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Top Electronic Medical Records Software

What Are the Key Functions of EMR Software?

As discussed in "A List of Common EMR Features" section above, EMR software provides several key functions for your business, including:

Charting: Prepares digital charts in real time to capture patients' medical issues and diagnoses and merges all patient information into a single chart. Many EMR solutions offer customizable templates and users can select fields specific to their needs.

Patient portal: Enables patients to login and access various information such as their medication history, number of visits to doctor and lab results.

E-prescribing: Allows electronic printing and transmitting of prescriptions to pharmacies. Also enables physicians to receive automatic notifications related to various interactions with pharmacies such as dosage amounts, allergies and prescriptions.

Order entry: Allows providers to enter, store and transmit orders for lab tests, medication orders and other services.

Decision support: Decision support functions include treatment alerts, reminders or recommendations meant to help patients based on their specific conditions and demographics.

What Questions Should I Ask Vendors When Evaluating EMR Products?

When researching EMR software, you shouldn't rely only on the information that vendors provide. You must ask for product demos and keep your questions ready while a sales representative provides a demo. Be sure to ask important questions, such as:

What kind of customer support do you offer during implementation?

One of the major reasons implementations fail is due to lack of proper customer support and assistance during critical stages. Be sure to ask vendors about what plan they have to assist staff members during the implementation process.

How often do you update your EMR software and what updates are you planning for your next release?

Some vendors do not update their products regularly and this question will help you identify the right product for your long term usage. You must look out for answers such as, "Yes, we update our software regularly and offer free updates to our customers," or "Yes, we update our software regularly and our next version is scheduled to be released after three months." Products that are updated regularly are usually better when it comes to addressing customer requests and offering functionality to meet changing regulatory requirements.

What customization options are currently available?

The ability to customize existing EMR features can ensure a smooth transition of storage from paper to electronic records. This can help it become adopted more easily across the medical practice, as it is customized exactly as per the practice needs. Also, custom modules can result in improved capturing and accuracy of data.

What's the Difference Between EHR and EMR?

Many people don't know about the key differences between EHR and EMR. You can find out main ones in our article, "EHR vs EMR – What's the Difference?" In general, both EHR and EMR solutions serve the same purpose, i.e., documentation, and integrate with other providers' systems.

How Much Should I Spend On An EMR?

EMR costs are difficult to generalize because they depend on factors that vary by buyer, such as:

Number of users

Required applications

Size of patient panel

Availability of IT support staff

Patient data migration needs

That said, we have some data-backed insights that can help small, medium and large practices determine how much they should budget for a stand-alone EMR system (excluding setup costs). The data in the charts below are based on conversations between our expert software advisors and real medical practices seeking software. The practices surveyed are budgeting for monthly subscription-based EMRs, unless otherwise noted:

Monthly EMR Budget: Small Practices (1-5 doctors)

Monthly EMR Budget: Medium Practices (6-25 doctors)

Monthly EMR Budget: Large Practices (26+ doctors)

Alternatively, you could choose to implement a free EMR. We have a list of free EMR solutions with accompanying commentary from real users here.

Are Free EMRs Too Good to Be True?

Free systems work quite well for some users. They are particularly appealing for solo physicians or small practice doctors who outsource their billing to a third-party service and don't need to integrate medical billing or scheduling applications.

However, practitioners should note that there are limitations to free systems and they can come with hidden costs. For example, you may not be able to request any customizations and there could be a cap on the number of users the system supports. We wrote a full report on the pros and cons of free, open source and paid EMRs featuring this decision-making tool:

What Type of EMR Is Right for You?

Which EMRs Meet Government Health Care Regulations?

Many practices are in the market for an EMR specifically because they want to participate in government health care initiatives that incentivize the use of health IT.

Whether you were one of the thousands of physicians who got an EMR to cash in on Meaningful Use incentives or you're a first-time buyer preparing for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), it's clear that regulatory compliance is a huge purchase driver for practitioners.

Your best bet for ensuring a system has the robust functionality necessary to meet government health care regulations is to choose an "ONC certified" EMR. These systems have been tested and certified to confirm they offer a set of technological capabilities, functionalities and security requirements approved by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

To learn more about how EMRs are certified to meet these criteria, check out our breakdown of the official government-certified testing entities and alternative resources.

What Are Some Drawbacks I Should Watch Out For?

While there are many benefits of implementing EMR software, there are also potential pitfalls. Here are some of the most important ones to be aware of:

Security. One of the most common concerns EMR software buyers have is about data security. Patient privacy and HIPAA compliance are typically on the front of providers' minds, so buyers will want to make sure that the EMR is implemented properly and that standard security features exist in the system. Most vendors are well aware of buyers' security concerns and have taken steps to ensure proper data encryption technology is in place for both on-premise and web-based systems.

User adoption. A second consideration is user adoption, primarily among providers. Some providers find EMRs difficult to use, often because they are accustomed to working with paper charts. Most user adoption issues can be solved with adequate training. The amount necessary typically depends on the user's level of tech savviness.

Interoperability challenges. Interoperability is the transfer of patient data among different EMR systems so authorized providers can access and interpret that data. While vendors are making progress toward achieving interoperability, it's still an issue the industry is struggling with. Fortunately, technologies such as direct messaging make it easier to share records electronically.