The new US acute care EHR market share in 2024 A report from KLAS shows that one electronic health record provider is far ahead of the rest as it continues to add new hospital and healthcare customers. And you probably won’t be surprised who it is.
WHY IT MATTERS
Verona, Wisconsin-based Epic Systems saw a significant increase in net market share over the past year – and was in fact the only EHR vendor to achieve this, according to KLAS. No customers have been lost either.
By adding 153 new acute care clients – across healthcare systems, standalone hospitals and customer extensions – Epic now has a footprint that includes more than half of the inpatient multispecialty beds in the US.
“Both current and prospective customers from large organizations are attracted to Epic because they see the vendor as a consistent high performer that offers strong healthcare IT, quality relationships and the ability to streamline workflows and improve physician satisfaction,” said researchers. “Large specialty organizations have also turned to Epic to consolidate IT systems.”
However, when it comes to Epic’s old rival, Cerner – now known as Oracle Health – the past year has been one of attrition. It saw the “largest net hospital loss ever, the result of several large, multispecialty organizations choosing to exit,” according to KLAS.
In addition, growth among smaller independent hospitals with 200 beds or fewer has also slowed, the report found.
Among the hospitals that signed up, “net new standalone customers who contracted with Oracle Health in 2023 cited a desire to improve integration, improve relationships with exchange partners, and leverage the vendor’s broad technology platform,” researchers write.
Another legacy EHR giant, Meditech, also saw its retention rate drop in 2023 – a big change from the year before, when it was at an all-time high, according to KLAS.
“Meditech’s customer retention rate – which has historically been 40% to 50% – increased to 84% in 2022 as a result of a major healthcare system’s decision to migrate from MAGIC to Expanse,” researchers wrote. “However, in 2023, the retention rate fell to its lowest level ever; approximately a quarter of their historical losses were due to merger and acquisition activity, while the remaining losses were more competitive.”
The news was mixed for other smaller EHR players.
Altera Digital Health, which has its roots in the former Allscripts and is now owned by Harris, “refocused on Paragon as their primary platform for smaller hospitals, with Sunrise primarily targeted at mid-sized hospitals,” the KLAS report shows. “In 2023, three small healthcare systems (comprised of seven hospitals) contracted for Paragon; in addition, one Sunrise customer migrated to Paragon.”
TruBridge, formerly known as CPSI, earned two new customer add-ons and three new standalone multi-specialty hospitals; In addition, five existing customers have migrated to TruBridge EHR (formerly Evident Thrive).”
Both Azalea Health and Medhost saw no new or net new contracts in 2023, KLAS researchers said, because “energy purchases at small, stand-alone hospitals declined overall.”
THE BIG TREND
While large healthcare systems were among the bigger movers and shakers in 2023, that’s in contrast to the year before, when smaller hospitals drove demand in the EHR market.
Suppliers recognize the need to do a better job of keeping their customers happy – to retain their customers, period – and have become much more proactive in their service offerings and customer retention efforts, as evidenced by the Best in KLAS report 2024 from earlier this year.
For example, Oracle Health has added new generative AI capabilities to its EHR platforms. But that also applies to Epic.
The past year has seen some major healthcare system migrations – such as longtime Cerner customers Intermountain and UPMC – away from Oracle Health and toward Epic.
Other major healthcare systems that made the move to Epic in 2023 included Boston Children’s Hospital, which announced plans to unify and consolidate its disparate systems with the vendor, and Northwell Health, a longtime Allscripts customer that announced in March 2023 that this would happen. migrate to Epic.
ON THE RECORD
“EHR purchases for acute care remained high in 2023,” KLAS researchers said in the report. “While market energy in 2022 was primarily driven by small organizations, the majority of purchasing in 2023 was the result of large, multi-specialty organizations making forward-thinking decisions.
“Of the 319 hospitals affected by future decisions (including migrations and wins over specialist hospitals), 79% were part of healthcare systems, while the rest were standalone hospitals,” she added. “The key decision factors were acquisition activities and the need to streamline IT departments and improve clinical usability.”
Mike Miliard is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.