What are the best and worst EMR systems in 2024?

Posted in Electronic Health Records

Overview

Healthcare practices require a searchable digital data platform to help professionals easily access patient information to make appropriate and timely healthcare decisions. Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems streamline working processes, reducing administrative burden for improved patient care.

While many healthcare providers support using EMR systems within the healthcare industry, others are against it. This decision is based on their challenges and solutions already available to them. Let’s take a look at some of the best and worst EMR systems in the market based on user reviews.

What Are the Best and Worst EMR Systems?

Healthcare web applications allow medical staff to access patient electronic medical records (EMRs) remotely, improving workflow and patient outcomes. To ensure smooth operations and compliance, healthcare organizations must adhere to industry regulations.

Read more about regulatory compliance in healthcare.

Regulatory compliance is adherence to the standard rules, laws, specifications, and guidelines set according to each organization’s processes. If healthcare organizations violate regulatory compliance rules, they are often subject to legal punishment. Therefore, whatever EMR healthcare providers use, they must comply with regulatory regulations. Below are some EMR systems examples available in the market:

CareCloud

Among the examples of EMR systems, CareCloud is a major provider and manages millions of requests annually. CareCloud offers an up-to-date and straightforward interface with relatively competitive pricing to track patient flow.

Additionally, it helps to spot possible back-ups, making your practice operations more efficient. Since CareCloud is web-based, it can be used with any input device. Its pros and cons include:

Pros

• It has an updated interface to make navigation easier.
• Patient tracking flow is robust.
• It has adapted to match ever-changing laws and regulations.

Cons

• It is probably an oversimplified system for big hospitals and other large practices to use.
• While using CareCloud, small practices must get support from a Concierge service.
• Despite having a UserRights section, it only allows users access to financial information.
• CareCloud system may work slowly at times. For example, when patients call for appointments or refills, it can take longer to pull up their charts.

AthenaHealth

From the EMR systems list, AthenaHealth is an easy-to-manage and simple program that fits the needs of different practices. It is exclusively web-based and works for healthcare providers on a variety of devices.

Pros

• Its scheduling features can be easily sorted and customized.
• Practices can effortlessly learn to use it.
• AthenaHealth is a web-based EMR  compatible with different kinds of devices.

Cons

• This EMR cannot work sufficiently for large practices.
• Since it is web-based, healthcare organizations need strict access protection measures while using it.
• Customer support is not good enough.
• Working on A/R and billing follow-up is problematic. AthenaHealth billing often does not charge patients for their balance.
• The EMR often needs countless clicks to do something.

eClinicalWorks

eClinicalWorks is among the old EMR systems that have had quite a good reputation in the market since 1999. It boasts an outstanding user base of over 850,000 medical professionals. eClinicalWorks is a good EMR system with multiple ways to access many screens in the program. The documentation in the system can be easily adapted to the practice, giving providers ease of use.

The demographic area of eClinicalWorks has a menu that includes language, ethnicity, and race options, making access easy for practitioners without additional clicks. However, this EMR system is not without drawbacks.

Pros

• Gives complete access to the patient’s records in the form of files and charts.
• Allows multi-user synchronous access.
• Generates clinical notes that are organized and readable.
• Medicines and medical history are listed on the side rather than on too many pages.
• Photos in the office can be easily transferred to the medical record.

Cons

• The billing system of eClinicalWorks can pose issues for some practices.
• With so many screens, users have to switch constantly from one thing to another; this consumes a lot of time.
• It sometimes fails to save lab results and locks up.
• Education notes for patients are not good.

Also Read: Do you know the worth of EMR software?

Why do Healthcare Providers Require EMR Software Comparison?

During a medical emergency, doctors and EMTs need access to their patients’ earlier surgeries and current treatments quickly to make timely and right decisions. This is where the role of EMRs comes into play.

Clinicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers need electronic medical record (EMR) software integrated with telemedicine software to keep track of patient care and get access to all past data about their patients.

Data analytics tools in EMRs take them to the succeeding level. This technique allows a comparative view of invariant data coming from many sources.

By comparing algorithms to the data of EMR, healthcare providers can figure out trends not only of individual patients but also entire populations to approach preventative medicine proactively. Here are some of the reasons why healthcare providers require EMRs.

• Healthcare professionals depend on clinical experiments to formulate and examine new drugs and treatments. In the past, it was quite a challenging job, but now EMRs have eased the task of documenting clinical trials.
• Information about a patient’s socioeconomic status in the EMR system can help predict the possibility of admitting them to the hospital in advance.
• Data from EMRs help healthcare providers to customize treatment plans for each patient. They gather information generated from wearables that track critical signs such as blood-glucose level and blood pressure to forecast what disease the patient is developing.
• Further, if any chronic disease is recognized, the data is forwarded to the relevant professionals to develop care plans for individual patients.

