Medical-Record Enterprise Is Mired in Dispute [WSJ]
By GARY MCWILLIAMS
July 27, 2007; Page B5
The software developer behind an effort by major employers, including Intel Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., to create and store electronic medical records for employees has stopped work on the project amid a dispute with the group.
The $15 million effort, called Dossia Network, was begun last year with backing from big employers seeking to use personal medical records to improve employees' health care and reduce their own costs.
Omnimedix Institute, a Portland, Ore., nonprofit hired to produce the data warehouse and network-access software stopped work as a result of a dispute with Dossia. J.D. Kleinke, chairman of Omnimedix Institute, declined to comment on the dispute, citing a court order.
An Intel spokeswoman said the consortium "is in active discussions with other vendors" to continue the work. She said the effort is well-funded and hopes to produce an early version of the system by the end of the year. The individual companies continue to work on issues such as privacy and security, technical requirements and employee acceptance, she said.
Dossia proposes to create a network of data warehouses to store records and retrieve medical-data updates from pharmacies, hospitals and doctors' offices. Employees and their families could log onto the system to retrieve information about their prescriptions, medical or diagnostic reports.
The publicly identified members of the consortium are Intel, Applied Materials Inc., BP PLC, Cardinal Health Inc., Pitney Bowes Inc., and Wal-Mart. The Intel spokeswoman said two other employers have signed but haven't disclosed their role.
The project was launched with fanfare in December. The effort was proclaimed an "important step for consumers" by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, and lauded by consumer and medical groups.
Initially, five corporate sponsors each contributed $1.5 million to fund the effort. Dossia had planned to provide a version of its electronic-record software to employers by mid-2007. The dispute may mean sponsors won't provide personal health records to employees and their families within this fall's health-plan enrollment period, members said.
Dossia obtained an injunction in an Oregon state court last month preventing Omnimedix from filing suit against it. The two are in arbitration discussions, according to people familiar with the situation. Mr. Kleinke and the Intel spokeswoman declined to comment on arbitration discussions.
Mr. Kleinke said his company presented the original concept for Dossia to Intel, which then recruited backers to finance and oversee the work. |
