Following its October report examining some of the core functionalities most widely in use by population health vendors, a new report from research firm KLAS offers more advanced insights on the specific performance of vendors.
Among its findings, KLAS showed that integrated delivery networks and clinically integrated networks favor analytics capabilities of vendors such as Health Catalyst, Arcadia and Philips Wellcentive.
Those three "are the most consistent in delivering satisfaction across multiple PHM verticals, specifically the data-focused verticals," according to KLAS. "Health Catalyst does well at developing new tools and working closely to help customers manage their PHM goals and priorities. Arcadia and Philips Wellcentive are highlighted for accommodating multiple types of data and offering a breadth of analytics functionality."
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Meanwhile, respondents to KLAS reported average satisfaction with the pop health tools offered by the big EHR vendors, despite their broad deployment.
"This is partly because customers’ needs increase in complexity as broader deployment is achieved, said KLAS researchers.
There were some bright spots, however: "Amid the mediocre feedback, clients do report some notable benefits, including integration that helps drive clinician engagement (e.g., eClinicalWorks and Epic) and the availability of patient portals, which many third-party solutions don’t offer. athenahealth, in particular, is highlighted for their functional, easy-to-use portal. Allscripts customers praise the easy-to-use care management functionality and dbMotion’s data-aggregation capabilities."
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In an effort to arrive at some standard for the core competencies that should be expected from population health tools, KLAS gathered executives from providers, vendors, services firms and payers to help identify six types functionality required for PHM – data aggregation, data analysis, care management, administrative/financial reporting, patient engagement and clinician engagement – with further definitions of basic and advanced capabilities for each of the six.
"As providers look to move to comprehensive PHM platforms and leverage the most functionality they can from a single vendor, the question arises as to whether any vendors perform well across all six PHM verticals," researchers write. "While the reality today is that vendor performance can vary widely from vertical to vertical, some vendors offer more comprehensive options that more consistently meet customers’ technology and support needs."
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Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com