10 Best EHR Software Of 2024 (2024)

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• DrChrono: Best for iOS mobile use
• Practice Fusion: Best for independent practices
• Kareo Clinical: Best for small practice medical billing
• Netsmart myUnity: Best for long-term care practices
• AdvancedMD: Best for large group practices
• NextGen: Best for population health outcomes
• athenahealth: Best for large healthcare organizations
• eClinicalWorks: Best for telehealth technology
• Valant: Best for behavioral health practices
• Cerner: Best for multiple site organizations

The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content to guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.

To find the best EHR software solutions, we considered over 25 of the leading providers in the space and narrowed it down to 15. These were then evaluated across five key categories and 18 different metrics. Our ratings consider factors such as transparent pricing, employee self-sufficiency, compatibility with third-party integrations, access to customer support and ratings. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

An EHR is a digitized version of a patient’s medical chart. Examples of the data found in EHRs include:

• Patient demographics
• Allergy information
• Medical histories
• Vital signs
• Medication histories
• Immunization records
• Diagnoses
• Lab test results
• Progress notes

An EHR system is a software program that allows for EHRs to be securely created, updated and shared across healthcare organizations in real time.

An EHR and EMR are both digital versions of a patient’s chart. However, EMRs cannot be shared, transferred or accessed as easily across healthcare organizations. EHRs, in contrast, are designed to be shareable with everyone involved in a patient’s care, such as doctors, laboratories and specialists.

EMRs also give a narrower scope when it comes to patient data. An EMR can give you patient demographic, diagnosis, treatment and disease progression data. An EHR contains all of the same information, plus more detailed data regarding a patient’s medical history. EHRs give a much more holistic view of a patient’s history than EMRs.

For more information, get the complete breakdown on EHR vs. EMR.

Modern medicine and digital technology go hand-in-hand. A greater and more seamless flow of information within an EHR system has transformed care delivery―bringing along with it, many benefits.

Improved Patient Care

EHRs can improve patient care quality by making it more convenient for providers and patients. Quick access to legible records from inpatient and remote locations provides more coordinated, efficient care.

Increase Patient Participation

EHR software can increase patient participation by making healthcare more convenient. Telehealth allows flexibility to be seen without traveling to an appointment. Communication between provider and patient is made easier by sharing information back and forth through secure emails, providing health information through patient portals and getting prescriptions ordered and ready even before leaving the provider’s office with e-prescribing.

Improved Care Coordination

EHRs can decrease the fragmentation of care by improving care coordination. They integrate and organize patient health information, which facilitates instant distribution among all authorized providers involved in a patient’s care.

With EHRs, every provider can have the same up-to-date information about a patient. This is especially important with patients who are:

• Seeing multiple specialists
• Receiving treatment in emergency settings
• Making transitions between care settings

Better availability of patient information can reduce medical errors and unnecessary tests. It can also reduce the chance that one specialist will not know about a relevant condition managed by another specialist.

Improved Diagnostic and Patient Outcomes

EHRs improve the aggregation, analysis and communication of patient information, allowing healthcare providers access to complete and accurate information. This access enhances the ability to diagnose disease and reduce medical errors, leading to a better quality of care and improved patient outcomes.

Practice Efficiencies and Cost Savings

EHRs help improve practice efficiencies and cost savings in many ways. Here are a few:

• Reduced transcription costs―with a few clicks, the visit is charted completely and coded before the patient leaves the clinic
• Reduced paper chart pulls, storage and refiling costs
• Reduced medical errors through better access to patient data and error prevention alerts
• Improved medical practice management through integrated scheduling systems that link appointments directly to progress notes automate coding and manage claims

Choosing the best EHR system for your practice can help increase patient outcomes and practice efficiencies, such as trimming down documentation time, saving money and staying up to date on the most current and efficient processes.

Every practice is unique and will have slightly different requirements for the EHR they select. When you begin your EHR search, know what you want and need from an EHR. Some key points to consider when choosing the best EHR system for your practice include available features and types of EHR software.

Here are the key features to evaluate when choosing the best EHR software:

• Billing: Streamlines billing and claims processing, resulting in faster payment and increased revenue.
• Electronic prescriptions: Providers electronically send an accurate, error-free and understandable prescription directly to a pharmacy from the point of care.
• Patient portal: An efficient and practical means for patients to communicate with their clinicians and become more involved in their healthcare by accessing outpatient laboratory and radiology results.
• Scheduling: Keeps your practice fully booked and operational by allowing the patient to easily schedule an appointment online or through their patient portal while sending out appointment reminders.
• Telehealth: Secure, HIPAA-compliant and user-friendly solution to connect providers with patients when time, distance or other circ*mstances make an in-office visit difficult.

