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Practice Management (11+ Physicians) 2019
Big Changes in a Highly Established Market
Author
Aaron Gleave
Author
Alex McIntosh
Practice management (PM) solutions continue to demonstrate surprising variation in performance despite their longstanding usage in ambulatory practices. This variation is partly attributable to often-changing regulatory requirements, but some PM vendors still struggle to deliver basic functionality. Others are proving that commitment to customer success can reverse poor performance or raise the bar in the market.
Steady Epic and Improving NextGen Lead the Field
As in prior years, Epic’s large ambulatory customers (76+ physicians) are, by a wide margin, the most satisfied of any PM customer base. This high satisfaction is driven largely by a highly functional and stable solution backed by personalized support. Epic customers report lower A/R days, better cash inflow, and (for those who have used other enterprise PM solutions) an improved user experience. NextGen Healthcare has been steadily improving in recent years—in 2018, they won the Best in KLAS report’s Most Improved Physician Practice Product award (76+ physicians segment), and in 2019, they were named Best in KLAS for midsize practices (11–75 physicians). Customers have seen significant support and usability improvements and report NextGen Enterprise PM helps drive positive financial outcomes.
Large Cerner Customers Starting to Examine Their Options
Large practices (76+ physicians) using Cerner continue to report significant declines in satisfaction. The percentage of these customers holding out hope for improvement in the next year has fallen steeply (down to 40%). Dissatisfaction is driven mostly by the same issues that have afflicted Cerner’s PM solution for years, most of which are related to the product itself; many large customers feel it does not meet their needs. These issues have impacted customer loyalty, which has dropped nearly 12% since 2018 and 20% since 2016. In 18 of KLAS’ 20 standard performance metrics, Cerner Practice Management is rated lowest or second lowest among all large-practice PM solutions.
Has athenaCollector Lost Its Shine?
2019 was the first in six years that athenahealth did not earn the practice management Best in KLAS award for midsize practices (coming second to NextGen Healthcare). Though athenahealth is still one of the higher performers, in the last year, overall satisfaction has dropped more than 6%, and ratings for almost all standard KLAS metrics have declined. Customer excitement about athenahealth has also declined significantly. The biggest pain points relate to implementations, integration, and value. Support, a historical strength, has also declined considerably—athenaCollector is now in the 28th percentile for support among all KLAS-measured software solutions. Customers say a culture shift has created communication problems, such as long response times, unreturned calls, unknowledgeable support personnel, and an inability to resolve issues with a live person. With the recent acquisition by Veritas Capital, who plans to merge athenahealth with Virence Health, many customers wonder what the future holds.
NextGen Healthcare Demonstrates Ability to Scale
to Large Practices
NextGen Healthcare and athenahealth have shown an ability to scale to larger practices. Larger NextGen Healthcare customers are slightly more satisfied than their midsize peers and have become more satisfied in recent years, especially with their vendor relationship. 50% of large-practice NextGen customers are highly satisfied—the most among measured vendors. Satisfaction with athenahealth is similar across practices of varying sizes, though wider complaints about a recent culture shift at athenahealth have hurt satisfaction. The satisfaction gap between large and small customers is most pronounced with Cerner customers; larger practices (especially those in health systems) are underwhelmed by the system’s functionality and technology, feel the product was oversold, and feel it does not meet
the needs of more-complex practices.
Greenway, NextGen Lead among Midsize Practices; Several Newcomers Enter the Market
Among midsize practices, Greenway Health and NextGen Healthcare lead out. Both vendors’ scores have risen in recent years, largely due to improved customer relationships. Several new PM options demonstrate varying levels of success: AdvancedMD provides strong functionality and technology; however, pricing practices create dissatisfaction. Customers of eMDs (Aprima) appreciate the solution’s ease of use. They feel eMDs has trouble keeping development promises and would like further new-technology investment. CareCloud (limited data) has made significant improvements to customer relationships and become more client-focused. The few organizations using MEDITECH Expanse PM are highly optimistic their experience will continue improving as the product matures.
Writer
Amanda Wind Smith
Designer
Natalie Jamison
Project Manager
Ally Dove
This material is copyrighted. Any organization gaining unauthorized access to this report will be liable to compensate KLAS for the full retail price. Please see the KLAS DATA USE POLICY for information regarding use of this report. © 2024 KLAS Research, LLC. All Rights Reserved. NOTE: Performance scores may change significantly when including newly interviewed provider organizations, especially when added to a smaller sample size like in emerging markets with a small number of live clients. The findings presented are not meant to be conclusive data for an entire client base.