types of EMR

The confusing thing for providers and hospitals is choosing which EMR to buy. In this blog I will talk about the types of EMR systems available. In another blog I will talk about how to actually choose. This website had some valuable rankings: http://www.providersedge.com/ehdocs/ehr_articles/2004_EMR_Survey_Summary_Report.pdf There is Meditouch, Allscripts,eclinical works,Greenway Primesuite2011, Aprima, 2011 Waiting Room Solutions, Vitera Intergy, NueMDComplete,ADP Advanced MD EHR Software,Care Cloud charts EHR, Cerner, and over 80 more. I was shocked to learn about so many different companies. I had no idea. I thought maybe there were 10 main companies, but obviously, I was wrong. I now understand how this can be confusing. There are some types of EMRs that are better for clinics, or hospitals. Below is an example chart from http://www.softwareadvice.com/medical/electronic-medical-record-software-comparison/

At our hospital we use Cerner for inpatient and outpatient services. It is interesting because I have heard people say it is not bad for inpatient but not outpatient. And I believe Cerner was originally designed for inpatient. The chart also list Cerner for inpatient. I have heard very good reviews about eclinical works for primary care clinics. Also, my former hospital used Epic. It was cool to see how these EMRs are organized. Another thing is that there are many systems that are built for specific specialties. It will be interesting to see how all these systems will eventually merge or talk to each other.