KLAS: EPR market emerging despite low uptake

Electronic patient record (EPR) buying and selling energy outside of North America is still developing for most countries, with a majority of activity in Asia, the Middle East, and the U.K, according to a report from market researcher KLAS.

The Orem, Utah-based research firm spoke to hundreds of international providers mapping EPR market share for multinational vendors. "It's still an upcoming market,” report author Doug Tolley said. “This project has been almost two years in development, and we keep being surprised by what we find. There are only about 3,000 hospitals outside the U.S. with an EPR from a commercial vendor. Without the kind of government incentives that exist in the U.S., it's been a slower build for most countries."

In the emerging pool, 13 vendors break into three tiers: vendors with experience scaling to almost every region measured in the report, vendors with less multiregional presence but significant experience across multiple countries and early entrants or vendors with more limited reach in the international market but a presence in at least one country outside their native land.

Allscripts, Cambio, Cerner, Epic, MEDITECH and Siemens are the only commercial vendors with HIMSS Stage 6 or 7 hospitals outside of the U.S., the report found. Top-tier vendors were Siemens, InterSystems, Cerner, MEDITECH and CSC/iSOFT. The second level of vendors included Alert, Agfa, Allscripts and McKesson. Vendors with the smallest breadth were GE, Cambio, Epic and IMS.

Cerner, MEDITECH and Siemens were the only vendors with solutions in every region of the world. Epic, one of the largest and fastest-growing EPR vendors in the United States, is currently in only three countries outside of the U.S., the report noted.

“EPR buying activity is still just beginning for most regions of the world,” the report concluded. “Few countries are doing advanced EPR adoption now, as healthcare technology has not traditionally been a high priority. That said, the technology is moving forward, and many feel that healthcare IT systems, and particularly EPRs, can lead to improved patient care and better clinical outcomes while helping to control costs.”

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