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What You Should Know:

– CureIS Healthcare, Inc., a company specializing in information technology solutions for the healthcare industry, has filed a lawsuit against EHR giant Epic Systems Corporation. 

– The complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on May 13, 2025, accuses Epic of engaging in a multifaceted scheme to unlawfully stifle competition, interfere with CureIS’s business and customer relationships, misappropriate trade secrets, and engage in false advertising and trade libel.  

– The lawsuit paints a picture of Epic leveraging its significant market power to crush smaller innovators like CureIS, ultimately harming not only competitors but also healthcare providers and patients by limiting choices and degrading the quality of available healthcare technology solutions.  

Core Allegations: A Multi-Pronged Scheme to Eliminate Competition

CureIS alleges that what initially seemed like isolated instances of friction with Epic were, in fact, part of a deliberate and widespread scheme to improperly interfere with CureIS’s business and that of other MCDR software providers. The lawsuit details several methods allegedly employed by Epic:  

• Coercion and Interference with Customer Contracts: Epic is accused of specifically targeting CureIS by pressuring mutual customers to terminate their relationships with CureIS. The complaint details instances where longtime CureIS customers, some with relationships spanning over a decade, were allegedly forced or coerced into ending their contracts with CureIS after migrating to Epic’s platform or due to Epic’s direct intervention.  
• “Epic-First” Policy: The lawsuit claims Epic imposed an “Epic-First Policy,” requiring entities using its EHR or RCM software to also use Epic’s versions of other products if available, regardless of customer preference or the superiority of third-party solutions. This policy allegedly prevents customers from using third-party alternatives even when Epic does not currently offer a comparable tool, forcing them to go without necessary solutions.  
• Misrepresentation and False Advertising: CureIS asserts that Epic misrepresents to customers that it either plans to soon roll out a competing product or that its current products replicate the functionality of a competitor’s, even when Epic’s offerings are allegedly of lower quality or non-existent. The complaint also references an Epic brochure titled “Products You Can Replace with Epic,” which CureIS claims is part of Epic’s broader false advertising campaign, sometimes promoting products still under development as if they are current solutions.  
• Data Blocking and Degradation of Service: A significant part of the complaint focuses on Epic allegedly denying CureIS access to customer-owned data necessary for CureIS’s products to function, even when customers authorized such access. This conduct is claimed to violate the 21st Century Cures Act’s prohibition on information blocking. Epic is also accused of degrading the quality of CureIS products by, for example, limiting data access to delayed or incomplete datasets (e.g., through its Clarity product instead of the real-time Chronicles database), thereby stifling competition.  
• Misappropriation of Trade Secrets: CureIS accuses Epic of unlawfully acquiring its proprietary information and trade secrets. The suit alleges Epic solicited detailed information about CureIS’s software, such as the “RecoveryCURE Product Specifications” and “EnrollmentCURE Product Specifications,” under the guise of integration discussions with mutual customers who were bound by NDAs with CureIS. Epic then allegedly used this misappropriated information to attempt to build its own imitative products, promising customers rapid development timelines that would only be possible with such an improper head start.  
• Trade Libel and Unfounded Security Concerns: Epic is also charged with falsely disparaging CureIS to current and prospective customers by raising unfounded data-security risks associated with CureIS’s products. CureIS contends these security concerns were pretextual, with Epic’s real motive being to eliminate a competitor, as allegedly admitted in one instance where Epic stated CureIS was a “direct competitor.” CureIS argues these claims are particularly damaging given its reputation for robust data security.  

Claims for Relief

CureIS Healthcare’s lawsuit includes seven claims for relief against Epic Systems:

1. Tortious Interference with Contractual Relations  
2. Tortious Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage  
3. Trade Libel  
4. Violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA)  
5. Violation of the Lanham Act (False Advertising)  
6. Unfair Competition (Cal. Bus. Prof. Code § 17200, et seq.)  
7. False Advertising (Cal. Bus. Prof. Code § 17500, et seq.)  

Alleged Harm and Requested Remedies

CureIS claims that Epic’s actions have caused significant harm, including lost customers, diminished revenue, stunted growth, and damage to its reputation. The company asserts that Epic’s conduct has also injured the market and the public by depriving them of superior products, services, and competitive pricing.  

Epic Statement to Allegations

“Epic believes in free and fair competition, and we also believe our customers are in the best position to choose the right solutions to meet their needs—whether with Epic or by adopting other products and services. We are aware of the complaint filed by CureIS and we look forward to setting the record straight in court,” said an Epic spokesperson in response to the allegations.

CureIS Healthcare Background

Founded in 2006, CureIS Healthcare aims to improve healthcare through IT, focusing on software products that automate and optimize complex healthcare operations such as enrollment, claims adjudication, revenue cycle management, compliance, and data management. The company has a particular specialization in technologies for government-managed programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which it claims are historically underserved segments of the industry. 

CureIS offers products like EnrollmentCURE, EncounterCURE, RecoveryCURE, and LettersCURE, which fall under the category of Managed Care Data Reconciliation (MCDR) software. This type of software relies on interaction with EHR and Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) systems to function effectively.