A survey finds vendors often failing to meet provider needs.
Erin McCann, Associate Editor at Healthcare IT News
NEW YORK | February 19, 2013
With
more electronic health record systems continuing to fall short
of providers' expectations, a new report by Black Book Rankings suggests that
2013 may indeed be the "year of the great EHR vendor switch." After
polling some 17,000 active EHR adopters, report officials found that as many as
17 percent of medical practices could be switching out their first choice EHR
by the end of the year.
“The
high performance vendors emerging as viable past 2015 are those dedicating
responsive teams to address customers’ current demands,” said Black Book’s
managing partner Doug Brown, in a news release. [See
also: EHR
adoption could exceed 80 percent by end of 2013, new study finds.]
And
in light of Stage 2, officials say provider demands are only increasing. EHR
users polled cited numerous cases of software firms underperforming badly
enough to lose crucial market share as the industry evolves, with vendor
solutions often struggling to keep pace.
The
independent insight gathered indicates that many EHR vendors have been
preoccupied with backlogged implementations and selling product that
development issues have been neglected as a priority. Most concerning to
current EHR users are unmet pleas for sophisticated interfaces with other
practice programs, complex connectivity and networking schemes, pacing with
accountable care progresses and the rapid EHR adoption of mobile devices, the
survey finds. [See
also: EHR
incentives over $10B to date.]
"Meaningful
use incentives created an artificial market for dozens of immature EHR
products," Brown said.
The survey also
revealed that some popular "one size fits all" EHR products have
failed to meet the needs of several medical specialties and cannot continue to
satisfy their client base with a lack of customizable or bespoke tools. As far
as EHR systems meeting the expectations of various medical specialities,
nephrologists reported the highest rate of discontent, with 88 percent saying
their EHR systems fail to meet their needs. Providers in urology, ophthalmology
and gastroenterology also reported high rates of discontent. Contrastingly, a
much lower number of small practice physicians (54 percent) reported that their
system failed to meet their needs.
With
high numbers of providers indicating that EHR systems have failed to meet their
needs, more are considering a system switch. Some 31 percent of survey
respondents indicated they were "dissatisfied enough" with their EHR
to consider making a switch. Thirty-four percent said they were neither overly
satisfied or dissatisfied. [See
also: M&A
can be hazardous to health IT.]
Out
of those EHR users considering a system switch, 80 percent said the solution
does not meet the practices' individual needs; 79 percent indicated that the
medical practice had not adequately assessed the group's needs before choosing
the EHR; 77 percent of respondents cited solution design as ill-fitted for
their medical practice or specialty; and 44 percent said vendors have been
unresponsive to requests.
Erin McCann, Associate Editor
Erin McCann is Associate Editor at Healthcare IT News. She covers physician practices, ambulatory care and social media in healthcare.
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