Jonathan Bush, CEO of Athenahealth, said that the federal stimulus funds for EHR adoption give an unfair advantage for the traditional software license companies. He has a point up to a certain point.
The advantage that the big-name companies have over the newer models, namely the software as a service (SaaS) EHRs, is in the tight deadlines. Large hospitals and healthcare systems that already have spent millions of dollars and years on an EMR or EHR system are not going to switch to a new system, no matter how painful the transition has been. With the first stage one meaningful use deadline in 2011, there isn't time even if the leadership wanted to make such a massive change.
That said, everyone knows that EHR adoption is pretty low, especially among physician practices. The market is pretty darn wide open, and the smaller size offices are not going to go with the big traditional companies. This is the big advantage for SaaS companies. This is their sweet spot. The two markets couldn't be more different, and the two types of models aren't really competing for the same providers.
The good news continues for the federal stimulus incentive program. According to a new survey commissioned by HP and conducted by research firm NewGrowth Consulting, 58 percent of the CIOs who participated in the survey ranked EMRs a top priority.
The market is big enough for both new entrants, including SaaS vendors, and the traditional companies. Energy should be spent pleasing the client base and leveraging those successes to prospective clients.
If you have an opinion about traditional vendors versus new vendors, please be sure to comment.
Patty Enrado blogs daily at EHRWatch.com.
