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Updated Mar 20, 2024

The Best Medical Software of 2024

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Max Freedman, Business Operations Insider and Senior Analyst
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This guide was reviewed by a Business News Daily editor to ensure it provides comprehensive and accurate information to aid your buying decision.
Best for Medical Billing Companies
RXNT Medical Billing
RXNT logo
  • Starts at $110 per provider monthly
  • Offers medical biller software
  • Implementation & training included
Links to RXNT Medical Billing
  • Starts at $110 per provider monthly
  • Offers medical biller software
  • Implementation & training included
Best Workflow
CareCloud Medical Software
CareCloud company logo
  • Color-coded calendar
  • Comprehensive billing suite
  • Optimal patient experience
Links to CareCloud Medical Software
  • Color-coded calendar
  • Comprehensive billing suite
  • Optimal patient experience
Best for New Practices
DrChrono Medical Software
Dr. Chrono logo
  • Four pricing tiers
  • Flat or collections-based fees
  • Medical billing and management
Links to DrChrono Medical Software
  • Four pricing tiers
  • Flat or collections-based fees
  • Medical billing and management
Best for Large Practices
AdvancedMD Medical Software
AdvancedMD company logo
  • Custom service bundles
  • Competitive pricing
  • Hundreds of customizable reports
Links to AdvancedMD Medical Software
  • Custom service bundles
  • Competitive pricing
  • Hundreds of customizable reports
Best for Customization
Greenway Health Medical Software
Greenway Health company logo
  • Specialty-tailored platform
  • Both EMR system and PMS included
  • 500+ forms and templates
Links to Greenway Health Medical Software
  • Specialty-tailored platform
  • Both EMR system and PMS included
  • 500+ forms and templates

Table of Contents

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No modern medical practice can function without medical software. Without a comprehensive medical software platform, your healthcare organization will be stuck with an unorganized stack of paper records and patient charts that are tedious to even think about. The same goes for medical billing, which any doctor knows is much more confusing than creating and organizing medical notes. Medical software expedites all these tasks and more for small and large practices alike. Here are our best picks for medical software.

Why You Should Trust Us

At Business News Daily, our team of small business experts regularly evaluates hundreds of products and services that are essential to business operations. To determine the best medical software, we scoured the market and narrowed down our list of recommendations after in-depth, hands-on investigations that considered cost, features and ease of use, among other criteria. All evaluations were conducted with accuracy and fairness at top of mind. Learn more about our methodology.

Compare Our Best Picks

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Our Top Picks for 2024
RXNT Medical Billing
CareCloud Medical Software
DrChrono Medical Software
AdvancedMD Medical Software
Greenway Health Medical Software
athenahealth Medical Software
Tebra (Formerly Kareo) Medical Software
Rating8.8/108.4/109.0/108.8/108.5/109.0/108.8/10
Pricing

Medical Billing Companies

$628 per month, per provider

$249-$599 per month, per provider

$729 per month, per provider

$941 per month, per provider

$140 per month, per provider

$200-$500 per month, per provider

Fees

$110 per month, per provider (EMR); $193 per month, per provider (PMS); $298 per month, per provider (Full Suite)

Varying implementation and training fees up to $5,000

Implementation and training included

$5,000

Implementation and training included

Varying implementation and training fees up to $5,000

Implementation and training included

EPCS

Implementation and onboarding training included

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Lab integrations

Yes ($85 per year add-on fee)

Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp

Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp

Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp

Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp

Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp

Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp

Reports

Add-On

Dozens of prebuilt and customizable reports; MIPS/MACRA tracking report

Dozens of prebuilt and customizable reports

500+ custom reports

Dozens of highly customizable reports; more available through add-on Practice Analytics tools

140 prebuilt reports, highly customizable and connected to athenaNet database

Dozens of standard reports, customizable reports

Implementation

Dozens of pre-built reports

Varies by package

As little as 4 weeks; includes dedicated account manager

8-11 weeks; includes dedicated account manager

90-120 days, depending on customization required; includes implementation specialists

4-6 weeks; includes dedicated account manager

Duration varies; includes dedicated account manager

Training

4 to 8 weeks

Varies by implementation package

Training included in subscription price

28 hours of online training and self-guided resources included in implementation fee

Interactive academy that offers virtual, role-based training courses with live instructors

Ongoing consultative approach

1-on-1 training, recorded webinars, and self-guided training in Kareo University

Mobile app

Weekly onboarding coaching

iOS, Andriod

iOS

iOS

iOS

iOS, Android

iOS

Medical billing service

iOS/Android

Yes

Yes

Yes, but no coding

Yes

Yes, but sometimes no coding or denied/rejected claims management

Third-party referral

Review Link
Scroll Table

Our Reviews

RXNT Medical Billing: Best for Medical Billing Companies

RXNT Medical Billing
RXNT logo
  • RXNT offers a full suite of medical software with a strong slate of features at a competitive price of $298 per month, per provider.
  • Implementation and training is included with subscription and does not represent an additional fee.
  • RXNT does not offer a medical billing service, which could limit practices that prefer to outsource their revenue cycle management.
Editor's Rating: 8.8/10

