Is Ambulatory EMR Usability Improving?

1. ATHENAHEALTH AND EPIC HAVE THE BEST USABILITY

athenahealth and Epic lead the market in physician productivity and effectiveness. athenahealth is consistently improving their EMR’s usability by offering more effective quality improvement tools, engaging with physicians, and improving their CDS, problem list, and ePrescribing functionality, which is now robust. SAC’s customizability and Allscripts’ consistent development of SAC have enabled providers to reach a high degree of productivity and effectiveness.

2. CERNER AND ECLINICALWORKS MAKE THE MOST PROGRESS

Many Cerner and eClinicalWorks customers reported moderate to significant usability improvements. Cerner has moved into the top tier of performers by engaging more with physicians, improving Dynamic Documentation, and enabling their EMR to adapt better across multiple specialties. eClinicalWorks has made meaningful improvements to their product’s usability, jumping from the eighth spot to the fourth. They provide a visually appealing user interface and are steadily improving the core functionality, particularly for medication reconciliation.

3. GREENWAY SEES NO IMPROVEMENT; GE DROPS THREE SPOTS

While Greenway has pushed regular upgrades, providers have experienced post-upgrade software glitches, especially with v.17, that often hinder the usability. Customers also reported that the CDS functionality inhibits the overall usability, often describing the CDS piece as too complex, too intrusive, or not evident enough. Only 3 of 15 GE CPS EMR customers noted any overall usability improvement in the last two years. GE’s usability has suffered due to challenges with documentation and ePrescribing.

4. WIDENING GAP BETWEEN ALLSCRIPTS TOUCHWORKS EHR, NEXTGEN, AND TOP PERFORMERS

NextGen customers are able to highly customize the EHR, but these efforts are often lost and have to be redone because of complex upgrades that impede usability progress—less than half of providers say new features improve the usability. Allscripts TouchWorks EHR customers have found that strong customization tools are absent and promised ePrescribing functionality hasn’t come to fruition.

5. VENDORS DRIVE USABILITY THROUGH DIFFERENT APPROACHES

athenahealth and eClinicalWorks are the primary drivers of their EMRs’ usability and provide frequent, meaningful updates to the user experience. Epic and Cerner achieve usability success through an equal partnership with providers. Epic shares best practices and consistently develops new workflows and functionality. Cerner is moving toward a mentoring role by offering new, helpful tools, like playbooks. Allscripts customers appreciate being able to customize the flexible SAC technology.

Writer
Emily Paxman

Designer
Natalie Jamison

Project Manager
Robert Ellis