Epic, Meditech lead federal stats for hospitals receiving EHR payments

Epic Systems Corp. and Meditech have the most customers receiving federal electronic health-record system incentive payments in the two key categories for hospital systems, federal data show.

Out of 2,950 hospitals receiving federal payments for using “complete EHRs” in the inpatient environment, Epic, based in Verona, Wis., has 578, a 19.6% market share, in this category. These are hospitals that have been paid under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for meeting criteria in either the Medicare or Medicaid EHR incentive programs or both, according to a mashup of databases kept by the CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

The data are current through the end of February.

CPSI (Computer Programs and Systems Inc.) ranks second in the hospital complete EHR inpatient category with 458 hospitals and a 15.5% share; followed by Meditech, 415, 14.1%; Cerner Corp., 325, 11%; and Healthland, 210, 7.1%.

Those top five software developers control more than two-thirds (67.3%) of this market niche; the top 10 developers, 92.3%. And yet, there are 37 vendors of complete EHRs for hospital inpatient use that have had at least one customer get paid as a meaningful user of certified technology under Medicare, as having “adopted, implemented or upgraded” to a certified system under Medicaid, or both.

In the other key hospital category, those using “modular EHRs” as component parts of an inpatient system, Meditech, formally known as Medical Information Technology, Westwood, Mass., leads with 908 hospitals out of 3,656, for a 24.8% market share. No. 2, Cerner, has 781 hospitals and a 21.4% share; followed by HCA Information & Technology Services, 542 hospitals, 14.8%; McKesson Corp., 185, 5.1%; and Iatric Systems, 177, 4.8%. The top five software developers in the hospital modular EHR inpatient category account for 70.9% of this market niche, the top 10 developers, 81.9%. There are 88 developers in this category with at least one hospital having met criteria and been paid using its products.

Only 60 hospitals have received payments for using complete EHRs in ambulatory care. EPIC and CPSI are tied for the lead with 18 hospitals, or 30% of the market each, among 12 vendors. The Indian Health Service runs third with seven hospitals and 11.7%. All others are below 10%.

Also, six hospitals have used Cerner products to receive payments for using modular EHRs in ambulatory care, the only vendor in that category.

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