RXNT is a good choice for practices that want a medical software that doesn’t cut corners, but also won’t break the bank. This medical software platform doesn’t sacrifice features to keep costs down, and implementation support and training is included in the subscription price. We especially liked that, during the implementation process, RXNT provides weekly coaching sessions to ensure the platform is being set up in a way that supports your practice’s growth. 

While RXNT does not offer revenue cycle management services, it does offer robust billing tools and dozens of detailed reports that make billing in-house effective. However, practices that prefer to outsource billing to a third-party or who don’t have a medical biller and coder on staff may need to look elsewhere. 

Lab integrations and electronic prescribing for controlled substances are available with RXNT, though both represent an add-on cost. Still, given the competitive subscription price, these costs aren’t exorbitant and RXNT remains a cost-effective option compared to the other medical software platforms we reviewed. 

For providers who prefer to engage with the medical software from a mobile device, RXNT provides a free mobile application supported on both iOS and Android devices. The platform also supports HIPAA compliant telehealth features on mobile and desktop versions.

CareCloud Medical Software: Medical Software with the Best Workflow

CareCloud Medical Software
CareCloud company logo
  • CareCloud combines EMR, PMS, and medical billing software with retail, e-commerce, and unique patient experience software.
  • With CareCloud, you can color-code your charts and calendars, which are highly customizable and filterable.
  • CareCloud’s setup fees are extremely high, and its contracts are typically lengthy.
Editor's Rating: 8.4/10

If you’re looking to fortify your operations while prioritizing your patients, CareCloud might be the right choice for you. CareCloud streamlines your workflow, elevates the patient experience and introduces a feature we haven’t seen with other medical software providers: e-commerce and retail.

CareCloud lets patients set up their own payment plan so they can pay you on a schedule realistic for their budget. This feature also benefits your practice; it’s better to get some of the money you’re owed now than wait for all of it later. Your patients can settle their bills via mobile credit card payments as well as with medical benefits plans like HSAs and FSAs.

CareCloud will provide your practice with Clover kiosks (read our Clover POS review to learn more). We especially like that CareCloud offers tools to expand your revenue stream with medical e-commerce and retail. With detailed tracking, inventory management and abandoned cart recovery tools, CareCloud helps you build a complete online store to offer your patients wellness products and medications.

CareCloud also has plenty to offer on the EMR and PMS fronts. In our review, we found that you can customize, filter and color-code your calendars and charts to best suit your needs. You can create reusable order sets to simplify sending tests to labs for analysis, and you’ll be notified of potentially dangerous drug interactions.

CareCloud also includes telehealth and, for certain healthcare organizations, revenue cycle management and practice analytics. In addition to its digital health services, CareCloud Wellness is a software-based service that increases a provider’s eligibility for the government’s chronic care management program. Providers enrolled in this service can access care managers who create nutrition and medication plans to support patients’ care.

CareCloud offers a talkEHR platform designed for physical therapy (PT) practices. With this system, PT practices can more thoroughly and simply access and manage patient data while overseeing patient progress. The platform’s integration with CareCloud Remote can also help PT practices expedite and improve patient scheduling, communications, feedback, referral management and credentialing. Additionally, the platform is Chrome Enterprise Recommended, meaning it meets all of Google’s stringent testing and security measures while being compatible with ChromeOS.

CareCloud is rolling out new AI tools in partnership with Google Cloud to streamline practitioner data access. These tools will surface key information, such as medical considerations and payer costs, as practitioners devise treatment plans. More information on this technology is expected in the coming months.

DrChrono Medical Software: Best Medical Software for New Practices

DrChrono Medical Software
Dr. Chrono logo
  • DrChrono arranges its features intuitively in a user-friendly interface that takes minimal training for most users to become proficient.
  • Lower DrChrono tiers include basic EMR and PMS functions, and higher tiers introduce more advanced billing tools.
  • DrChrono sets limits on text and phone patient reminders and doesn’t have an Android app for doctors.
Editor's Rating: 9/10

Opening a medical practice can be challenging and requires attention to many details, including the acquisition and implementation of an electronic health record system and other medical software. For new medical practices, we found DrChrono’s user-friendliness and relatively low prices make it nearly unbeatable. Monthly costs generally hover in the low to mid-hundreds per provider for access to DrChrono’s intuitively arranged EMR system and PMS.

