Today, the medical world has migrated from paper-based records to digital methods of storing information in the form ofelectronic health records (EHR). EHRs allow doctors and nurses to consolidate patients’ medical histories in a digital file to easily navigate patient data. There are various types of EHR systems in the medical world today.

While introducing the technology has been costly, different types of EHR platforms have revolutionized patient data storage. Leveraging EHRs, health care organizations of all sizes are improving their caregiving techniques and reducing unnecessary costs.

What Is EHR?

Electronic health records are an integral part of the health care industry. Gone are the days when doctors and nurses used papers and pens to note individual patients’ vitals. The digital revolution played a major role in spreading the awareness of EHRs and their benefits to hospitals worldwide. Today, there are multiple types of EHR software dedicated to optimizing the process of medical data storage and sharing.

Different types of EHR systems enable doctors to track essential data in times of emergencies, access checkup details of individual patients and monitor patients’ vitals, such as blood pressure and sugar levels, over time. It enhances workflows and accessibility as EHRs store medical records in a single computer system. This technology is a holy grail for organizations to ramp up their facilities’ productivity and efficiency not just clinically but economically as well.

Choosing the right EHR solution for your clinic is of paramount importance. While the right product will streamline processes and help physicians deliver better care, the wrong one can disrupt your services. In this article, we have included an overview of the different types of EHR solutions available on the market to provide a clear picture of the applications and their benefits.

A regulation approved by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates that all medical practices must send claims electronically. This has further boosted the adoption of EHR across the US.

How Does EMR Differ From EHR?

Hospitals and clinics often use EMRs and EHRs to streamline clinical processes and keep doctors and nurses connected and updated with critical patient information. Although hospitals use both applications to store health information, maintain patient records and simplify several administrative workflows, these solutions have quite a significant number of differences.

While an EMR is a digitized version of paper charts that offers a comprehensive view of a patient’s medical history, EHRs collect and compile their holistic health journeys, including digital records and health information across treatments and providers. With EMRs, patients can only view their data, whereas EHRs offer them role-based access control, allowing them to make changes to records.

To summarize, an EMR is used extensively by hospitals and clinics for internal record keeping. Though used widely, EMRs do have some limitations. For instance, only specific physicians can access the data stored in an EMR. Patients cannot move EMRs if they decide to switch hospitals or physicians.

On the other hand, EHRs go beyond standard clinical data collection to promote interoperability and share information with other health care providers, such as laboratories and specialists, to provide a complete overview of a patient’s health.

When choosing an EHR program, you should consider your clinic’s requirements strongly.

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Key Features

We see you have decided to purchase an EHR solution for your clinic. But have you considered how you are going to choose the best system among the different types of EHR systems available? No? So let’s look at the different kinds of EHRs and, before that, EHR key features. Any EHR worth its salt should support the following capabilities:

• Charts: Eliminate charts from getting lost by incorporating medical records into the digital space. Provide physicians with digitized content to read rather than handwritten documents.
• Patient Portals: Enable patients to visit a clinic’s portal to access their medical profile for their past visits, medication histories and lab results.
• Claims Processing: Readily send claims to insurance companies and agents for quick resolution of medical payments. Provide timely updates to patients about the claim status and increase their satisfaction.
• Patient Statuses: Record patient journeys and update medical staff about the same. This allows them to send wait notifications to patients beforehand to keep them posted.
• Support: Optimize EHR with a scheduling system feeding the new, changed and modified appointments to it directly. This automates the appointment booking process overall and saves time.

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Primary Benefits

The benefits of EHRs are manifold in the health care industry. Today, EHRs are used widely to standardize documentation, prevent errors and create error-free charts. Here are some of the benefits you can expect from implementing and adopting an EHR platform:

• Streamline Office Coordination: Allow doctors, nurses and staff within an organization to communicate seamlessly. Prior to a consultation, update doctors with essential patient data.
• Minimize Errors: Restrict the influx of errors into records from handwritten memos. Electronically save patient information and standardize records. Paper trails often get lost, resulting in misdiagnosis or an improper prescription endangering the patient’s life.
• Improve Patient Care: Doctors can view patient data through charts and dashboards that help them provide proper care. Improve patients’ and care providers’ relationships by empowering patients to track their medical histories and become better advocates of their health.
• Attain Accurate Patient Information: Ready-made digital files help care providers gauge patients’ past medical histories and decide the best course of care accordingly. Physicians can update the files in real-time keeping everything up to date.
• Achieve Interoperability: EHRs often come with integration options with medical software such as EMR. This allows patients and physicians to change care settings without worrying about file sharing.

