Dive Brief:
- According to a new study from Utah-based KLAS Research, electronic medical records vendors aren't meeting key needs for physician-led ACOs. As a result, the health care organizations are turning to third parties.
- To conduct its survey, KLAS interviewed 46 physician-led ACOs about their use of software. They found that more than two-thirds of ACOs use a third-party vendor rather than an EMR vendor for their clinical data needs.
- Third-party vendors ranked higher than EMR vendors in every single functional category, including connectivity, reporting and care management.
Dive Insight:
It appears EMR vendors are behind in providing key services to health care organizations. Going to outside parties with similar sets of skills and access to products from many vendors is potentially a more efficient way to build ACO infrastructure. There appears to be little agreement amongst the industry, however, in terms of vendor: According to the report, Optum was the most popular third-party vendor, with four individual ACOs using their products. Seven other third-party venders were used by more than one ACO, but no other vendors were used more than twice.