We liked that DrChrono’s EMR system comes with customizable charting (including free-draw tools) and e-prescribing and lab orders. All but the lowest-cost tier include electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS) with your e-prescribing suite for added security, though DrChrono’s lowest tier doesn’t integrate with major lab providers. Another DrChrono crutch we discovered is that it offers only an iOS mobile application for doctors, so Android users miss out. (An Android patient portal app is available, however.)

Our favorite tools in DrChrono are the appointment scheduling, billing, patient reminders and reporting features. However, it’s worth noting that DrChrono limits the amount of text and phone patient reminders for all pricing tiers, which could be somewhat restricting for growing practices.

The two highest DrChrono pricing tiers include advanced billing tools and a top revenue cycle management (RCM) service. Though all DrChrono tiers include auto-generated superbills, custom billing codes, auto-generated CMS 1500 forms and billing profiles, you can get pending and denied claim management only with DrChrono’s two highest tiers. At the very highest tier, DrChrono will handle your accounts receivable, claims and performance reports as well.

Whether you opt for the lower tiers’ relatively basic EMR and PMS tools or the advanced features of higher tiers, DrChrono remains user-friendly and affordable. With DrChrono, your small or new practice will save hours – and maybe even grow – without breaking the bank.

In November 2021, DrChrono was acquired by EverCommerce, a software as a service platform that maintains a line of healthcare IT tools called EverHealth. EverHealth includes a communication platform called Updox, an RCM service provider called AlertMD, a billing and practice management solution called CollaborateMD, and a patient engagement platform called MDTech. Thus far, this acquisition has yet to affect DrChrono’s offerings.

AdvancedMD Medical Software: Best Medical Software for Large Practices

AdvancedMD Medical Software
AdvancedMD company logo
  • AdvancedMD lets you build your own suite of services to lower your costs by up to 30%.
  • AdvancedMD’s standout features include task donuts, patient exam room tracking and waitlists, and a sky-high first-pass claim acceptance rate.
  • AdvancedMD requires you to pay more for certain features that are typically free with other medical software providers.
Editor's Rating: 8.8/10

If your practice has unique needs that might require you to pick and choose from a list of services, AdvancedMD has you covered. You can build your own set of services with AdvancedMD, and you won’t break the bank to do so. This model makes AdvancedMD especially apt for large practices.

In fact, building your own custom suite of AdvancedMD services can save you up to 30% on medical software costs. Even with these substantial discounts, though, your AdvancedMD setup will likely run you several hundred dollars per provider, per month. Complicating matters is that many features included with other medical software cost extra with AdvancedMD.

That said, all AdvancedMD platforms come with telehealth, charting, note-taking and basic e-prescribing functions. You can customize and color-code your charts, which are easy to find and access. As you look at your charts, you can also pull up any ICD-10 code you might need. And as you prescribe medications, you’ll be alerted to any potentially dangerous drug interactions.

Perhaps the most compelling feature of AdvancedMD’s EMR software is its task donuts, which keep your staff aware of their tasks and help them check all their boxes. The AdvancedMD EMR also prioritizes interoperability and its telehealth suite (which, as with all trustworthy medical software brands, is HIPAA-compliant).

On the PMS side, AdvancedMD’s standout features include patient exam room tracking, waitlist and instant eligibility checks. If you opt in to AdvancedMD’s high-level billing features, you can enjoy a first-pass claim acceptance rate of well over 90%.

Based on user feedback, the AdvancedMD EMR now includes functionality for the patient engagement suite and medical cards. The new features also cut down on manual work within the PMS’s “claim status inquiry tool” while improving financial control. We like that all these changes reflect what customers have requested in the product.

AdvancedMD also provides tools for patient-preferred name changes, auto-accept consent forms, Electronic Prior Authorization (ePA) follow-up tasks and growth charts. Practitioners and front-office staff can use these tools to streamline patient registration, recordkeeping, prescribing and charting. Two additional features – unsolicited claims attachments and payor contractual reimbursement tracking – may also prove useful for front-office and billing staff.

Whichever features you implement, you’ll get one-on-one training directly from AdvancedMD. Your custom set of services will be ready to go in no time, and before you know it, you’ll be operating your practice exactly how you see fit.

We like how AdvancedMD has taken steps to improve the quality of its customer support calls. After implementing a new business phone system, 8×8, AdvancedMD said its clients noticed more streamlined, convenient service. This attention to improving customer relations is a significant benefit for large practices.

AdvancedMD has introduced a Telehealth platform to replace its Telemedicine suite, which the company is phasing out in 2023. The company has updated its mobile app to include provider access to Telehealth and introduce a provider list view within the app’s schedule section. AdvancedMD customers must purchase Telehealth as an add-on.

