High Court dismisses injunction against Valentia: Medtech airs data privacy concerns

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The High Court has dismissed the application for an injunction by Medtech Global against Valentia Technologies regarding its use of a hook to pull data from Medtech systems to create shared electronic health records (SEHR).

Following the court ruling, Medtech emailed all its GPs users citing concerns about over extraction of patient and practice data from its PMS.

Medtech and Valentia are both suppliers of patient management systems (PMS) to New Zealand general practices and Valentia also provides the technology for Shared Electronic Health Records (SEHR) in the North Island.

A tool called SEHR Hook is authorised by some Primary Health Organisations and former District Health Boards to extract selected categories of data from patient records in the PMS and feed it into a central database, so it can be used when caring for patients across practices.

Medtech is alleging that Valentia is extracting its proprietary material using the SEHR Hook and applied to the High Court for an interim injunction prohibiting Valentia from extracting data from any of Medtech’s software, other than with its assistance or approval.

The application has not been granted, and the judgement says there is a “high risk, if not inevitability, that SEHR records will not be updated for a material period, with a significant risk of serious public health and administrative impacts if the orders sought are made.”

Medtech managing director Geoffrey Sayer says Medtech is disappointed with the ruling, but understands the court’s reluctance to interfere with a functioning shared electronic record system. 

He says the decision acknowledges that there remains a case to be answered around breach of copyright and misuse of confidential information as the judgement says there is a “tenable claim” that Valentia misuses Medtech’s confidential information by use of the Hook.

Valentia chief executive, Ahmad Javad says Valentia is pleased, but not surprised, that the High Court has dismissed the application for an injunction, “brought by our dominant competitor in the New Zealand market.

"Since Medtech launched its latest legal action against us, in December last year, we have consistently said their allegations were without merit and would ultimately be unsuccessful,” he says.

"We continue to refute the claims levelled against us regarding alleged misuse of confidential data and alleged breach of copyright."

Medtech has now emailed its GP users alleging that sensitive patient data, practice login details, passwords and staff home addresses are all being improperly extracted from practices via the Hook.

“Medtech is concerned that the way Valentia deploys the SEHR Hook, extracting far more patient and practice data than is required for the SEHR, poses risks to the security and privacy of both patient and practice data,” the letter says.

High Court Justice Jane Anderson says in her judgement that Valentia acknowledges over-extraction of PMS data.

“Valentia accepts that it extracts more data than is necessary to compile the SEHR, albeit that unnecessary data is purged and that this “over-extraction” is done securely and avoids performance issues in PMS. Valentia’s acknowledgement sits uneasily with the statement on ProCare’s YHS website,” she says. 

Sayer says that given the findings, Medtech considers that the PHOs that use the SEHR Hook for the creation of shared records have a “duty to ensure that the extraction is operating as intended and protects the privacy of patients and practices while maintaining the highest levels of patient safety”. 

Chair of the Royal NZ College of GPs Samantha Murton says that from a privacy perspective, you must let people know why you are collecting their data and what you will use it for, and you also do not collect more data than you require. 

“Those are the two rules around privacy, and so if that is what is happening, then it should be explored,” she tells eHealthNews.

A ProCare spokesperson says that no patient or practice data has been accessed by an unauthorised user since the creation of their shared data summary record.

“As the court decided in declining the application for an interim injunction, there is immense value to both patients and practices around having access to shared data systems,” the spokesperson says.

“We take patient privacy, the handling of patient data and data sovereignty extremely seriously. 

“We are not involved in this case between IT service providers. We hope for a swift resolution as we rely on our IT service providers to give us access to the tools we need to deliver public health services and meet the needs of patients.

“We will continue to work with Valentia to monitor the situation over the coming weeks and months. Should any new evidence come to light as a result of this, then we will of course respond accordingly.”

Valentia did not respond to Medtech’s letter to GPs, other than to reiterate that the company continues to strongly refute claims made against it alleging misuse of confidential data and alleged breach of copyright.

Javad says Valentia Technologies’ share of the New Zealand PMS market has grown strongly over recent years. 

“That growth has been founded on an unwavering commitment to fair and equitable competition,” he says.

"We appreciate that when a newcomer begins to have an impact against a dominant player in any market, it can be unsettling for the incumbent.”

Medtech will continue with the litigation against Valentia regarding its use of the SEHR Hook, breach of Medtech’s intellectual property and breach of previous undertakings. 

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