There are a number of entities in the industry that are in the business of evaluating EMR products and ranking them in some fashion. For a number of reasons, SOAPware has not participated with these entities...
- Many of the ranking systems require that vendors fill in yes/no to a large list of features. Historically, many vendors have demonstrated tendencies to answer yes to functionalities to which a no would have been more accurate. Because we answer honestly, we end up inaccurately appearing to be less desirable.
- Few to none of the ranking systems put much if any weight on usability. The availability of a feature is meaningless if it is not practical or usable. Often, may of the systems end up as top-ranked are barely usable.
- Many of the ranking systems involve input by users. Many vendors will expend great effort to be certain that mostly happy users of their product participate in the user surveys. We are not going to participate in what ends up being a game to see who can motivate the most satisfied users to engage the ranking system.
- Many of the ranking systems involve some type of Payola arrangements. That is, rankings are affected by some type of special treatment extended to the ranking entity by vendors being ranked. This can range from wining-dining at conferences all the way to payments in return for higher rankings. We simply decline to participate in this system.
- Some of the best known, most recognized ranking entities have a history of consistently recommending products that have experienced failure rates in excess of 50% in practice of 3 or less clinicians.
- A significant number of the recommended vendors in the recent past are no longer in business. There is little to no valid assessment of vendor viability. Ironically, the fact that SOAPware, Inc. has no unsecured debt is usually ranked of lower value than if we had large amounts of venture capital available. The contrasting reality is that, more often than not, venture capital has proven the death of EMR companies.