Greenway Health Medical Software: Best Medical Software for Customization

Greenway Health Medical Software
Greenway Health company logo
  • Greenway Health combines all critical EMR and PMS services into one platform called Intergy.
  • Intergy’s customizability and user preference tools are the best among the medical software we reviewed.
  • At $799 to $941 per user per month, plus $39 per user per month for telehealth, Intergy is among the most expensive medical software we’ve reviewed.

 

Editor's Rating: 8.5/10

Greenway Health combines its EMR and PMS tools into a service called Intergy. Intergy’s costs range from $799 to $941 per user per month, plus $39 per user per month for HIPAA-compliant telehealth. This price point is on the high end for brands we reviewed. However, these costs may be worthwhile, as we found Intergy’s customizations and user preference tools to be the best available.

Intergy is tailored to your practice’s specialty and is easy to navigate. It automates your tasks and handles your most complex billing needs. The result is highly accurate documentation and a user-friendly scheduling suite. Speaking of scheduling, Intergy shows you all your patients’ due, overdue and upcoming health reminders while enabling multilocation calendar use, which is perfect if your practice currently has multiple facilities or plans to expand soon.

Also remarkable are Intergy’s 500-plus preloaded forms and templates, which is why Greenway Health is our top pick for customization. The vendor says these templates, when based on the appointment type, enable providers to see a larger number of patients. Providers can take notes within these templates using transcription or dictation tools.

Greenway Health protects all the data that providers create and access through robust, HIPAA-compliant data security protocols. We appreciate that the cloud-based EMR system uses SAS 70 Level II-audited systems to shield your data from threats, including hackers and malware. The company’s data centers are equipped with firewalls, endpoint security, proactive vulnerability scanners and physical security measures. It also conducts regular third-party security audits.

On the PMS side, Intergy includes an integrated clearinghouse that expedites your claims’ submissions and improves their accuracy. You can follow up on at-risk claims while enjoying Intergy’s payer acceptance rate of well over 90%.

You’ll also get a comprehensive patient portal through which patients can request refills, schedule appointments and contact their doctors. You can also set up automated messaging that keeps patients knowledgeable about how they should take care of their health.

The Intergy PMS also includes reporting tools you can use to keep up with value-based incentive programs such as PCMH, CPC+, Medicaid Meaningful Use and MIPS. You’ll be alerted if your key performance indicators (KPIs) drop as well. And, of course, your reports are highly customizable – as are all things Intergy.

Greenway Health also offers remote patient monitoring as an extension of its chronic care management services. This service arrived in partnership with the remote health company MD Revolution. It gives ambulatory care providers additional ways to track and manage their patients’ health.

Greenway Health recently rolled out its new Greenway Secure Cloud technology. This technology moves your data to a maximum-security center with regular, consistent security patches. With Greenway Secure Cloud, your chances of resisting data breaches and ransomware attacks increase – as does your compliance with federal regulations.

athenahealth Medical Software: Best Medical Software for Reporting

athenahealth Medical Software
athenahealth company logo
  • Athenahealth’s reporting and consulting services are unmatched by most other medical software providers.
  • If your practice’s metrics dip below those of similar practices, athenahealth will walk you through processes that could help you improve.
  • Despite its comprehensive RCM suite, athenahealth often requires you to keep an in-house medical biller.
Editor's Rating: 9/10

Athenahealth is an industry leader in performance management and reporting for healthcare organizations. Practices looking for flexible, in-depth reporting and personalized consultation will be in good hands with athenahealth’s extensive solutions.

In our review, we found that athenahealth has a slight learning curve. Its user interface is not the most intuitive among the medical software platforms we reviewed. However, once you’re all set up, you’ll just have to poke around a bit to figure out how to navigate the system best. We felt comfortable in our test run of athenahealth after about an hour of exploring the product’s navigation tools and features.

Within the athenahealth EHR system, you’ll get access to a full suite of tools a practice might need. Charting, notetaking, e-prescribing, interoperability functions – they’re all there. We found that the athenahealth medical practice management software is similarly comprehensive, with registration, scheduling and patient communication features.

One of the services that sets athenahealth apart is its personalized consultation. If your practice’s performance falls below what comparable practices are achieving, athenahealth will reach out to you to schedule a one-on-one meeting. In our review, we also found athenahealth’s highly customizable, filterable reports helpful in identifying and resolving shortcomings in a practice’s financial performance and efficiency.

We also like how nicely athenahealth’s revenue cycle management services dovetail with this hands-on consulting care. However, you’ll often still need an in-house biller even if you opt in to RCM. No other medical software has this requirement, but it may be a small price to pay for athenahealth’s sweeping reporting and consulting services. Plus, athenahealth is slowly working toward eliminating this requirement.

