Physicians Shift 2024 Tech Investments to Robust Practice Management Platforms With AI, Analytics and Value-Based Care Support Tools, Black Book Survey

TAMPA, Fla., January 30, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Nearly thirty-three thousand physicians, practice administrators, financial staff, clinicians, and support personnel from over 30,000 medical offices and clinics participated in the 2024 Black Book Research physician software user polls. The comprehensive survey is comprised of 18 qualitative key performance indicators on client experience and satisfaction, evaluating 120 enterprise electronic health records vendors with integrated practice management tools.

Forty-one percent of surveyed medical groups with 10 or more clinicians indicated they plan to significantly upgrade or replace their current practice management system software in the next 18 months to include features not currently available with their software system. Two of the major drivers behind the technology transformations are in response to healthcare industry developments such as the need to document clinical quality to achieve optimized revenue benefits and the intensified requirements for data sharing to coordinate care to ready organizations for value-based care capitation.

Ninety-three percent of those large practices indicated they will select an integrated, cloud-based solution that can offer benefits not available in older practice management systems, including telehealth, workflow process improvements, interoperability, patient portals, artificial intelligence, and complex analytics tools supporting population health management.

Survey participants indicated the three most pressing digital enhancements they are seeking to replace their current practice management system. Driven by a combination of factors that impact the efficiency, functionality, and overall performance of their practice, trending in 2024 are the most commonplace reasons why nearly a quarter of all physicians are considering replacing their current PM software vendor:

Vendor Reputation and Reliability: A vendor's reputation for reliability, responsiveness, and ongoing development significantly influences a physician's decision to stay or switch. 53% of respondents claim they have endured a vendor that has a history of frequent system outages, slow updates, or financial instability, and thus have lost confidence in the system's reliability.

Poor User Experience: Difficulty in using the software, a cumbersome interface, or a lack of user-friendly features has led physicians to seek alternatives that offer a better overall user experience according to 27% of surveyed practices. A system that is intuitive and streamlines workflows contributes to increased efficiency.

Integration Challenges: Inefficient integration with other essential healthcare systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs), laboratory information systems, or billing platforms, is the significant driver for changing vendors by 17% of medical groups and practices. Physicians in small groups particularly (72% of respondents) report they are still seeking seamless interoperability to improve coordination of care.

Scalability, Cost Considerations, and Growth Needs: A practice management system that is unable to scale with the growth of the practice is prompting 9% of physician groups and clinics to seek a more scalable solution. As practices expand or change in structure, they require software that can adapt to evolving needs. High costs associated with licensing, maintenance, or additional modules are driving physicians to explore alternative vendors offering more cost-effective solutions without compromising essential features.

The vendors receiving the highest praise by practice size for 2024 along with the total number of survey subset participants) are:

One to Five Group Practitioners – NextGen Healthcare (n=16,415)

Six to Ten Group Practitioners – NextGen Healthcare  (n=7,605)

Eleven to Twenty-five Group Practitioners – NextGen Healthcare (n=3,679)

Twenty-six to Ninety-nine+ Group Practitioners – NextGen Healthcare (n=5,155)

Other top-rated PM vendors in Q1 2024 polling results include Touchworks (Altera Digital Health), ModMed, Oracle Health, athenahealth, Epic Systems, Kareo and Practice Fusion (Veradigm).

About Black Book

Black Book Market Research LLC, its founder, management, and staff do not own or hold any financial interest in any of the software solutions vendors covered and encompassed in the surveys it conducts. Black Book reports the results of the collected satisfaction and client experience rankings in publication and to media and does not solicit survey participation fees, inclusion or briefing charges, or involve collaboration with Black Book before the announcement of the polling outcomes.

For Black Book vendor satisfaction rating methodology, auditing, resources, comprehensive research, and ranking data, see www.blackbookmarketresearch.com or contact [email protected]. The survey instruments are available through Qualtrics, Apple iTunes and the Google Play store, as well as at the company website above.

Source: Black Book Research