Hospitals Relying on ED for MU CPOE

Over 80 percent of providers interviewed for a new KLAS report, EDIS 2011: Delivering on Great Expectations, plan to utilize their EDIS to help them attest for Stage I MU. However, only a third of those say their vendor is ready, noting a variety of functionality gaps, including medication reconciliation, reporting, and CPOE.

“Actually being able to demonstrate Meaningful Use involves a combination of robust clinical tools that rely on integration,” said report author Steve VanWagenen.  “As a result, providers are choosing one of two EDIS paths, while hoping to end up at the same destination.” Enterprise solution users cherish their integration and expect their vendors to gain clinical functionality, in much the same way that standalone users cling to their custom functionality and expect their vendors to be able to deliver the level of integration that they require to effectively meet current and anticipated MU requirements, he explained.

In addition to enhancing care and the communication about that care, providers are looking to their EDIS solutions to improve ED efficiency, KLAS stated. The ED often functions as a key admission point in a hospital, so inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the ED can have a longer-term impact both operationally and financially.

Findings about the following vendors are included in the report: Allscripts, Cerner, CMR (Regional), EmpowerSystems, Epic, McKesson, Medhost, Meditech, Picis, T-System, and Wellsoft. In addition, KLAS provides the industry with an update on 15 other EDIS solutions.