Ambulatory Surgery Centers 2017
The Evolving Landscape of Ambulatory Surgery Center Solutions

"SIS is making some huge progress, but they may have a couple of hiccups because they recently acquired SourceMed. SIS is now spread a little bit thinner than they were before; they are bringing on SourceMed customers and bringing them up to speed. In the recent past, we have called several times about issues needing to be addressed and waited several days or over a week to get responses."
—Executive Director

"When Amkai was purchased by SIS, it seems like there was a massive purge of knowledgeable techs from Amkai. They lost a tremendous amount of brainpower with the acquisition. . . . We have been looking at other EMR solutions since last year simply because of the brain drain that happened. SIS has been bringing more of their techs up to speed with the system, and they have gotten better." —Network Administrator

"After SIS acquired Amkai, the quality of service dropped for a while. But they got enough complaints. I feel that the service is fine now. I have even talked to some of their people, and they agree that things did get questionable for a while. However, they came back to the level of service that we needed, and that is the important thing." —Director

SIS’ Acquisitions Leave Fewer Vendor Options

SIS’ entered the ASC market with the acquisition of AmkaiSolutions in 2014, having previously established themseleves in the inpatient perioperative environment. With the acquisition of SourceMed in 2017, SIS has become the largest vendor in the ASC market and has reduced the number of vendor choices ASCs have. Many newly acquired SourceMed customers wonder what the acquisition means for their future, how SIS will perform going forward, and what former AmkaiSolutions customers have experienced since being acquired.

Amkai Customers’ Experience Under SIS

Acquired AmkaiSolutions customers report less than ideal relationships with their vendor; they say that SIS has failed to follow through on promises to improve technological and functionality issues and that the system is changed only to resolve compliance and regulatory issues. Those using AmkaiOffice have experienced system sluggishness but are mostly satisfied with the system’s level of functionality and generally feel that the solution is well tailored for ASCs. AmkaiCharts customers are the least satisfied of all ASC respondents, reporting system slowness, repetitive script errors, and a concern that SIS is not interested in improving the EHR product or customer experience. Newly acquired SIS Vision (SourceMed) users also struggle; they experience functionality gaps, slow product development, and the lack of an established relationship with their new vendor. Many users of these solutions have expressed a desire to move off of their current solution but are unaware of what other solutions exist.

Do Higher-Performing Options Exist for Unsatisfied Organizations?

HSTpathways and SIS AdvantX (SourceMed) are well positioned to fill the needs of unsatisfied Amkai and Vision customers. HSTpathways consistently performs above other vendors. Users feel the HSTpathways product meets their technological and functionality needs with very few gaps. They also report that the vendor has strong leadership and fosters productive, positive relationships with customers. HSTpathways has the fewest customers who report that they are leaving or considering leaving. AdvantX is another option for organizations to consider. While some AdvantX customers have experienced relationship and development issues, many ASCs are able to effectively utilize the AdvantX tool set and are supported by a high-quality support team that is capable of guiding them through issues.

New ASC Solutions on the Horizon

HSTpathways and SIS have new ASC EHR solutions, and Picis has emerged with both EHR and ASC management solutions. All of these vendors’ new solutions are in the early stages of implementation/adoption, and other vendors are watching the ASC market closely. While it is too early to display ratings on these vendors, feedback has been positive (as is the case with most new products). KLAS will continue to monitor the new solutions to evaluate the impact they have on this evolving market.