Local Doctor Sues After Electronic Billing Co. Loses Data

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Dr. Bhola Roy is a board certified internist.

These days he spends hour after hour on his computer, ordered by Medicare to file all of his records electronically.

"Medicare is mandating to us, we have to use electronic health records," he said.

That mandate went horribly wrong, when in a lawsuit, Dr. Roy claims a local medical milling company lost thousands of his records.

"And it is all lost," he said.

The company, Medical Services Associates of Pittsburgh, offers complete medical billing services.

Internal MSA documents indicate "We experienced a significant problem with our computer system during a software maintenance function."

The document also states, "Internal back-up functions were not operating as reported."

And continued, "At MSA we are truly saddened by the fact we have disappointed clients."

Dr. Roy says more than 100 clients lost massive amounts of personal data.

"It is all in the cloud and if the cloud disappears someday, we are all in trouble," he said.

On the billing information that was lost, was patients' social security numbers, type of illness, as well as other information. The doctor's great fear is that because every doctor is ordered to put this information out there electronically by law, that all of the information is vulnerable.

"This is very, very scary," he said.

MSA continues doing business and did not wish to comment on the story, due to litigation.

Dr. Roy is asking for more than $100,000 in lost revenue.

"These people like Dr. Roy and other physicians say, 'I don't want to get involved with them anymore or any company like them,'" said Roy's attorney William Mitchell.

Dr. Roy must abide by the law and will have electronic health records, but worries about the security of those records.

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