Since we conducted our review, athenahealth was acquired as part of a $17 billion private equity deal between Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman. It’s unclear how, if at all, this acquisition might affect athenahealth’s products and services. Public statements suggest that the near-term plan is to scale up athenahealth’s operations and bolster its existing network of providers by bringing in patients and payers to develop a multisided healthcare network.

Tebra Medical Software: Best Medical Software for Ease of Use

Tebra Medical Software
Tebra logo
  • Tebra is the most intuitive medical software platform we’ve reviewed, whether you’re working in your EMR, PMS or medical billing suite.
  • All Tebra EMR and PMS tools are available to all paying customers, regardless of the pricing tier selected.
  • Tebra lacks the consulting services common with other medical software providers.
Editor's Rating: 8.8/10

Medical software can be difficult to implement and learn how to use – unless you choose Tebra. Tebra is easily the most user-friendly medical software we found in our investigation, and even those who struggle with technology will face virtually no learning curve.

In addition to Tebra’s positive user experience, we liked that all of its features and tools are included on all subscription plans. Some medical software we reviewed limits features by pricing tiers, but we love that you can access everything Tebra offers regardless of the plan you choose.

In our testing, we found the Tebra charting and notetaking suite supremely intuitive. It felt natural to click through a patient’s chart and add information. Tools like the “Same As Last Time” (SALT) feature can quickly populate information without requiring providers to extensively type or click around. E-prescribing medications is as simple as pulling favorites from your library or looking up a new prescription through Tebra’s SureScripts integration. Tebra will also warn providers if any new prescriptions could interact with a patient’s existing medications.

We also liked that Tebra’s medical billing service will put all your claims through an internal review before filing and connect you with more than 8,000 insurers. As a result, you’ll have extremely low numbers of rejected or denied claims. And if your claims are rejected or denied, Tebra handles that too. Tebra is light on consulting services, but given its ease of use and comprehensive tools, we’d say it has you covered nearly every step of the way.

Medical Software Costs

Most medical software costs a set amount per provider per month. The exact fee you’ll pay will depend on several variables concerning your practice, so you’ll typically need to reach out to the software providers for custom quotes. In our research, we’ve seen rates as low as $87.50 and as high as $900 per provider per month.

 

TipTip

Medical software often costs several hundred dollars per provider per month, so build clear financial projections to support cash flow when making such a large investment.


Most medical software platforms have several pricing tiers. Lower tiers may include just basic EMR or PMS features (or a small mix of both). Higher-priced tiers typically incorporate medical billing software, and the highest pricing tier usually adds revenue cycle management. There are exceptions to this rule, of course: Tebra is notable for including all its EMR, PMS and billing features with all pricing tiers.

Alternatively, some vendors offer encounter-based pricing. In this model, you’ll pay a few dollars per patient encounter. We found that to qualify for these plans, practices usually must remain under a certain number of encounters or claims per month.

Implementation and Training Costs

Most medical software vendors charge some form of setup or implementation fee. Some charge as much as several thousand dollars for data migration, implementation, configuration, payer enrollment and more.

In other cases, you won’t pay an extra fee to implement and set up your medical software, and many vendors also offer free onboarding and training. But just because implementation is free doesn’t make it comprehensive, so be sure to ask what the implementation process includes and whether training is involved.

There is another wrinkle to consider: revenue cycle management. We found that if practices opt for outsourced medical billing services, vendors generally provide full access to their medical software suite in exchange for an agreed-upon percentage of the practice’s monthly collections instead of predetermined fees. Learn more in our overview of the best medical billing services, which includes some of these providers.

Medical Software Features

Medical software platforms can come with an overwhelming number of features. Not every practice needs every bell and whistle, but there are some essential functions and tools that almost every healthcare organization should have.

Appointment Scheduling

On the PMS side of medical software, appointment scheduling tools are fundamental to streamlining your front-office staff’s calendar-related tasks. Appointment scheduling features can also expedite intake and registration in ways not possible with traditional paperwork.

Although appointment scheduling is primarily a PMS tool, you’ll also see it on the EMR side of most medical software platforms. Your medical software’s appointment scheduling tool should let you see your daily appointment schedule and appointment types. It should also display a patient’s status and location within your facility (or which facility they’re scheduled to visit). Some medical software allows you to track patients right down to the specific exam room or piece of medical equipment, as well as to check them out when their visit is complete.

Billing and Claims

The PMS portion of your medical software tool should be able to post charges and create claims based on your EMR data. It should also have built-in ICD-10 and CPT coding libraries, alongside automatically generated E&M codes, that your billers can use.

The best medical software platforms should clearly indicate the patient and care provider tied to the claim, as well as the total claim value. Your software should also include claim-scrubbing tools, and many platforms have tools for handling rejected or denied claims too. Another critical function we looked for in our reviews is insurance eligibility verification. This allows you to check whether a patient’s insurance policy on file is active and up to date as soon as the appointment is scheduled. High-quality medical software enables you to check this information en masse.

