EMR Interoperability 2014
Which Vendors Are Really Helping Providers?

WORTH KNOWING:

THE EMERALD CITY IS BOTH CLOSER AND MORE DISTANT THAN IT APPEARS:

Today, providers judge interoperability success based on their unique goals rather than distance traveled on a common road. Although 82% feel at least moderately successful, only 6% have achieved a state of advanced interoperability. Cerner, Epic, and Siemens customers mentioned complex, multifaceted connections but did not always rate overall success as high. In contrast, athenahealth, MEDITECH, and NextGen customers feel successful but described common interfaces and les sophisticated capabilities. 

INTER-VENDOR COOPERATION IS A MAJOR DELAY ON THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD:

Less than half of providers said their vendor cooperates well with other vendors. athenahealth was the exception, with almost 85% giving above average marks. Epic has recently been scrutinized in the media, but they are among the next five highest performing vendors, along with Allscripts, Cerner, GE Healthcare, and MEDITECH. All had 50%–60% of customers say they cooperate well. With this backdrop, it’s no surprise that providers are putting little thought or stock into cross-vendor initiatives like CommonWell and Carequality. 

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE INTERFACES BEHIND THE CURTAIN:

Some vendors demo fantastic capabilities and wonderful outcomes, but behind the curtain it takes a tremendous amount of work to build and maintain interfaces. Instead of plug-and-play wizardry, providers get to lay bricks. Allscripts, athenahealth, and Epic do the best job of facilitating interfaces and keeping costs down. Vendors rated highest for limiting interfacing costs had only about 55%–65% of their customers say they did so well or very well. 

HIES PLAY A STARRING ROLE:

HIE was named as the top interoperability platform currently used to impact patient care. It is also the most common target for future investment. Epic, McKesson, and Siemens have the most customers leveraging their HIE solutions. Allscripts dbMotion is most considered for enhancing future efforts. 

Writer
Elizabeth Pew