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Particle Health said Monday that a “vast majority” of its customers still receive records from medical software giant Epic Systems, despite an ongoing dispute between the two companies over data-sharing practices.
Epic's software supports over 300 million patient records, and Particle acts as a middleman to help healthcare organizations access the data they need. Both companies are part of an interoperable network called Carequality that facilitates the exchange of patient information at scale.
On March 21, Epic filed a formal complaint against Carequality, citing concerns that Particle and its participating organizations “may have misrepresented the objectives associated with records searches.” Ta. To join the Carequality network, organizations must be approved and comply with “permitted purposes,” typically related to care, such as exchanging patient records.
Patient data is protected by a federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and access by third parties requires the patient's consent or knowledge.
Particle said in a release Monday that Epic has “ceased responding indiscriminately” to data requests from some customers because of the dispute, but that most customers were not affected. The company has asked Epic to restore connectivity to affected customers, and said many are already back to normal.
“Although there is an ongoing dispute between Epic and Particle Health related to three specific customers, the majority of Particle Health customers affected by Epic's conduct had nothing to do with this dispute. ,” the company said in a release.
Particle CEO Jason Prestinario said in a statement that the company will address its dispute with Epic through formal channels.
Epic did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
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