EHR System Vendors – A Crowded Field is Getting Even More So
The HITECH Act incentives for eligible professionals and hospitals to adopt an electronic health record system and adhere to the government’s meaningful use criteria have resulted in at least some of the intended consequences – a great many physicians and hospitals are now searching for and implementing – or seriously considering – an EHR system for their organization. EHR system vendors are adding staff to cope with the demand for sales presentations and implementation efforts, and implementation/training times for popular EHR vendors are stretching from a few weeks after contract signing to a few months or more. And the list of vendors whose systems meet some or all of the Certified EHR Technology criteria of the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is growing daily as vendors submit their systems to one of the several certifying agencies.
For potential purchasers, more choice is generally good, as long as there is some way to sort through all the choices. And there are some new approaches coming out – especially touch screen options that run their EHR systems on iPads or similar hardware – that will be attractive to many physician practices.
For EHR vendors, or would-be EHR vendors, there are also challenges. The current Certified EHR Technology criteria are likely to be in place for awhile, but we should expect them to change as the Meaningful Use criteria move on to Phase 2 in the next two years. However, EHR Certification criteria are the bare minimum; a fully functioning EHR system must do many things, and must appeal to many users, in order to be successfully sold.
EHR System Certification and Design Consultation
The Fox Group can offer the perspective of potential EHR users who are interested in extensive functionality of a system, as well as attaining meaningful use and qualifying for incentives. As a vendor, you can make use of our expertise to get assistance in certifying your EHR software. The Fox Group can:
- help you interpret the EHR technology certification criteria;
- help you understand how and what users will have to do to meet the Meaningful Use criteria;
- help you understand and incorporate ways to address compliance issues in an EHR system;
- organize focus groups that can provide practical feedback on user experience;
- … and more.
To get an idea of what a well-prepared medical group would be using when requesting a demonstrations of an EHR systems, download a copy of our EHR & Practice Management Vendor Demonstration Checklist. This checklist also covers the Core and Menu Set Meaningful Use Objectives. As an EHR vendor, you must be able to demonstrate all of the health record items. And a comprehensive EHR and Practice Management system should be able to demonstrate all of the items.
A functional, user-friendly EHR system is no accident. Let The Fox Group help you deliver a marketable product in this competitive field.
