Columbia, Mo.-based Boone Health has filed a lawsuit against Columbia-based Missouri Heart Center, also known as Missouri Cardiovascular Specialists.
The civil lawsuit alleges that Missouri Cardiovascular Specialists breached contracts, misused confidential information and plans to engage in unlawful competition.
Missouri Cardiovascular Specialists has provided cardiology services to Boone Health for more than 10 years. In 2016, the two organizations signed an agreement that gave Missouri Heart the exclusive rights to staff Boone Health’s cardiology service line as well as extensive management and revenue cycle functions for the service line, according to documents from Boone Health shared Becker’s.
A group of physician partners at Missouri Heart Center recently notified Boone Health that it would be terminating the relationship in May without cause. Boone Health alleged that Missouri Cardiovascular Specialists planned to launch a new, competing cardiology practice in the area, potentially as soon as the current contract expires May 6. The health system claims the new practice violates the noncompete clause.
In January and February, Boone Health officials said they began requesting information from Missouri Heart for patient notification and transition, to which Missouri Heart did not respond.
Boone Health has begun working to hire its own cardiology team to ensure continuity of care for patients, according to a March 30 news release from the health system shared with Becker’s.
The health system has requested to have a judge enforce the noncompete agreements, have Missouri Cardiovascular Specialists destroy or return any confidential information and not open a competing practice until 2027.
“We know this news is likely to raise anxiety among patients, but we want everyone to rest assured that Boone Health will be here for you as we have always been,” Brady Dubois, CEO of Boone Health, said in the release. “We remain disappointed by the decision of a small group of physicians, but we are committed to all of our patients and their health. We expect that this will be a temporary inconvenience until we have our own, in-house cardiology practice that is fully staffed.”
Missouri Cardiovascular Specialists did not immediately respond to Becker’s request for comment.
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