Practice Fusion

History

Practice Fusion is an electronic health record (EHR) company, founded in 2005 by Ryan Howard, Alan Wong, Jonathan Malek, and Matthew Douglass. The first version of the product was launched in 2007 and initially gained little traction in the tough economy.

The company began to grow in 2009, when the EHR and customer support were made free of charge. In May 2009, Band of Angels and Felicis Ventures became the first major investors in the company, followed by Salesforce.com in June, Morgenthaler Ventures in December 2010,{{cite news |publisher=The Wall Street Journal | title=Start-Ups Cash Cash as Funds Trickle Back| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303410404575151871554316884

In June 2011, the product achieved Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Meaningful Use Certification. From 2011 to 2013, it was named the No. 1 EMR for customer satisfaction among primary care providers in addition to being named No. 1 for e-prescribing client satisfaction and helping doctors achieve Meaningful Use by Brown-Wilson's Black Book Rankings. In September 2013, KLAS Reports named it the No. 1 EHR system for value among ambulatory professionals.

In 2015, Howard left the company and Practice Fusion was starting to look for a buyer. In 2016, an IPO valued the company at up to $1.5 billion.

In the fall of 2016, under Tom Langan's leadership, the company accepted remuneration from a "major" manufacturer of opioids, referred to as "Pharma Co. X" in exchange for clinical decision support, to prompt doctors to take certain clinical actions in order to increase prescriptions of extended-release opioids.

Practice Fusion was sold to Allscripts for $100 million in 2018.

In January 2020, the company (as a subsidiary of Allscripts) admitted in court to have accepted $1 million in kickbacks by "Pharma Co. X" in return for a deferred prosecution agreement. Practice Fusion was fined $145 million for the misconduct by the Department of Justice for the District of Vermont. In the DOJ investigation, Langan and Loomis are identified as the primary operates in the scheme.

Services

The Software as a service startup has been providing physicians and medical professionals with advertising-supported electronic health records and medical practice management technology which included charting, scheduling, e-prescribing (eRx), medical billing, laboratory and imaging center integrations, referral letters, Meaningful Use certification, training, support and a personal health record for patients.

Products (2013)

• Practice Fusion: Web-based electronic health record (EHR) software for physicians and medical professionals. The EHR system includes medical charting, e-prescribing, clinical decision support advisories, online booking and scheduling, online referrals, and messaging. Its lab, imaging, and billing modules integrate with a network of third-party laboratories, medical imaging centers, and medical billing services. All offerings are HIPAA-compliant.
• Patient Fusion: Personal health record (PHR) system that gives patients access to their prescriptions, diagnoses and test results. Records update as physicians adds information to their patients’ charts. Consumers can search physicians by location and specialty, and request an appointment online.
• Insight by Practice Fusion: An analytic product based on the Practice Fusion dataset of 81 million patient records. Real-time data provides perspective on clinical trends and helps with population health management and clinical decision support.

Notes

References

1. "Practice Fusion's Executive Team".
2. Glatter, Robert. (29 June 2015). "Why Practice Fusion Is The Dominant Player In Cloud-Based Electronic Health Records".
3. "Behind the Practice Fusion CEO Switch".
4. (2015-11-12). "Practice Fusion Announces Appointment of Tom Langan as Permanent CEO".
5. Andersen, Ted. (28 January 2020). "S.F.-based Practice Fusion Inc. admits to opioid kickback scheme".
6. Farzan, Antonia Noori. (2020-01-28). "A tech company gave doctors free software — rigged to encourage them to prescribe opioids, prosecutors say". Washington Post.
7. EHRIntelligence. (23 February 2018). "Practice Fusion No Longer Offering Free EHR System Software".
8. [[San Francisco Chronicle]]. "Meet the Boss: Ryan Howard, CEO of Practice Fusion". link. (2011-09-30). Herel, Suzanne
9. Roush, Wade. (2011-11-10). "Practice Fusion Bids for Dominance in the Doctor's Office with a Free, Ad-Supported Electronic Health Record System". Xconomy.
10. Empson, Rip. (9 December 2013). "Practice Fusion Adds Another $15M From Qualcomm To Help Fuel Growth, Acquisitions & Mobile Push".
11. "Report: Practice Fusion Voted No. 1 Overall EHR in "Year of the EHR Switch"".
12. "2012 Black Book Rankings Top EHR & EMR Vendors: E-Prescribing".
13. (2013-09-04). "2013 Ambulatory EMR Performance (1-10 Physicians) The Quest for Value Amid Rising Expectations - KLAS Report".
14. Farr, Christina. (2018-01-23). "Employees at Practice Fusion expected IPO riches, but got nothing as execs pocketed millions".
15. (2020-01-27). "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA vs PRACTICE FUSION, INC., Defendant.". courtlistener.com.
16. Sweeney, Evan. (2018-01-25). "Allscripts offered to buy Practice Fusion for $250M. A DOJ investigation changed everything {{!}} Fierce Healthcare".
17. EHRIntelligence. (2020-01-28). "Practice Fusion Fined $145M for Opioid Prescribing Kickback Scheme".
18. Colliver, Victoria. (2007-03-16). "Medical site is on a mission to set records". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
19. "HISTalk News 3/22/2012".
20. "Practice Fusion EHR - Smart, Easy-to-Use EHR System".
21. (2013-05-22). "Practice Fusion Continues To Reach Beyond Digital Health Records, Adds Free Expense Tracking To New Booking Engine".
22. (4 June 2013). "Practice Fusion pulls back the curtain on its electronic health data – for a fee".
23. Pennic, Fred. (2014-05-21). "Practice Fusion Launches Insight, the Largest Real-Time Healthcare Database".