What You Ought to Know:
– CureIS Healthcare, Inc., an organization specializing in info expertise options for the healthcare business, has filed a lawsuit in opposition to EHR large Epic Systems Corporation.
– The complaint, lodged within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Northern District of California on Might 13, 2025, accuses Epic of participating in a multifaceted scheme to unlawfully stifle competitors, intervene with CureIS’s enterprise and buyer relationships, misappropriate commerce secrets and techniques, and have interaction in false promoting and commerce libel.
– The lawsuit paints an image of Epic leveraging its important market energy to crush smaller innovators like CureIS, in the end harming not solely opponents but additionally healthcare suppliers and sufferers by limiting decisions and degrading the standard of accessible healthcare expertise options.
Core Allegations: A Multi-Pronged Scheme to Eradicate Competitors
CureIS alleges that what initially appeared like remoted situations of friction with Epic have been, in truth, a part of a deliberate and widespread scheme to improperly intervene with CureIS’s enterprise and that of different MCDR software program suppliers. The lawsuit particulars a number of strategies allegedly employed by Epic:
- Coercion and Interference with Buyer Contracts: Epic is accused of particularly concentrating on CureIS by pressuring mutual clients to terminate their relationships with CureIS. The grievance particulars situations the place longtime CureIS clients, some with relationships spanning over a decade, have been allegedly compelled or coerced into ending their contracts with CureIS after migrating to Epic’s platform or attributable to Epic’s direct intervention.
- “Epic-First” Coverage: The lawsuit claims Epic imposed an “Epic-First Coverage,” requiring entities utilizing its EHR or RCM software program to additionally use Epic’s variations of different merchandise if out there, no matter buyer choice or the prevalence of third-party options. This coverage allegedly prevents clients from utilizing third-party alternate options even when Epic doesn’t presently provide a comparable instrument, forcing them to go with out crucial options.
- Misrepresentation and False Promoting: CureIS asserts that Epic misrepresents to clients that it both plans to quickly roll out a competing product or that its present merchandise replicate the performance of a competitor’s, even when Epic’s choices are allegedly of decrease high quality or non-existent. The grievance additionally references an Epic brochure titled “Merchandise You Can Exchange with Epic,” which CureIS claims is a part of Epic’s broader false promoting marketing campaign, typically selling merchandise nonetheless below improvement as if they’re present options.
- Information Blocking and Degradation of Service: A major a part of the grievance focuses on Epic allegedly denying CureIS entry to customer-owned information crucial for CureIS’s merchandise to perform, even when clients licensed such entry. This conduct is claimed to violate the twenty first Century Cures Act’s prohibition on info blocking. Epic can be accused of degrading the standard of CureIS merchandise by, for instance, limiting information entry to delayed or incomplete datasets (e.g., by means of its Readability product as a substitute of the real-time Chronicles database), thereby stifling competitors.
- Misappropriation of Commerce Secrets and techniques: CureIS accuses Epic of unlawfully buying its proprietary info and commerce secrets and techniques. The swimsuit alleges Epic solicited detailed details about CureIS’s software program, such because the “RecoveryCURE Product Specs” and “EnrollmentCURE Product Specs,” below the guise of integration discussions with mutual clients who have been certain by NDAs with CureIS. Epic then allegedly used this misappropriated info to try to construct its personal imitative merchandise, promising clients speedy improvement timelines that will solely be potential with such an improper head begin.
- Commerce Libel and Unfounded Safety Considerations: Epic can be charged with falsely disparaging CureIS to present and potential clients by elevating unfounded data-security dangers related to CureIS’s merchandise. CureIS contends these safety considerations have been pretextual, with Epic’s actual motive being to get rid of a competitor, as allegedly admitted in a single occasion the place Epic acknowledged CureIS was a “direct competitor.” CureIS argues these claims are significantly damaging given its popularity for strong information safety.
Claims for Reduction
CureIS Healthcare’s lawsuit contains seven claims for aid in opposition to Epic Techniques:
- Tortious Interference with Contractual Relations
- Tortious Interference with Potential Financial Benefit
- Commerce Libel
- Violation of the Defend Commerce Secrets and techniques Act (DTSA)
- Violation of the Lanham Act (False Promoting)
- Unfair Competitors (Cal. Bus. Prof. Code § 17200, et seq.)
- False Promoting (Cal. Bus. Prof. Code § 17500, et seq.)
Alleged Hurt and Requested Treatments
CureIS claims that Epic’s actions have induced important hurt, together with misplaced clients, diminished income, stunted development, and injury to its popularity. The corporate asserts that Epic’s conduct has additionally injured the market and the general public by depriving them of superior merchandise, providers, and aggressive pricing.
CureIS Healthcare Background
Based in 2006, CureIS Healthcare goals to enhance healthcare by means of IT, specializing in software program merchandise that automate and optimize advanced healthcare operations reminiscent of enrollment, claims adjudication, income cycle administration, compliance, and information administration. The corporate has a selected specialization in applied sciences for government-managed packages like Medicare and Medicaid, which it claims are traditionally underserved segments of the business.
CureIS affords merchandise like EnrollmentCURE, EncounterCURE, RecoveryCURE, and LettersCURE, which fall below the class of Managed Care Information Reconciliation (MCDR) software program. This sort of software program depends on interplay with EHR and Income Cycle Administration (RCM) techniques to perform successfully.
