Waldren suggests online forums from the various specialty associations. For example, members of the American Academy of Family Physicians can find the academy’s EMR e-mail discussion list at the online Center for Health Information Technology, where more than 1,000 physicians discuss personal experiences with EMR deployment. There is also a Physician Product Review, which rates EMRs on quality, price, ease of use, support and other criteria.

And then there are independent EMR software ratings and reports, easily accessible online. MGMA consultant Rosemarie Nelson has compiled a list of the sites that offer these products and has critiqued them (see below).

Attention Shoppers Compliments of MGMA consultant Rosemarie Nelson, here are some places on the Internet where you can find independent EMR software ratings and reports: Jewson Enterprises The POMIS (physicians’ office management and medical information systems) report includes facts, figures, insights, and satisfaction ratings from multiple sources that have been analyzed by its creator, Vinson J. Hudson. Cost: Reports range from $500 to $5,000 Upside: Offers a systematic approach to judging EMR systems Downside: Expensive and extensive; this is what you hire a consultant to figure out CTS CTS provides ratings and reviews of software products, including comparison data on pricing, hardware, operating systems, support policies, a vendor demo scorecard, and the company’s top picks. Cost: Tools range from free to $200 Upside: Free online software selection kit if you register Downside: Doesn’t cover all vendors, and you have to register for the free stuff AC Group Inc. AC Group provides independent reports on EMR and practice management systems. Cost: From $29.95 for summary vendor ranking reports to $129 for complete reports Upside: Extensive and affordable for what you get; the use of weighted point values provides an additional dimension for evaluation Downside: Survey findings are based on what vendors say about their own products, plus the reports are very long The KLAS Reports This is an online subscription service that provides access to the current ratings of vendor performance as reported by healthcare professionals (CIOs, providers, and administrators). It offers several types of reports and ratings of software, professional services, and medical equipment, plus information on industry trends and free ranking tools to those who submit reviews. Cost: Access to performance ratings of EHRs, billing systems, and other software starts at less than $500 for healthcare providers. Cost is based on practice size and may be discounted or waived for those who evaluate their own vendor products. Upside: A complete education about the industry Downside: Ratings are available only to website visitors who participate in evaluations or subscribe. Other sources include The Medical Record Institute, Health Information and Management Systems Society, and the American Health Information Management Association.

Waldren says it’s too early to tell what affect certification is having on the market, but one thing’s for sure: Business is booming. Academy members tell him that they are now waiting three to nine months for busy EMR vendors to install new systems.

The spread of pay-for-performance plans and other funding sources for medical practices, combined with last year’s slight relaxation of the Stark rules to allow hospitals to donate certified systems to medical practices, better pricing, and a growing awareness of what certification is — and isn’t — may just give more physician practices new confidence in their EMR shopping skills.

Bob Redling has written on practice management topics for more than 10 years. He has served as practice management editor for Physicians Practice, Web content editor and senior writer for the Medical Group Management Association, and a speech writer for the American Academy of Family Physicians. He can be reached at editor@physicianspractice.com.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of Physicians Practice.