I'm just curious, is the ability to covert ones data really the reason that has stopped practices from changing EMR vendors or is it more so the cost involved? I know for us, the cost is astronomical if you start looking at cost to convert, cost to purchase new software, cost to install, cost to train (AGAIN), etc.
As far as I know, most new vendors already do conversions for you. That is generally part of the deal to get the new customer over to their software. If they couldn't convert the data, then their targets would be customers that do not currently have EMR and not potential customers that are looking to change EMR.
I may be wrong, but that is just my .02.
ELLKAY has launched an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) conversion service, making it easier for hospitals and clinics to change vendors.
The announcement is good news, and not just for customers.
The EMR software world is filled with horror stories from practices that went with a vendor only to find they made a mistake.
My eye surgeon, for instance, went back to paper records after his new eye scanner’s format proved incompatible with his EMR solution.
Stories like this, told and retold at professional meetings, tend to have a paralyzing effect on clinic decision-making. With EMR conversion, it’s no longer quite so much of a big deal. Mistakes can be corrected.
This will help vendors as well. They can now close sales if clinics know the decision is not their final answer. And they can now call on clinics and hospitals who had already committed to another vendor — just find out who’s dissatisfied.
Simpler conversions will also help spur Health Information Exchanges (HIEs). Ready format exchanges of records are essential to their movement between clinics which can’t be depended upon to have the same software.
So this is essential to the growth of the industry. It’s a good thing.
