Healthcare Developer Fined $155 Million for Lying About Compliance
Health records software developer eClinicalWorks has agreed to pay a $155 million to the federal government for civil fraud and kickback charges, according to HIT Consultant.
“Both the government and the whistleblower alleged that eClinicalWorks falsely represented to customers that its EHR [electronic health record] system complied with Meaningful Use requirements,” the publication says. “The settlement marks the first time an EHR vendor is being charged for the truthfulness and accuracy of representations made when seeking government certification of its EHR system and the government applying the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) law to the promotion and sale of EHR systems.”
The whistleblower alleged the company modified its software to pass testing, without being fully functional. The lawsuit listed several allegations against the company, such as kickbacks for recommendations, and failure to test its software adequately before releasing it.
Read the HIT Consultant article.