If you’re researching the different types of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems on the marketplace today, the odds are good that your practice is probably losing money right now.
You’ve probably identified inefficiencies and time-wasting tasks around the practice, either because you don’t currently have an EHR or because the one you’re using is letting you down.
Maybe you didn’t know how to choose an EHR system when you purchased your current one, and you didn’t really know what you were looking for. Or maybe you bought a big-box solution thinking it was the best on the market, when what you really needed was an EHR for small practices.
In either case, we’re here to help! This blog will walk you through how to select an EHR based on your practice’s unique needs and workflow.
We’re going to make sure you don’t overspend on something you don’t really need, while ensuring what you do invest in doesn’t underdeliver.
Key Takeaways
- What Is an EHR?
- Why are EHR Systems Important For Health Professionals?
- How to Choose the Right EHR
- Factors to Consider When Choosing an EHR
- The Top Questions To Ask When Choosing an Independent Practice EHR
- What Is the Best EHR?
What Is an EHR?
We should first define our terms, because you may have heard the terms EHR, EMR, and PHR used interchangeably, or seen ads for solutions that claim to be all 3-in-1.
It’s important to know there are important distinctions among them:
- EHR stands for Electronic Health Record. An EHR is a comprehensive digital record that includes both clinical and billing information from a variety of healthcare sources, such as physicians, hospitals, laboratories, imaging centers, and other medical providers.
- EMR stands for Electronic Medical Record. An EMR refers specifically to the digital version of a patient’s medical chart within a single practice or healthcare organization. It typically includes clinical data, financial information, vaccination history, prescribed medications, allergies, and other relevant medical records.
- PHR stands for Personal Health Record. The primary distinction of a PHR is that it is managed and maintained by the patient. It contains health information that the individual chooses to enter and control directly.
Why are EHR Systems Important For Health Professionals?
There are a lot of different EHR systems out there, but you can’t simply choose any one… or the cheapest one. Your EHR system is more than just another tool for your staff.
If you choose the right one, it should be the operating system for your entire practice. It should be a time-reclaimer, a cost-saver, and a patient-time-protector.
For most practice owners, their first EHR experience comes from their previous life, working in larger facilities and on much larger solutions. This gives them a really good idea of what they don’t want.
“I have worked with a wide variety of EHRs and have always been frustrated by the lack of functionality and the customer support quality,” said Sunflower DPC’s Dr. Shauna Guthrie, MD, MPH, FAAFP.
She added, “I knew I needed an EHR to run my practice and spent a lot of time researching the different options. It was important to me to have a patient portal since I am serving my patients remotely.”
If you are struggling to implement a new EHR solution, the odds are good that you have more than you need. You might have been sold on enterprise-level functionality, when in fact, you needed an EHR for small practices.
“We were using only 20% of the functionality of our EHR because it was so difficult to use,” said Jody Layne, Chief Operating Officer, Florida Center for Hormones and Wellness.
“We were looking for a company that would innovate with us.”
The key is finding a solution that runs lean and helps you do the same, while also offering the flexibility to scale with you as you grow.
How to Choose the Right EHR
Now that we’ve framed the importance of making the right decision, we’re going to show you how to do it.
Like any major business decision, it boils down to a combination of considering the right factors and asking the right questions.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an EHR
Every practice is different, with unique patients and particular challenges. However, we have found that most Direct Primary Care (DPC), cash-pay, and functional/integrative medicine clinics all prioritize the following:
Usability
The world‘s most advanced solution isn’t much good to you if it’s too advanced for the people in your office. Simplicity and a clean interface are crucial.
But remember, usability also includes ongoing support to answer any questions or problems.
Integration and Interoperability
What other tools does this EHR sync with? Are you going to be able to use it to order specialty labs? What payment merchants does it sync with?
Compliance
We don’t have to tell you that you were in a heavily-regulated industry, with a high focus on protecting your patients’ sensitive information. Your EHR needs to be HIPAA-compliant, including e-prescribing.
Affordability
Remember, there is nothing more expensive than the cheapest solution on the market.
