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Small Practice Ambulatory EMR/PM (2–10 Physicians) 2022
Functionality & Value Top of Mind for Small Practices
Author
Aaron Gleave
Author
Alex McIntosh
Small practices provide a significant amount of the outpatient care in the US, and their needs differ from those of their larger counterparts. When it comes to EMR/PM technology, these practices expect up-to-date functionality, steady product performance, solid implementation and training, and an integrated suite of solutions from a single vendor—all at a price point that makes sense for a small practice’s budget. This is a tall order, but some vendors have stepped up to the challenge in multiple areas of delivery. This report provides the latest view on how the major vendors in this market perform and which ones stand out in the areas that small practices (2–10 physicians) care about most.
Elation Health, NextGen Healthcare, athenahealth, CompuGroup Medical US, and Azalea Health the Top Overall Performers for Small Practices
Elation Health has the highest scoring EMR among small practices.† Though the vendor does not offer their own native PM solution, interviewed customers—whose average practice size is just three physicians—report that the EMR has the functionality they need to deliver care. Customers also say the vendor provides stable, effective developments to meet practices’ changing needs. NextGen Healthcare, athenahealth, and Azalea Health offer stable, comprehensive, and easy-to-use cloud-based solutions that don’t burden customers with the complexities of a multivendor technology stack. Following CompuGroup Medical US’ 2020 acquisition of eMDs, customers of the latter have seen a notable jump in satisfaction, due in large part to improvements in account management, proactivity, and the vendor relationship. eClinicalWorks and CareCloud (limited data) customers are highly dissatisfied (see next sections for details), and many are currently exploring other options or expect to do so in the near future.
† Elation Health does not offer their own native PM solution and is therefore considered a “component” vendor in this research (see About This Report for more details).
AdvancedMD Customers (Limited Data) Have Seen Most Improvement in Vendor’s Delivery of New Technology; Development Declining for Allscripts, DrChrono, CareCloud (All Limited Data) & eClinicalWorks
AdvancedMD customers (limited data) have reported steady improvements to the vendor’s delivery of new technology over the last few years, and AdvancedMD is now one of the top-rated vendors in technology-related metrics (i.e., functionality, product quality, ease of use, and delivery of new technology). Many respondents highlight the PM functionality for enabling them to better manage their financial performance. athenahealth customers have seen more moderate product improvements. Customers feel athenahealth does well at communicating and following through on a development road map. Allscripts, DrChrono, CareCloud (all three are limited data), and eClinicalWorks have all seen their delivery of new technology ratings fall more than 10% since 2019, with many customers feeling that the vendors do little to communicate about what is being developed.
Value Strongest with Elation Health, Kareo, athenahealth & NextGen Healthcare
Elation Health customers report strong value from the solution, citing its simple navigation and reliable functionality. Additionally, customers appreciate the vendor’s transparent pricing that limits unexpected costs. Kareo customers tend to be quite small (~three physicians); they report that Kareo is transparent about pricing and provides good functionality for practices their size. athenahealth customers feel the vendor’s comprehensive ambulatory solution meets most (if not all) of a small practice’s HIT needs, allowing them to efficiently deliver care and removing much of the burden that comes from running a billing office in-house. NextGen Healthcare’s robust technology and integrated, comprehensive suite lead customers to report that the solution provides good value; however, some cite nickel-and-diming as a concern.
Elation Health, NextGen Healthcare Lead in Key Areas of Training & Relationships; Support a Significant Frustration with eClinicalWorks and CareCloud (Limited Data)
Though training is not always a top priority for provider organizations, it can significantly impact users’ overall satisfaction. Data from KLAS’ Arch Collaborative demonstrates that clinicians who receive strong initial training are significantly more satisfied with their overall EMR experience than those who don’t. Elation Health customers say the vendor ensures customers use the product effectively and takes the lead in training on new capabilities (e.g., telehealth), allowing customers to focus on patients. Of particular note is the vendor’s “panic button,” which gives providers access to immediate support during a patient visit. NextGen Healthcare has made significant improvements to their account management, and customers now say the account managers are empowered to resolve issues and are proactive in identifying areas in which customers could use additional help, including navigating changing government requirements.
Some eClinicalWorks customers report that needed training is no longer free and that the training they do get is too generic to be useful. There is also strong frustration with the vendor’s support, with representatives often described as unknowledgeable, unhelpful, and unresponsive to tickets. Those using CareCloud (limited data) have seen their relationships deteriorate considerably since the acquisition by MTBC in 2020. Respondents say MTBC eliminated account representatives from the support structure, leading to extremely unresponsive support people who do not follow up on tickets. Customers looking for extra training are often deterred due to the extra cost.
About This Report
Each year, KLAS interviews thousands of healthcare professionals about the IT solutions and services their organizations use. For this report, interviews were conducted over the last 12 months using KLAS’ standard quantitative evaluation for healthcare software, which is composed of 16 numeric ratings questions and 4 yes/no questions, all weighted equally. Combined, the ratings for these questions make up the overall performance score, which is measured on a 100-point scale. The questions are organized into six customer experience pillars—culture, loyalty, operations, product, relationship, and value.
Sample Sizes
Unless otherwise noted, sample sizes displayed throughout this report (e.g., n=16) represent the total number of unique customer organizations interviewed for a given vendor or solution. However, it should be noted that to allow for the representation of differing perspectives within any one customer organization, samples may include surveys from different individuals at the same organization. The table below shows the total number of unique organizations interviewed for each vendor or solution as well as the total number of individual respondents.
Some respondents choose not to answer particular questions, meaning the sample size for any given vendor or solution can change from question to question. When the number of unique organization responses for a particular question is less than 15, the score for that question is marked with an asterisk (*) or otherwise designated as “limited data.” If the sample size is less than 6, no score is shown. Note that when a vendor has a low number of reporting sites, the possibility exists for KLAS scores to change significantly as new surveys are collected.
Product Designations Used in This Report
- Component [C]: Product that typically includes most but not all components that comprise a complete system or that serves only a subset of the market. Elation Health is designated as a component product in this research as they do not offer their own native PM solution. Most commonly, Elation Health EMR customers use a PM solution from either AdvancedMD or Kareo.
Writer
Elizabeth Pew
Designer
Jess Wallace-Simpson
Project Manager
Andrew Wright
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.