What You Should Know:
– Particle Health, a healthcare data platform company, is addressing concerns about a reported data access disruption with electronic health record (EHR) giant Epic.
– Particle Health emphasizes that the vast majority of its customers continue to receive data from Epic uninterrupted, despite recent announcements suggesting otherwise.
The Dispute and Its Impact
However, Particle Health acknowledges a dispute with Epic that began in March 2024. While the nature of the dispute is unclear, it appears to involve three specific Particle Health customers. Unfortunately, Epic’s response has impacted a larger group of unrelated Particle Health customers, hindering their ability to access patient data. These customers haven’t been accused of any wrongdoing.
Particle Health highlights the negative impact this has had on patient care, as some treatments rely on this data access.
Efforts to Restore Connections
Particle Health has been actively pushing Epic to restore connections for all affected customers. They report some success, with connections already re-established for several customers. Efforts are ongoing to restore service for the remaining impacted parties.
Transparency and Adherence to Standards
Particle Health emphasizes its role in the Carequality interoperability network, a system facilitating data exchange in healthcare. They maintain a positive and constructive dialogue with Carequality and assure they consistently adhere to all network guidelines.
Uncertainties Remain
While Particle Health clarifies the situation, the specific details of the dispute with Epic remain unclear. It’s also uncertain how long it will take to restore connections for all affected customers.
“We will address our dispute with Epic through procedural channels,” said Jason Prestinario, CEO of Particle Health. “The remaining customers impacted by the failure to respond are not involved in this dispute and Epic has not even suggested that they have done anything wrong. We sincerely hope that Epic’s failure to respond to queries of these customers was unintentional and will be resolved shortly. We expect that Carequality will resolve the dispute in Particle Health’s favor. Our priority has and will remain enabling safe and effective access to medical records to facilitate better patient care. Any suggestion otherwise indicates a gross misunderstanding of our company values and the mission of Particle Health,” Prestinario emphasized.
