Ruzhinskaya v. Healthport Techs., LLC
| Decision Date | 09 November 2015 |
| Docket Number | 14 Civ. 2921 (PAE) |
| Parties | TATYANA RUZHINSKAYA, as Administratrix of the Estate of MARINA ROCHNIAK, Deceased, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. HEALTHPORT TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
This decision resolves a motion for class certification. Plaintiff Tatyana Ruzhinskaya claims that defendant HealthPort Technologies, LLC ("HealthPort")—a company that retrieves, copies, and distributes patient medical records on behalf of healthcare providers in response to patient requests—systematically overcharged persons who sought copies of such records from such providers, in violation of New York state law. Ruzhinskaya brings claims under New York Public Health Law (PHL) § 18, which limits the amount a healthcare provider can charge a patient for requested medical records to the provider's "costs incurred," and sets a 75 cents per page cap on such charges; under New York General Business Law (GBL) § 349, which prohibits deceptive trade practices; and for unjust enrichment. She brings these claims on behalf of a putative statewide class of individuals who were charged 75 cents per page by HealthPort for copies of medical records.
For the reasons that follow, the Court denies Ruzhinskaya's motion to certify a statewide class. That is because there are significant variations among healthcare providers in New York with regard to the costs of retrieving, copying, and distributing medical records that make the determination of the "costs incurred" in meeting a request for such records incapable of common resolution on a statewide basis. Were the class defined at a statewide level, common issues of fact and law would not predominate over individualized ones, as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3).
However, the Court holds, a more narrowly defined class, one drawn to include all requests for records made to the healthcare provider at issue in this case, Beth Israel Medical Center, would comply with Rule 23. Upon a motion for certification of such a class, the Court stands ready to certify such a class, and to appoint Ruzhinskaya as class representative, and her counsel, Motley Rice LLC, as class counsel.
Ruzhinskaya is administratix of her mother's estate. In that capacity, she brought a personal injury lawsuit in New York state court for injuries her late mother, Marina Rochniak, had suffered. In that lawsuit, Ruzhinskaya was represented by the law firm of Simonson Hess Leibowitz & Goodman, P.C. ("Simonson"). See Jasinski Decl., Ex. 28.
In the course of the representation, Simonson, on behalf of Ruzhinskaya, requested, and received from HealthPort, photocopies of her mother's medical records from Beth Israel Medical Center ("Beth Israel").2 See id., Ex. 29. Simonson's request forms the basis of Ruzhinskaya's claim to have been overcharged for such copies.
Specifically, on June 4, 2013, Simonson requested copies of the medical records, stating that "we will be glad to forward our check in the amount of $.75 per page." Id. On July 6, 2013, HealthPort, the company that Beth Israel had retained to handle the retrieval, copying, and delivery of patient medical records, sent Simonson a bill for $140.75. Id., Ex. 30. This resulted from copying 185 pages of medical records at 75 cents per page, plus a $2.00 electronic delivery fee. Id. On July 8, 2013, Simonson paid the $140.75 bill. Ans. ¶ 69.
Ruzhinskaya's personal injury lawsuit settled. Under the settlement approved by the court, she paid Simonson, out of the gross settlement, $8,917.16 for disbursements the firm had advanced. Jasinski Decl., Ex. 31, at 3. This included $140 (not $140.75) attributable to HealthPort's bill. Id., Ex. 32, at 3. In an affidavit submitted in state court in support of the settlement, Ruzhinskaya stated that its terms, including the fees and disbursements to be paid to Simonson, were "fair and reasonable under the circumstances." Litman Decl., Ex. 11, at 10.
Simonson initially represented Ruzhinskaya in bringing this putative class action, which, as initially pled, was against HealthPort and several hospitals that had retained HealthPort to handle patients' requests for copies of medical records. See Dkt. 2. Approximately one month after filing Ruzhinskaya's initial Complaint, Simonson destroyed her file, apparently pursuant to the firm's routine business practice. See Dkt. 89, Ex. 3. Ruzhinskaya later changed counsel; she is now represented by Motley Rice LLC.
On March 12, 2014, Ruzhinskaya, along with three other plaintiffs (Charles and Ann Marie Spiro, and Ismael Torres), filed the original Complaint in this case in New York State Supreme Court. Dkt. 2. On April 25, 2014, HealthPort removed the case to this Court, with federal jurisdiction based on the Class Action Fairness Act ("CAFA"), 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d). Id. On May 2, 2014, HealthPort moved to dismiss. Dkt. 5.
