Billing Dispute Prompts Vendor To Block Practice's Access To EHRs

A recent dispute between a Maine-based medical practice and an electronic health record vendor has raised questions over what happens to patients' records when providers experience financial troubles, the Boston Globe reports.  

On July 30, CompuGroup -- a German-based EHR vendor with U.S. headquarters in Boston -- blocked Full Circle Health Care's access to about 4,000 patient records after the small medical practice allegedly failed to pay up to $20,000 in fees over a 10-month period. As a result of the lockout, nurses and doctors were not able to use the system to access patients' records, including:

• Allergy reports;
• Blood pressure logs;
• Diabetes information;
• Lab results; and
• Medication histories.

CompuGroup Medical USA general counsel Tetyana Buescher said, "Full Circle had a lot of opportunities to resolve this, including getting on a payment plan; they chose not to do that." She added that blocking providers' access to records "is absolutely the last measure that we have."  However, Full Circle owner and operator E. Victoria Grover called the vendor's actions "incredulous."...