American Medical Association, other groups cut ties with Outcome Health amid controversy

By Beth Jones Sanborn
10:35 am
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A little more than a week after two Chicago hospitals cancelled plans to expand Outcome Health’s services, several well-known national health organizations have also cut ties with the embattled tech startup as allegations of fraud swirl.

Some of Outcome's top investors filed a lawsuit earlier this month claiming they were misled by Outcome's founders prior to their $487.5 million investment. The lawsuit comes after a Wall Street Journal report last month alleged that some Outcome employees had charged pharma companies for ads on more video screens than what had actually been installed and then bolstered performance data to support their claims. Outcome said the fraudulent performance data could be directly attributed to the actions of certain employees but did not represent the company or its executive team's intent.

Now the American Medical Association, the American Epilepsy Society, and CancerCare have all officially severed ties with Outcome, citing the allegations and ongoing situation as the reason behind their departure from partnerships.

The AMA said they had no financial arrangement with Outcome Health, but that the company donated space via their flat screen wall displays in physician practices to show the Association’s prediabetes campaign PSAs as part of a pilot with Outcome Health that ended in October 2017. Outcome agreed to continue donating media.

“In light of recent unfavorable reports in the media regarding Outcome Health, we requested that all AMA content displayed on any ContextMedia platforms be removed immediately,” the AMA said.

The American Epilepsy Society announced a partnership with Outcome in July that would have brought the Society’s message to their 3800 active physician members via Outcome’s platform. It also offered AES content to offices within Outcome’s membership of more than 41,000 practices.

“AES notified Outcome Health on Nov. 6 that it was terminating its agreement, effective immediately. The relationship was put on hold in October, and as news was revealed, AES proceeded to terminate the agreement. AES has no content on the Outcome Health system,” the Society said in a statement.

CancerCare, a national advocacy group that supports people diagnosed with the disease, has also cut ties. “CancerCare partnered with Outcome Health to spread the word about our free, professional support services for people with cancer and their loved ones. In light of recent developments, we are no longer moving forward with this partnership and have requested that all CancerCare materials be removed immediately,” the group said.

Outcome Health countered that more than 90 percent of their content partnerships remain intact. 

“The vast majority of our content partners are continuing their relationships with us. We remain committed to always delivering best-in-class health information to all of our medical offices and health systems,” a spokesperson for Outcome said.
 

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