Investor Newsletter September 2021

During KLAS’ annual interviews with thousands of healthcare IT executives and decision makers, the topics of IT investment and decisions are frequently discussed. These are some of the most energizing topics in our conversations. Not only can we help these provider organizations by offering information on their shortlisted vendors, but also, we glean a huge amount of insight in return. Our discussions on technology range from massive core organizational systems (e.g., EMR, RCM, and ERP) to smaller departmental or emerging solutions (like AI and patient engagement).

Each of these conversations is interesting in its own right, but taken together, they reveal significant macro and micro buying trends in healthcare IT. At a macro level, it becomes clear which areas are most likely to get increased or decreased IT investment in the coming years. At a micro level, vendors are naturally stratified by their market energy: who is most likely to be selected or not selected and why. By taking these conversations in aggregate, KLAS gets an insider’s view of the market as it relates a vendor’s market position and projected growth.

Atlas Health
Emerging Technology Spotlight Report

Atlas Health offers solutions that help healthcare organizations better serve their low-income and uninsured patient populations by matching patients with financial aid and medication assistance programs. Atlas Health’s staff also manages all post-enrollment tasks, like ordering medication, submitting claims, and documenting reimbursements. This report is an early look at the customer experience with Atlas Health’s services and Atlas Navigator.

ViTel Net 
First Look Report

As telehealth strategies mature beyond virtual visits, providers are looking for a virtual care platform that will allow them to interoperate with solutions like remote patient monitoring, interpretive services, imaging, and the EMR to make data more accessible and improve outcomes. Since clinical workflows are unique to each service line, the platform needs to be configurable and scalable to meet the needs of each organization. ViTel Net vCareCommand is a platform that allows healthcare organizations to connect the aforementioned solutions while configuring a specific workflow for each service line. The aim of this report is to validate the configured workflows, interoperability, and outcomes achieved by healthcare organizations using the ViTel Net platform.

Middle East & Africa EMR 2021:
Vendor Performance and Market Energy

Many healthcare organizations in the Middle East and some in Africa have made EMR purchase decisions over the last five years (2016–2020). In that time, KLAS has validated 86 EMR decisions—72 in the Middle East and 14 in Africa—impacting over 320 hospitals, with decisions made in 2018–2020 impacting (on average) at least twice as many facilities as decisions made in 2016–2017. This report will examine the customer satisfaction, market share, and recent wins and market energy of EMR vendors in the Middle East and Africa. Compared to KLAS’ previous report on EMRs in the Middle East (published in 2019), this study includes performance data on a significantly higher number of vendors, providing more expansive insights, particularly into the Middle East market.

Clinical Communication Platforms 2021:
Improved Efficiency Leading to Concrete Acute Care Outcomes

Many acute care organizations’ clinical communication strategies have moved far beyond clinician messaging and now aim to streamline communication across most areas of the hospital. Having thoughtfully deployed enterprise communication platforms, these organizations report a myriad of powerful outcomes. This report examines these outcomes as well as which vendors best drive efficient, timely communication, support adoption across a variety of user roles, and earn high confidence in their ability to facilitate customers’ future goals.

Data and Analytics Platforms 2021:
An Early Look at Deep Adopters

The need in healthcare for broader, deeper analytics has increased dramatically, and provider organizations are now looking for consolidated, end-to-end analytics platforms that offer a wide variety of capabilities. To validate what is possible with these solutions, KLAS gave vendors with broad analytics offerings the opportunity to identify their deepest platform adopters. We then interviewed three such organizations for each vendor and validated their adoption across the five pillars of a data and analytics platform (see framework below). To provide additional context as to how vendors perform, this report also includes customer experience data collected from the broader base of platform users.

Digital Front Door 2021:
A View through the Eyes of Market Leaders

Joining buzzwords like AI and population health, the term “digital front door” has grown in usage recently but without a consensus definition. For this study, KLAS spoke to 27 leading organizations to understand what digital front door means to them, their digital front door strategies, the key technologies in use, and resulting outcomes. Based on the lessons they have learned along the way, these organizations also shared advice for peers seeking to build or improve their digital front door strategies.

Emerging HCIT Companies 2021:
Top-of-Mind Healthcare Technologies

This report shares the top-of-mind companies and market segments that surfaced from interviews with provider organizations that answered the question, “Who are the most innovative or potentially disruptive HIT vendor you have seen or heard about recently?” In the future, KLAS will monitor those companies that continue to pique market interest and gain mindshare among healthcare organizations.

Healthcare Consulting and Services 2021: 
What Challenges Lie Ahead, and Who Can Help?

No industry has been impacted by COVID-19 quite like healthcare, and many provider organizations now have new ideas about what the future will look like. For this study, KLAS asked 140 healthcare leaders (from C-suite members to directors) to identify which areas of future focus are most likely to require help from consulting firms and which firms are best positioned to offer guidance.

PHM Downside Risk 2021: 
Guiding Principles from Successful Organizations

In the United States, just 10% of the average healthcare organization’s revenue comes from downside risk contracts. However, several health systems are ahead of the curve, and their valuable insights on adopting downside risk can help peers figure out how to move the needle on value-based reimbursement (VBR). KLAS worked with population health management (PHM) vendors to identify which of their customers are most advanced in adoption of downside risk contracts and then conducted interviews with top executives at 15 of these organizations. We spoke with large, midsize, and small health systems as well as a handful of ACOs, highlighting the fact that with the right technology and organizational structure and buy-in, organizations of all types can make significant progress toward VBR.

Pulse Check—Patient Financial Engagement 2021: 
Recent PFE Adopters Realizing Outcomes

Interest in patient financial engagement (PFE) solutions is high as provider organizations seek to improve their revenue cycle and the patient financial experience. As part of other research, KLAS interviewed 13 financial leaders whose organizations have recently adopted a PFE solution. Though from a small sample, these interviews yielded valuable insights regarding the outcomes that are possible with a PFE platform. While future KLAS research will explore more vendor-differentiating insights, this report provides an early pulse check on the potential PFE solutions have to elevate the patient experience while improving provider organization revenue (a rare combination). A small amount of data from KLAS’ standard software performance evaluation is also included to provide context as to how each vendor is performing in the market.

Armis IoT Solutions: 
First Look 2021

With the expansion of medical devices that connect to the internet, security for the internet of things (IoT) is a top priority for many healthcare organizations. As ransomware cases have increased, the ability to identify, monitor, and secure all network devices has become critical. This study is an early look at customers’ experience with Armis, a cross-industry vendor that has gained traction in the growing IoT security market.

Avasure:
Emerging Technology Spotlight 2021

In the course of patient care, risks like violence, drug use, suicidal ideation, patient elopement, and falls can make providers and patients less safe. Historically, high-risk patients are monitored by placing staff members in their rooms, which is expensive and increases risk to staff. To address this problem, the AvaSure 360 solution allows a single staff member to digitally monitor high-risk patients, keep them safe, and interact with them through a command center. This report details the customer experience with AvaSure.

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