While providers overall are happy with their current EMR systems and show little sign of replacing them or changing vendors, a new report from KLAS, reveals that the trend within the ambulatory services niche is much different.
Ambulatory Practice Behavior
According to the report on EMR perception, the industry can expect to see a 25 percent increase in the replacement of EMR systems among large and small ambulatory practices.
According to report author Jared Dowland, “There are different reasons for this shift. Larger practices are seeking to consolidate from multiple EMRs and tighten their relationships with nearby hospitals, while smaller practices are seeking to resolve functionality, support, and cost concerns.”
The study also reports that another 12 percent of practices are looking to replace their existing systems, but can’t currently do so because of financial or organizational reasons. Product replacement likelihood and vendor considerations are also included in the report.
The Study
For the study, KLAS interviewed 400+ small and large practices across the U.S. about the EMR solution choices. The report overall gives insight into not only why practices are replacing EMRs, but also where they might be considering going to find replacements. EMRs discussed include Allscripts, athenahealth, Cerner, eClinicalWorks, Epic, GE Healthcare, Greenway, McKesson, MEDITECH and NextGen, according to EHR Intelligence.
The Big Players
A previous KLAS report on the same subject noted the increasing competitiveness of the EMR market, highlighted by the announcement of Cerner’s acquisition of Siemens Health Services and their position in relation to the ubiquitous Epic Systems.
According to researcher Colin Buckley, Siemens saw a decline in business because of their inability to meet the needs of customers quickly enough.
“Over the years, providers have indicated that Siemens is too slow to achieve reliable go lives at customer sites, too slow delivering code fixes and upgrades, and too slow evolving their portfolio — most notably in producing an integrated Soarian ambulatory EMR.”