List of EMR Systems in Healthcare 

EMR systems are widely being used in the healthcare industry to digitize patient data and streamline care management. Even solo practitioners can benefit from EMRs to efficiently manage their smaller patient bases. Some common examples of the EMR systems include:

• AdvancedMD
• EpicCare
• AthenaHealth
• CareCloud
• Greenway Health Intergy
• Kareo
• NextGen Healthcare
• Sevocity
• TheraNest
• Practice Fusion

They are categorized on one or more of the following: 

• Cloud-Based EMR Software
• ONC-Certified EMR Software
• Mac EMR Software
• Medical Billing Software
• Behavioral or Mental Health EMR Software

The Best and Worst Electronic Medical Records Software Companies

For decades, healthcare software development services have been working on EMR systems that are usually available with some unique and common features. Once the software is complete, these telemedicine software companies keep updating their EMR systems to provide the best user experience to healthcare providers.

Here is a list of some companies that provide EMRs:

• Kareo
• Cerner
• Athenahealth
• eClinicalWorks
• CareCloud
• Practice Fusion
• Allscripts
• CureMD
• Epic Systems
• Vitera Healthcare Solutions
• GE Healthcare
• Meditech
• Praxis EMR
• Centricity
• Allscripts

Even after providing valuable features, some EMR software companies may fall short because of technical issues or inadequate customer support, bumping them to lower rankings compared to other top options.

However, all of the companies offer the following facilities:

• Extensive support system
• Training to increase the efficiency of staff
• Reduction of clinical and administrative errors
• Practice analytic services
• Automated health reminders for patients
• Patient portals
• Data security

Some of the benefits of buying a Practice Fusion EMR include: 

1. Getting up-to-date technology
2. A free patient portal
3. Customizable templates
4. Constant support from the company.

Allscripts also offers many things, such as longstanding significance and ample experience, a manageable dashboard, mechanisms for boosting maternity care, and a patient engagement portal.

Like Allscripts, Centricity provides customizable templates, easy integration with third parties, enhanced efficiency, and analysis via the dashboard.

What are the Best and Worst EMR System Examples for Hospitals?

Hospitals have multiple EMR options available to suit their requirements. Since they usually come under the umbrella of big practices, hospitals need an EMR system with strong functions.

TheraNest

TheraNest is a 100% web-based EMR system for hospitals to use. It can also be accessed through its mobile app; that means each individual clinician of the hospital can easily access it via his/her mobile phone.

TheraNest EMR is user-friendly and offers a patient portal for convenient appointment scheduling and access to patient medical records, both on computers and smartphones.

Virence Health Centricity

This EMR for hospitals is also designed to be accessible through mobile apps. Centricity has a user-friendly interface with multiple tracking features.

Centricity from Virence Health is an ideal option for some healthcare providers in small setups, but its high pricing and features may not work well for larger practices. This may cause it to rank low when it comes to the best EMRs for hospitals.

WebPT

WebPT is another easy-to-access on mobile devices, often chosen by hospitals that offer outpatient services. This web-based solution comes at a reasonable price.

WebPT’s interface helps spot the required information easily. It has acquired a reputation due to strong customer service, making it accessible at any time. However, some parts of the system are restricted when it comes to data entry.

What are the Best EMR and Worst EMR Systems for Small Practices?

Many small practices use EMR systems to simplify their work and automate administrative processes.

Kareo

Kareo is a popular EMR choice for over 50,000 healthcare providers, with a team of 500 employees available for support. It is designed for smaller practices, is user-friendly, and is easy to learn. While its interface may feel a bit old, Kareo remains a reliable tool for managing patient records.

Pros

• It is an easy-to-run EMR that is specially made for small-scale practices.
• Kareo comes at a reasonable price, fitting the needs of average-size practices.
• This EMR system offers good support for training and implementation.

Cons

• Since it has a slightly outdated interface, it is not exactly useful for large and complex practices.
• Some users have complained about unexpected billings. Kareo billed them while using the demo version without them making an actual subscription.
• It has no sorting feature for scanned documents. This increases document clutter, making it hard for users to find what they need.

Sevocity

Sevocity is one of the best EMRs for small practices spread to more than 40 states. It comes with basic customization options and great features for all midsize practices. However, it is not capable of satisfying the needs of big hospitals.

Pros 

• This EMR has a simple interface.
• Offers good customer service features within desirable pricing.
• Functions well for smaller practices with a few staff members.
• Customer support team for small practices is available 24/7.
• Its services are accessible across 40 countries.

