AC Group, Inc., formed in 1996, is a healthcare technology advisory and research firm designed to save participants precious time and resources in their technology decision-making.

AC Group is one of the leading companies, specializing in the evaluation, selection, and ranking of vendors in the PMS/EHR healthcare marketplace. Twice per year, AC Group publishes a detailed report on vendor PMS/EHR functional, usability, and company viability. This evaluation decision tool has been used by more than 25,000 physicians since 2002. Additionally, AC Group has conducted more than 450 PMS/EHR searches, selections, and contract negotiations for small physician offices to large IPAs and hospitals since 2002.

When your company's future is on the line, there's no room for error or guesswork in IT decision-making. That's why more than 500 healthcare organizations worldwide approach their most critical IT challenges with the help of trusted advisors from AC Group, Inc. (ACG). Since 1972, the consultants at ACG have been helping physicians, IPAs, health plans, TPAs, hospitals, and healthcare IT vendors make better strategic and tactical decisions.

This unmatched combination of market research and real-world healthcare assessment gives clients the tools they need to eliminate wasteful technology spending, avoid the inefficiency of trial and error, and discover a superior alternative to "guess" decisions.

For our healthcare physician clients, ACG provides independent advisory and consultative services designed to assist physicians in evaluating and selecting technology to enable the creation of the “The Digital Medical Office of the Future”.

2011-12 PM/EHR Evaluations

Click here to learn about our July 2011 Digital Medical Office of the Future Report including PM/EHR vendor ranking for Functionality, End-user Satisfaction, and Company Viability

WHITE PAPER ON DATA CONVERSION

On Wednesday, January 24, AC Group release their new research paper titled “Advanced Data Conversions - The Essential Ingredient to insure an effective EHR implementation”. According to Mark R. Anderson, CEO of AC Group, “we believe that no one should be stuck with an EHR system that just isn't working for them. Imagine being able to switch from any EHR to any EHR freely without losing vital patient data & encounter notes”.

The purpose of this white paper is to discuss the value of “data conversion” prior to going live on a new EHR product and to introduce the concept of “advanced data conversion” via electronic means. With advanced data conversion process, physicians can select new products without the risk of losing the majority of their patient’s data. Fact: once a medical practice goes live on the EHR, 99% of the patient’s clinical information is still embedded in an older EHR or in the patient’s paper chart, not in the new EHR.

To view the research paper on Advanced Data Conversions - The Essential Ingredient to insure an effective EHR implementation, click here

Connectivity Assurance
The Essential Ingredient to insure an effective EHR implementation

Software performance, speed, and reliability has become a major issue as healthcare organizations roll out critical clinical applications like Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE), Outcomes Measurement tools, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), and Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) Certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) applications. To ensure success, healthcare professionals must have the right management tools necessary to ensure the network’s performance exceeds physician needs.   Traditional performance management tools are complicated, expensive, time consuming and tell you nothing about the network outside the four walls of the individual healthcare organizations. 
The industry needs a tool designed to make the management of client’s network and their EHR applications easy to remotely monitor to ensure high software availability and real-time monitoring visibility.  There is an ever increasing need for a simple solution to solve the visibility problem by providing network insight in both directions through localized and third-party networks – from datacenters to remote clinics and hospital sites, and everything in between. The industry is searching for Network Performance Management technology that proactively troubleshoots network performance problems, continuously monitors in real-time against service level agreements, and assesses network readiness for rolling out new electronic healthcare applications and services.   
The purpose of this white paper is to discuss connectivity issues and solutions via case studies and to introduce the concept of “connectivity assurance.”  Click here to view report

WHITE PAPER - DO EHRS INCREASE MEDICAL LIABILITY

AC Group, a nation-wide Healthcare Research and Advisory firm has released a new white paper titled “Do EHRs Increase Liability?” To access the white paper click on the following link:

 http://www.acgroup.org/research/medicalliability.html.

The report highlights the potential risks your client’s face in regards to increased Medical Liability claims through the use of an EHR product. In fact a number of the malpractice firms are looking at increasing a physician’s Medical Liability costs if a physician is using an EHR that does not handle the 42 areas of potential risk that are highlighted in the report.                             Click here to review the report.