Physicians are seeing advantages in using software-as-a-service electronic health record systems — or SaaS EHR systems — according to a new report by research firm KLAS, InformationWeekreports.
KLAS defines SaaS EHR systems as online EHR tools that have a single cloud-based storage database and the ability to simultaneously apply software updates to all patients’ EHRs (Terry, InformationWeek, 5/17).
About the Report
For the report, KLAS interviewed nearly 300 health care providers who currently use SaaS EHR systems from various vendors. The surveyed health care providers noted that the vendors differed in their:
The report stated, “The four [SaaS EHR] vendors that are consistently delivering intuitive, fast-moving services that offer high-ranking support and high value per dollar spent are athenahealth, CureMD, MIE and Practice Fusion” (Byers, CMIO, 5/15).
KLAS suggested that SaaS EHR systems are becoming more appealing to health care providers because:
They are easy to use;
They involve relatively low hardware expenses; and
The health care industry is putting more confidence in cloud-based data storage systems (Miliard, Healthcare IT News, 5/14).
The report stated, “The SaaS [EHR] deployment model is becoming more popular for providers who want minimal up-front cost and the burden of maintenance lifted from them” (CMIO, 5/15).
