Questions About EHR    

What Will An EHR Cost?

The Sept/Oct - 2005 issue of Health Affairs indicated that the 11.4% of group practices that have so far implemented an EHR have cost group practices an average of 33K$ per physician! This baseline is unaffordable for smaller practices. GOOD NEWS! There are many less expensive EHR systems from smaller vendors, most are not as well known as some large EHR vendors, but their products work just as well or even better in some cases, because they are running on newer, less expensive computer platforms or are web-based.

Are There EHR Systems That Support My Specialty?

Yes!  The Andrew & Associates EHR Benchmark tracks systems that support 39 different clinical specialties among the 104 EHR developers that completed the survey. Different EHR systems have different strengths (and weaknesses) for particular practice specialties. A system that works well in a psychiatric practice may not work well at all in an oncology practice, yet many EHR developers claim just the opposite. Be aware that the CCHIT standard, as presently written does not adequately cover the EHR needs for all of these specialties, so CCHIT certification is an insufficient criteria when selecting an EHR product and in fact may be skewing some vendors to support features that individual practices may not need. There is nothing wrong with a CCHIT-certified vendor, but don't assume because an EHR product is CCHIT certified that it is either free of vaporware or that it will meet the needs of your particular clinical specialty.

Ready To Select An EHR Now?

Our MSP EHR Selector tool (www.ehrselector.com) helps you sort out EHR developers. There are systems available from as little as $1,000 (software license, omitting hardware) that you can choose from. These are detailed in our 2006 Annual Andrew & Associates EHR Benchmark. The 2007 Benchmark will commence in October.

Are There Publications From Which To Learn About EHRs?

Yes, although you may not be familiar with them. If you would like a steady flow of impartial information, consider a subscription (you actually pay for) to our Industry Alert™ newsletter. It's 24- 48 pages per issue include much information on EHR content. Indeed, the Fall/Winter 2006 issue was devoted to the results of the Andrew & Associates EHR Survey and articles on EHR systems, standards and trends. Because has no (non-MSP) ads, it provides a candid assessment of the EHR market. A list of other, advertising-based magazines are also listed on this website. To get a flavor for Industry Alert™ newsletter download this Sample Issue (PDF format, size=2.5 megs). If you like it, subscribe to the printed or electronic edition (requires Registration). We look forward to having you as a new subscriber.

Looking for EHR Market Forecasts and Vendor Information?

MSP markets the POMIS (Physician Office Medical Information System) Report and Knowledgebase. Developed by Jewson Enterprises (analyst Vinson Hudson), this is one of the best known and most exhaustive studies of physician office systems and vendors. The POMIS Knowledgebase includes selected information on 403 POMIS vendors including most EHR vendors. Access to purchase the POMIS report requires registration and login, and is available to browsers registered in either the EHR Interest Group or the Medical Device/Information System Vendor group.

Looking to Select Utilities To Keep Your Office Computer Free of Viruses and Spyware & Running at Top Efficiency?

Because MSP is a technology publisher, we have occasion to test a lot of software before we write about it. In fact, we generally evaluate all software we write about as we want our opinions to be based on experience. MSP has tested a number of utility products used to keep computers safe and efficient, and is pleased to recommend certain vendors of these products to you. These include: Eset Software's NOD 32 Antivirus software, Paretologic's XoftspySE anti-spyware software, Raxco's Perfect Disk defragmentation software, just to mention a few. See our Industry Alert newsletter for write-up on these and other companies. We suggest you use all of these products on all of your systems, as well as enabling and configuring a good firewall (try Blackice or Zone Alarm). You can Google or Kartoo the above products and vendors easily for additional information on their products.