Sad news in the EHR field. A recent report from American Medical News covers a class action lawsuit filed against AllScripts Healthcare Solutions (AHS).
AHS’ product, MyWay, an EHR software program, was discontinued in late 2012. As a result, another company who provides medical supplies is also suing the company, because the licenses they acquired for $5 million are now defunct.
The whole article is worth a read. It offers a grim warning of the challenges facing software companies creating EHR software—and doctors looking for legitimate EHR products. The undertaking is a serious one. The mistakes do have serious consequences. And doctors are already running low on time. Staffs need to be brought up to speed quickly, while at the same time, mistakes are minimized. AHS committed the most grievous of plays, bailing on a defective product.
The article includes other unsavory statistics, worth highlighting here:
“In March, a survey by AmericanEHR Partners of 4,279 health professionals, including primary care physicians, found that EHR user satisfaction declined from 39% in 2010 to 27% in 2012.
“… In February… Black Book Rankings, a technology market research firm in Clearwater, Fla., found that of the nearly 17,000 physicians and others surveyed who were active EHRs users, 17% planned to switch vendors in 2013. An additional 6% wanted to change but had no time frame, and 8% said they would like to switch but couldn’t afford to do so.”
It’s clear that doctors are unsatisfied with what’s on the market. But with Congress passing new legislation introducing even more complex billing codes, doctor’s running insurance-based practices might run into an efficiency paradox—software that’s so tedious to learn and utilize that it causes more headaches than it cures.