complaint filed by the United States under the False Claims Act alleging that Greenway caused its users to submit false claims to the government by misrepresenting the capabilities of its EHR product “Prime Suite” and providing unlawful remuneration to users to induce them to recommend Prime Suite, the Justice Department announced today.

“Electronic health records are critically important to the health care decision process, and both patients and providers rely on these technologies to safely and accurately record and transmit vital health information,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “This resolution demonstrates our continued commitment to pursue EHR vendors who misrepresent the capabilities of their products, and our determination to promote public health while holding accountable those who seek to abuse the government’s trust.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 established the Medicare and Medicaid 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) made incentive payments available to eligible healthcare providers that adopted certified EHR technology and met certain requirements relating to their use of the technology. To obt ain certification for their product, companies that develop and market EHR technology are required to demonstrate that their product(s) satisfies all applicable HHS-adopted certification criteria. Developers must first pass testing performed by an independent, accredited testing laboratory authorized by HHS, and then obtain and maintain certification by an independent, accredited certification body authorized by HHS.

In its complaint, the government contends that Greenway falsely obtained 2014 Edition certification for its product Prime Suite when it concealed from its certifying entity that Prime Suite did not fully comply with the requirements for certification. Among other things, Greenway’s product did not incorporate the standardized clinical terminology necessary to ensure the reciprocal flow of information concerning patients and the accuracy of electronic prescriptions. Greenway accomplished its deception by modifying its test-run software to deceive the company hired to certify Prime Suite into believing that it could use the requisite clinical vocabulary.