EHR Software BuyerView for 2014
Software Advice is a company that specializes in helping buyers find the right EHR software for their practice. The company issues an annual report looking at provider buyer trends in the EHR sector. The report provides unparalleled insight into the needs of EHR software buyers. Analyzing 385 EHR software buyer interactions for the first quarter of this year, the company has uncovered the most common pain points physicians experience in seeking and purchasing new software.
Key Findings:
- A growing number of buyers—40 percent—are looking to replace existing EHR systems.
- Buyers replacing existing software are looking for integration between applications in an EHR suite.
- Mobile support tops the list of requested features, with nearly 40 percent of buyers requesting it.
The report also uncovers some interesting perceptions by physicians as it relates to the CMS EHR Incentive program and meeting meaningful use requirements. The author’s note:
We saw a substantial percentage of buyers concerned with complying with “government regulations.” Most commonly, this referred to the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs for the “meaningful use” of EHR software.
The Incentive Programs don’t technically constitute a government regulation; rather, users of EHR software who attest to meaningful use of that software are rewarded with increased Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements, while physicians who don’t attest will eventually face decreased reimbursements. In other words, there are monetary incentives and penalties, but no law is on the books requiring the use of EHRs.
However, it’s telling that many of the physicians we talk to consider the Programs to be regulatory in nature. Additionally, most of the buyers who mentioned the Programs simply touched on wanting to be in compliance; only a handful specifically mentioned wanting the stimulus dollars.
It’s also telling that so many owners of existing EHR software wanted to replace it in order to attest to meaningful use. This suggests their current systems either weren’t certified for meaningful use attestation, or weren’t allowing the physicians to accomplish meaningful use criteria tasks as successfully as they’d like. In some cases, non-certified systems may seek certification and require users to pay to upgrade to the newly-certified version of the software, which we’ve seen prompt users to look for other alternatives (see “want to explore options” in the chart above).