Physican group sues Allscripts for 'defective' MyWay EHR

A small Florida physician group is challenging Chicago-based electronic health records vendor Allscripts, suing the company on behalf of itself and other physician groups over the company's MyWay EHR product.

Panama City-based Pain Clinic of North Florida filed the lawsuit in Miami-Dade County Court on Dec. 20, according to an article published last week in the South Florida Business Journal, claiming that MyWay was defective, and that Allscripts refused to fix defects or refund money after discontinuing the product in October. The complaint also alleges that Allscripts' offer of a "free upgrade" to its EHR Pro product really isn't free, since the upgrade to the more complicated product involves additional training, migration of data, and a new license.

Moreover, physicians who opt instead to switch to a different vendor's EHR would have to pay Allscripts thousands of dollars to release their data back to them.

The clinic is claiming unjust enrichment and breach of warranty. It is asking the court to certify the lawsuit as a class action on behalf of the 5,000 small physician practices that purchased MyWay from 2009 until it was discontinued.

Allscripts has not had a banner year, with a board shakeup, a shareholder lawsuit and the loss of a contract with New York City's public hospitals.

Last month, Glen Tullman was fired from the company after serving as its CEO for 15 years.

The suit may be the indication of the beginning of a trend, as more frustrated providers turn to the courts for recourse against EHR vendors for inadequate products and customer service.

To learn more:
- read the South Florida Business Journal article