23% Of Providers Use Epic, But VA EHR Is Tops For Satisfaction

Nearly a quarter of physician providers with an EHR are currently using Epic Systems, according to data from the 2014 Medscape EHR Report, but the wildly popular interface doesn’t get anywhere near the highest marks for user satisfaction.  That honor goes to the VA-CPRS, the EHR used by the beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs, with Epic left languishing in seventh place behind several of its most significant competitors.

Medscape surveyed more than 18,500 physicians in a variety of practice situations between April and June of 2014.  Eighty-three percent are currently using an EHR, while another 4% are in the process of implementation, and 6% plan to buy or start using one within the next two years.  Just 7% said they have no intention of adopting an EHR, which is actually slightly more than answered the same question in 2012, the report says.  More than half of the respondents were physicians who practiced as part of a hospital or health system and used the parent organization’s EHR, while 39% were independent practitioners making their own health IT decisions.

Twenty-three percent of the participants indicated that they use Epic, perhaps because so many of them are linked to a larger health system.  Epic is the undisputed champion in the inpatient arena, despite several high-profile failures and a price tag that makes financial officers cringe.  The vendor is more than twice as popular as its nearest competitors, however: only 9% of providers said they use Cerner, while 8% have chosen Allscripts.  eClinicalWorks users fall to 6 percent, while athenahealth has grabbed only 2% of this particular sample...