SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A California federal jury on Friday, April 3, 2015 awarded Cave Consulting Group, Inc. more than $12 million after determining that UnitedHealth Group’s subsidiary OptumInsight infringed Cave Consulting Group’s patent for measuring physician efficiency. The jury also rejected OptumInsight’s counterclaim that Cave Consulting Group infringed OptumInsight’s patent for processing medical claims data.
Cave Consulting Group’s U.S. Patent No. 7,739,126 (the "‘126 patent”) protects its advanced approach to analyzing physician efficiency, which enables health plans, physician groups and others to obtain accurate and reliable physician efficiency scores—increasingly vital statistical measures used to combat rising healthcare costs. CCGroup’s patented physician efficiency method is considered the de facto standard for determining physician efficiency in the healthcare industry today.
The federal jury determined that OptumInsight infringed the ‘126 Patent by operating and licensing its Impact Intelligence software, a competing solution for developing physician efficiency scores. “The jury found that Optum’s Impact Intelligence software infringed because it uses a pre-defined set of medical conditions to evaluate each specialty type,” explained Dr. Douglas G. Cave, President of Cave Consulting Group. The pre-defined set of medical conditions is a key component of the methodology protected by Cave Consulting Group’s ‘126 Patent.
Dr. Cave also stated that “Cave Consulting Group has invested significant time and effort to determine and develop the most appropriate methods for obtaining reliable and stable physician efficiency scores, and we are relieved that the jury was willing to help us protect that hard work.”
In response to Cave Consulting Group’s lawsuit, OptumInsight filed counterclaims asserting that Cave Consulting Group infringed eight patents relating to the processing of medical claims data. Cave Consulting Group defeated seven of those patents in pre-trial proceedings and obtained a jury finding of non-infringement on the eighth at trial.
The case is Cave Consulting Group Inc. v. OptumInsight Inc., case number 5:11-cv-00469, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Cave Consulting Group is represented by Richard Brophy, David Harlan, Mark Thomas and Zach Howenstine of Armstrong Teasdale, LLP and Andrew Leibnitz of Farella Braun + Martel LLP.
About Cave Consulting Group, Inc. (CCGroup)
Cave Consulting Group, Inc. is a software and consulting firm located in San Mateo, California. The company is focused on improving the efficiency (cost-of-care) and effectiveness (quality-of-care) of the healthcare delivery system. Senior management of CCGroup has assessed the performance of physicians and hospitals for over 24 years for health plans, HMOs, physician groups, health systems, TPAs, and employers.
