United States of America et al v. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority

Filing 72

ORDER granting 64 Motion to Compel Aetna Health, Inc. to Produce Data. Signed by Magistrate Judge David Keesler on 3/8/18. (mga)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE DIVISION
CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:16-cv-311-RJC-DCK

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and
the STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,
Plaintiffs,
v.

ORDER

THE CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG
HOSPITAL AUTHORITY, d/b/a
CAROLINAS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM,
Defendant.
THIS MATTER IS BEFORE THE COURT on the Parties’ “Joint Motion to Compel
Aetna Health, Inc. To Produce Data” (Document No. 64) filed January 31, 2018. Aetna Health,
Inc. (“Aetna”) filed its Opposition to the Parties’ Joint Motion on February 14, 2018. (Document
No. 67). The pending motion has been referred to the undersigned Magistrate Judge pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 636(b), and immediate review is appropriate. The undersigned will grant the instant
motion incorporating language agreed upon by the Parties and Aetna and attached to their “Notice
Regarding Resolution Of Joint Motion To Compel” (Document No. 71) filed on March 7, 2018.
Having carefully considered the motion and the response by Aetna, and finding that no
North Carolina or South Carolina statutory provision (including, but not limited to N.C. Gen. Stat.
§ 130A-143) precludes Aetna from producing—pursuant to the Amended Protective Order
(Document No. 57) and consistent with the Parties’ representation that they do not intend to
disclose any patient-specific data to the public at trial—documents and data (including documents
and data that contain the zip code, date of service, and date of birth or age of a person whose name

is not also contained in the documents and data) in response to the United States’ subpoena to
Aetna dated April 4, 2017 and Defendant’s subpoena to Aetna dated May 19, 2017, and further
finding that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-143 does not require Aetna to notify its customers of the data
production that Aetna and the Parties contemplate here, the undersigned will grant the motion.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Parties’ “Joint Motion to Compel Aetna
Health, Inc. To Produce Data” (Document No. 64) is GRANTED and Aetna is not precluded from
producing data or documents consistent with the parties’ agreement with Aetna on the scope of
said production.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, within seven (7) days of the entry of this Order, Aetna
shall provide to the Parties separate good faith estimates of when the sample productions of the
data requested by the United States by emails to Aetna’s counsel on December 21, 2017 (EDW
data), January 19, 2018 (EDW Archived data), and February 19, 2018 (CDW data) can be
produced. Within fourteen (14) days of the entry of this Order, the Parties agree to meet and
confer should any issues or concerns about the good faith estimates arise. If necessary after such
a meet and confer, Aetna shall make knowledgeable IT personnel available to speak with the
Parties about Aetna’s plans to make the sample productions.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Aetna shall use its best efforts to provide sample
productions of EDW, EDW Archived, and CDW data on a rolling basis and as expeditiously as
possible.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, within ten (10) days after the production of Aetna’s
sample data, Aetna shall provide to the Parties separate good faith estimates of how long it would
take for Aetna to make full productions of each of the EDW, EDW Archived, and CDW data if
the full productions were made in the same formats as the sample productions. Should either Party

request that Aetna make full production(s) of the EDW, EDW Archived, and/or CDW data in a
format that differs from the sample production(s), Aetna shall provide a good faith estimate of how
long it would take to make the full production(s) in a different format within ten (10) days of
reaching agreement with the Parties as to the modified production format.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Aetna shall use its best efforts to provide full
productions of EDW, EDW Archived, and CDW data on a rolling basis and as expeditiously as
possible after: (i) the Parties confirm that Aetna should make the full production of EDW, EDW
Archived, and CDW data in the same format as the sample production; or (ii) Aetna and the Parties
reach agreement that the full production of EDW, EDW Archived, and CDW data will be made in
another format and/or with additional fields.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if Aetna comes to learn that any sample or full
production may not be completed in the amount of time that it had previously estimated, then
Aetna shall promptly explain to the Parties the reasons why it may not be able to meet the previous
estimate and provide to the Parties a new estimate for when the sample or full production will be
completed.
SO ORDERED.
Signed: March 8, 2018