Pediatric Ambulatory EMR 2020: Not Just Another EMR
It would certainly feel cliché to go on some sort of diatribe about how extremely important our children are. This is not news to anyone; even those of us without children were once children ourselves and recognize the importance of a child’s development, safety, and health. It is unfortunate, then, that many ambulatory pediatric offices are expected to make do with generalized templates and charting despite their unique needs.
Pediatrics is a big portion of the EMR market, but it often gets lumped in with other areas from an EMR perspective. We at KLAS have seen this trend and have published our first-ever report in this area; the Pediatric Ambulatory EMR 2020 report delves into the current state of this side of healthcare, the reason pediatrics deserves its own spotlight in the EMR market, and which vendors are leading the charge toward more effective ambulatory pediatric EMRs.
Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?
Historically, pediatric departments have often experienced the square-peg-in-a-round-hole problem in using EMRs. Many vendors gave providers an EMR that worked well for a family practice and then provided marginal workarounds to make it usable in a pediatric setting. What many of these vendors have had to realize with time are the staggering differences between the adult-specific content found in most EMRs and the crucial, child-specific information that is required to properly chart and treat children. Pediatric physicians need to keep track of immunizations, well-child visits, and growth, all of which need to be updated continuously from infancy through childhood. Trying to adapt an EMR’s adult templating to pediatric needs just doesn’t work anymore, and the providers no longer accept that.
And the Winners Are…
Unsurprisingly, the leaders in the space are the vendors who are solely focused on pediatrics and who built their EMR offerings from the ground up to be used for pediatrics. However, this report also shows off some impressive leaders who, while not pediatric specific, are offering incredibly versatile and customizable EMRs that providers are in love with for the pediatric space. These EMRs deal with many of the issues that were mentioned above and have received glowing feedback. Many of the vendors featured in this report have put in the work, time, and energy to make an exceptional product.
The product offerings are not the only things that set some vendors apart. Many providers have attested to the relationships that they share with some of the vendors and to the service that they have received. The top vendors in the space are forming strong bonds of trust and familiarity with the providers they work with, with the very best vendors being described as part of the family. While this service is not consistent across all vendors, providers have made it clear that the way that they interact with their vendors is almost as important as the product is.
Get Informed
We at KLAS want readers of this report to utilize it in finding which vendors are truly committed to creating an excellent experience for pediatrics. We want providers to make informed decisions if they decide to change what they have currently. There are many vendors out there who are just meeting the status quo without putting any true energy into this overlooked specialty. Get informed by reading KLAS’ Pediatric Ambulatory EMR 2020 report, and keep an eye out for a similar report in the future that will show what the enterprise players are doing in the pediatric space.
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