On May 27, 2014, plaintiffs filed the First Amended Complaint ("FAC"). Dkt. 19. A putative class action, the FAC named as defendants HealthPort and three hospitals that had retained HealthPort to handle patient records requests: Beth Israel (which housed Ruzhinskaya's medical records), Mount Sinai Hospital (which housed the Spiros'), and Montefiore Medical Group Co-Op City (which housed Torres'). Id. Each plaintiff claimed that, as a matter of uniform practice, HealthPort, as an agent of these healthcare providers, had charged requesters 75 cents per photocopied page, and that this rate was an unlawful overcharge. The FAC brought claims under PHL § 18 ("Count One"); under GBL § 349 ("Count Two"); for unjust enrichment ("Count Three"); and, in addition to these damages claims, a claim for injunctive relief ("Count Four").
On August 29, 2014, the Court issued an Opinion & Order, Dkt. 38, dismissing the FAC, while granting Ruzhinskaya leave to amend. See Spiro v. HealthPort Technologies, LLC, 73 F. Supp. 3d 259, 278 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) ("MTD Decision"). As to the Spiros and Torres, the dismissal was with prejudice because their claims were unavoidably time-barred. Id. But the dismissal was not with prejudice as to Ruzhinskaya, because her claims were timely, and the defect found by the Court was correctable. Specifically, Ruzhinskaya had failed to plead that she, as opposed to her counsel, Simonson, had been contractually responsible for paying the costs incurred in fulfilling her request for medical records. Id. at 269.
Crucially, the Court rejected the alternative argument that HealthPort raised for dismissal, based on its construction of PHL § 18(2)(e). Section 18(2)(e) states:
The provider may impose a reasonable charge for all inspections and copies, not exceeding the costs incurred by such provider . . . . However, the reasonable charge for paper copies shall not exceed 75 cents per page. A qualified person shall not be denied access to patient information solely because of inability to pay.
HealthPort had argued that § 18 categorically entitles a healthcare provider to charge a requester 75 cents per page for fulfilling records requests, regardless of the actual cost to the provider. However, the statute's text authorizes a healthcare provider to impose only a "reasonable charge for all inspections and copies, not exceeding the costs incurred by such provider." Id. The Court held that the portion of § 18 that states that "the reasonable charge for paper copies shall not exceed 75 cents per page," while setting a cap on the per-page fee that a provider may charge, does not mean that such a charge will always be reasonable. Id. at 273.
The Court accordingly granted Ruzhinskaya leave to file a Second Amended Complaint ("SAC"), but limited such a complaint to Ruzhinskaya's damages claims against Beth Israel, the healthcare provider that housed Rochniak's medical records, and HealthPort, to whom Beth Israel was alleged to have delegated its responsibilities for fulfilling patient requests.
On September 10, 2014, Ruzhinskaya filed the SAC, the operative complaint here. Dkt. 39. The SAC, again a putative class action, realleged Counts One, Two, and Three from the FAC against HealthPort and Beth Israel. Curing the defect in the initial complaint, Ruzhinskaya this time pled (and attached a retainer agreement reflecting) that she had been contractually responsible, upon settlement of the estate's personal injury case, to pay Simonson's disbursements. See SAC ¶ 76; id., Ex. A.
On January 26, 2015, the parties stipulated to the dismissal of all claims against Beth Israel. Dkt. 56. This left HealthPort, Beth Israel's agent with respect to Ruzhinskaya's records request, as the sole defendant.
On April 29, 2015, Ruzhinskaya moved for class certification. Dkt. 74. Consistent with having dropped Beth Israel as a defendant, she sought to represent a statewide class defined to include all requests by any patient or her representative for patient records from a healthcare provider in New York State for which HealthPort charged 75 cents per page:
All persons, who, at any time from March 12, 2008 to the present (the "Class Period"), paid for, or are obligated to pay for, copies of an individual's patient information requested from a healthcare provider in the State of New York by the individual, the individual's estate, or the individual's legal guardian, attorney, agent, or anyone else acting on the individual's behalf, for which copies HealthPort Technologies, LLC charged $0.75 per page (the "Class").
On May 6, 2015, Ruzhinskaya filed her brief in support of class certification, Dkt. 82, along with the declarations of Mathew P. Jasinski, Dkt. 83, and Richard A. Royston, Dkt. 84, and attached exhibits. On July 7, 2015, HealthPort filed its brief in opposition, Dkt. 132, along with the declarations of Seth A. Litman,...
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