My sympathies go out to the doctors and their staffs having
to endure the Allscripts MyWay sunset.
Many of you started with MediNotes and were moved to PeakPractice then
MyWay when both MediNotes and PeakPractice were sunsetted. I know your pain, I rode that train with you
as your implementation consultant and project manager. You’ve patiently endured through the 2008
sale of Bond Technologies, 2008 sale of Medinotes, 2010 sale of Eclipsys and
now apparent imminent sale of Allscripts.
We’ve patiently sat by while each newly constituted company merged
cultures, systems, and software platforms.
You’ve waited for them to announce their “go-forward” strategy and
software. You have put vacations on
hold, quelled staff revolts, and suffered lost productivity as you have
implemented your “free technology uplift” when your existing EMR was sunsetted.
So what next? If
you’re a 1-10 provider medical practice, do you stay with Allscripts or move to
another vendor?
Well, that’s a difficult question, and one I don’t think can
be answered yet because there are so many other unanswered questions.
Can a privately-owned Allscripts profitably make and support
a competitively priced small-practice EMR and practice management software,
when they have shown they can’t do this in the past? Or do they even want to at this point? Or do they want to focus on the acute care
and large ambulatory care market segments, but feel forced to offer their
existing mid-size practice software (Allscripts Professional) to their existing
small-practice customers? What will the
future pricing of Allscripts Pro look like for small practices? Can Allscripts overcome their reputation as
being more sales-focused than development
and client support focused?
That’s lots of questions, and I don’t see any answers
yet.
From where I sit, here’s what I see. I see an EMR/PM market which had not produced
a user interface which has created a devoted following. No MS Excel, no Word versus WordPerfect
debates, no Mac versus PC enthusiasm. I
see regulatory bodies shaping functionality for the EMR/PM platforms. I see lots of little players in a growing
market, but also a market which will see slimmer margins. I see continued mergers and acquisitions of
EMR/PM vendors. I see more hospitals and
health systems subsidizing EMR/PM software for independent medical practices in
the hopes of getting their ancillary business such as lab work and radiology. I see health systems consolidating medical
care in their communities. I see health
information exchanges sharing patient information to an increasingly national
grid of information networks. I see the
actual EMR/PM software platform becoming less important than the pipes of
information that feed it, and those pipes of information will increasingly
structure the user interface.
I anticipate medical practices will very likely see their
existing EMR/PM vendors be purchased in the coming few years. And the purchase won’t be for their software,
but for their installed customers. And
those customers will also have to endure a “free technology uplift”.
So, I can’t say I have an answer for you at this point. I think much of it depends on where you’re
located and what’s going on in your medical community. I’m sure most of you have already been approached
by other EMR/PM vendors. If it were me,
I’d listen to their pitch, but also remember that any EMR/PM vendor is prone to
the same pressures and questions as Medinotes-Eclipsys-Allscripts.
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