Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Dec. 10 against EHR vendor Epic, accusing the company of monopolizing the EHR market and engaging in deceptive practices that restrict parents’ access to their minor children’s medical records.
The lawsuit claims Epic uses exclusionary tactics to maintain dominance in an industry where its software manages more than 325 million patient records, covering about 90% of U.S. residents. According to the complaint, Epic interferes with hospitals’ ability to use their own patient data and employs practices that prevent partners, customers and employees from developing competing products. Mr. Paxton alleges those actions hinder competition, raise costs for Texas hospitals and patients, and may result in physicians receiving incomplete or outdated records.
The lawsuit also challenges how Epic handles minors’ health information. According to the complaint, the company automatically restricts parental access to medication lists, treatment notes and provider messages once a child turns 12. Mr. Paxton argues that this practice violates Texas Health and Safety Code §183.006, which grants parents full access to their children’s medical records.
“We will not allow woke corporations to undermine the sacred rights of parents to protect and oversee their kids’ medical well-being,” Mr. Paxton said in a Dec. 11 news release. He added that the lawsuit aims to ensure Texans can access records and benefit from a more competitive EHR marketplace.
“The action taken by Texas is flawed and misguided by its failure to understand both Epic’s business model and position in the market and the enormous contributions our company has made to our nation’s healthcare system, illustrated by products like MyChart, software that tens of millions of Americans depend on every day,” an Epic spokesperson told Becker’s in an emailed statement.
The spokesperson added that Epic facilitates more than 725 million record exchanges each month, more than any other EHR vendor, with more than half occurring with non-Epic systems. Health systems using Epic shared information with nearly 1,000 patient-facing apps 2 billion times in the past year. Epic said it does not determine parental access to children’s medical records; those decisions are made by physicians and health systems.
The case is part of a broader initiative by Mr. Paxton’s office to investigate EHR vendors’ compliance with state laws regarding parental access. Earlier this year, he reached a settlement with Austin Diagnostic Clinic requiring restoration of parental proxy access for patients ages 12 to 17. The attorney general’s office has also issued civil investigative demands to other EHR software vendors.
