Smaller, critical-access hospitals have an appetite for software capability that exceeds vendors’ ability to deliver, particularly in areas like CPOE, according to a new KLAS (Orem, Utah) report entitled, “Closing the IT Gap: Critical Access to 50 Bed Hospitals.”
Only a handful of EMR vendors specifically serve the critical access market, with CPSI, Healthland and HMS enjoying the most market share, states KLAS. Of those companies, Healthland received the highest performance rating in the report, but none of the vendors’ solutions earned high marks for adequate functionality.
The KLAS report notes that CPSI is by far the leader in delivering CPOE to critical access hospitals, with 17 live organizations that are likely to be the most ready for meaningful use. “In general, however, CPOE adoption is limited and shallow in this space, with a total of only 21 critical access hospitals known to be live on CPOE,” KLAS states.
Beyond the three leading vendors, a few companies that have traditionally served larger community hospitals are also having some impact among facilities with 50 or fewer beds. McKesson Paragon is increasingly being considered by hospital executives in smaller spaces, and QuadraMed has a few Affinity clients, most of which are financial customers, in critical access hospitals, the report states. Although Meditech is known as a community hospital vendor, the cost of the Meditech EMR prevents the smallest hospitals from seriously considering it, according to KLAS.
