Leveraging the acquisition of MedPlexus, GE today announced the launch of Centricity Advanced, a SaaS EMR including physician office management with an integrated patient portal. This is an interesting release in that rather than porting an EMR from the client server world, Centricity Advance has been designed and built as a native web application and is therefore created with the web in mind, not as an afterthought.
The advantages of an EMR SaaS are wide-ranging. Rather than building, managing, upgrading and supporting their own in-house system, Physicians can leverage the new platform to offload the majority of their IT needs in exchange for a single monthly fee. The cost advantages of a $4,000 to $9,000 start up fee with monthly payments averaging $500 per month versus $20,000 upfront for in-house self-managed system provide a compelling business case. The real return on investment however is driven by freeing up time, resources and possibly office space allowing clinicians to focus on providing patient care rather than providing IT care.
Generally when things are less expensive, the price is paid in lost features or performance however GE is adamant that the system will not disappoint. One of the main innovations worth a look is the integrated Patient Portal that will allow patients to securely access their personal medical records, schedule their own appointments, request refills, access billing statements, lab results and communicate privately with authorized clinicians.
For Physicians looking to modernize their offices or perhaps provide better means of connecting their practice with their patients but who do not want to spend a great deal of time or money upfront, SaaS may be a leverage point that offers the best possible value for money.
Resources:
Read the full news release on GE’s site here,
And an excellent summary artical on Computer World here.
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