Small Practice Ambulatory EMR/PM (10 or Fewer Physicians) 2019
Building Strong Foundations for Customer Success

When asked to name the top things EMR/PM vendors should focus on, small practices overwhelmingly say that before addressing more advanced issues, their vendors need to first figure out how to meet small practices’ needs for product functionality, product usability, and vendor support and guidance. NextGen Healthcare is the only vendor whose self-reported priorities align completely with this desired focus, though responses from Aprima and CureMD also show alignment in many areas.

Practices Want CareCloud, Cerner, and eMDs to Focus on the Basics

In their interviews with KLAS, CareCloud, Cerner, and eMDs all emphasized that delivering new technology (bells and whistles) is their number one focus. Such features can be beneficial once practices’ basic needs for functionality, usability, and support are met, but the fact that CareCloud, Cerner, and eMDs have lower customer satisfaction highlights a misalignment between what small practices need and what these vendors are focused on. Virence Health (formerly GE Healthcare) is relatively aligned to what small practices need, and customers report cautious optimism under the new leadership. However, GE Healthcare had historically failed to deliver on promises regarding improvements to Centricity Practice Solution, leading to low satisfaction.

More Investment in Training Needed for Better Provider Success

Feedback from more than 32,000 physicians and advanced practice providers (collected through KLAS’ Arch Collaborative initiative) shows that training is one of the leading predictors of future EHR success and satisfaction. This indicates that not all user dissatisfaction with EMR/PM solutions can be attributed to the solution itself. Vendors interviewed for this small practice report echo this finding, with 6 of the interviewed 14 saying that they feel customers underinvest in education. One vendor executive shared, “I think what customers do is underinvest in education as the product evolves. . . . They want to implement it . . . and move on.” This lack of continual EHR learning has a direct and adverse effect on providers’ ability to document effectively and often leads to dissatisfaction with the EHR as well as the vendor.