Electronic Health Records Platforms in Region X
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Posted by: Thomas Johnson
Since incentivizing usage of Electronic Health Records (EHR) platforms among eligible providers and practices in the HITECH Act (passed as part of the 2009 stimulus package), adoption of EHR adoption among medical facilities has increased dramatically. In this article, we will use UDS data from 2012 through 2016 to provide a broad over of which EHR software platforms have seen the greatest adoption among Region X health centers.
Posted by: Thomas Johnson
Since incentivizing usage of Electronic Health Records (EHR) platforms among eligible providers and practices in the HITECH Act (passed as part of the 2009 stimulus package), adoption of EHR adoption among medical facilities has increased dramatically. In this article, we will use UDS data from 2012 through 2016 to provide a broad over of which EHR software platforms have seen the greatest adoption among Region X health centers.
In 2016, 99 of 100 health centers in Region X reported having an EHR installed and in use among one or more sites. One health center reported not having an EHR installed, however, they indicated that they had active plans for adoption in 2017. For the health centers using EH Rs, NextGen and EPIC are by far the most popular software options, with each platform taking up approximately 25% of market share. Centricity and Greenway Health products are also popular choices, with each product in use by about 10% market share. Resource Patient Management System (RPMS)--provided by Indian Health Service--is also a popular choice among CHCs that serve American Indian or Alaska Native communities. Despite the equal popularity of both NextGen and EPIC, health centers using these two products do not have the same pattern of distribution among Region X states. NextGen is widely used throughout the entire region and appears to be a popular choice among health centers regardless of state.
EPIC, however, is heavily localized to Oregon, where it accounts for approximately 66% of the states FQHC market share (20 of 31 FQHCs). This no small part due to OCHIN (Oregon's HCCN), which provides as one of its most popular offerings a hosted EPIC instance. Outside of Oregon, however, EPIC adoption has not been as widespread. In 2016, only two Alaska health centers and three Washington health centers reported adoption. No health centers in Idaho reported using it among their facilities. Beyond NextGen and EPIC, most other EHR products were evenly spread throughout the four states with a few notable exceptions:
It is not common for health centers to change EH Rs after they have adopted one, so for most of these products, the increases in popularity are due to health centers adopting their product for the first time rather than migrating over from an existing EHR platform.
- In Alaska, Cerner and RPMS are especially popular, with each product in use by six and five health centers, respectively. It's worth noting that Cerner is only used by health centers in Alaska, where it ties NextGen for popularity.
- In Washington, Allscripts and Athena Clinicals also have a major presence with each product being used by four health centers. Despite their popularity, NextGen is still the dominant product.
- In Idaho, the collected platforms offered by Greenway Health (ie, SuccessEHS, PrimeSuite, and lntergy) hold significant market share.
It is not common for health centers to change EH Rs after they have adopted one, so for most of these products, the increases in popularity are due to health centers adopting their product for the first time rather than migrating over from an existing EHR platform.
