The 8 Most Popular EHR Vendors

Choosing the right EHR has never been more important — Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program is about to begin. Nearly 50 healthcare providers are now facing this next stage without a certified EHR program after the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Techology (ONC) decertified two systems for not supporting information sharing.

Imagine starting from scratch with an entirely new system; where would you begin? As the final adopters of EHR get on board, there is a glut of information about which vendor to select. How does one narrow down the selection to ensure that the first vendor is the last vendor?

Recently, EHR buyer resource Software Advice released an updated list of the most popular EHR vendors using their own methodology. Gaby Loria, medical market researcher for Software Advice, said the methodology was created as “a way to determine which EHRs were being searched for, talked about, and used the most in the medical community.”

As Loria indicates, t

he list goes beyond market share to gauge public interest.

“By considering all three factors — search traffic, social media presence and user adoption level – our rankings can serve as a trustworthy resource for both small practices and larger health providers alike,” Loria added. Search volume was particularly of interest for them, as physicians looking to replace their EHR programs often researched online vendors recommended by their peers.

As the last stages of Meaningful Use are finalized and enacted, see if your EHR vendor makes the list of the most popular out there.

8. GE

GE’s appearance on this list may be surprising, as the conglomerate announced this April that it’s getting out of the hospital EHR market. Despite this, the company’s focus on small practices and user-friendly interface has made it quite popular. In relation to Software Advice’s metrics, GE Centricity leads the way in social media followers by a large margin; with more than 420,000 followers, it is more than 100,000 followers ahead of the next EHR company, AdvancedMD.

7. Medios

This EHR system, from the Miami company IOS Health Systems, is responsible for about 6% of the market share of medical record platforms. The web-based platform advertises itself as fully customizable for physicians, and includes features that are often requested, including voice recognition software. And while mobile access is another top-requested feature, Medios took it one step further, creating an app for Google Glass. While technological eyewear has not been the breakthrough we thought it would be, customers are pleased that Medios is already adapting its offerings for future platforms.

6. eClinicalWorks

eClinicalWorks has focused on digitization and automation of workflow in the healthcare sector since it launched in 1999, and continual evolutions of the company have made it popular among ambulatory care centers as well as industry analysts. Recently named one of the most interesting vendors by Healthcare Informatics, eClinicalWorks is the EHR vendor of choice for the City of New York and roughly 50% of all federally qualified health centers.

5. Meditech

Earlier this year, Meditech has made news by joining other top EHR vendors in the CommonWell information exchange network. But what the company is really excited about isn’t happening in the US; in July, it was announced that the Meditech EHR would be deployed throughout the country of Botswana, in all 28 public hospitals.

4. Cerner

According to Software Advice’s metrics, Cerner does well in both percentage of the market (6%) as well as number of social followers (101,041). But the true popularity of Cerner’s platform was revealed earlier this month, when the Department of Defense inked a $4.3 billion contract with a Cerner-led team to modernize the health records of millions of veterans and military personnel.

3. Practice Fusion

Practice Fusion dominates the search results metric: 35% of all EHR searches are about Practice Fusion. The company expanded its web-based EHR program this year to a native version for both Apple and Android-based tablets. And while the free system is still booming popularity with physicians, much of the search data could likely be associated with the speculation that the company will go public at some point in the very near future.

2. Allscripts

Investors are excited about the promises of Allscripts as a business, but what do physicians say? Customization is a huge plus for doctors and administrators, with many desired tools built into the software. But what if you need customer support? Not quite as great of a customer experience, according to a survey conducted by HealthcareIT News. But, the system is responsible for 8% of all EHR platforms in use.

1. Epic

Epic’s dominance of the EHR market has been just that — epic. Once again, using just about any metric out there, the Wisconsin-based vendor is leading the field. With around 15% of all EHR users operating on the EpicCare platform, it has the single-largest market share of any vendor. In 2014, the vendor was one of only two EHR companies not to lose any acute care customers. This is despite Epic having some of the largest implementation price tags in the industry.

But where are…?

These prominent EHR Vendors were not featured in Software Advice’s list of most popular vendors: McKesson, athenahealth, Care360, and Kareo. Siemens Health Services was bought out by Cerner this year, therefore it doesn’t appear in the list, either.