Hospital Choosing EMRs/EHRs Based on Integrated Options

For quite some time, hospitals have chosen to patch together existing systems and link them to their new, fancy EMR/EHR system. But lately, EMRs that offer better end-to-end integration are beginning to be hospitals’ first choices, according to research released last month by healthcare vendor research firm KLAS.

As everyone knows, Meaningful Use rules have thrown hospital EMR adoption efforts into high gear over the past couple of years. Just as importantly, MU gave providers an excuse to spend on new, integrated clinical data technology rather than slapping together old clinical systems with spackle and electrical tape.

Not only are the new, integrated systems easier to use — as they make it simpler to review and manage data across the enterprise — they’re also easier to maintain, KLAS notes. Of course, integrated systems created the dreaded vendor lock-in, but these days perhaps that’s a risk hospitals have decided to face...