The number of electronic health record purchasers who want to replace their existing software increased by more than 59% between the first quarter of 2014 and Q1 2015, according to a new report by Software Advice, Clinical Innovation & Technology reports (Walsh, Clinical Innovation & Technology, 6/15).

Report Findings

For the report, the company analyzed 385 randomly selected interactions from U.S. EHR purchasers during the first quarter of 2015.

Overall, the report found that 60% of EHR purchasers in Q1 2015 were already using EHRs, up from 40% in Q1 2014 (Software Advice report, 6/12).

In addition, the report found 37% of EHR purchasers were looking to replace paper records, marking the first time the number of clinicians seeking to replace current EHRs outpaced the number of clinicians purchasing their first EHRs (Leventhal, Healthcare Informatics, 6/12).

Meanwhile, the report found purchasers' motivation for buying new EHR software varied. For example:

• 24% said their current software was faulty or cumbersome;
• 20% said they were opening a new practice;
• 13% cited regulatory compliance;
• 12% were seeking to improve organization and efficiency;
• 9% were seeking to go paperless; and
• 8% reported poor support for their current software vendor (Software Advice report, 6/12).

In addition, the report found that billing was the top-requested EHR application among prospective buyers, which the report attributed to the upcoming ICD-10 transition.

U.S. health care organizations are working to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets to accommodate codes for new diseases and procedures by Oct. 1 (Clinical Innovation & Technology, 6/15).

Meanwhile, the top five requested EHR functionalities were:

• Patient tracking;
• Customizable templates;
• Regulatory compliance;
• Electronic prescribing; and
• Tablet/mobile integration (Software Advice report, 6/12).

See our blog post on How to Choose a Usable EHR