A couple big announcements came out this week that are continuing to shake up the EHR market. Most people consider this a really good thing when you look at the 300+ EHR companies in the market today. Most see this as unhealthy and a real issue for healthcare. No doubt it causes problems, not the least of which is the paradox of choice.
The first announcement was that Vitera Healthcare Solutions acquired SuccessEHS. Vitera is the new name for the SAGE EHR which they bought from Sage Software in 2011 for those tracking the EHR histories.
In the press release it says that the combined organizations serve “more than 10,500 medical organizations and over 415,000 medical professionals nationwide — including more than 85,000 physicians.” I was also interested to see Vitera’s emphasis on expanding their customer base in CHCs, Student Health Centers, HIV/AIDS Clinics, and FQHC.
I asked the company if there were any plans to sunset one of the competing EHR software platforms. They responded that they “plan to keep both EHR systems and keep developing both of them.” Of course, the acquisition was just announced, so that doesn’t mean in 3-6 months they may compare the EHR systems and make a different decision in the future.
The second announcement was CareCloud EHR raising $20 million. That brings CareCloud’s total funding to $44 million. Ever since I first met Albert Santalo, CEO of CareCloud, he said that he wasn’t looking for the early exit. Instead, he wanted to build CareCloud into a long term company. I expect this extra $20 million will let him and CareCloud really swing for the fences.
Also, I literally just got an email from another EHR vendor that’s in the process of being acquired. I can’t say who the company is until it’s official, but it seems that EHR consolidation is happening. Either that or the companies are taking on funding to try and last for the long term.