March 16 (Reuters) – A telehealth company admitted to accessing patients’ medical records under false pretenses in order to pass them on to law firms to resolve a lawsuit brought by healthcare software giant Epic Systems.
GuardDog Telehealth made the admissions as part of a consent judgment it entered into with Epic to exit a lawsuit the medical records software company brought against it and several other companies accusing them of improperly accessing medical records and selling their data.
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Wisconsin-based Epic’s lawsuit, filed in January, claims the companies exploited systems that allow patient medical records to be shared across healthcare providers to claim they needed access to records for treatment purposes. Instead, the information was sold, including to attorneys looking for clients with specific injuries, the lawsuit claims.
If approved by the judge overseeing the lawsuit, the judgment would permanently bar GuardDog from accessing medical records exchange networks. GuardDog would also be required to delete any medical records it has in its possession, according to court filings. The judgment does not require GuardDog to pay any damages.
In a statement, an attorney for GuardDog said the company
Telehealth company admits to providing medical records to lawyers in Epic lawsuit
