Why The List Was Developed
The market for ambulatory EHR systems is very robust, with more than 200 products currently on the market. The sheer number of available products makes the task of choosing one to implement very difficult for physicians. When faced with this prospect, some physicians have opted to put off selection of an EHR system, hoping that the market will shake out and leaders will emerge.
Limited resources also slow the adoption of an EHR solution. The research necessary to choose the “best fit” product for a practice can be daunting, given the lack of resources available to practices to do that research. The VITL Pre-Screened EHR Product List should serve as a source of basic research.
Recognizing that physicians need impartial sources of information to help them choose a system with confidence, CCHIT created an annual testing and certification process. CCHIT has developed an extensive list of criteria, and invited vendors of EHR systems to submit their products for testing. If a product passes, it is certified. To date, there are more than 70 certified ambulatory EHR systems. (For more information, see
www.cchit.org.)
Narrowing the field via certification has made the selection process somewhat easier for physicians, but it still leaves a lot of systems to choose from. VITL decided to embark on an effort to pare the list of systems even further.
A request for information (RFI) was issued to all the companies marketing CCHIT-certified ambulatory EHRs. VITL received 27 responses, which were scored by VITL staff and a group of advisors. Vendor finances were independently reviewed. The result of this process is the Pre-Screened EHR Product List.
How to Use the List
The VITL Pre-Screened EHR Product List is meant to be a good starting point for Vermont physician practices considering the acquisition of an EHR system. VITL believes the systems on this list are the market leaders for physician practices, and should be given consideration. However, this is not meant to be a purchase list.
While VITL hopes that the existence of the Pre-Screened EHR Product List helps shorten the selection process, and speeds up the adoption rate for EHRs in Vermont, it is imperative that physician practices take the time to assess their specific needs, develop a request for proposal (RFP), and send it to vendors of some or all of the EHR systems on the VITL Pre-Screened EHR Product List. An accepted industry guideline is to invite three to five vendors to compete. Choosing an EHR system is a very important business and strategic decision and practices must perform due diligence. The VITL Pre-Screened EHR Product List is not meant to be a replacement for a thorough assessment and selection process.
Because of the short timeframe for compiling this list, VITL was not able to validate the responses that vendors gave to the RFI, nor was VITL able to view demonstrations of the EHR products on the list. The practice management portion of the system was not evaluated, but VITL strongly recommends that practices consider an integrated solution. VITL cannot guarantee the performance of the products on the list. VITL strongly recommends that as part of a RFP process, physician practices see demonstrations of each of the systems they are considering. Vendors of the products on the list will be invited to exhibit at the
VITL Summit ’08 on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008 at the Killington Grand Hotel in Killington, Vt.
In addition to seeing demos, VITL urges practices to ask each vendor for names of other similar practices using the product, and then call and/or visit those practices to find out how satisfied they are with the product. Ask if they have experienced any problems with the system, and if so, ask how responsive the vendor was. Also ask what the practices like about the system. Site visits should be made for only those one or two vendors under final consideration. Because vendors tend to give out references that they know are satisfied, VITL also recommends trying to contact practices using the product whose names have not been supplied by the vendor. Local, state, and national physician and practice manager organizations may be helpful in identifying practices using the product(s) under consideration.
As the market continues to mature, VITL intends to update the Pre-Screened EHR Product List on a periodic basis. VITL will also work with physician practices receiving grants through VITL’s EHR Pilot Project to develop site-specific RFPs, which will be issued to vendors of products on the list. This RFP process will provide a deeper level of review, and in the future VITL may provide additional information about the EHR systems on the list.
