EHR vendor to pay $155 million to settle FCA allegations

An electronic health records software vendor and certain of its employees will pay a total of $155 million to resolve a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that the organization misrepresented the capabilities of its software, the Department of Justice announced yesterday. The settlement also resolves allegations that the vendor, eClinicalWorks, paid kickbacks to certain customers in exchange for promoting its product. The government contends that the vendor falsely obtained certification for its EHR software when it concealed from the certifying entity that its software did not comply with the requirements for certification. As part of the settlement, ECW entered into a corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General that requires the vendor to retain an independent organization to assess its software quality control systems and provide semi-annual reports to OIG, among other provisions.