Black Book Rankings, a healthcare-centric market and public opinion research company, conducted an annual ambulatory user poll to determine the highest-ranked Electronic Health and Medical Record organizations for 2015. As a special focus, Black Book surveyed the clients of EHR vendors who have the highest scores in customer experience in the areas of Document Management, Productivity, Practice Administration, Reporting, Interoperability, Order Entry and Decision Support. The highest ranked EHRs focused on large-group practices were Allscripts, Greenway, McKesson and athenahealth, who recorded the largest rise in client satisfaction over the past twelve months.
Survey Findings
As part of the survey, Black Book noted a steady increase in physician satisfaction in the large practice and clinic sector from previous measurement. In 2013, the survey notes, 92% of multispecialty groups using EHRs were “very dissatisfied” with the ability of their systems to improve workload, documentation and user functionalities. In contrast, in 2015 71% of all large practice clinicians stated their expectations of top-ranked EHR vendors (as ranked by Black Book) were being met or exceeded. In addition, 82% of administrative and support staff “declared upgraded operational and financial developments”
According to the survey of 1,304 large practices, overall satisfaction increased from 2013 to 2015 as follows:
- Physician Experience Satisfaction – 8% to 31% to 67%
- Physician Documentation Improvements – 10% to 28% to 63%
- Practice Productivity Enhancements – 7% to 17% to 68%
Top EHR systems users agreed that vendor investments in 2014-2015 updates and releases, practice assessments, clinical workflow enhancements, revenue cycle management and analytics value-adds, population health capabilities and solicited physician feedback all contributed the most to the rise in overall system satisfaction.
Additional Findings
On the downside, the survey noted significant decreases in satisfaction by users of several clinic-oriented EHR that failed in regional connectivity attempts, implementation and training and customer support. Further, the most dissatisfied were clinics and large practices who implemented an original EHR before Q4 2012. However, 62% of primary care and medical specialists in large group practices reported a return to normal levels of productivity after rolling out their EHR systems. And, Black Book showed that 18% of implemented large practices and clinics are in some stage of replacing their original EHR by the end of 2016.
Based on current survey findings, it will be interesting to see if future surveys show a continuing upward shift in physician EHR satisfaction over the next five years.
Additional results and survey methodology can be found on their website.