Continuing shake up and evolution of the EMR marketplace

The number of practices looking for replacement EHRs has grown, although most small practices are adopting systems for the first time, according to a new survey.

As competition heats up in the electronic health record market, practices fed up with poor customer service or systems that only meet a fraction of the practices’ needs are recognizing an opportunity to jump ship and find a new vendor. Others are leaving their old systems to join forces with other health care organizations and form information-sharing networks built on matching EHR systems.

A report published in July by EHR market research firm KLAS found that about half of the 300 surveyed practices in the market for an ambulatory EHR system were not first-time buyers. The number of practices shopping for a replacement EHR jumped from 30% in 2011 to 50% in 2012.