Becker's Hospital Review

38 CIO / HEALTH IT Operator of 179 Cancer Treatment Centers Admits Falsifying Data About EHR Use By Ayla Ellison F ort Myers, Fla.-based 21st Century On- cology has agreed to pay the federal government $26 million to resolve false claims allegations and a self-disclosure that it submitted false attestations regarding the use of EHR soware, according to the Depart- ment of Justice. 21st Century Oncology, which operates 179 cancer treatment centers across the U.S. and Latin America, disclosed to the government that it knowingly submitted false attestations to CMS concerning employed physicians' use of EHR soware as part of the Medicare Elec- tronic Health Records Incentive Program. To legitimize the attestations, the company said its employees falsified data regarding the use of EHR soware, fabricated utilization re- ports and superimposed EHR vendor logos onto reports. e settlement also resolves allegations that 21st Century Oncology violated the False Claims Act and Stark Law by submitting claims to government payers for services per- formed by physicians with whom it had im- proper financial relationships. e allegations were originally brought by a former employee under the qui tam, or whis- tle-blower, provisions of the False Claims Act. In addition to the monetary settlement, 21st Century Oncology entered into a five-year corporate integrity agreement with HHS' Of- fice of Inspector General. is is the company's third major legal set- tlement in recent years. In March 2016, 21st Century Oncology paid nearly $34.7 million to settle allegations it billed for procedures that were not medically necessary. In Decem- ber 2015, the company paid $19.75 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by billing for medically unnecessary lab- oratory urine tests and paid bonuses to phy- sicians based on the number of tests they re- ferred to its laboratory. e company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. n Epic to Release New EHR Version, 'Sonnet,' in March By Jessica Kim Cohen E pic plans to release a new EHR version, called Sonnet, in March 2018, a company spokesper- son said in an emailed statement to Becker's Hospital Review. In February 2017, Epic announced its work to devel- op two new EHR versions, slated to be released by the end of 2017. The additions bring the number of Epic EHR versions to three: the full Epic EHR, called "All-Terrain"; a mid-range Epic EHR with fewer mod- ules, called "Utility"; and "Sonnet," a slimmed-down Epic EHR with fewer modules and advanced features. The target market for the new product is physician practices and smaller hospitals, such as critical ac- cess hospitals, which may benefit from the lower price points and shorter implementation times. Another target market is medium-sized communi- ty hospitals, which may want a lower starting price point with the option for a more advanced EHR version later on. The Sonnet software — which is designed for small hospitals, physician groups and post-acute care facili- ties — leverages the company's "compact method" for installations, which only takes a few months, accord- ing to Epic. Sonnet will be interoperable with the Epic All-Terrain EHR, Adam Whitlatch, a lead developer at Epic, told Becker's Hospital Review last February. n Judge Orders Wisconsin Health System to Settle Dispute With Cerner Outside of Court By Ayla Ellison A Wisconsin district court judge has dismissed Fond Du Lac, Wis.-based Agnesian Healthcare's lawsuit against Cerner, a North Kansas City, Mo.-based health IT company. Agnesian Healthcare sued Cerner in September, claiming is- sues with its revenue cycle management software caused the system to lose $16 million. In its complaint, Agnesian alleged it began experiencing "pervasive errors" in patient billing imme- diately after going live on Cerner's RCM system in August 2015. Agnesian says the problems caused it to spend time and mon- ey to manually process patient billing statements and resulted in a significant backlog of patient claims for reimbursement. The health system said it continues to suffer damages of at least $200,000 per month due to the billing software problems. On Sept. 21, Cerner asked the court to dismiss the case due to the existence of an arbitration agreement between the parties. On Dec. 8, J.P. Stadtmueller, a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, granted Cerner's motion. "This case must be dismissed for improper venue because Ag- nesian was not allowed under the parties' contract to initiate a lawsuit rather than arbitration," the order states. "Although it appears that the parties will agree to arbitrate if it is sought in Missouri, the court leaves any question of the enforceability of the arbitration provision for the Western District of Missouri to decide, if necessary." n

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