Usually, it’s a hospital patient getting the big bill, not the hospital.
But on Aug. 2, Izard County Medical Center LLC received a letter from Computer Programs & Systems Inc. of Mobile, Alabama, saying the health care provider owed $606,407 on an outstanding balance and needed to pay it by 5 p.m. on Aug. 10. If the payment wasn’t received, the hospital wouldn’t have access to its patients’ electronic medical records, a development that would essentially close the hospital.
Before the Aug. 10 deadline, the 25-bed hospital filed a lawsuit in Izard County Circuit Court asking for an emergency restraining order to prevent CPSI and its wholly owned subsidiary, Healthland Inc., from pulling the plug on the electronic records. The hospital also accused Healthland and CPSI of breach of contract for not providing enough notice about terminating the services.
Izard County hired Healthland in 2012 to provide the electronic medical records service and agreed to pay $722,000 for hardware, software and service fees. Other fees included a $3,500 monthly hosting fee.
In its letter to the hospital, CPSI Executive Vice President Scott Schneider said the company tried to reach the hospital “multiple times to discuss this outstanding balance,” but it has been “unresponsive.”
The hospital denied that allegation and said both sides had communicated as recently as July 27 regarding the outstanding balance. The hospital also has paid $110,000 this year and no less than $420,000 since July 2016, the lawsuit said.
Izard County Circuit Judge Maureen Harrod issued the temporary restraining order on Aug. 10, keeping the electronic medical records in place.
CPSI and Healthland have moved the case to U.S. District Court, where it is pending.
CPSI’s attorney, J. Walton Jackson of Maynard Cooper & Gale of Mobile, said he wasn’t authorized by his client to comment.
Gabriel Mallard of Mallard Gardner of Little Rock, who is representing Izard County Medical Center, declined to comment.
Note: An earlier version of this article misidentified the name of the CPSI executive.