Building the Anti-Epic Regulatory Machine
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson announced a new Healthcare Task Force that merges the Bureaus of Competition, Consumer Protection, Economics and the Offices of Policy Planning and Technology. The effort implements President Trump’s February 2025 executive order to boost competition, affordability and pricing transparency in health care. The task force will meet monthly, issue quarterly reports and coordinate with HHS and the DOJ. Analysts see this as a pivot toward stricter antitrust scrutiny of health‑tech platforms, notably Epic Systems.
The ELU Multiverse Expands
Two new class‑action lawsuits have been filed that closely echo Epic Systems’ earlier litigation tactics, targeting Health Gorilla and its network partners after a massive data breach. The first case, Lott v. Health Gorilla, was lodged by an Illinois plaintiff...
Epic V. Health Gorilla: GuardDog Folds
Epic Systems secured a stipulated judgment and permanent injunction against GuardDog Telehealth in its lawsuit with Health Gorilla. GuardDog admitted its business model involved requesting and summarizing medical records via the Carequality and TEFCA interoperability frameworks under the guise of...
Everything’s Bigger in Texas (Pleading Standard Edition)
The Texas Attorney General filed an opposition to Epic’s motion to dismiss, arguing that Epic cannot import federal summary‑judgment standards into a state‑court pleading under Texas Rule 91a. The brief emphasizes that Epic’s reliance on a patchwork of federal cases...
Interoperability, Half Finished
The article highlights e‑prescribing’s rapid national rollout, which eliminated paper scripts and enabled direct provider‑to‑pharmacy transmission. However, critical gaps remain: pharmacies cannot share real‑time inventory data, and pharmacy‑to‑pharmacy transfers still rely on fax and phone calls. The author’s personal experience—an...
The First Payer Jumped
Clover Health announced it is the first payer to go live on a CMS‑aligned health information exchange network, marking a tangible step toward nationwide interoperability. The rollout enables Medicare Advantage members to retrieve claims and clinical data through FHIR‑based APIs,...
Epic's First Pharma Deal
Epic Systems announced its first pharmaceutical customer, Eli Lilly, for the newly launched Epic Discovery platform. The deal marks the inaugural sale of a Health Grid product to a life‑sciences firm, allowing Lilly to streamline clinical trial creation, site identification, activation,...
Texas V. Epic: Market Definition and Whataburger Edition
Texas filed its antitrust suit against Epic Systems in state court to avoid federal consolidation and the stricter Twombly/Iqbal pleading standards. Epic’s motion to dismiss challenges the state’s market definition, arguing that the split between acute‑care and academic hospital EHR...
The State Shows Its Hand
Texas has filed its Required Initial Disclosures in the antitrust lawsuit against Epic Systems, revealing a 12‑category disclosure regime that exceeds the federal FRCP 26 standard. The State’s witness list includes senior Epic executives, technical leaders, recruiting staff, several Epic‑using health...
The Most Interesting FHIR You've Never Heard Of
The episode dives into Epic's recent rollout of twelve new FHIR APIs tailored for radiation oncology, highlighting how these modern interfaces support the CodeX Exchange of Radiotherapy Summaries Implementation Guide. It explains the distinct nature of radiation oncology—focused on precise...
The Product Mendoza Line
In this episode the host examines Epic’s decade‑long migration from its legacy thick‑client UI, Hyperspace, to the modern web‑based Hyperdrive, using the "Mendoza Line" metaphor to discuss product success thresholds. The discussion highlights the massive technical and organizational effort involved,...
Home Court Disadvantaged?
The episode examines Epic Systems' recent courtroom setback in the CureIS litigation, focusing on the court's denial of a motion to stay discovery and the nuanced protective order regarding "Highly Confidential – Attorneys' Eyes Only" information. It highlights how Epic's...
The Fight for Payer Control Points
The episode explains InterSystems' new Payer Connector, clarifying that it is not a rival to Epic's Payer Platform but a complementary integration layer that helps payers connect Epic's standardized edge to their fragmented internal systems. It highlights the challenges payers...
Epic in the Crosshairs
The episode recaps the ASTP Annual Meeting, highlighting its role as the premier gathering for health‑tech and interoperability stakeholders and noting the scarcity of concrete announcements. The most significant insight came from a surprise panel on Information Blocking featuring the...