Best-of-breed falling out of favor with ED physicians

Just days after announcing that vendor satisfaction for ambulatory EMRs dropped in 2009, KLAS Enterprises reports that emergency departments are starting to favor a single-vendor over the best-of-breed strategy when it comes to ED information systems.

Among organizations looking to replace their current EDIS, 72 percent of the more than 500 respondents plan to dump a best-of-breed installation for an enterprise product. That's more than twice what the rate was in a 2005 KLAS survey. But the new report also says customers of enterprise systems from Cerner, Eclipsys, McKesson and Meditech are disappointed with what they have, citing problems with functionality for clinicians.

"With the exception of Epic, EDIS solutions from the large enterprise vendors consistently score well below the KLAS average for software satisfaction--while five of the top six rated offerings are best-of-breed products," study author Steve VanWagenen says, according to Healthcare IT News. "That gap underscores the challenge many CIOs face in choosing between an ED solution that's an extension of the EMR versus a product more tailored to the needs of clinicians."

To learn more:
- read this Healthcare IT News story
- order the KLAS report

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