SPI Digital Health: athenahealth and the Double-Edged Sword of its Marketplace

News emerged earlier this month that independent software vendor (ISV) Dorsata was suing athenahealth for alleged deceptive business practices and intellectual property theft. 

In the lawsuit, filed in the state of Massachusetts, Dorsata – whose maternity management and clinical decision support solution is used by around 700 obstetrics and gynaecological practices in the US and is integrated with athenahealth’s EHR – alleges that the EHR vendor engaged in deceptive business practices, stole trade secrets and breached its contract. In total, Dorsata has brought nine cases of action against athenahealth.