Top Electronic Health Records (EHR) software

There is ehr software and then there is EHR software.  When asked which company is the best my answer is ... you guessed: "it depends".  Here are some factors to keep in mind:
- size of the practice
- specialization
- certification (CCHIT for now)
- features
- quality of support
- number of sites
- location of data (local or cloud)
- sales rep likeability factor ( ... oops, scratch this one :-))


It is rather hard to compare EHR packages.  Klas is an organization that attempts to do that.   Here is their 2009 top 20 best of Klas awards for EHR.  Please use this information as a starting point.  As I mentioned there are other factors to keep in mind.  


2009 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Professional Services Awards


Over 100 Physicians
1. Epic EpicCare Ambulatory EMR
2. NextGen EMR
3. Allscripts Enterprise EHR


26-100 Physicians
1. eClinicalWorks EMR
2. NextGen EMR
3. Allscripts Enterprise EHR


6-25 Physicians
1. Greenway Medical PrimeSuite Chart
2. e-MDs Chart
3. Optimed CHARTCARE EMR (CLINICARE)
4. Sage Intergy EHR
5. eClinicalWorks EMR
6. NextGen EMR
7. McKesson Practice Partner EMR
8. Allscripts Professional EHR


2-5 Physicians
1. Greenway Medical PrimeSuite Chart
2. Amazing Charts EMR
3. Allscripts Professional EHR
4. e-MDs Chart
5. eClinicalWorks EMR
6. McKesson Practice Partner EMR
7. Aprima AprimaEHR (iMedica)
8. NextGen EMR
9. Sage Intergy EHR


1 Physician
1. e-MDs Chart
2. eClinicalWorks EMR
3. Aprima AprimaEHR (iMedica)


* Rankings were calculated in December 2009


Here is a quick description of KLAS is and how they come up with this classification.


Who is KLAS Enterprises?
KLAS Enterprises helps healthcare providers make informed technology decisions by offering accurate, honest, and impartial vendor performance information. KLAS independently monitors vendor performance through the active participation of thousands of healthcare organizations. KLAS uses a stringent methodology to ensure all data and ratings are accurate, honest and impartial. Research results are offered to healthcare providers through, a free directory of vendor and product information, free online access to vendor ratings for participating providers and in-depth published reports.


What is the purpose of KLAS research? 
Their mission is to improve healthcare technology delivery by honestly, accurately, and impartially measuring vendor performance.


Where does the data come from? 
KLAS speaks with hospital and clinic executives, administrators, physicians, nurses, and other directors and managers with business responsibilities regarding the experiences they are having with their vendors and products. Routinely, KLAS speaks with approximately 5,000 hospitals and nearly 3,000 ambulatory organizations annually in order to gather direct client feedback on vendor performance.


How does KLAS obtain and verify data? 
Evaluations are received online from the KLASresearch.com website, via fax, by email, or directly from one-on-one interviews with professionals from provider organizations. Each research participant responds to a standard set of questions. These answers, once they are aggregated and averaged, determine a vendor’s overall score and rank as reflected in KLAS reports and online databases. All completed evaluations are followed up with a confidential interview by a KLAS research analyst. Each phone call includes a candid conversation regarding the experience with the participant’s vendor(s). Appropriate comments from that conversation are included anonymously in the research. KLAS confirms the role and responsibility of the participant and assesses any conflict of interest. If an evaluation cannot be confirmed or corroborated as valid, it is discarded. Where the providers participate at the invitation of the vendor, KLAS more heavily scrutinizes the data for evidences of bias. The results are posted to the KLAS Database and subsequent.