Health IT

Epic, Cerner hold majority of EHR market share in acute care hospitals

A new report from KLAS found Epic and Cerner held a lead over other vendors in the space, claiming 25.8 percent and 24.6 percent of the market respectively.

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A new report from KLAS found Epic and Cerner each held about one-quarter of the acute care hospital EHR market share in 2016. Epic had 25.8 percent of the market, while Cerner had 24.6 percent. Meditech followed close behind, claiming the next biggest share of the market at 16.6 percent. McKesson and athenahealth were closer to the bottom of the pack, with 4.6 percent and 1.6 percent respectively.

These findings come as small hospitals are increasingly making EHR purchasing choices. KLAS found hospitals with less than 200 beds made 78 percent of EHR purchasing decisions in the United States in 2016.

Despite claiming their own unique portions of the market, each vendor went through a different experience in 2016.

With the largest market share, Epic is the “[s]ix-year leader in net acute care hospital growth.” Additionally, KLAS identified only two hospitals that left Epic in 2016, both of which did so involuntarily because they were spun off or acquired.

Cerner had the second-largest percentage of the market, primarily due to its wins in the small hospital space. “Small hospitals moved to Cerner more than any other vendor in 2016,” the KLAS report said. Though these hospitals seem to like Cerner CommunityWorks due to its integration functionalities, many community hospitals lamented both Cerner’s and Epic’s lack of customization capabilities.

Meditech claimed nearly 17 percent of the market, but many of its customers were wary of its ability to provide for their needs going forward. Still, Meditech snatched 17 new hospitals in 2016, and according to KLAS, “there are early indications that the release of Meditech’s integrated ambulatory offering and new development on the inpatient side are changing the market’s perception” of the vendor.

McKesson had 4.6 percent of the market. However, the vendor saw a “[s]ignificant decline in Paragon market share.” KLAS found few of McKesson’s Paragon EHR users were pleased with the system’s functionality.

athenahealth only claimed 1.6 percent of the market in 2016. Nevertheless, the vendor “[h]as maintained significant energy since entering the acute care market in 2015.” In fact, the “number of hospitals that contracted with athenahealth more than doubled in 2016,” according to KLAS. While one-third of its wins were in hospitals with more than 25 beds, the other two-thirds were in critical access hospitals.

Other notable vendors include CPSI, Medhost and Allscripts. Though it held 10.8 percent of the market, KLAS found CPSI wasn’t frequently considered among community hospitals. Medhost, which held 4 percent of the market, had a slight decrease in its overall acute care market share. Allscripts, however, had a net gain in 2016 and possessed 3.5 percent of the market.

Credit: JGI/Jamie Grill, Getty Images

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