On Monday, Particle Health announced that despite an ongoing dispute with Epic Systems, the “vast majority” of its customers are still able to receive records from the medical software giant. Epic’s software, which supports over 300 million patient records, is accessed by health-care organizations through Particle, acting as a middleman. Both companies are part of the Carequality network, which facilitates the exchange of patient information on a large scale.
The dispute arose when Epic filed a formal complaint with Carequality on March 21, expressing concerns that Particle and its participant organizations may not be accurately representing the purpose of their record retrievals. Organizations in the network must be approved and comply with “Permitted Purposes,” typically related to treatment, for exchanging patient records. Patient data is protected under HIPAA, which requires patient consent for any third-party access.
Epic has accused Particle of not adhering to these guidelines and has stopped responding to data requests from some customers. However, according to Particle CEO Jason Prestinario, most customers were unaffected by this issue and the company is working to restore connections for impacted customers. The two companies have been in communication to resolve the issue.
Prestinario stated that he will address the dispute through official channels and work towards finding a resolution that benefits all parties involved. He emphasized that maintaining trust and transparency in patient data is crucial for both companies and their customers.
Epic has not responded to CNBC’s request for comment on the matter as it continues to unfold. It remains unclear what caused this rift between two important players in the healthcare technology industry and how long it will take for them to reconcile their differences.
