CBS aired a new episode of its documentary TV series "Whistleblower" Aug. 17, which described the New York City Health Department worker who found serious flaws in eClinicalWorks' EHR.
While working at the New York prison on Rikers Island, Brendan Delaney noticed critical health information was getting mixed up between inmates' EHRs. This issue ostensibly left clinicians reading the charts open to wrong diagnoses, confusion over medications and wrong tests being ordered.
"I know of one patient who was found unconscious in his cell because he was overmedicated," Mr. Delaney told CBS. "The problem was systemic."
Mr. Delaney said that when he told his managers about the problem, they pushed his concerns aside. So, he told upper management about the issues, but they also ignored him.
Since Mr. Delaney felt the flaws were so serious someone may die, he decided he couldn't let the problem slide under the radar. He turned to a lawyer and became a whistleblower, risking his job and putting his personal life in jeopardy to bring the issue to light, CBS reports.
In June 2017, eClinicalWorks agreed to pay $155 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting its software's capabilities. In addition to the monetary settlement, eClinicalWorks entered into a corporate integrity agreement with HHS' Office of Inspector General that required the company to report patient safety issues with its EHR in a timely manner. In July, OIG fined eClinicalWorks $132,550 for allegedly violating the agreement.