Encore Health Resources, one of the most successful consulting firms in the health-information technology (HIT) industry, announced today that KLAS Research has ranked Encore as the top-rated vendor in its new Go-Live Support 2013: Call in the Cavalry1report. The report explores the performance, offerings, and organizational impacts of go-live support vendors. KLAS evaluated seven HIT services vendors that are recognized in the industry for their go-live services and then formally ranked five of them. Encore earned the highest marks of all firms in the study, scoring 91.8 – a full 2.5 points higher than the nearest competitor.
Go-Live Activation Services are an important component of Encore’s full spectrum of HIT advisory, implementation, analytics and performance improvement services. Successful physician involvement and system adoption is crucial during this stage of EHR implementation, since it establishes a strong foundation for performance improvement as health systems shift from paper-based to digital EHR systems. It also reinforces physician workflows, efficiently capturing clean data for quality reporting and many other analytical needs that are required to meet an increasing number of federal- and state-government regulatory reporting requirements.
“At go-live, there is a lot at stake. As providers implement complex clinical applications, system adoption can pose a major challenge, especially with physicians,” wrote KLAS in their report’s introduction.2 Focusing on Encore specifically, KLAS said, “Encore is top-ranked of all the firms in this study: they delivered with strong physician consultants, an ability to scale up with a deep consultant pool, and experience running command centers.”3
The study said providers cited prior relationships and experience with Encore as a major reason behind their selection of the company for their go-live engagements. Others also mentioned the strengths of Encore’s resources in clinical and application (both Cerner and Epic) knowledge as well as its market reputation. In addition, one of the larger health systems surveyed for the study said they trusted Encore to handle their sizable go-live engagement, noting that “there are few companies that can handle the size of the project that we had. Encore is the only one that we confidently felt could handle our project.”4
“We’re delighted to have earned this high recognition from our clients and from KLAS for Encore’s Go-Live Activation Services, which we’re proud to say provide the full spectrum of resources leading up to and beyond our clients’ go-lives, delivering comprehensive support to all end-users,” said Dana Sellers, Chief Executive Officer, Encore Health Resources. “Our clients are the reason we exist, so we’ll do everything we can to ensure the resounding success of every go-live – including support services that manage all projects centrally and take on the recruiting, onboarding, scheduling, training, and management of supplemental resources right down to the travel logistics.”
KLAS also reported that Encore posted the highest ratings for command center and optimization, tying for the highest score in quality of clinician consultants and consultant logistical planning. Encore also earned very positive reviews in the areas of physician adoption, project management, and consultant logistics.5
Encore’s Physician Services earned especially strong reviews from clients polled in the area of physician adoption.6 “[Encore] engaged the physicians who would be providing the at-the-elbow support to help set up the preferences and smart texts for our physicians before the go live,” one Encore client said. “The chairman of our medical staff specifically requested that we extend our Encore engagement beyond its initial scope. Encore did a very good job.”7
In recent years, Encore has earned other recognition from KLAS. In 2011, KLAS ranked Encore as one of its top two Health IT Advisory Services firms in a report entitled Advisory Services: Navigating the Maze of Performance and Choice8. Later that year, KLAS honored Encore with a "Best in KLAS” award; Encore tied for first place in outstanding service performance in the area of Planning and Assessment in KLAS’ publication entitled,2011 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services9. In 2012, a KLAS study entitled Navigating the Sea of Epic Consulting Firms10 ranked Encore the top-rated firm serving Epic clients in the category of Team Implementation Leadership & Advisory.