Scraping EHR Data – Can Vendors Stop Your Bots?
Over the years, I’ve had numerous discussions about whether Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors can legally prevent healthcare organizations from accessing their own data through automated means. This question about scraping EHR data has significant implications for both medical practices and revenue cycle management companies seeking to leverage their data for analytics and operational improvements.
Why Organizations Need Automated Data Access
Before diving into the legality of scraping EHR data, let’s consider why organizations need automated access in the first place:
- EHR reporting capabilities are often limited
- Available APIs may be restricted, poorly documented, or incomplete
- One-by-one manual data access is impractical for analytics purposes
- Running a data-driven healthcare organization requires comprehensive access to your information
Nearly every healthcare entity I’ve worked with has faced this challenge: they need more data than their EHR vendor makes easily accessible through standard interfaces so they have to consider scraping EHR data.
Major EHR Vendors and Their Terms of Use
Let’s examine how several major EHR vendors approach the issue of scraping EHR data through their Terms of Use:
eClinicalWorks
eClinicalWorks has a clause in their Terms of Use that appears to restrict scraping. However, the specific language prohibits scraping “in order to obtain materials, documents or information not purposely made available through the services.”
This language suggests you can legitimately automate extraction of data that is “purposely made available” through their services—which would include patient information, clinical outcomes, and financial data that users can already access manually.
Interestingly, eClinicalWorks’ Terms of Use say nothing about pushing data back into the system through automated means, suggesting that automated functions like payment posting would be permitted.
For more insights on data integrity issues within EHRs, our article on EHR data integrity provides additional context.
Kareo (Tebra)
A review of Tebra (Kareo)’s Terms of Use reveals no apparent prohibition against using automation tools to either extract or push data into their system.
Epic
Despite Epic’s reputation for controlling data access, their User Web Terms of Service focus primarily on protecting Epic’s confidential information and trade secrets—not on restricting access to patient or financial data.
Their terms prohibit sharing Epic’s proprietary information with large language models like ChatGPT but don’t explicitly restrict automating data extraction of patient or practice data. There is a somewhat confusing clause about “automated use” but it appears to be focused on preventing harmful activity rather than legitimate data access.
According to Healthcare IT News, Epic has been adjusting its stance on data access in response to regulatory pressures focused on information blocking.
HIPAA and the Right to Your Data
HIPAA provides important legal context for scraping EHR data. Recent regulatory guidance has reinforced that EHR vendors cannot restrict or withhold Protected Health Information (PHI) from providers, patients, or their authorized representatives.
This is particularly relevant because according to HIPAA Journal, even payment information is considered PHI under HIPAA regulations. This suggests that providers (and therefore their HIPAA covered vendors like medical billing companies) have a legal right to scraping EHR data, including claims data, through automation tools.
One could reasonably argue that if an EHR vendor technically allows access to data but makes it impossible to extract in useful quantities without automation, they are effectively engaging in information blocking—a practice now prohibited under the 21st Century Cures Act.
For healthcare organizations seeking to leverage their data for improved performance, our guide on RCM analytics provides strategies for effective data utilization.
The Bottom Line on Scraping EHR Data
Based on the major vendors’ terms and HIPAA regulations, most healthcare organizations should be able to implement automated data extraction from their EHR systems. While vendors’ terms vary and some language may be ambiguous, the regulatory environment increasingly supports healthcare organizations’ rights to access their own data through efficient means.
That said, implementation approaches matter. When setting up automated data extraction, organizations should consider:
- Using reasonable access patterns that don’t overload systems
- Focusing only on data you have legitimate rights to access
- Maintaining appropriate security and privacy controls
- Working within your vendor’s technical capabilities where possible
With the caveat that we are not attorney and this is not legal advice, as regulations continue to evolve toward greater data accessibility, the trend appears to be moving in favor of healthcare organizations having more control over their data—including the ability to access it by scraping EHR systems through automation.
