“Not good enough to pay for,” a physician client told me in a recent conversation regarding Practice Fusion. The old cliché, “You get what you pay for,” is true after all!
I have been talking with a lot of practices and physicians who use Practice Fusion as their electronic medical records system. After the recent announcement Practice Fusion is being acquired by Allscripts, clients received notifications Practice Fusion will no longer be free.
From the practice and physicians’ perspective, the main and perhaps only attraction of Practice Fusion was that it was a free system. For most practices, it served its purpose, allowing them to be compliant with meaningful use and even receive incentive money.
The question is, if this system worked for doctors in the past, why are they looking to switch? After all, they are used to the system, and change is never easy. I’m not saying everybody will switch, but I suspect a majority of practices have started looking for cheaper or more stable alternatives.
The Acquiring Company Is Allscripts;
What Does That Mean for the Future of Practice Fusion?
Look at the history of Allscripts with respect to acquisitions. Their journey started with a merger with Misys in 2008. Since then, they have had a number of acquisitions including Myway, Eclipsys, Medinotes, DB motion, Jardogs, etc.
In most cases, these products have eventually withered away. Allscripts tried to move their customers onto their main platform of choice. Practices suffered.
Allscripts’ most recent acquisition before Practice Fusion was McKesson. With all these islands of technology and Allscripts trying to achieve economies of scale, it is nearly impossible to maintain and keep them all alive and thriving at the same time.
At one point, Practice Fusion was the darling of the industry. So many investors got in, that it was worth $1.5 billion. In the end, Allscripts got the company for a measly $100 million. That should tell any provider remotely considering sticking with Practice Fusion that it is time to abandon the sinking system.
I can see the writing on the wall—or my blog just a few short years from today—Allscripts is sunsetting Practice Fusion and doctors won’t be riding into the sunset with it.