Top EHR Software

• athenahealth — 96
• DrChrono — 94
• EpicCare — 93
• Cerner Ambulatory — 99
• eClinicalWorks — 98

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athenahealth

athenahealth is a cloud-based EHR platform that caters to hospitals and clinics of all sizes. It provides multiple features such as patient engagement, a patient portal and more to remove administrative burdens from clinicians’ shoulders. It also helps clinics increase business with an integrated suite of solutions.

athenahealth’s platform helps doctors stay on track of patient’s health insurance and other medical information.

Physicians can leverage the athenahealth network to connect with health care professionals nationwide. Further, the support team is available through phone and email.

Top 5 Highest-rated Modules According to Our Jumpstart Platform Data

• Ad Hoc Reporting — 100
• Patient Chart Management — 100
• Documentation Management — 100
• Auto-schedule Reports — 100
• Flowsheet — 100

Features Not Included

• Patient Kiosks — Supported with partner integrations
• Email Support — Not Supported
• Dashboards — Moderately Supported

Note: athenahealth scores highest among the products on the list.

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DrChrono

DrChrono offers benefits for independent practitioners among the different types of EHR systems. It offers features such as e-prescribing, a patient portal, claim management and more. It helps clinicians connect scheduling, clinical workflows and billing seamlessly to attain easier operations all over.

Organize multiple medical operations through DrChrono’s EHR solution.

Medical staff can also leverage customizable medical forms and charting shortcuts to boost efficiency. Furthermore, it allows physicians to organize online appointments without downloading additional applications.

Top 5 Highest-rated Modules According to Our Jumpstart Platform Data

• Dynamic Scaling — 100
• Patient Chart Management — 100
• Immunization Management — 100
• Flowsheets — 85
• Order Management — 85

Features Not Included

• Ad Hoc Reporting — Not Supported
• Auto-schedule Reports — Not Supported
• Check-out — Moderately Supported
• Speech Recognition — Not Supported
• Financial Dashboards — Not supported

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EpicCare

An EHR solution, EpicCare caters to large hospitals and medical enterprises worldwide. It helps clinicians document and record every detail of patients through their care journeys. Meaningful Use Stages 1 and 2 certification provides medical professionals with the tools to streamline workflows and increase productivity.

EpicCare’s catalog of patients’ details throughout their medical journeys.

It provides several features, including analytics, revenue cycle management and more. It further supports clinicians in providing telemedicine services seamlessly.

Top 5 Highest-rated Modules According to Our Jumpstart Platform Data

• Ad Hoc Reporting — 100
• Dynamic Scaling — 100
• Dashboards — 100
• Patient Vital Monitoring — 100
• Medication Management — 100

Features Not Included

• Auto-schedule Reports — Not Supported
• Live Training — Not Supported
• In-product Help — Not Supported
• FAQs — Not Supported
• Customized Templates — Not Supported

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CernerAmbulatory

Cerner’s Powerchart Ambulatory system is a hybrid EHR solution that empowers clinicians from any specialty with medical software. It optimizes workflows and clinical functions while providing high-end integration capabilities with other medical devices. It can create EHR files for multiple patients on the go and supports both on-premise and cloud installations.

Check patient overviews including summaries, immunizations, vitals growth charts and more with Cerner Ambulatory.

What makes it a success is the easy-to-use interface for acute ambulatory settings that helps doctors improve the quality of care. Furthermore, it provides various features such as charting, clinical intelligence and more.

Top 5 Highest-rated Modules According to Our Jumpstart Platform Data

• Auto-schedule Reports — 100
• Flowsheets — 100
• Patient Chart Management — 100
• Scalability — 100
• Training Material — 100

Features Not Included

• Reporting — Not Supported
• Processing Claims — Not Supported
• Order Management — Not Supported
• Results Management — Not Supported

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eClinicalWorks

An EHR and practice management solution, eClinicalWorks is a popular system catering to independent clinics and large hospitals. With features such as documentation, scheduling, device integrations and more, it provides clinicians with all the necessary tools for delivering care.

Automate mundane clinical tasks with eClinicalWorks.

It also provides Eva, a virtual assistant that is capable of reviewing important documents and patient records, freeing up time for medical staff. It allows clinics to move to digital forms of charting and record keeping, discarding the old tradition of hand-written documents.

Top 5 Highest-rated Modules According to Our Jumpstart Platform Data

• Ad Hoc Reporting — 100
• Auto-schedule Reports — 100
• Flowsheets — 100
• Patient Vitals — 100
• Document Management — 100

Features Not Included

• Custom Templates —Moderately Supported
• In-product Help — Not Supported
• Live Training — Not Supported
• Speech Recognition — Not Supported

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Types of Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems

Today, multiple types of EHR systems are widely adopted and are used by health care facilities worldwide. They work seamlessly with health care providers, improve patient care, and help health care organizations stay compliant and reduce medical costs.

