5 ways to watch the financial health of your electronic health record vendor

It's important to know if your EHR company is in it for the long haul. Here are five ways to monitor your vendor's progress.

Stay alert. Setting up Google Alerts that monitor your EHR company will send you any articles and industry conversations to keep you in the loop about developments, mergers, or sells, says Derek Kosiorek, CPEHR, CPHIT, principal consultant for MGMA.

Ask the right questions. Find out how many installs and de-installs your EHR vendor has had in the last year. You can ask the company, and if they are elusive, you may be able to find data from professional and government organizations, says Peter Basch, MD, FACP, chair of ACP’s Medical Informatics Committee.

Check for development. Because the EHR industry has aggressive development cycles, Kosiorek says that your company should be sending you information about updates and developments for the next 18-24 months. If not, their lack of innovation could be a red flag.

Follow the money. Find out how the company is funded, how successful it has been and how long it has been around,” says Basch. A small company with a strong business model may be more stable than an older company struggling with older technology.

Watch the market. Unless your EHR system in unbearable or seems to be failing rapidly, wait out the changes in the market before looking for another vendor, Kosiorek says. Many companies are making too many changes for practices to invest a lot of money right now in a new system.

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