“Epic holds its customers’ data hostage, limiting its customers’ access to their own data if they work with any company that Epic deems a competitor,” the lawsuit alleges.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit claiming that Wisconsin-based Epic Systems operates an illegal monopoly and unlawfully restricts parents’ access to children’s medical records.
According to Wisconsin Public Radio, the lawsuit was filed by Paxton’s office on Wednesday.
In court documents, attorneys for Texas claim that Epic Systems uses its significant influence over electronic health records to eliminate potential competitors and limit access to data.
The lawsuit accuses Epic, headquartered in Verona, Wisconsin, of abiding by an “anticompetitive playbook” used to enforce and entrench its alleged “monopoly.” Paxton is now asking a court to “dismantle Epic’s monopoly” and hold the company accountable for stifling competition.
“We will not allow woke corporations to undermine the sacred rights of parents to protect and oversee their kids’ medical well-being,” Paxton said in a statement. “This lawsuit aims to ensure that Texans can readily obtain access to these records and benefit from the lower costs and innovation that come from a truly competitive electronic health records market.”
The lawsuit claims that patient data is integral to the U.S. health care system, and that Epic, more than any other company, has “amassed control over patient data” by coercing hospitals into using its electronic health records system. This strategy has allowed Epic to “insert itself as a gatekeeper,” deciding who can access patient data, when they can access it, and under what terms.
In total, Epic’s patient health database stores records for more than 325 million patient—more than 90% of all U.S. citizens. Once information is entered in Epic’s database, though, Paxton’s office says that it becomes “almost impossible to get.” Even when hospitals want to switch providers, the process can take up to a decade to complete. Furthermore, for large health organizations, the costs can range into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The lawsuit says that Epic regularly delays and restricts access to health records by potential competitors and “coerces” its client organizations into staying with Epic through threats of “imposing massive penalty fees.”
“Epic holds its customers’ data hostage, limiting its customers’ access to their own data if they work with any company that Epic deems a competitor,” the lawsuit alleges.
A spokesperson for Epic Systems said that the company provides a critical service used by tens of millions of Americans each day.
“Health systems using Epic shared information with almost 1,000 patient-facing apps 2 billion times in the past year,” Epic said in a statement. “Epic does not determine parental access to children’s medical records. Decisions about parental access to children’s medical records are made by doctors and health systems.”
Sources
Texas sues Wisconsin-based Epic Systems, accusing it of running a monopoly
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