The complaint for this class action says that the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provides “a nationwide health information technology infrastructure…” However, the complaint alleges that Dignity Health violated this act when it provided incomplete records that were not in the form requested, and charged too much for them.
The class for this action is all persons in the US who paid Dignity for protected health information (PHI) records and (1) received partial or incomplete PHI records or (2) received records in a format other than the format requested or (3) were charged 20 cents or more per page for the records, between October 21, 2019 and October 21, 2022. A California subclass has also been defined, for persons in the above class in California, with a class period of October 21, 2018 to October 21, 2022.
Plaintiff Travonne Hooks was treated at a Dignity Health care provider, St. Mary Medical Center—Long Beach, which uses tech vendor Verisma Systems for its health records. The complaint alleges that a reason for the HITECH Act was “to encourage the transition from paper records to digitized electronic health records (‘EHR’).” Verisma must comply with federal requirements, including maintaining audit trails.
In May 2021, Hooks asked Dignity to give him his full electronic medical records. The request, the complaint alleges, asked for “all … billing record, including but not limited to an ICD/CPT Coded Billing Statements and/or HICFA Invoices;” “Physicians’ Billing Statements and/or Radiologist/Diagnostic Testing/Imaging Billing Statements;” and other specifically-named medical records.
The complaint alleges that he asked that the records be provided in an electronic format and deliver either by email or fax. “Upon information and belief,” the complaint alleges, Hooks’s “PHI with Dignity Health was maintain in electronic format and did not need to be scanned in from paper copies.”
The records were faxed to Hooks’s attorneys, the complaint says, on or around June 3, 2021, along with an invoice for $23.90. However, the complaint alleges that the records were not complete and did not have the record’s audit trail or the billing statements.
Hooks sent a second request in July, the complaint says, repeating the same specifics and asking for the records by email or fax. More than thirty days after that request, Dignity sent the billing statements with another bill for $21.95, including a $20 base fee, a charge of 25 cents per page, and a postage charge.
“Upon information and belief,” the complaint alleges, Dignity’s “regular business practice is to not include an audit [trail] or complete billing records … and frequently does not honor requests for PHI to be provided in electronic form by email or fax.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Dignity Health Medical Records Requests and HITECH Act Complaint
October 21, 2022
The complaint for this class action says that the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provides “a nationwide health information technology infrastructure…” However, the complaint alleges that Dignity Health violated this act when it provided incomplete records that were not in the form requested, and charged too much for them.
Dignity Health Medical Records Requests and HITECH Act ComplaintCase Event History
Dignity Health Medical Records Requests and HITECH Act Complaint
October 21, 2022
The complaint for this class action says that the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provides “a nationwide health information technology infrastructure…” However, the complaint alleges that Dignity Health violated this act when it provided incomplete records that were not in the form requested, and charged too much for them.
Dignity Health Medical Records Requests and HITECH Act Complaint