Healthcare Insights
EHR installation rates in children’s hospitals
Children’s hospitals are a cornerstone of the healthcare industry, as they provide diagnosis, research, treatment, and care specifically for children. Children’s services must factor in the unique physical and psychological differences required for pediatric care. EHR systems, including clinical technologies, can help healthcare providers deliver quality care to this unique patient population.
What are clinical technologies?
Clinical technologies are used to diagnose, prevent, and treat disease and injury. Electronic health records (EHRs) are clinical technology systems that record, store, and present patient information to improve patient care. Clinical technologies are often designed to specialize in an area of medicine, such as anesthesia, cardiology, or oncology.
Definitive Healthcare tracks 270 active children’s hospitals across the U.S. Below, is a list of the top three inpatient EHR vendors being used in children’s hospitals.
| Rank | Vendor | # of children’s hospitals using vendor | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Epic Systems Corporation | 165 | Explore |
| 2 | Oracle Cerner | 70 | Explore |
| 3 | MEDITECH | 21 | Explore |
Fig. 1 Data from Definitive Healthcare's Atlas Technology Install Dataset. Data accessed March 2024.
Technology opportunities among children’s hospitals
Interestingly, 165 children’s hospitals named Epic as their inpatient EHR software. Oracle Cerner comes in second with 70 children’s hospitals, and MEDITECH takes third with installations in 21 children’s hospitals.
According to our technology install vendor data, Epic Systems Corporation holds just over 45% of the EHR market share across all U.S. hospitals (Epic is also a major vendor in the ambulatory care space). Oracle Cerner holds nearly 30% of the EHR market share across all U.S. hospitals, and MEDITECH maintains just under 19%.
Additionally, MEDITECH leads the Canadian EHR market.
We also wanted to look at installation rates of some specific clinical technologies at children’s hospitals compared to all U.S. hospitals.
| EHR | Anesthesia information management system | Cardiology information system | Oncology information system | Explore dataset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. hospitals | 95.80% | 47.90% | 41.30% | 52.50% | Explore |
| Children's hospital | 99.30% | 76.70% | 55.90% | 77.80% | Explore |
Fig. 2 Data from the Atlas Technology Install Dataset. Data accessed March 2024.
Which hospital group had the highest clinical technology installation rates?
Children’s hospitals had a higher installation rate than U.S. hospitals in general for all four systems: EHRs, anesthesia information management systems (AIMS), cardiology information systems, and oncology information systems.
The clinical technology category with the greatest disparity in installation rates is AIMS, with over 76% of children’s hospitals implementing these systems compared with nearly 48% of hospitals in general.
Why might children’s hospitals have higher clinical technology installation rates?
Definitive Healthcare’s hospital data indicates that children’s hospitals have higher installations for specialty clinical applications compared to all U.S. hospitals. These differences may be due to the individual hospital’s solutions reporting. Advanced procedures related to pediatric subspecialties within children’s hospital may also require the installation of specific software systems.
Children’s hospitals more widely use technologies in specialized areas like anesthesia, cardiology, and oncology. In each of these applications, the percentage of specialty technology installations at children’s hospitals fell between 55.9% and 77.8%. In contrast, technology installations for these specialty applications ranged between 47.9% and 52.5% among all U.S. hospitals.
The market for oncology information systems is likely to grow over the next several years. Various cancer therapies—including chemo and radiation therapies—are becoming increasingly available to pediatric oncology patients. This, along with an increase in initiatives related to the modernization of healthcare infrastructure, points to a probable expansion in cancer-specific clinical applications at children’s hospitals.
Learn more
Healthcare Insights are developed with healthcare commercial intelligence from the Definitive Healthcare platform. Want even more insights? Start a free trial now and get access to the latest healthcare commercial intelligence on hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare providers.
You might also be interested in...
