CCMSD sued for breach of contract

A lawsuit has been filed against Crook County Medical Services District (CCMSD) by the company responsible for the electronic medical records (EMR) system that was recently replaced throughout the district.

TruBridge Inc has filed the suit in the Southern District of Alabama, claiming that the district broke its contract and owes the company just under $1 million in damages.

According to the complaint, CCMSD entered into an agreement with TrBridge for the use of its EMR system, Evident.

The system was to provide full accounts receivable management services, such as billing and receipting, as well as cloud computing, database updating and access to the EMR system.

The fee for this service was 5.43% of the district’s cash collections during the service term and the contract was to run for five years, ending in June, 2026.

Around October, 2022, TruBridge claims it learned that the Board of Trustees was considering a transition to a new EMR system. The company’s counsel sent a letter to CCMSD outlining the rights and responsibilities between the parties, “including the fact that TruBridge has the exclusive right” to provide these services and that the services are “not severable from the agreement”.

According to the complaint, CCMSD did not respond.

TruBridge then claims it later learned that CCMSD intended to discontinue use of the EMR and implement a new system by its competitor.

“In response, on March 7, 2024, TruBridge’s counsel sent CCMSD another letter reinterring the rights and responsibilities of the parties as set forth in the prior letter,” and “expressly advised” CCMSD that use of the alternative EMR system would be a breach of the agreement.

TruBridge claims it received a letter from CCMSD’s counsel on March 15 confirming the district had implemented a new EMR. TruBridge says it was also informed that it would no longer be permitted to perform the rest of the business services in the contract.

On March 24, according to the complaint, CCMSD stopped providing TruBridge the information necessary to perform these services.

“CCMSD’s acts and omissions constitute a breach of the contract because CCMSD effectively terminated the agreement before the end of the then existing service term depriving TruBridge a service fee for its services,” the complaint states.

The complaint states that TruBridge advised CCMSD that the total amount due for the service term ending July, 2026 is approximately $992,355.84.

“TruBridge demands judgment against CCMSD for compensatory damages, plus interest, attorney fees, costs and such other and different relief to which it is entitled as a result of CCMSD's breach of the agreement,” states the complaint.

The lawsuit involves an ongoing situation that recently left CCMSD with a temporary shortfall of $2.3 million.

The board moved to replace its EMR in December, 2022, on the basis that it was proving a bottleneck for productivity, preventing medical providers from getting patients through the door and requiring more administrative work than was necessary.

It was also believed to have caused serious billing issues.

At the suggestion of a steering committee led by Wesley Davis, Chief of Staff, the board opted for Cerner. After the system was adapted to work for CCMSD, Cerner went live in March.

Soon after, the Board of Trustees heard that TruBridge was withholding all the records it possessed at the time of the switchover to Cerner such that they could no longer be accessed by the district.

Those records represented an estimated $2.3 million in billable services.

This left the Board of Trustees seeking ways to fill the gap until revenue began to come in through Cerner, which would take at least 45 days.

To ensure the district could meet expenses such as payroll, the board opted to take action including to “borrow” funds from its holding accounts, such as for construction.

At this time, the Board of Trustees will not be commenting on the suit to protect the integrity of its case. However, on Thursday, the board voted to retain an Alabama law firm to defend the district in this matter.

“We do intend to vigorously defend the suit,” says Kara Ellsbury, Board Attorney.