Charting and Notetaking

EMR software should make it easy to take notes during encounters and add information to patients’ charts, whether typing or using hotkeys or voice-to-text. Your patient charts should clearly show the patient’s vitals, current medications, recent appointment history, medical history and other basic information. They should also let you easily jump to other tools, such as your e-prescribing suite.

Customization

In your EMR system, you should have access to numerous templates you can use to take notes during patient encounters or add important information to patient charts. Most importantly, these templates should be extensively customizable. You should be able to modify them based on the appointment type or your preferred notetaking method.

Your chosen template should give you a quick view of the most critical information for your encounter and fill in chart fields as needed. If a template isn’t working for you in the moment, some medical software platforms will let you tweak it as you take notes.

Medical software customization also extends to PMS reporting. Many PMS providers offer hundreds of customizable, filterable financial reports; in fact, we suggest not choosing platforms that offer little to no customization on the reporting side.

Key TakeawayKey takeaway

Customization is vital for both EMR and PMS. Every healthcare organization has its own workflow, and your chosen medical software should be flexible enough to accommodate your practice’s unique needs and preferences.

E-Prescribing and Labs

Your medical software should make electronically prescribing medications a breeze. It should also give you the option to review a patient’s entire medication history. Most EMR platforms even flag potential drug interactions or medicines that could trigger a patient’s allergies.

Several medical software solutions also include tools for electronically ordering labs and bloodwork. These platforms typically integrate with leading lab providers such as Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics, though some of our best picks lack this capability. These standout products make up for this gap with the vast majority of their other features.

Interoperability

No two medical practices use precisely the same software suite, but practitioners often need to communicate with one another. Interoperability features ensure no information gets lost or misinterpreted in transmission between disparate systems. They also allow instant provider access to a patient’s medical data.

Interoperability is also fundamental to getting your practice’s vaccine and immunization data into the CDC’s immunization information systems. The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs also have several meaningful use standards that practices can and should achieve through interoperability measures.

Patient Portal

Many medical software companies include a patient portal with their PMS offerings to expedite patients’ ability to book and modify appointments. Through these portals, patients can also request medication refills or message your front-office staff for assistance. Similarly, your front-office staff can use this portal to send patients their registration and intake forms, billing statements and payment requests.

Performance Management and Reporting

The best medical software includes customizable reports that can help you view and analyze all kinds of performance data tied to your practice’s operations. You can filter your reports based on numerous categories, such as provider, payer or location. With most platforms, you can also modify the period over which the information is collected and export your reports in several file formats.

Telehealth

As telehealth becomes increasingly important in modern healthcare, the best medical software includes plenty of telemedicine tools. Ideally, your chosen telehealth platform will fully integrate with your EMR system and PMS for easy notetaking and scheduling. In some cases, patients won’t have to download separate apps to start telehealth calls from their phones. This convenience may be useful to keep in mind as you browse medical software options.

Advantages of Medical Software

No matter your medical field, your practice stands to benefit significantly from the use of medical software.

  • More efficient operations: With medical software, you get scheduling and billing tools that expedite your front-office staff’s tasks. A combined EMR/PMS interface is crucial to medical software because it prevents redundant data entry. Other medical software tools streamline processes involved in insurance verification, appointment reminders, patient intake and more.
  • Higher first-pass acceptance rates: Practice management software includes tools to improve your medical billing, helping your team avoid errors that result in rejected claims. They can also keep your staff on track with filing deadlines. As a result, payers will accept more of your claims on the first go. And if claims are rejected or denied, your billing tools can also help your staffers address those.
  • Financial reporting: Practice management tools typically include financial and accounting reports that help you identify trends that are restraining your practice’s performance. You can use the information in these reports to implement changes that will maximize your profits.
  • Patient data generation: With the right medical software, data that a patient enters into your patient portal appears in your PMS as well as your EMR system. The time this saves your team on data entry and organization is immeasurable.
  • Customization and flexibility: EMR tools let practitioners take notes however they please in whichever kinds of patient charts they prefer. Practice management features present you with hundreds of customizable, highly filterable reports.
  • Quick prescribing and lab orders: Gone are the days of calling in prescriptions or printing lab instructions for your team. Instead, with the best medical software, you can send refills or lab orders electronically. This process saves you time and is often more convenient for the patient too.
  • Drug interaction alerts: A solid e-prescribing suite will alert physicians if they prescribe medications that could interact dangerously with a patient’s other medications. This function keeps your patient safe from harm and your practice safe from medical malpractice suits.
  • Digitized medical records: When a patient sees a specialist or moves to a new city, well-equipped medical software makes sending their medical data to other providers much easier. Interoperability tools streamline the patient data-sharing that’s fundamental to these transitions.
  • Patient requests: Medical software patient portals streamline the process of patients asking for prescription refills or new appointments. Their interfaces for doing so typically reduce the number of questions your front-office staff might have and eliminate the time spent calling in prescriptions.
  • Faster patient intake and registration: Through your medical software’s patient portal, you can send patients intake and registration forms to complete on their own well before their appointment. This feature saves your front-office staff time before appointments and reduces the time patients spend in the waiting room.

