No vendor is perfect on 'meaningful use,' report concludes

June 08, 2009 | Bernie Monegain, Editor

OREM, UT – Even as the healthcare IT industry awaits the official definition of "meaningful use" from the federal government, a new report from KLAS examines which electronic medical record products should fit that description.

The report, "Meaningful Use Leading to Improved Outcomes," assesses how well core clinical vendors are delivering solutions for CPOE, nursing automation, medication administration and other key areas.

Nine EMR vendors are profiled in the report: Cerner, CPSI, Eclipsys, Epic, GE, McKesson, Meditech, QuadraMed and Siemens.

"Since the introduction of the stimulus package and its provisions for health IT, much of the market rhetoric and industry debate has centered on the concept of meaningful use – what will it entail and how will it impact the receipt of stimulus dollars," said KLAS Founder and Chairman Kent Gale. "Whatever the final definition of the term, if improved patient outcomes are indeed the ultimate goal, then some form of clinician adoption will be critical."

"In particular, deep adoption among physicians is pivotal to the overarching success of an EMR implementation," Gale said. [Continue Reading]