Perspective: GE Centricity Advance Discontinued - Implications for SaaS Users and the Wider EHR Market

This IDC Health Insights Perspective examines the emerging market dynamics in the small practice EHR space and discusses the implications of product discontinuations for ambulatory EHR users. On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, GE Healthcare announced its Centricity Advance SaaS-based EHR will cease operations on June 30, 2012. Citing channel confusion around its three ambulatory EHR products, alongside a small market share for Centricity Advance, GE indicated it has decided to focus its efforts on its traditional ambulatory EHR products, Centricity Practice Solution (CPS) and Centricity Enterprise Medical Record (CEMR). The move comes at a time when ambulatory EHR vendors across the industry are seeing rapid growth in new implementations as a result of government incentives under ARRA; yet, with over 150 full ambulatory EHR vendors, the rapidly maturing market is clearly facing consolidation pressures as competition grows and market share leaders emerge. Consolidation of both products and vendors is expected. For ambulatory practices considering investment in traditional or SaaS-based EHR, those with implementations in progress and those considering replacing existing technology, this news highlights the importance of considering the stability of both the vendor and the product, in addition to other concerns, during the selection process.