In Homecare, Best-of-Breed Trumps Enterprise

    OREM, UT, July 20, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- When it comes to satisfying home health agencies, the focus and attention provided by homecare-specific vendors generally outweigh the potential for integration with an enterprise vendor's EMR, according to a new report published by KLAS.

For the new study, "2010 Homecare Update: Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Growth", KLAS interviewed 225 agencies about eight homecare vendors -- four enterprise, four best-of-breed focused specifically on homecare. With the exception of Procura Progresa, the homecare-centric vendors ruled the roost.

"Take Delta Encore, the most dramatic example," said Chase Titensor, KLAS research director and author of the report. "It was part of Siemens until Delta split off more than four years ago. Since narrowing their focus, they've improved customer satisfaction by almost 15 points -- that's almost unheard of in KLAS research."

The study also noted a strong correlation between customer satisfaction and loyalty. Every customer of Homecare Homebase and Delta Encore, the highest rated products in the study, plans to keep their current product in coming years. At the other end of the spectrum, MEDITECH clients are considering switching to more usable systems, according to the report.

"MEDITECH customers have complained for years that PtCT is outdated and difficult to use," Titensor said. "Forty percent of these providers plan to switch to a new product--whether MEDITECH Maestro or a completely new vendor--within the next few years."

The top-rated vendor in "2010 Homecare Update: Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Growth" was Homecare Homebase, with a score of 93.7 out of 100. It was followed by Delta (89.0) and CareAnyware (81.1). Other vendors highlighted in this report were Allscripts, Cerner, McKesson, MEDITECH, and Procura.

For more information about the home health market, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of participating vendors, "2010 Homecare Update: Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Growth" is available to healthcare providers online for a significant discount off the standard retail price. To purchase the full report, healthcare providers and vendors can visit www.KLASresearch.com/reports.

KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS' mission is to improve delivery, by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Working together with executives from over 4500 hospitals and over 2500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics, which provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, and medical equipment vendors. For more information, go to www.KLASresearch.com, email [email protected], or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative.

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