Acute Care EMR Purchasing Plans 2015
Who's Winning in a More Competitive Market?

1. EPIC VS. CERNER DECISIONS BECOMING MORE COMPETITIVE

Providers are leaning toward or have already selected Epic by almost 2:1 over Cerner; however, this ratio is down significantly from last year's report. More providers list both Epic and Cerner as being in the running. At the same time, the number of providers who are undecided has almost doubled, making those who are “up for grabs” the largest segment of providers making an EMR decision. Horizon and MEDITECH customers make up the majority of the “up for grabs” segment.

2. IS ALLSCRIPTS AN OVERLOOKED OPTION?

Allscripts is the least considered of the go-forward acute care EMRs and is largely overlooked by potential customers. Ironically, the Allscripts customer base is one of the most stable in this report, and users have reported significant improvement in their experience over the past two years. In addition, Sunrise Ambulatory Care is showing signs of being a viable option to address long-standing acute to ambulatory care integration concerns. Progress is still needed with integrated ED, surgery, and revenue cycle solutions, but a new management team and population health strategy are energizing current customers. To date, however, this has not been enough to catch the eye of potential customers, who see Allscripts’ flat market-share growth as a concern.

3. MANY MEDITECH CUSTOMERS FEEL STUCK

Nearly 40% of MEDITECH customers who are not considering an EMR change reported they would change EMRs if they could. This is most prominent among MAGIC customers (64%), who are often uncertain which options—including upgrading to 6.0—are viable for their budgets. Many MEDITECH 6.0 customers (36%) also reported being stuck, and the majority of those indicated that Epic was the EMR of choice but was out of reach. Most C/S customers who are staying (87%) reported they are doing so by choice.

4. UNREST HAS INCREASED WITH PARAGON'S PERFORMANCE

Poor performance over the past few years is impacting both current and potential Paragon customers. Paragon saw a significant decrease in the number of potential customers who listed it as a likely choice, and it now has the highest replacement vulnerability among go-forward EMRs. Just under 30% of customers indicated they are considering a change, up from 18% in last year’s report. However, many of these providers are delaying their decision in hopes that McKesson will right the ship. Interestingly, most Paragon customers who are staying said they would not switch if they could. 

5. EPIC IS THE ONLY VENDOR WITHOUT DELIVERY CONCERNS

Concern about vendors' delivery of needed capabilities is the primary reason providers might rule out specific vendors. Epic is the only vendor about whom providers did not express this concern. For all other vendors, potential customers have significant questions yet to be answered: for Cerner they are around acute care patient accounting and ambulatory practice management; for Allscripts they are around ambulatory integration and overall vendor stability; for MEDITECH, Paragon, and Siemens they are around clinical capabilities and the lack of viable ambulatory solutions. The primary concern about Epic is cost. 

Project Manager
Robert Ellis