We understand that you might have a thin budget and razor-thin margins. However, don’t focus exclusively on price; focus on value.
Ask yourself how many hours of patient care this solution can help you win back. What’s the value of that?
“We did a little mini calculation once, comparing Cerbo to an older EHR,” said Natalie Corbin-Ricchiuti (CLE) from Campbell Family Practice.
“I won’t say the name. But it was hundreds of hours per year that we saved.”
The Top Questions To Ask When Choosing an Independent Practice EHR
Here are some important questions to ask when you’re being pitched an EHR solution, or when they are walking you through a demo.
Who is this EHR for?
Who is their target market? Are they focused chiropractic clinics? Or Medi spa? They should be able to give you an honest answer about who their target market is. Beware answers that sound too vague.
Who is this EHR NOT for?
That vague answer above would be anything that sounds like they’re trying to be all things for all people. This is a big red flag. They should be able to honestly tell you something like, “We’re not a great fit for insurance-heavy practices, but we’re perfect for cash-pay and subscription models.”
If they’re promising to be a good fit for everybody, they are not exceptional at serving anybody. And you need exceptional, specialized help in this sector.
What is your onboarding process like?
Again, you don’t have any time for vagueness. This is important. Ask them what their average onboarding time is. Which of their client had needs close to your own, and how long did it take for them to be fully onboarded?
How will the patient data be transferred? Whose responsibility is this? How long will that take? What ongoing resources will my staff have if they have any questions?
Tell us about your customer support.
Every SaaS company promises great customer support. But everybody has a different definition of what that means.
To some, it may mean a helpful library of frequently asked questions to browse from if you have any issues. Other companies might have an email address for you to send your questions and concerns.
Both of those things can be very helpful, but there is no substitute for a human being who can help you— someone who knows all the technical ins and outs of the product, and knows the people on your team by name.
Choosing an EHR FAQs
Who Uses EHR Systems?
Every person on your staff should use your EHR system. Because if you choose the right one, there should be something there that can make everybody’s day easier.
Your physician team should be able to spend more time with their patients, because they’re no longer losing hours to charting, correspondence, and other administrative burdens.
At the same time, if you are using virtual assistants or have an office manager/administrator on staff, they should not have to jump between multiple tools for things like scheduling or checking the patient portal for messages.
Is Your Current EHR the Problem? (The Warning Signs)
This is really one of the most important questions. Is your current EHR solution hurting your productivity and your bottom line? If so, how much is it costing you?
As we have already mentioned, the right EHR solution should give your clinical staff their time back. They shouldn’t be wasting hours of their valuable time on low-cost administrative tasks.
However, ask yourself if your EHR gives you access to the high-level data you need to make more informed business decisions. Because if it doesn’t, your EHR could be literally keeping you from scaling as we speak.
“Data gathering is really important to understand from the clinical side. Functional medicine requires better retrospective data, said Jeff Hunter from Upstream Functional Medicine.
“Even if we’re not doing research studies, we need to be able to show certain practices yield certain kinds of results.”
Are EHRs more secure than paper records?
We know what a lot of old-school physicians would tell you. Paper records can’t be hacked or phished.
However, contrary to what they would tell you, a properly vetted and implemented EHR solution is more secure than paper records.
However, a big part of that is staff training and onboarding. Because just like in any business, your cybersecurity strategy is only as secure as the people following the policies and procedures. Human beings are always the most vulnerable points for hackers to attack.
What Is the Best EHR?
Cerbo was named the 2025 Battle of the EHRs Champion by My DPC Story, based on a survey of almost 300 people in the DPC space, including physicians and clinic teams.
At the same time, all of the physicians quoted in this guide were happy Cerbo customers who have seen the operational difference the right EHR can make.
“I can’t stress enough how important it is to choose the right system from day one… This is a long-term investment, and the system you pick will directly impact your practice’s efficiency,” said Cara Direct Care’s Manager/ Happy Cerbo user, Paula Tomczyk.
“Switching EHRs seven years in was not easy… But the new system made things much easier. The workflow is more efficient, and we can see everything we need in one place.”
Are we the right EHR solution for you?
