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Particle Health said on Monday that the “vast majority” of its customers are still receiving records from medical software giant Epic Systems, despite an ongoing dispute between the two companies over their data-sharing practices.
Epic’s software supports more than 300 million patient records, and Particle acts as a middleman, helping healthcare organizations access the data they need. Both companies are part of an interoperability network called Carequality, which facilitates the large-scale exchange of patient information.
Epic filed a formal dispute with Carequality on March 21, citing concerns that Particle and its participating organizations “may have inaccurately stated their purposes related to their records retrievals.” To join the Care Quality Network, an organization must be approved and comply with “permitted purposes,” typically related to treatment and exchange of patient records.
Patient data is protected by a federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which requires patient consent or knowledge for third-party access.
Particle said in a press release on Monday that while Epic “indiscriminately stopped responding” to some customers’ data requests due to the dispute, most customers were not affected. The company said it has been urging Epic to restore connectivity to affected customers, and many have since returned to normal.
“While there are ongoing disputes between Epic and Particle Health related to three specific customers, the vast majority of Particle Health customers affected by Epic’s conduct have no connection to that dispute,” the company said. release.
In a statement to CNBC on Monday, Epic said it discovered that some Particle customers were accessing patients’ medical records by “falsely claiming to treat them as patients.” Epic said that after a review, its customers asked the company to block “a small number” of groups from using Particle’s Carequality connection to access their data.
“This violates the principles and ethos of Carequality, which was established to promote interoperability to improve patient care,” Epic said in a statement.
Epic said its customers have asked Particle to provide more information about how these organizations use medical records before restoring access.
Particle CEO Jason Prestinario said in a company press release that the startup will resolve its dispute with Epic through official procedures.
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