Tensions among health IT giants have been running high since Tuesday, when Epic's director of interoperability criticized the CommonWell Health Alliance at a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions regarding the transformation of EHRs and the meaningful use program.
Epic's Peter DeVault said in the hearing that CommonWell, a consortium of major EHR vendors, is an "aspiring" network, and he questioned the alliance's intention of how they would use the data.
Cerner responded by issuing a statement saying Mr. DeVault's comments were "a slap in the face to many parties working to advance interoperability," calling his words "potshots and false statements."
The conversation then moved into the social media world, where Jonathan Bush, cofounder, president and CEO of athenahealth, tweeted:
Judy, Judy, Judy. Can't afford 1.4M? Puh-leese! @athenahealth will for you. Join @CommonWell and lets connect.
— Jonathan Bush (@Jonathan_Bush) March 18, 2015
Cerner responded to Mr. Bush's tweet with calculations suggesting Epic makes more than $40 million per year through its data exchange.
.@Jonathan_Bush “This should cover it. If not, we'll pay 1/2” - NLP @athenahealth @CommonWell pic.twitter.com/W2VRM4seJV
— Cerner (@Cerner) March 18, 2015
That appears to be the end of the exchanged tweets. There has been no word from Epic on the social media sphere, as the company, presumably part of its no-marketing approach, does not have a Twitter handle.
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