A Cardiologist Sues Epic Over Copyright Infringement
A cardiologist is suing Epic Systems for copyright infringement, alleging in legal documents that the nation’s leading electronic health record (EHR) vendor distributed his heart disease assessment tool without a license.
Earlier this month, John Spertus, MD, of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, filed a lawsuit in the Western District of Missouri, stating that Epic unlawfully featured one of his questionnaires to assess patients with coronary artery disease on its platform.
Spertus said Epic’s use and distribution of his questionnaire — the Short Form Questionnaire — deprives him of the typical fees he would charge for licensing. The questionnaire was created as a more succinct version of Spertus’ previous assessments to measure patient-centered coronary disease outcomes and includes questions about how heart disease symptoms like chest pain or tightness affect a patient’s ability to perform daily activities.
