Nearly 60% More Replacing Their EHR System in 2015
The number of buyers replacing their existing EHR system has increased nearly 60% year over year, according to the 2015 EHR BuyerView survey from Software Advice.
"When buyers contact us, we determine whether they are purchasing an EHR system for the first time or replacing an existing system," writes Gaby Loria, market research associate at Software Advice, in the report.
"In the six years we've been studying EHR buyers, 2015 marks the first time that the amount of clinicians looking to replace an existing EHR outnumbers the amount of clinicians looking to purchase an EHR for the first time,” she writes.
These findings imply that a growing number of physicians are dissatisfied with their current EHR, which backs up findings from the 2014 HIMSS survey that around 40% of physicians would not recommend their EHR to a colleague.
What are physicians and clinicians looking for in an EHR system? From the EHR BuyerView survey, patient tracking (28%), customizable templates (25%) and regulatory compliance (25%) are the top-requested functionalities. Patient tracking includes monitoring assessments, treatment plans, progress notes and initial evaluations, which would allow hospitals to leverage patient data and prepare for value-based reimbursement models.
Other top-requested functionality, in this order:
- E-prescribing (23%)
- Tablet/mobile integration (21%)
- Robust reporting (20%)
- Lab integration (19%)
- Appointment reminders (14%)
Billing is the top-requested application, as 45% of EHR buyers are interested in billing applications, followed by claim support applications (27%) and patient scheduling (23%), according to the survey.
It’s not surprising to see billing and claim support at the top of the application-needs list, considering the ICD-10 coding deadline on Oct. 1, 2015, when the U.S. health care system will require providers to employ a new set of codes used in the billing process to differentiate diagnoses and procedures in virtually all treatment settings.