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Most Providers Stick with Their EMR Vendor When It Comes to Patient Portals

With the start date for Meaningful Use Stage 2 fast approaching, patient portal popularity is […]

With the start date for Meaningful Use Stage 2 fast approaching, patient portal popularity is growing among hospitals and healthcare professionals participating in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. More than half of U.S. providers already offer their patients access to an online portal, and many more are sure to jump aboard the patient portal train before year’s end. This could be good news for patient portal developers – or perhaps not quite.

According to a recent KLAS Research study, many hospitals are taking the easy route and using their EMR vendor’s patient portal instead of looking into third-party software that might better meet their organization’s needs. The main reasons behind providers’ decisions to do so include:

  • Convenience
  • Ease of integration
  • Existing relationship with the vendor

Though functionality and ease of use are also important to providers, these factors do not seem to be their primary concern. Instead, healthcare organizations are interested in avoiding dealing with multiple vendors and having to set up costly interfaces.

Still, according to KLAS, some providers have shown interest in third-party patient portal solutions such as NextGen, Relay Health, Jardogs and Intuit Health. Smaller patient portal developers, on the other hand, will face a higher uphill battle in their efforts to obtain part of the remaining market share.

At a time when patient portal use is still quite limited, basic systems can easily meet providers’ needs, meaning organizations will be less likely to look for patient portal software with different functionalities. For Meaningful Use Stage 2, for example, providers will need to use their online portals to communicate with patients via a secure messaging system and to provide them with the ability to view, download and transmit clinical summaries – but nothing more.

Requirements for Stage 3, however, will likely require additional capabilities. This means that EMR and patient portal vendors will need to step up their game provided they want to retain their customers down the line.


Amanda Guerrero

Amanda Guerrero is a writer and blogger specializing in EHR, health IT and Meaningful Use. She has a special interest in social media marketing, patient engagement, and using healthcare technologies to increase patient involvement in their health.

This post appears through the MedCity Influencers program. Anyone can publish their perspective on business and innovation in healthcare on MedCity News through MedCity Influencers. Click here to find out how.

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