1 Of 4 Ambulatory Providers Considering EHR Replacement

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

A report from KLAS predicts a quarter of ambulatory care providers will be replacing their EHRs.

A recent report from KLAS, Ambulatory EMR Perception 2014: New Leaders Emerging as Market Shifts, analyzed answers from more than 400 practices with the most important finding being 27 percent indicating they were considering replacing their current EHR. Another 12 percent of respondents said they would like to, but cannot for financial or organizational reasons.

“There are different reasons for this shift,” said report author Jared Dowland in a press release. “Larger practices are seeking to consolidate from multiple EMRs and tighten their relationships with nearby hospitals, while smaller practices are seeking to resolve functionality, support, and cost concerns.”

According to Fierce EMR, the report also notes more providers were leaving GE Healthcare and NextGen than other vendors. Researchers found Allscripts, GE Healthcare McKesson, and NextGen stand to lose more customers than other vendors.

Forty percent of the small practices that responded said they were not planning on investing in a new EHR. Large practices were more likely to consider the additional costs.

Last year, a Black Book Rankings study, 2013 State of the Ambulatory EHR Market, found one of six providers were considering switching EHRs. The survey concluded, “With unmet expectations in system features, implementations, deliverables, and client support issues mounting, up to 17 percent of all currently implemented physician practices gear up for changing out solutions.” It also referred to 2014 as “Year of the Great EHR Vendor Switch.”