Question

Why do you think so many different EMR systems exist in the U.S. despite the fact that they all essentially do the same thing?

Answer 1

A simple answer for this question is “high demand”. It’s a known fact that, health care requirements change at a constant pace. As years go by and as technologies evolve into newer and better versions, scope for their use within health care also increases. EHR systems are complex technologies that are used within health care to assist care givers in various aspects of the care process. Therefore, as health care needs evolve concurrently technology use also needs to evolve.

There are many companies in the market that are technology specific. These companies when dealing with health care technologies (EHR`s) need to constantly update themselves or evolve with the growing needs. Some EHRs use latest technologies that have a lifespan of 5 years or more, whereas few companies use redundant technologies.

The next is the price of the product. Obviously, the higher the demand, the higher the cost of the product. As a result, not all health care organizations can afford to pay such prices. This gives opportunities for smaller companies (mostly technology specific startups) to come up with EHR solutions to meet the latest needs of health care organizations.

The features of the EHR also play an important role in generating multiple EHR systems. Few EHR companies have a set number of features which they might have developed based on the requirements of that time. Although few, others have a wide variety of features that the users could choose from to match their requirements.

Therefore, all these circumstances give opportunities to people with the available technology expertise to make EHR products that use variable technologies and have varied features for their end users.