Overworked EHR Vendors Not Big On Tech Support

At InformationWeek Healthcare's recent virtual event, Electronic Health Records: Moving Beyond The Basics, Mark Wagner, senior research director for KLAS, a health IT advisory firm, shared the expectations of many healthcare providers looking to purchase an electronic health record system. One clinician's demands summed up the thoughts of many:

"I want a system that can be customized but that doesn't take an IT expert to do it. I want a system that meets meaningful use and has a PM [practice management] system to accompany it. I would love a system that meshes with our specialty without having to modify it too much. Lastly, I want an affordable system that keeps up with all the mandates pushed on our specialty and yet does not slow down our productivity."

In an ideal world, that system would exist, but there's the dream and then there's reality, Wagner says. And the reality is that compromises have to be made, especially in today's market where EHR vendors are so busy selling systems that they barely have time to support the ones they've installed, much less create a platform that meets all your needs...