North Carolina Business Court rejected a preliminary injunction request to prevent Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health from transitioning to its new anesthesiology provider July 1.
Here are four things to know about the case:
1. Atrium Health terminated its nearly 40-year contract with Charlotte-based Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants earlier this year, claiming SAC was not willing to lower costs or introduce a new operating model to increase savings. The contract, which expires June 30, was instead awarded to Charlotte-based Scope Anesthesia.
2. SAC sued the health system in March, alleging Atrium Health and Scope Anesthesia stole trade secrets and used that information to poach the contract from SAC. The organization also engaged in a targeted ad campaign against Atrium in an alleged attempt to "bully Atrium Health into reversing its decision to end its relationship with Mednax affiliate Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants, and give badly needed good news to its shareholders," according to Atrium's amended legal filing in May.
3. The court's ruling last week effectively allows Atrium Health to transition its anesthesiology services to Scope Anesthesia July 1, but restricts the health system from hiring SAC physicians until July 2019.
Atrium Health said in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review June 22: "We respect the court's decision that prevents Scope and Atrium Health from hiring Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants' physicians for a temporary period. We have consistently expressed our interest in providing an opportunity for these valued doctors to remain a part of our community and continue practicing at Atrium Health. We regret that Mednax refused to consider releasing Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants' anesthesiologists from Mednax's agreements. Nonetheless, this requirement of the court will have no impact on Atrium Health and the transition to Scope Anesthesia on July 1."
4. SAC and its parent company, Sunrise, Fla.-based Mednax, told Becker's June 24 that while the court did grant an injunction against Atrium's hiring of SAC physicians, it did not grant SAC's request for an injunction against Atrium and Scope Anesthesia, which "improperly obtained highly proprietary information related to staffing the anesthesia treatment locations where Southeast currently provides services," according to the statement.
"This injunction would have prevented Scope Anesthesia from assuming responsibilities for anesthesia services at Atrium when our contract lapses on July 1 until the Court could consider the matter," the statement reads. "However, the Court's decision not to grant this petition for preliminary relief changes nothing about the claims we have asserted in the suit. We intend to vigorously pursue those claims as the litigation now moves forward into the discovery phase, where we will obtain additional evidence to demonstrate the wrongful actions of the defendants."