In its latest bid to rein in the health care industry, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit accusing Surescripts of illegally monopolizing the market for e-prescribing, which refers to transmitting patient information and prescriptions among insurers, doctors, and pharmacies.
E-prescribing has becoming an important component of health care as public and private payers, as well as heath care providers, seek to streamline costs and speed important paperwork among key players. And Surescripts has been a dominant purveyor for more than a decade with a 95% market share, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on April 17 but disclosed by the agency on Wednesday.
However, “Surescripts’s illegal contracts denied customers and, ultimately, patients, the benefits of competition — including lower prices, increased output, thriving innovation, higher quality, and more customer choice,” FTC Bureau of Competition Director Bruce Hoffman said in a statement.
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