Choosing the right EHR software for your facility is essential to obtain maximum efficiency. That said, let us take a look at the different types of EHRs one can choose from.

Cloud-based EHR Software

The 21st century is often called the “age of the cloud.” Rightly so — cloud applications have been one of the breakthroughs of this century. Similar to all other industries, the medical sector has implemented cloud technology in various applications, including EHRs.

A cloud-based EHR allows you to store and access patients’ data online via the web. By opting for cloud-based EHR platforms, clinics can save overhead costs as third-party vendors handle the external servers — its security and any software updates.

Patients get unrestricted access to their medical profiles, though they are not allowed to edit them. Clinics can avail themselves of cloud services on a low-cost subscription basis. In addition, through cloud services, many clinics extend SaaS features and back-office services into a cloud network for patients to avail themselves. Clinics can save the additional cost that needs to be given to IT professionals otherwise to manage the on-premise systems.

Physician-hosted Systems

This type of application stores patient data on physicians’ or organizations’ servers. The traditional model of EHR programs, physician-hosted solutions, can be costly, as organizations must churn out capital for purchasing hardware and software. In addition, a clinic has to physically install the product onto a computer or server at the location.

This type of EHR platform has a principal downtime as you must shut down the infrastructure while installing updates and patches. You should use the physician-hosted EHR system if you own a large organization. Revenue should cover the overhead costs for purchasing and maintaining the program.

Remotely-Hosted Systems

This application stores patient data on the vendor’s servers instead of the physician’s server. This considerably cuts down the cost of handling hardware and software and is a more advanced technology than the traditional EHR product. ASPs usually help medium-sized businesses that have limited capital and want to avoid straight-up program purchase costs.

Furthermore, you can access the system and your data when connected to the internet. ASPs also take care of updates and upgrades, taking the load off a clinic’s shoulders. It falls under three broad categories:

• Subsidized: For small practices, the subsidized EHR model is a holy grail. Here, physicians enter into a relationship with a third-party entity that subsidizes the cost of the EHR server. However, in this model, the physician loses ownership of medical data, which later gives rise to ownership issues.
• Dedicated: In this model, the physician enters into a pact with the vendor and keeps the EHR in a specific location. Although the doctor cannot control the data, they are aware of where it is kept.
• Cloud: As mentioned above, cloud-based EHR is one of the most popular systems in use worldwide. Here, patient data stays in a server managed by the vendor with 24/7 accessibility for physicians and medical staff. Further, instead of a straight-up payment, clinics can make monthly or yearly payments.

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Challenges of EHR

No software is devoid of any downsides. Different types of Electronic Health Record systems have some challenges and limitations. Let’s take a look at where these programs fall behind in the medical industry:

• Security: The safety of patient data is paramount to both clinics and patients. Though EHRs provide sufficient security countermeasures, practices often lack trained users to leverage them. You need to scope for EHR solutions compatible with the security protocols in place at your facility.
• Costly: EHR implementation incurs variable costs to medical institutions. Small-sized and medium-sized businesses must spend a large share of their budget to afford the system. Further, pairing with other medical devices might cost extra.
• Not User-friendly: A user-friendly interface is essential for software as people from different technical backgrounds use the same tools. This is what an EHR lacks. Data transfers can be incredibly challenging and give a hard time to doctors referring specialists to their patients.
• Downtime: EHRs face considerable downtime due to their over-dependency on computer systems. Power outages and program maintenance can cause downtime that may last for weeks or even months.
• Time-consuming Training: EHRs can come with a steep learning curve for medical professionals and staff. Your team needs to spend time and effort learning the features of the system to properly leverage it. The additional time can cause some business downtime.

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Conclusion

EHRs have been at the center stage of medical records collection and protection for the past few decades. Health care clinics worldwide readily adopt user-friendly and intelligent products to improve their record collection and storage process. Having said that, EHRs are a rapidly-changing technology that helps doctors improve the quality of care delivery. The technology is seen as the future of health care, and new uses are found daily.

Purchasing an EHR platform can be tricky. There are several factors to consider before choosing one suitable for your practice. As it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, you have several types of EHRs. Depending on your needs, you can look through the options and choose the right one to automate the tedious and time-consuming processes. The optimal EHR will revolutionize your storage and help advance your practice.

Now that you have gained considerable knowledge about the EHR, its benefits and its types, here are a few tools and services that will help you select the right one for the practice.

• Check out our EHR pricing guide to know more about the total cost of EHR implementation.
• Want to know more about the top EHR vendors in the market? Head to our website and look at an analyst’s report.
• Want to know more about the types of EHR systems out there? Jumpstart the selection process with our EHR System Requirement template.

What type of EHR do you use to manage patient health records? Let us know in the comments below.