Taking the Temperature For EHR

VARs that specialize in the health-care field would be wise to take a trip to their family doctor and have a long talk about their medical records. Filing, sharing and organizing them electronically, that is. A growing number of doctors in small, private practices are beginning to turn to electronic record-keeping as a way to streamline their businesses. Where large hospitals have the budget, and in some cases, the internal IT support, for implementing electronic record-keeping software, software costs and training are two of the biggest stumbling blocks for smaller doctors' offices willing to go the e-route.

At a macro level, Paul Adams, senior manager of public relations at McKesson (2005 VARBusiness 500 No. 51), a leading health information technology (HIT) specialist, says the company's clinical portal, which allows clinicians to look up medical records, receives more than two million log-ins a month. Physicians can view radiology reports, pharmaceutical histories, medication orders and test results from their home or hospital. This eliminates the need for doctors to run from one department to another in search of patient information.

Although the benefits of electronic health records (EHR) may currently elude smaller physicians, Adams says this is one of the few industries which don't start small and get larger. Instead, the opposite may be true. Part of that is due to the federal government's call for a national health information infrastructure. Says Adams, HIT vendors are working with the federal government on standards for EHR that include certification and interoperability. EHR standardization will possibly open the doors for smaller VARs to get in on the action.

"There's a huge amount of opportunity here," Adams says. "There's a huge mix of HIT vendors who specialize in different areas."

Steven Waldren, assistant director of the Center for Health Information Technology (CHIT), says cost is the biggest concern for doctors in small practices, followed by decreased productivity during training, and a vendor going out of business (and what happens to their data in that case). According to Waldren, privacy and security are not as big concerns as they were two years ago because many vendors are now up to date on HIPAA compliance issues.

As for what role VARs play in HIT, Waldren says, "Expansion of EHR adoption has been significant in the last 2 years. VARs will continue to grow in this space because of the sheer volume of opportunities and the national push for adoption. We are moving from the early adopters of EHR technology, doctors who were tech-savvy, to doctors who just want things to work."

Waldren sees two ways VARs will be needed in EHR implementation. The first is the total-solution VAR who offers a complete EHR package and acts as the main point of contact between doctor and vendor. The second is the support VAR for those who purchase direct through the manufacturer but still need hardware and general infrastructure support.

Immediate opportunities for solution providers who want to enter this field include rural doctors who may lack access to a brick-and-mortar VAR, as well as those that lack of familiarity with HIT vendors and technologies. Small and midsize practices also offer opportunities as larger health-care VARs and HIT vendors, in the throes of standardization and servicing larger health organizations, don't appear to be focusing on this sector any time soon.

Overall, the outlook is good for solution providers in this field.

"Many doctors are frustrated with the paper system, so they've made the intellectual decision to switch over to EHR technology, but cost is still an issue," Waldren says.