Choosing Medical Software

When choosing medical software, you’ll need to consider more than just a platform’s features. Other concerns, like pricing and customer support, should come into play, but you can balance the most critical factors by following this selection process.

1. Look at how much medical software platforms cost.

Medical software costs vary substantially between providers, as do fee structures. Some vendors charge a percentage of your monthly collections, whereas others charge a small amount per patient encounter. The most common pricing structure, though, is a monthly per-provider fee. In some cases, a medical software company’s advertised prices mask substantial hidden fees.

Your best bet for obtaining exact pricing is to set up a call with each vendor you’re considering. During your conversation, tell the sales representative how many users you’ll have. Also state which functions you feel are negotiable or non-negotiable. Ask the representative to send you a written list of the software’s features and how much you’ll have to pay for them. This way, you’ll know exactly what your dollars are getting you.

2. Determine the availability of customer support.

Rare is the medical practice that won’t encounter some sort of challenge with its medical software. When you face issues, you should be able to reach your software provider quickly for assistance. Likewise, if your platform goes down due to problems on the vendor’s end, you’ll need to reach the company for updates on when it’ll be back online.

As you speak with medical software vendors, ask whether you’ll have access to customer support 24/7 or just during normal business hours. You should also find out whether you’ll have a dedicated account representative or just access to a call center. The former is generally preferable, as someone who knows your practice intimately is far likelier to assist you adequately.

You should also get clarity on how much customer support access will cost. Perhaps customer service is included with the medical software plan, or maybe you’ll need to pay extra. Either way, get an answer from the sales representative in writing.

3. See how easy the platforms are to use.

Medical software platforms contain an abundance of tools and information, so it’s understandable if you feel overwhelmed as you initially browse them. You’ll feel far less confused if you choose a platform known to be user-friendly.

However, if you worry that even the simplest software could confuse your team, investigate your preferred software provider’s training programs. Guided implementation and one-on-one training are highly likely to help your employees adjust to your new system, though they sometimes come at a high extra cost.

As you compare the user-friendliness of many software options, you’ll notice that vendors organize their software interfaces quite differently. Some platforms employ dashboards that resemble social media feeds, while others function via drop-down menus. Still others make their features available through easily accessible tabs at the top of your screen. Think about which of these arrangements best suits your team as you compare options.

4. Consider implementation assistance and training.

Since even the user-friendliest medical software may come with a learning curve, especially if your staff isn’t super tech-savvy, we’ve included only companies that offer thorough training (though, again, often at an extra cost) among our best picks. When shopping for medical software, ask the sales representatives about the potential for training and assisted implementation and how much each costs. Get this information in writing.

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Unless they’re prohibitively expensive, opt in to your medical software provider’s training and implementation services. These services will reduce the time it takes your staff to become proficient with the platform.

5. Check for adequate EMR and PMS interfacing.

Good medical software lets you add information to your EMR system and PMS simultaneously. Check for this interfacing ability as you compare platforms. No practice benefits from a system that makes your staff enter information once in your EMR system and then again in your PMS.

6. Look into the reporting options.

A trustworthy medical software platform should offer highly customizable, filterable reporting and data analysis options. Reports should clearly indicate your practice’s financial standing and show you how factors such as how your practitioners and the services you offer are affecting your performance. You’ll see what’s bringing in revenue and what’s holding you back, and you can use this information to maximize your profitability.

7. Assess the fit for your specialty.

If your practice comprises specialists rather than primary care professionals, not all medical software will work for your needs. No medical software platform addresses the unique requirements of each and every medical field, and few medical software companies explicitly advertise themselves as geared toward a specific field.

To figure out which vendors are best suited for your specialty, ask other specialists in your field which platforms they use. Be sure to directly ask sales representatives about product tools pertinent to your specialty as well.

Medical Software FAQs

Medical practices use electronic medical records (EMRs) to streamline patient data collection and access. They also use practice management software (PMS) to organize and expedite front-office tasks.

In our research, we found that the best medical software vendors are athenahealth, AdvancedMD, Tebra, DrChrono, CareCloud and Greenway Health. The right choice for your healthcare organization will depend on your practice’s size and whether you’re prioritizing customizability, reporting, workflows or ease of use.

