EMR vendor contract dispute leaves health center without access to patient records

Milwaukee Health Services is suing Business Computer Applications (BCA) to regain access to the medical records of its 40,000 patients, the (Milwaukee) Journal Sentinel reported. Doctors have not had access to the electronic medical records (EMR) since June 30 when BCA cut off its access once their contract for the EMR system expired, the article states. The records include patients' medications, problem lists, allergies, immunization records, treatment plans and other clinical information. However, doctors can retrieve medication lists and lab results from pharmacies and other sources, according to the paper. The article said the dispute was triggered by the community health center's decision last month to replace BCA's EMR system with one from GE Healthcare. Article