Types of EHR Systems

Physician-hosted systems

EHR data is stored on the physician’s servers. The physician is responsible for maintenance, security and data backup on purchased hardware and software. While the data remains under the physician’s control, vendors can include a disabling code in their software. In a dispute, the vendor can hold the data hostage.

Remote systems

EHR data is stored on another entity’s servers. This other entity is responsible for keeping the data and would also be responsible for maintenance, security and data backup. The data is under the control of the third party rather than under the control of the physician.

There are three types of remotely hosted EHR systems:

Subsidized system

Under this system, an entity with whom the physician has a relationship, such as a hospital, subsidizes the financing for the EHR. Typically the subsidizing entity’s servers are utilized rather than the physician’s, so the physician does not have control over the data.

Dedicated hosted system

Under this system, the physician does not store the EHR data on their servers. Instead, the data is stored on the vendor’s dedicated servers. While the physician cannot control data storage, the data is stored on servers in specific, known physical locations.

Cloud-based system

Under this system, the physician does not store the EHR data on their servers, but rather the vendor keeps the data on the internet (in the cloud). The physician’s computers do not have the EHR software; the software is accessed through the vendor’s website.

If your healthcare practice is considering getting an EHR system, it’s best to follow these steps to ensure the right decisions are made.

1. Assess Your Organization’s Readiness

Before searching for an EHR system, consider whether you’re ready to use one, both financially and operationally. Make sure you have a strong business case and the right budget to implement a new system.

2. Build an Implementation Road Map

Once you’ve decided you’re ready for an EHR, create a plan for how to make that happen. Your road map should answer questions such as:

• Who are the stakeholders who need to sign off on each decision?
• How long will the system take to be completely implemented?
• How and when will staff be notified and trained on the EHR system?

3. Choose a Certified EHR

There are many robust EHR systems on the market. It’s important to note that you should opt for a certified EHR over a noncertified one. Certified EHRs meet the functionality and security requirements set by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

4. Train Staff on How To Use Your EHR System

Getting a new system is only half the battle—the other half is making sure all staff are trained and comfortable using it.

Many EHR systems come with training programs, but it’s important to do your due diligence and check to see if the existing programs have:

• Role-based training, so that everyone receives the appropriate training for their specific job function
• Strong customer or account support functions, so that any follow-up questions can be answered quickly and accurately
• Feedback loops for improvements to be made continuously

5. Plan Your Go-Live Lead-Up

Going live with a new system is a big deal, so it’s important to have plans and protections in place leading up to it. For example, you should:

• Determine system testing needs before and immediately after you go live
• Figure out how much downtime there will be, if any, during the transition between systems
• Make a plan for communicating your change in systems to current patients
• Back up your data as a fail-safe

Assess Learnings and Make Improvements

After your system goes live, you can compare metrics such as patient satisfaction rate, physician satisfaction rate and error rates to what they were pre-implementation. Continue to monitor your practice’s performance and make any adjustments necessary based on feedback.

To determine the best EHR software, Forbes Advisor researched providers in the space and narrowed it down to the 15 top providers. We analyzed these across five primary categories for a total of 18 different metrics. The criteria were then weighted to favor features that matter most to users. The best EHR software had the best overall scores based on our methodology.

Here are the metrics we used to evaluate and rank the top EHR software:

Pricing

For pricing, we considered the availability of pricing transparency, the cost per month, the number of users plans included, the availability of free trials, free trial length and money-back guarantees. Pricing accounts for 10% of our total score.

General Features

We paid particular attention to the general features of the EHR software, which include telehealth, practice management, billing, e-prescription, patient portal and scheduling. All the EHR software that made our list has these features. These key features make up 30% of our score.

Unique Features

In addition to the core features mentioned above, we also looked at the availability of more unique features that matter for certain practices. For example, the inclusion of a reporting dashboard, revenue cycle management, the availability of third-party integrations and communication tools. These unique features make up 20% of our score.

Third-Party Reviews

To gain a deeper understanding of what users think of the EHR solutions, we look at third-party reviews. This considers not only the average rating per provider but also the number of reviews. These third-party ratings and reviews make up 10% of our score.

Expert Score

We also put together an expert score for qualitative factors such as standout features, value for money, popularity and ease of use. Expert score makes up 30% of our score.

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