The 2015/2016 Best in KLAS Software and Services report, released today by Orem, Utah-based KLAS, named the top-performing companies within various market segments based on customer feedback, and once again Epic earned the ranking of number-one Overall Software Suite.
It’s the sixth straight year that Epic has secured the top spot, and in that segment, Cerner ranked number two, followed by Meditech C/S. Epic also was named the top Overall Physician Practice Vendor, with athenahealth ranked second in that segment.
Epic also received Best in KLAS awards in seven segments -- health information exchange, surgery management, patient portals, patient accounting and patient management, acute care EMR, ambulatory EMR over 75 physicians and practice management over 75 physicians.
Impact Advisors earned the designation of Overall IT Services Firm for the fourth consecutive year, as well as a Best in KLAS for IT Advisory Services.
Other prominent EHR vendors to receive segment Best in KLAS awards include Cerner (Non-US Patient Administration Systems, Application Hosting, Acute Care EMR and Anatomic Pathology) and athenahealth (Ambulatory EMR for between 11 and 75 physicians and Practice Management for between 11 and 75 physicians).
Several other vendors also received multiple Best in KLAS awards—Merge earned three (cardiology, VNA/image archive, radiology) and the following vendors each received two -- CareTech Solutions (partial IT outsourcing, extensive IT outsourcing); CureMD (practice management 1-10 physicians, ambulatory EHR 1-10 physicians) and Galen Healthcare (technical services, HIT implementation support).
Another highlight of the report was population health vendor Medicity gaining a notable 20 percent score increase from last year, up to 79.1 in the Health Information Exchange (HIE) software solutions segment. According to KLAS researchers, Medicity customers report significantly higher levels of satisfaction when it comes to vendor support and delivery speed, saying that Medicity has been setting much clearer delivery expectations and has increased the speed at which they deliver interfaces and respond to customer requests.
The Best in KLAs report produces insights on vendor performance based on feedback from thousands of provider executives, nurses, doctors and technicians, offers a timely snapshot of an industry in transition. Some vendors are rising to the challenge of meeting and even surpassing customer expectations, and taking on the role of partner rather than just supplier.
And, as the industry changes, KLAS has revamped the services segments measured and streamlined the data in the report, including renaming and, in some cases, consolidating the segments in its Best in KLAS and Category Leader segments. KLAS added the following software segments eligible for Best in KLAS awards – long-term care, population health and VNA/Image Archive. Also, three new software segments are now eligible to receive Category Leader awards – alarm management, CDI software and secure messaging.
"As healthcare continues to evolve, it is imperative that we seek innovation and constantly address the needs of a shifting market. The Best in KLAS and Category Leader winners are the ones making the greatest strides within their market segments. I congratulate each of you for your award,” Adam Gale, CEO and president of KLAS said in a statement. “KLAS is honored to work with talented healthcare providers who willingly share their experiences with us and make the Best in KLAS report possible. We also commend all the vendors who strive to improve their products and services in order to provide the best possible healthcare. It is truly a joint effort.”
According to the company, Best in KLAS designation is reserved for vendor solutions that lead the software and services market segments with the broadest operational and clinical impact on healthcare organizations. While the Category Leader designation is reserved for vendor solutions that lead select market segments in which at least two products meet a minimum level of KLAS Konfidence.
