Vendor Performance in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis
2021 Update

Overall, the vendor community has responded well to the COVID-19 crisis. 75% of customer ratings for the question “On a scale of 1.0–9.0, how well has your vendor supported you through the COVID-19 crisis?” are an 8.0 or higher.

Nuance was ready in a variety of ways to help customers, from supporting a mobile, work-from-home workforce, to offering some customers free licenses to meet surge needs. Nuance’s quality management customers rated their vendor a perfect 9.0 (based on limited data), citing their excellent work quickly adding COVID-19 quality measures.

Epic customers report a myriad of ways in which the vendor has supported them throughout the crisis. Repeatedly, customers say that when they were struggling, Epic emphasized meeting critical needs over cost and contracting. Many software upgrades were quickly released to meet a plethora of customer requests.

Customers of PerfectServe (including acquired Lightning Bolt and Telmediq) report the vendor provided additional resources (often at no charge), excellent creativity in the design and quick rollout of new functionalities and applications, and consistent communication through the crisis. Telmediq users gave especially high ratings, stating support from PerfectServe has grown significantly in the past year.

Health Catalyst has armed their customers with critical data and insights, including predictive dashboards, in the fight against COVID-19. Similar to other high performers, Health Catalyst was quick to be flexible and supportive with everything from costs to service.

3M responded well to COVID-19 in many ways, including updating codes for revenue cycle and making other updates to ensure the MModal platform performed well throughout the crisis. Customers report that 3M did an excellent job checking in often and doing anything that was asked.

GetWellNetwork released a new platform for customers to help manage patients who tested positive for COVID-19. Customers report the vendor was constantly checking in and making adjustments for customers as needs arose.

symplr (API Healthcare) has helped customers through particularly difficult staffing challenges resulting from COVID-19. Customers report that symplr has worked tirelessly with them through software changes, support needs, and difficult questions.

MEDITECH customers report the vendor’s response to COVID-19 was fast, on target with their needs, and extremely helpful. Customers especially appreciated how MEDITECH made development and code changes very quickly. Respondents hope they will continue to see this level of responsiveness from MEDITECH in the future regarding other needs.

Two large vendors are rated 7.0 or lower (out of 9.0) for their response to the crisis:

Homecare Homebase customers say their vendor made efforts to support them but moved slower than they expected and needed.

While many Allscripts customers report the vendor made significant efforts to support them through the crisis, customers using the Paragon platform or one of Allscripts’ ambulatory solutions are more likely to feel they have been working with thinly stretched resources or doing too much on their own.

Among vendors that have not performed as well, customers nearly universally say their vendor made efforts but sometimes failed to follow through, communicate effectively, or deliver when clients needed help most.

98% of Services Firms Rated High for COVID-19 Response

The vast majority of services firms have been quick and effective in their response to the COVID-19 crisis, often filling critical gaps in staffing, skills, and experience. Hundreds of interviewed provider organizations report they have leaned heavily on their services partners to endure the crisis. Notably, Medix, Aquity Solutions, and Nordic are rated high for their response to COVID-19 across multiple services.