Are Client Server EHR Holding Back Healthcare?

John Lynn | EMR & HIPAA | December 19, 2014

The number one topic of debate on this blog has definitely been Client Server EHR versus SaaS EHR. There are staunch parties on both sides of this aisle. No doubt both sides have a case to make and we’ll see both in healthcare for a long time to come. Although, I think that long term the SaaS EHR will win out.

As I was thinking about this recently, I realized that while client server EHR can do everything a SaaS EHR can do, it definitely makes a lot of things much harder to accomplish.  It’s much harder to create an API that connects to 2000 client server EHR installs.  It’s much harder to make 2000 client server EHR installs interoperable.  It’s much harder to evaluate data across 2000 client server EHR installs.

I’m sure I could keep going with this list, but you get the point. Even though something is possible, it doesn’t mean that they’re actually going to do it. In fact, if it’s hard to do, then it takes extreme pressure for them to do it...