Lawsuit: Epic Systems ran a ‘multi-prong scheme to destroy’ health IT competitor

A new lawsuit against Epic Systems alleges the Verona-based health care software company ran a “multi-prong scheme to destroy” a competitor’s business.

CureIS Healthcare, a company that offers software for managed care organizations helping administer Medicare and Medicaid, filed suit against Epic last week in a federal court in California.

It’s the second lawsuit filed in the last year accusing the Verona company of engaging in unlawful efforts to try to block competition.

According to the May 13 civil complaint, Epic instituted an “Epic-first Policy” where those using Epic’s electronics health records software — more than 60 percent of health systems and academic medical systems — must also use Epic’s versions of other products “if it has a version of the product in question.”

“Epic also has a practice of misrepresenting to customers that it either has plans to roll out a version of a competitor’s product soon, or that Epic has a current product that replicates the functionality of a competitor’s product,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit accuses Epic of specifically targeting CureIS and says the company “coerced” shared customers to “terminate their relationships with CureIS, denying CureIS’s customers access to their own data.” 

In an email, an Epic spokesperson said the company “believes in free and fair competition.”

“We also believe our customers are in the best position to choose the right solutions to meet their needs — whether with Epic or by adopting other products and services,” the spokesperson wrote. “We are aware of the complaint filed by CureIS and we look forward to setting the record straight in court.”

In a statement, CureIS Chief Executive Chris Sawotin said the company’s lawsuit was meant to take a stand “for innovation, integrity and fair competition” and ensuring providers have “access to the best tools, not just the ones Epic dictates.”

“By restricting data access, misrepresenting what they offer, and coercing customers into inferior tools, Epic is not out-innovating the market — they are trying to control it,” Sawotin stated. “CureIS is fighting to defend our right to offer better solutions, protect our team’s livelihoods, and ensure government healthcare is not fleeced by a profit-hungry giant.”

According to the complaint, Epic is “nearing the saturation point” in the electronic health records market and it is working to find new areas for growth. The complaint states Epic is “wielding its power to destroy” competitors in the broader health care IT market.

The suit also alleges Epic disparaged the quality of CureIS’s products to customers, misappropriated CureIS’s trade secrets and used false advertising.

CureIS is asking the federal court to declare Epic violated state and federal laws, and to enjoin Epic “from engaging in false advertising, unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation” and other acts described in the complaint.

In September, data startup Particle Health sued Epic in a New York federal court alleging the Verona-based company violated antitrust law and used its market dominance to squash competition. At the time, a spokesperson from Epic called the claims baseless. That case is still open.

Editor’s note: Epic Systems is a business sponsor of WPR.