Are Ambulatory EMRs Going the Way of BlackBerrys?

First, there were cell phones. And then came BlackBerrys. Those seemed to be cell phones that enabled people to check their email, but they turned out to be much, much more than that.

BlackBerrys basically became a worldwide symbol of success overnight. I decided that I had to have one. And it was great! I could work from anywhere. Everything went great for a few years. Then I became eligible for an upgrade to the hottest new device, a Droid.

I was mesmerized by the huge touch screen and the integration with Google Maps. Plus, it had all the same features as my BlackBerry and many more. I was skeptical at first, with all of the potential upsides, I couldn’t wait to have one. I have now been a loyal Android user for years.

Well, last year something remarkable happened. At a KLAS company meeting, in a group of just over 100 people, a speaker asked who in attendance was using a BlackBerry. Two people raised their hands.

Is this happening to healthcare EMR vendors too? Not long ago, the ambulatory EMR market had a few big names that captured most of the market for practices moving from paper records to electronic systems.

Allscripts, NextGen, eClinicalWorks and a few others were considered hands-down the market leaders. When KLAS asked physician practices which EMR vendors they would consider implementing, over 75% would list at least one of those few big-name vendors.

This year, with many practices implementing an EMR for the first time or switching systems, we asked that same question. Who are providers considering most nowadays? Which companies have been able to rise to the top? Which are taking a step back? And we have answered all of these questions and more in the most recent Ambulatory EMR perception report.

Have some of the early leaders been able to maintain their pace, unlike BlackBerry? Or have there been new entrants to the EMR market that have turned the market around, like the Androids and iPhones have done?