EHRs: Top EHR vendors evaluated by IT research firm

Overwhelmed by the number of electronic health record (EHR) vendors out there? A research and consulting firm offers an in-depth look at 10 of the major vendors for the ambulatory care market and highlights the top performers for features, flexibility, and physician satisfaction.

Framingham, Massachusetts-based Health Industry Insights, a subsidiary of $2.6 billion technology research and advisory firm IDC, considered more than 100 ambulatory EHR vendors for evaluation in its analysis: “Healthcare Provider Industry Short List: Ambulatory Electronic Health Records and Electronic Medical Records,” but whittled down the providers based on company market share, 2007 revenue of $10 million or more, the system’s interoperability certification by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), as well as its functionality and software architecture.

The 10 vendors, and their 12 EHR products, were then awarded points based on weighted criteria such as overall features/functionality, software mechanics, cost, and quality of customer service. In separate criteria, the vendors were awarded points for their financial strength, business strategy and customer satisfaction.

The vendors on the short list and their products are:

Allscripts: TouchWorks and HealthMatics

athenahealth: athenaClinicals

eClincialWorks: eClinicalWorks

GE Healthcare: Centricity electronic medical record

MediNotes: MediNotes e

Misys Healthcare: Mysis MyWay and Mysis EMR

NextGen Healthcare: NextGen EMR

Purkinje: Care Series EHR

Sage Software: Intergy EHR by Sage

Spring Medical Systems: SpringCharts EHR

Of those, Sage Software, eClinicalWorks, and GE Healthcare scored higher on both sets of criteria, while Purkinje and MediNotes, charted the lowest scores, according to the report.

According to firm, the vendors chosen for analysis in its 37-page report were “leaders in the industry that were chosen for their market share and penetration”; however, some major EHR providers declined to be evaluated for the report including: PracticeOne, Greenway, CHARTCARE, Cerner Corp., e-MDs and Epic Systems Corp. 

“The group of vendors covered in this report is not meant to be all-inclusive of the market, and many strong products and vendor offerings are not included,” the report cautions.

The complete report is available at www.healthindustry-insights.com.