Cons 

• Lacks some training features.
• Offers limited tools.
• It is not useful for larger practices that require a more robust system.
• Though the price is reasonable, its lacking capabilities outweigh the cost.
• It allows only one person to be on the chart at a time; this slows down the pace and reduces the workflow.
• It does not support iPads or iPhones.
• Sevocity brings a mild complication in billing when treatment and various E/M occur on the same visit.

NextGen Healthcare

Being a healthcare IT integration provider, NextGen offers harmonious integration to boost interoperability.

NextGen is a system software that comes with many customization options and provides excellent training to the staff to help deliver good services.

NextGen’s strong training and customer support make it a suitable choice for smaller practices that may lack an in-house technical team. The software is user-friendly and efficient, providing the support needed for smooth operations.

NextGen EMR is so customizable that practices can tailor its service to their exact requirements and specifications.

Pros

• Its training and customer service are outstanding.
• It is a manageable system that allows practices to start running quickly.
• It has multitudes of customization options at a very low price.

Cons

• It is not a powerful tool for large practices or hospitals.
• The system contains some nuances which take a lot of time to learn.
• It has inefficient features; for instance, when a practitioner is searching for something in the history data, the system displays unrelated lists.
• It does not have any options to add extensive patient details.
• NextGen’s charting does not fit the needs of physicians, and many turn to paper charting again.

Growth of Electronic Medical Records Software Market (EMR)

Ranking of Best to Worst EMR Systems for Doctors

Doctors often use electronic medical record system software to organize patient history, medical data, billing systems, and prescriptions. Some EMRs are the best to use, whereas others might not bring good experiences to doctors.

EpicCare EMR

EpicCare EMR is a fast, doctor-friendly EMR software recognized as the industry-leading, reliable medical record system.

In comparison to all other EMR systems, it is far ahead of its competitors. Epic establishes its interfacing methodology in adherence to HL7 compliance standards.

Its simplistic yet adaptable design and epic system integration have brought transformation by making day-to-day operations easy for both healthcare providers and patients.

Pros 

• It has an incredibly versatile ability to furnish a lot of functions to all its users in the healthcare industry.
• Collecting medication, organizing meetings, scheduling appointments, and arranging history are some of the functions that work well.

Cons

• After its updates, putting up orders for patients is not easy.
• Epic’s customer support is not very responsive to the requested user-friendly changes.
• To some users, it is complicated to work with Epic because it is time-consuming.

AdvancedMD

On the second spot, AdvancedMD is a good EMR offering many customizable features that make it suitable for any size of practice. Its interface has detailed scheduling and prescription tracking options.

AdvancedMD covers medical staff’s needs, whether they require fundamental or advanced features. It is adaptable enough to match the needs of different kinds of practices.

Its primary dashboard requires some effort to learn how to use it properly. However, once doctors figure out how it works, they can perform tasks with ease to help run practices more efficiently.

Pros

• AdvancedMD has an all-inclusive scheduling interface.
• It is a versatile EMR for different sizes of practices.
• Its prescription tracking capability is excellent.

Cons

• It takes time to learn well to use it efficiently.
• It has higher prices than some other EMRs.

Greenway Health Intergy 

After Epic and AdvancedMD, Greenway Health Intergy is another flexible EMR system. It not only offers multiple training options but also optimal customer service.

It is highly customizable, which means it is ideal for large medical practices to help them handle a variety of patients and cases.

However, it may take time for doctors to learn different aspects of Greenway.

Pros

• This EMR system has many flexible features.
• It collects shortcuts systematically to streamline tasks of practice.
• Offers outstanding training options as well as optimal customer service.

Cons 

• Its interface, once updated, can make it a bit more complex.
• It takes a considerable amount of time to learn the custom options to use the system well.

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Conclusion

Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems are considered a life-saving resource for the healthcare industry. However, they are not without disadvantages. Whether it is the best or the least useful EMR, each has its own pros and cons that make it useful for specific needs. If EMRs are chosen without taking proper measures, they can give rise to unprecedented risks.

Since the healthcare industry involves dealing with the lives of people, even tiny mismanagement can take someone’s life. Therefore, it is vital that you do a thorough analysis of each system and choose an online medical record system that fits the best before implementing it. Learn about the benefits of EMR in medical billing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best and bad free EMR systems?

Free EMR systems have certain features that are limited. Some popular free options include OpenEMR, One Touch EMR, FreeMed, and Hippocrate.

Who are the top EHR vendors in the USA, UK, Australia, and Canada?

Allscripts competes well in the UK and Canada, whereas AlthenaHealth, eClinicalWorks, EpicCare, and AdvancedMD have their services spread across the four countries.

Are you a therapist? We have suggestions on the top EHR for therapists.

What Are The Top 3 EHR Systems?

• Epic
• Cerner
• Allscripts

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