The cost of medical software varies. Most medical software companies will charge your practice several hundred dollars per provider per month. Other medical software companies charge a small fee per patient encounter or a percentage of your monthly collections.

What to Expect in 2024

Medical software has become the foundation of most healthcare organizations’ operations. Almost all small practices, large hospitals and providers in between rely on these services to provide a top-notch patient experience. This starts during patient registration and continues all the way to the final patient statement. Government incentives and penalties around medical software adoption have primarily driven this shift toward widespread EMR use.

Typically, smaller practices pay for a cloud-based medical software subscription, whereas large health groups may require on-premise systems. In both cases, a variety of solutions exists, and in 2024, advancements in both realms are expected.

According to research from Allied Market Research, these trends will push the size of the global medical software industry to $63.8 billion by 2030. This represents a 7.7 percent compound annual growth rate between 2020 – when the industry was valued at $30.6 billion – and 2030.

The Allied Market Research report highlighted the increase in artificial intelligence (AI) use as a major driver in industry growth. The growing population of geriatric adults, a factor that demands stronger recordkeeping and patient management, will also contribute to the global medical software industry’s growth in 2024.

As cloud-based technology expands, security weaknesses may result, so EMR data security is expected to be a priority in 2024. A patient data breach that the medical billing service Arietis Health announced in 2023 may fuel this concern. This breach resulted in the selling of patient medical information and Social Security numbers. A February 2024 suspected ransomware attack against UnitedHealth Group unit Change Healthcare may further drive cybersecurity concerns. Expect EMR vendors to emphasize data security in 2024 and encourage you to do the same.

Additionally, a recent study found that only 38 percent of U.S. hospital systems achieved three core medical billing quality standards. These standards were the timely sending of itemized patient statements, hospital legal action on overdue patient payments and patient access to qualified billing specialists. Since more than 60 percent of U.S. hospital systems failed to meet at least one of these standards, expect all these standards to be paramount in 2024. This notion may apply equally to hospitals and smaller practices.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also set to be a major growth driver in the medical software sector. For example, some doctors have already begun using a program known as DocsGPT tool to streamline their writing of several certificates and letters. These include patient referrals, post-surgery instructions and death certificates. As this technology becomes more commonplace, leading medical software providers may integrate it fully into their platforms.

Another type of medical software may become more prominent in 2024: virtual reality (VR). According to a Virti survey of 211 U.S. healthcare workers, 77 percent of healthcare organizations are using VR to train staff. Although the term “medical software” is currently used to describe EMR and PMS systems, VR software may start getting folded into this term in the near future.

We also expect an increased focus on transparency in the patient bills that practices generate through their EMR software. For example, Texas recently passed a law mandating clear invoices before sending patients to collections. Additionally, national publications have reported on a Colorado billing error that could affect tens of thousands of people. Medical billing transparency could well be one of the big stories within medical software in 2024.

Similarly, the Minnesota Attorney General’s office has launched an investigation into how the health systems Allina Health and Mayo Clinic conduct medical billing. Public listening sessions to get consumer feedback are core to this investigation. The increasing government attention on medical billing in 2023 suggests that, in 2024, using your medical software to power a positive patient billing experience is paramount.

In 2024, practices must also heed the federal No Surprises Act, which guards patients against unexpected medical bills. However, this law, which was enacted at the start of 2022, has already been subject to change and controversy. Two federal district court rulings have invalidated certain aspects of the act, and in July 2023, federal agencies requested that one court reverse its ruling.

Additionally, as of late November 2023, approximately 30 public companies have cited the No Surprises Act as a potential risk. According to the Biden administration’s February 2024 progress report, these companies may have been right. For starters, the three federal agencies that manage the Act are spending more time enforcing it than expected. Additionally, insurers were ordered to pay greater amounts to out-of-network providers than they would to contracted providers in over 80 percent of Act-related disputes.

All medical software platforms should be equipped to accommodate the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) final rule that took effect in 2023. This rule expands Medicare Part A and B coverage to include dental procedures that could improve patient disease and treatment outcomes. Knowing that practices will likely need to change for what, and in what ways, they bill their patients, we expect to see medical software adapting to ensure they are able to account for these changes.

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Max Freedman, Business Operations Insider and Senior Analyst
Max Freedman, has spent nearly a decade providing entrepreneurs and business operators with actionable advice they can use to launch and grow their businesses. Max has direct experience helping run a small business, performs hands-on reviews and has real-world experience with the categories he covers, such as accounting software and digital payroll solutions, as well as leading small business lenders and employee retirement providers. Max has written hundreds of articles for Business News Daily on a range of valuable topics, including small business funding, time and attendance, marketing and human resources.
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