Third-Party Rating Sites Important in Health IT Purchase Satisfaction

According to the 2014 Black Book Survey, 89% of all physician practices agree their billing and collections systems/processes need upgrading. In addition, throughout 2014, industry experts have been saying that there is a strong trend towards EHR switching happening right now.

As a result, there are lots of physician practices out there looking to buy Health IT software to manage practice management, billing, and clinical process. But, choosing and implementing new software is no easy task, and many put it off as long as they can. And no wonder when there are hundreds of EHR solutions alone.

“Finding the best technology solution for your specific needs is often stressful, time-consuming, and expensive,” says Rob Bellenfant, CEO and Founder of TechnologyAdvice, a technology ratings and review service. “With access to more information than ever before, it’s easy for a buyer to get overwhelmed in the research process and question what sources are reliable.”

Unbiased, reliable third-party rating sites can be a very useful tool to help practices narrow down the search for Health IT solutions.

These sites can provide three key benefits:

1. They allow you to refine your search quickly by entering practice information such as size and specialty while also enabling you to select items like key features.
2. You can easily see reviews and ratings from current users. This can make it easier to push a few solutions to the top of your list.
3. There are often other resources available like unbiased surveys, articles, and in-person expert assistance to further help narrow the scope of your search.

Recently, Melissa McCormack, medical researcher at EHR buyer resource Software Advice, conducted some research in collaboration with Research Now on the use of online ratings and reviews when making software purchases.

According to McCormack, “buyers are increasingly making use of crowdsourced research, such as online reviews, before making software purchasing decisions. Nearly three quarters of buyers today consult reviews before making a decision, and more than half say they would select one product over another based on reviews.”

It turns out that using reviews to help refine your purchasing process actually impacts the satisfaction with the purchase. In another study conducted by Software Advice, researcher Ashley Verrill found that buyers who did not check vendor references were 5.2 times more likely to be extremely dissatisfied with their software purchase than buyers who checked references, and consulting references had a positive impact on both the outcome of a software selection project and buyer satisfaction.

“With the advent of sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor and the like, buyers have become accustomed to using customer opinions to help make important purchasing decisions,” explains Verrill. “In fact, these crowdsourced opinions have become an essential part of the online consumer research process. It allows them to confirm that customers had a positive experience before they buy.”

For healthcare providers there is a lot at stake when choosing new technology. It impacts your bottom line, the care you provides, and your ability to stay independent. Being able to narrow down the search to a small handful of solutions the you be assured meet your criteria is invaluable.

It is so much easier to do further research and schedule demonstrations of five systems than 50. And what healthcare provider or practice manager has the time to look at that many solutions. Using solutions like TechnologyAdvice, Software Advice, or American EHR, can save time and according the McCormack’s research increase your overall satisfaction with the final purchase.