ASC electronic health records vendor NextGen Healthcare has agreed to pay $31 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting the capabilities of certain versions of its EHR software, according to a July 14 report from Vermont Biz.
The lawsuit, filed in a Vermont federal court, also alleges that NextGen provided unlawful remuneration to users that recommended its software.
To obtain certification, EHRs are required to demonstrate that their products satisfy all Department of Health and Human Services mandated criteria. The U.S. contends that NextGen falsely obtained certification for its 2014 edition software, relying on auxiliary product design for certification testing and concealing that the EHR lacked critical functionality.
Allegedly the software lacked user functionality, including the ability to record vital sign data, translate data into required medical vocabularies and create complete clinical summaries.
The government also alleges that NextGen violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by giving credits of up to $10,000 to current customers whose recommendation of NextGen's EHRs to other customers led to a new sale.
Claims were brought by two whistleblowers, Toby Markowitz and Elizabeth Ringold, who worked at a facility that used NextGen's software.
"The Company denies that any of its conduct violated the law, and the settlement agreement does not include any admissions of wrongdoing. This agreement relates to claims from more than a decade ago. The settlement resolves the matter without monitoring or changes to NextGen Healthcare’s products or compliance policies. To avoid the distraction and expense of litigation, we believe it is in the best interest of the company to put this historical matter behind us and keep our attention focused on innovating solutions that enable better healthcare outcomes for all," a NextGen Healthcare spokesperson told Becker's in a July 18 email.