Court costs awarded in legal dispute between Valentia Technologies and Medtech Ltd

NEWS - eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth

Valentia Technologies has been awarded more than $100,000 in costs arising from a legal dispute with Medtech Ltd.

The decision is part of a broader case regarding the extraction and use of patient data in the Practice Management Systems (PMS) provided by the two companies.

In December 2023, a preservation order was placed on Valentia to safeguard IT code and other critical data. This order was later discharged in June 2024, and the recent ruling requires Medtech to pay Valentia $116,048 in costs related to the dispute.

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

A statement from Valentia says Medtech commands 70 percent of the New Zealand market and Valentia holds 17 percent. 

“We have said from the start these proceedings were a clear attempt to slow our momentum in response to our substantial growth and the challenge we present to Medtech’s traditional market dominance,” Valentia managing director Ahmad Javad says, adding that the ruling was unsurprising given prior judgments in favour of Valentia.

 “We believe the initial preservation order should not, and would not, have been granted if Medtech had ensured all facts were presented to the Court initially.” 

Medtech Limited defended the initial preservation order, stating it was “necessary and appropriate to ensure that material relevant to the litigation would be preserved” and says the order had its intended effect. 

“Medtech’s substantive causes of action against Valentia remain to be decided, including claims in relation to Valentia’s practice of extracting data from Medtech’s software, and breach of copyright.  In particular, the judge explicitly found that there was a serious question to be tried and that Medtech had a tenable claim on all of its pleaded causes of action,” a statement from the company says.

Medtech says it is disappointed with the court’s decision to award costs to Valentia, but remains concerned that Valentia’s actions breach Medtech’s intellectual property rights and put patient data and safety at risk by extracting more data than is required when using the SEHR Hook.

Javad says the authority to grant approval to extract practice and patient data resides with the respective practices and patients, not the companies.

“Our top priority is to empower healthcare providers to deliver the highest quality care, focusing on their operational needs beyond simple profit or market share considerations,” he says.

“We will not be deterred from our commitment to supporting the healthcare sector with advanced solutions, nor from continuing to expand our market share and introduce new technologies, including exciting new AI functionality, that meet the evolving needs of healthcare providers.”

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