KLAS Research released its first vendor performance report focused exclusively on EMR use in the Middle East Jan. 30.
"In the Middle East, EMR purchasing energy is growing," the report reads. "While overall digital maturity of hospitals is lower in the Middle East than in some other parts of the world, those organizations who have decided to implement an EMR have very high expectations for deep adoption and need vendor partners who can help them meet their goals."
KLAS Research surveyed roughly 50 C-level executives, IT directors and managers from hospitals in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to evaluate five popular EMR vendors in the region. The report outlines the vendors' successes and limitations based on customer attitudes toward performance and regional market share.
Three of the most popular EMRs in the Middle East, ranked by customer satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 100:
1. Cerner (based on 11 customers): 80.6
2. InterSystems (based on nine customers): 73.9
3. Health Insights (based on 11 customers): 72.2
Cerner's leading performance in the region is attributable to its "longstanding, market-leading presence" among public and private healthcare groups, according to the report. Cerner's performance has improved during the past two years due to strong collaboration on recent implementations in the region.
The report also provided data on Epic, which earned a 92.4 customer satisfaction rating, and DXC Technology, which earned a 64.3 rating. However, KLAS Research noted that the small number of respondents using these products in its sample prevented the firm from generalizing its findings.
Epic, despite its small customer base in the region, is known for excelling in collaboration with its customers, according to the report. Respondents told KLAS Research that although the Epic EMR was expensive — and they wished Epic would provide more in-region resources — they would still choose to implement the system again.