Meditech Consulting Market Tightly Bunched

17 Leading EHR Vendors

Meditech clients hire Dell Services and Navin, Haffty & Associates (NHA) twice as often as firms that advise on multiple vendor brands, according to a new report from KLAS. These two firms also had the largest share of Version 6.0 and Meaningful Use-related projects.

But while those two firms were selected most often, performance scores show greater overall satisfaction with others. In the report, maxIT Healthcare earned the highest score, at 91.4 out of 100 points. ACS was a close second, at 90.9, and Navin, Haffy & Associates third at 88.9. Dell and CSC followed, with scores of 88.4 and 76.3 respectively.

"The good news is that the scoring is tight. So you've got some options here with some players that are performing at a high level -- the top four are really within three points of each other," said Mike Smith, general manager of financial and services research for KLAS.

"If you're looking for the best option for your organization, and you see a scoring that is that tight, you're probably going to want to peel the onion back a little bit and look closer at what else they can do based on what size organization you are, and exactly what kind of work you're looking for," continued Smith. "That's what we tried to do with this research, to say, 'OK, here are some other things you need to take into consideration.'"

The research is significant because, according to the study's author -- KLAS Research Director Lorin Bird -- Meditech hospitals seek MU-related consulting more than any other client base.

One might think that such demand would cause new Meditech consulting shops to open every week, but entering this business isn't that simple. While Smith thinks there will be some expansion, "It's not as easy to get in and get moving full steam ahead with a strong Meditech consulting practice -- it takes time, and you have to be able to identify and retain talent, then work within that structure, within the Meditech culture."

Bird suggests those looking for Meditech consulting resources peruse the KLAS list, then go off and do some research of their own.

"There will be an expanding number of consulting firms entering the fray. [Healthcare providers] can take a first pass at these five to eight we've identified, but they can certainly check around and do their homework to see if there's other boutique firms out there we haven't come across that may have some great Meditech experience."

For the new report, A Provider's Guide to Meditech Consulting Firms, KLAS gathered opinions from 67 Meditech hospitals already using consultancies. The inspiration for this study came from findings in a 2010 KLAS report, Shifting Demand for Consultants: Who's Hot, Who's Not, and Why.

Anthony Guerra is the founder and editor of healthsystemCIO.com, a site dedicated to serving the strategic information needs of healthcare CIOs. He can be reached at [email protected].