KLAS: CVIS is dropping the ball

Thirty percent of respondents in a new report from research firm KLAS are considering replacing their cardiovascular information system (CVIS) software because of ongoing frustrations with product functionality and integration.

Interviewing 371 provider organizations about their experiences with CVIS software vendors, KLAS’ 2010 report found that the high percentage of respondents considering a replacement system is indicative of the poor performance from most vendors in the space. With the exception of Digisonics and Philips, every vendor in the study received a lower client-satisfaction score than they did in the 2009 report, resulting in one of the lowest-rated market segments that KLAS monitors.

The report noted that a comprehensive, integrated IT platform for the entire cardiovascular department still eludes the industry, with providers seeing little progress from what was reported in last year’s study. Though Agfa HealthCare, Merge Healthcare (through a recent acquisition of Amicas) and GE Healthcare offer tools and providers praise Lumedx and McKesson’s systems, the Orem, Utah-based KLAS concluded that few providers can point to any one vendor as delivering the ultimate package.

According to KLAS, ScImage and Merge (Amicas) appear to be the vendors with the most to lose in this market, with roughly half of their customers that were interviewed indicating they are considering a replacement. However, Merge customers were also quick to point out that replacement is not a definite plan and that they are anxious to see how the company addresses recent acquisitions.

Among the 10 vendors fully rated in the KLAS report, Digisonics earned the highest performance score with its DigiView product, followed by Philips Healthcare's Xcelera and Merge Vercis (Amicas).

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