Mercy Iowa City (Iowa) has reached an agreement with EMR software company Altera Digital Health that will terminate an agreement that was previously established in March 2021.
The resolution, agreed upon by both parties, will put Altera into a new agreement with the University of Iowa, which is in the process of acquiring Mercy, enabling Mercy to maintain hospital operations using Altera's EHR, an Altera spokesperson confirmed to Becker's.
"We are pleased to have reached a settlement in Mercy Iowa City's bankruptcy," Marcus Perez, president of Altera Digital Health, told Becker's. "We are looking forward to working with the University of Iowa as we continue our mission to bring next-level healthcare within reach."
Mercy told Becker's the agreement will transfer Mercy's key IT systems over to University of Iowa Health Care after Jan. 31.
"Mercy expects the transaction with UIHC to close on Jan. 31, without interruption to access to our patients' records and continuity of care," the Mercy spokesperson said.
This comes after Mercy said it was either planning to terminate its agreement with Altera Digital Health or have Altera continue its services during the transition to the University of Iowa's ownership and extend support for an additional year until March 9, 2025, before officially ending the partnership.
Altera was dissatisfied with this arrangement and sought judicial intervention, asking a bankruptcy judge to force Mercy to either decide to terminate the existing contract, which lasts through March 2031, or hand it over to the University of Iowa.
The intervention led to the recent agreement.