This year marks our first deep dive into the DACH KIS (EHR) market, and the timing is significant. For years, KLAS has monitored the region, watching purchasing activity rise, governments push for digital adoption, and hospitals consolidate. With Oracle Health’s i.s.h.med sunsetting and healthcare organizations urgently reevaluating options, we knew it was the right moment to examine vendor performance in our first dedicated report for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Our goal is simple: shine a light on market realities so healthcare organizations, policymakers, and vendors can chart a better path forward.
Why Now Matters
When we began this research, we expected to find dramatic differences in vendor performance. Instead, what we saw was a market where interviewed customers are, on the whole, calling for needed improvements.
On one hand, that can make for an unremarkable data set, as there are no runaway leaders or outliers; interviewed customers cite delays in development, weak support, outdated technology, and usability challenges, and the overall picture is one of unmet expectations.
On the other hand, it underscores a massive opportunity. If every vendor is performing at or below average, there is room for someone to step up and redefine the standard. Healthcare organizations in DACH are ready for better.
At the same time, hospitals in the DACH region face a dual challenge: expectations for modernization are growing, but budgets remain constrained. Compared to other markets, funding for healthcare IT is limited, particularly in Germany. Vendors can only deliver so much with limited resources, and hospitals must balance ambitions with financial realities.
Forces Shaping the Market
Several dynamics are pushing hospitals to reevaluate their solutions:
- Government funding and regulation: Initiatives like Germany’s Hospital Future Act are fueling digital investment, but organizations still grapple with historically low IT budgets.
- Consolidation pressures: With too many hospitals in some regions, closures and mergers are reshaping demand and creating urgency for scalable, modern IT systems.
- Vendor shifts: The discontinuation of i.s.h.med and shifting vendor strategies have left customers uncertain, prompting many to consider migrations sooner than planned.
These forces combine to create both risk and opportunity: risk for organizations slow to adapt, and opportunity for vendors ready to deliver reliable, modern, customer-centered solutions.
Looking Ahead
Fortunately, the future is not without promise. Government leaders increasingly recognize the importance of IT investment in healthcare, just as other industries have already experienced transformation through digital tools. Healthcare organizations see the potential for improved outcomes, efficiency gains, and patient satisfaction. We believe this KLAS report can serve as a catalyst—helping healthcare organizations benchmark against peers globally and encouraging vendors to aim higher.
We are especially interested to see how ongoing hospital consolidations and the entry or expansion of global vendors reshape the competitive landscape. Will new players step in and raise the bar? Will established vendors accelerate innovation? Time will tell, but the pressure to improve has never been greater.
The Journey Forward
This first DACH KIS report is just the beginning for KLAS. We anticipate that our sample size will grow, our insights will deepen, and we will continue to track how customer satisfaction evolves. We look forward to seeing whether the market moves from below-average performance to a story of turnaround and leadership.
To explore the full findings, including vendor-level insights and more information on market dynamics, read the full DACH KIS 2025 report.
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