Rehabilitation centers De Hoogstraat, Heliomare and Libra Revalidatie & Audiologie remain confident in a successful implementation of the EPD from supplier Nexus. Fellow provider Maartenskliniek recently ceased cooperation with Nexus. According to the three other centers, Sint Maartenskliniek's situation is "not comparable.
Last year, all four rehabilitation centers chose Nexus as the new supplier of the electronic patient record (EPD). In February, Heliomare in Wijk aan Zee signed a contract, followed by Sint Maartenskliniek in Nijmegen, de Hoogstraat in Utrecht and Libra in Eindhoven.
Insufficient progress
At the end of January, the board of directors of the Sint Maartens Clinic announced that it did not want to continue with Nexus. According to the board, Nexus did not succeed in "responsibly realizing" the implementation before the agreed delivery date of July 1. In a press statement, the board states that insufficient progress was made in the project and fundamental questions remained unanswered.
When asked what fundamental questions came up, a spokeswoman had to withhold the answer. Like the board of directors in the press release, she emphasizes the lack of progress.
Not comparable
The other three rehabilitation centers that have partnered with Nexus let it be known that they have been informed by the parties involved about Sint Maartenskliniek's decision. "This decision has no consequences for De Hoogstraat, Heliomare and Libra Revalidatie & Audiologie in terms of decision-making or planning," they say in a joint statement in response to questions from Dutch Health Hub.
"The situation of Sint Maartenskliniek is not comparable to that of the other three rehabilitation centers. De Hoogstraat, Heliomare and Libra Rehabilitation & Audiology are satisfied with what has already been delivered by Nexus for their new EPD. This gives us confidence in the cooperation with Nexus. We look forward to a successful implementation of the Nexus EPD."
Vendor lock-in
The Maartenskliniek's decision to break with Nexus is striking. With the switch from ChipSoft to Nexus in April 2023, then board chairman Mark Van Houdenhoven showed his dissatisfaction with market relations in the Dutch EHR market. That has long been dominated by ChipSoft, which has 70 to 80 percent of hospitals as customers, and the American Epic.
Providers such as the Maartenskliniek are virtually locked out as a result, according to Van Houdenhoven. Van Houdenhoven repeatedly voiced his criticism of this vendor lock-in in the media. Now that SAP-Cerner has also withdrawn from the Dutch EHR market, Nexus is the last remaining alternative besides ChipSoft and Epic.
Settlement
The Sint Maartenskliniek says it is in talks with Nexus about settling the contract. For the time being, the Maartenskliniek is not taking into account legal scenarios such as those of years ago surrounding the aborted EPD of the Portuguese provider Alert. How to proceed with the EPD at the Maartenskliniek is not yet clear. At any rate, standing still is not an option, says the spokeswoman: "We have to continue, we just have to have a well-functioning EPD." Nexus announces that it does not consider it opportune to comment at this time.
