New KLAS Report Examines Whether eClinicalWorks Can Sustain Its Rapid Growth

    OREM, UT, March 16, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As electronic medical records (EMR) take center stage in the U.S. government's plan to accelerate the adoption of healthcare IT, ambulatory EMR vendors are seeking to differentiate themselves in a very crowded market. A new report from healthcare research firm KLAS profiles the performance of one of those vendors, which in just four years has gone from a solution with little mindshare to one of the most-considered vendors in the industry.

The KLAS report, The Rise of eClinicalWorks: Separating Fact from Fiction, examines why eClinicalWorks is gaining traction faster than any other ambulatory EMR vendor, and whether the company can sustain that growth and still effectively support existing customers.

"eClinicalWorks has changed the landscape for EMR solutions by delivering a product that is easy to use and priced much lower than most of the competition," said Mark Wagner, KLAS senior research manager and author of the eClinicalWorks report. "Physicians are drawn in by how easy the eClinicalWorks EMR is to navigate. They find the user interface appealing and intuitive, with minimal clicking. Current customers also report that overall physician use is high across all modules within the EMR."

Indeed, the KLAS report found that the majority of providers interviewed were very satisfied with their eClinicalWorks EMR. Overall, 93 percent of customers stated that the EMR functionality met or exceeded their expectations, and 97 percent stated that the overall cost of adoption met or exceeded their expectations. As one provider customer put it, eClinicalWorks was selected "because they were one-third of the price of the others and had better functionality than the rest."

At the same time, the company's rapid growth has led to a number of challenges, as corporate resources are stretched thinner. Support is a source of frustration for many, with some even suggesting that support is the worst aspect of their relationship with eClinicalWorks. A handful of smaller physician practices, in particular, have expressed concerns about waiting months to be implemented as eClinicalWorks' staff and resources are occupied with larger accounts.

Integration with other clinical systems is also a significant challenge reported by a number of providers. While eClinicalWorks' EMR and its homegrown practice management product share data effectively, creating a similar level of integration with third-party systems and devices has proven difficult. That integration is particularly relevant as health system physician groups who have or will adopt eClinicalWorks want to securely transmit patient information to the core clinical systems of acute-care facilities.

Despite these obstacles, however, eClinicalWorks' low cost and easy, intuitive interface - plus the option of a remote-hosted model which about 30 percent of its customers choose - have allowed the vendor to deliver its EMR to a wide range of organizations, including state agencies, independent patient associations, multi-specialty organizations, and even corporate practices with Wal-Mart and Target.

While eClinicalWorks is among only a few vendors with market presence across all practice size categories, it is not the current market performance leader in any one category. The following table compares the overall KLAS performance score for eClinicalWorks EMR with the highest-rated vendor for each practice size:

Practice Size....................eClinicalWorks EMR Performance Score.......EMR Market Leader Score
Over 100 Physicians........75.9.............................................................Epic - 88.5
26-100 Physicians...........78.7.............................................................Allscripts - 79.5
6-25 Physicians...............80.4.............................................................Greenway - 89.3
2-5 Physicians.................82.8.............................................................Greenway - 90.3
1 Physician......................78.9.............................................................Sevocity - 89.9

To learn more about why eClinicalWorks customers chose the solution and how they evaluate it today, the KLAS report The Rise of eClinicalWorks: Separating Fact from Fiction 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.

About KLAS
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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