News 5/16/25

Top News

Tucson-based CureIS Healthcare files suit against Epic, alleging that the company harmed its business by blocking access to billing data from Epic-using customers and falsely claiming that Epic’s products could replace those of CureIS. The complaint alleges these actions by Epic:

• Engaged in a “widespread scheme” to disrupt competitors in the managed care data reconciliation space.
• Enforced an “Epic-first” policy that pressures EHR and RCM customers to adopt Epic’s own software alternatives, which Epic promotes in a brochure titled “Products You Can Replace with Epic.”
• Coerced shared customers to terminate their CureIS contracts and restricted the access of those customers to their own data.
• Attempted to obtain CureIS’s proprietary product information under the pretense of integration planning.
• Committed trade libel by telling customers and prospects that CureIS products create a security risk when integrated with Epic.

An Epic spokesperson provided this response: “Epic believes in free and fair competition, and we also believe our customers are in the best position to choose the right solutions to meet their needs — whether with Epic or by adopting other products and services. We are aware of the complaint filed by CureIS and we look forward to setting the record straight in court.”

Reader Comments

From VTInquirer: “Re: [ambulatory EHR/PM vendor name omitted]. The CEO of a provider organization told me they are exploring alternatives because the vendor can’t certify as a compliant EHR until they release some kind of patch whose ETA is November 2025. Can anyone verify?” I’ve omitted the vendor’s name pending reader confirmation (I’m 100% sure the company won’t do so). Chime in if you know the company and the issue.

From Gin Diesel: “Re: your Epic report. I ran across this in a Google search and found it fascinating.” Thanks for stirring that memory since I totally forgot about “Epic: The Cold, Hard Facts” that I wrote way back in 2016 using custom research data from Peer60 (now Reaction). We received responses and comments from nearly 100 Epic-using health system CIOs, along with 39 CMOs, 22 CEOs, and dozens of CFOs and CNOs. My intro hinted at the sassiness to come:

Everybody in healthcare IT has a strong opinion about Epic. Most of the people who express those opinions confidently (and sometimes loudly) don’t have any first-hand experience with the company or its products. It’s like asking an armchair quarterback dribbling wing sauce onto his shirt how Peyton Manning should be reading the defense. On the “Epic is great” side are loyal customers who are financially vested in Epic’s success; consultants who make a great living riding on Epic’s coattails; and research firms who sell reports after talking to a few Epic-using hospital employees of unstated job titles. The “Epic is evil” contingent has a significant portion of people whose employer is losing business to Epic; experienced industry specialists who Epic won’t hire since they aren’t new graduates; and those naysayers who just don’t like Epic’s success. Also in the anti-Epic camp are critics of electronic health records who use Epic as an example of how technology has ruined medicine.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Welcome to new HIStalk Gold Sponsor Zen Healthcare IT. Zen combines a modern API for healthcare with a traditional interface engine platform, providing a single, unified solution for all healthcare interoperability use cases. Zen’s Stargate Gateway provides certified access to the national data exchange networks, including Carequality (Implementer), eHealth Exchange (Validated) and CommonWell Alliance (Service Adopter & Connector). TEFCA is accessible via our certified connections with QHINs such as CommonWell Health Alliance and eHealth Exchange. For direct interface use cases, our Gemini Integration platform combines a robust, secure, and scalable integration foundation with advanced data transformation services, making integrations faster, easier and less costly. Built with a security first mindset, all Zen hosted solutions are HITRUST CSF r2 certified. Whether you want to be “hands on” with an integration engine, or “hands off” with an API, or both, we put the Zen in Interoperability. Thanks to Zen for supporting HIStalk.

Sponsored Events and Resources

None scheduled soon. Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Complement 1, which offers virtual lifestyle modification for coaching for cancer patients, raises $16 million in seed funding. India-based founder and CEO Karan Bajaj, MBA has an interesting background – brand manager for P&G, author of several novels, yoga teacher, executive of Discovery Networks, and founder of a company that applies technology to alleviating poverty in India.

Behavioral health and substance abuse operations software vendor Dazos raises $25 million in Series A funding.

Health data company Datavant acquires Aetion, which offers a real-world evidence platform for drug companies.

Sprinter Health, which offers virtual and in-home preventive care, raises a $55 million Series B round. Co-founder and CEO Max Cohen, MBA came from Google and Facebook.

Cohere Health, which offers prior authorization solutions, raises $90 million in Series C funding. Co-founder and CEO Siva Namasivayam, MS, MBA is an industry veteran who has held leadership roles at Gartner, Perot Systems, MphasiS, and SCIO Health Analytics.

Compensation for executives at Atrium Health, now part of Advocate Health, jumped 41% last year, with EVP/Chief Innovation and Commercial Officer Rasu Shrestha, MD, MBA earning $3.3 million and EVP/Chief Information and Analytics Officer Andy Crowder, MHA making $2.3 million.

Announcements and Implementations

Google-owned Fitbit Labs adds a Gemini-powered lab results summary creator, a symptom checker, and an alert for unusual trends to its app. The enhancements are being released for testing.

Two-thirds of 9,000 nurses who were surveyed by Black Book Research cited poor EHR usability and documentation burden as major sources of their job dissatisfaction. Among nurses under 40, two-thirds say that EHR experience ranks among their top three considerations when evaluating new employers. Just 11% believe that their EHR vendor or IT department takes frontline nurse impact into account when making changes.

AGS Health opens an office in Guadalajara, Mexico and will hire 150 employees to provide clinical administrative services.

Government and Politics

The Department of Justice is reportedly conducting a Medicare fraud investigation of UnitedHealth Group’s Medicare Advantage business. Hard-hit UNH shares dropped sharply on the news. They have lost more than 50% in the past month, erasing $250 billion in market capitalization.

Other

More than half of surveyed Swiss physicians say that their EHRs don’t improve patient safety, while two-thirds of hospital doctors cite EHR inefficiency as wasting their time. The authors conclude that IT configuration and support strongly influence user satisfaction related to the same EHR.

Sponsor Updates

• Redox partners with cognitive and behavioral health assessments software vendor Creyos.
• Health Data Movers names Mina Banoub integration engineer.
• Healthcare IT Leaders releases a new episode of its “Leader to Leader” podcast titled “Driving Innovation at Emory Healthcare: Leveraging Cloud and AI for Better Patient Care.”

Blog Posts

• Tackling Clinician Burnout with Working Diagnosis (Altera Digital Health)
• Women Innovating Health IT: Helen Waters (Ellkay)
• Helping Prevent a Nursing Workforce Emergency (First Databank)
• The Supreme Court DSH Payment Ruling: What It Means for Hospitals Serving Low-Income Communities (FinThrive)
• Winning Over Gen Z and Millennials: How to Tailor Customer Service for the Next Generation (Five9)
• Audit the Mix: Why Health Systems Must Reevaluate Their IT Staffing Strategy (HCTec)
• Your One-Stop Guide to RADV Audits (HealthMark Group)
• Operating Room Utilization (Impact Advisors)
• How service line analytics is transforming operations (Cardamom)
• Candida Auris: From Threat to Reality (Inovalon)
• Celebrating Moms: Why Brain Health Belongs at the Center of Women’s Health (Linus Health)
• 4 stories that showcase the power of nurses (Meditech)
• Accelerate Your Path to HITRUST Certification by Adopting MTS HITRUST r2 Inheritance Provider Status (Med Tech Solutions)
• Capitol Hill Briefing: Health Data Privacy 101 with the Healthcare Trust Institute and MRO (MRO)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Follow on X, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.
Sponsorship information.
Contact us.