EHR System Comparison Guide

Despite recent gains in EHR adoption (nationwide rates recently passed 75 percent for office-based physicians), small practices, particularly those of five providers or less, lag behind the rest of the nation. EHR adoption rates for these practices hovered around 50 percent.

Resources are the obvious obstacle. Many first generation EHR systems required physicians to create a dedicated hosting infrastructure, a significant capital investment that includes multiple hardware purchases in addition to the EHR software license. Even with Meaningful Use incentives, the total cost of ownership for such a system was often more than small and medium sized practices were willing to invest.

However, in the last few years the market has shifted. More EHRs are now geared toward the needs of small and medium sized practices, particularly in the implementation phase. Instead of requiring physicians to build their own hosting infrastructure, many vendors now offer cloud-based products that physicians can easily access through the web, across devices. This guide will review the best EHR systems for small and medium sized practices.