Greenway Health LLC, a Tampa-based developer of electronic health records (EHR) software, recently agreed to pay $57.25 million to resolve False Claims Act (FCA) allegations that it overstated the capabilities of and failed to correct known errors with its EHR software.  In a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, the United States alleged that Greenway caused its users to submit false claims to the government by, among other things, misrepresenting the capabilities of its EHR product “Prime Suite” and providing unlawful remuneration to users to induce them to recommend the product.

EHR Companies Must Be HHS Certified

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 established the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program to encourage healthcare providers to adopt EHR technology and demonstrate its “meaningful use.”  To obtain certification for their product, EHR companies are required to demonstrate that their product satisfies all applicable U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) certification criteria.  This requires that developers do the following two things:

  1. Pass testing performed by an independent, accredited testing laboratory authorized by HHS.
  2. Obtain and maintain certification by an independent, accredited certification body authorized by HHS.

Continue Reading Electronic Health Records Company Pays High Price for Software Shortcomings