Family Medicine EHR Buyers' Guide
Family medicine practices need EHR software that can do it all, from tracking a child’s immunizations to managing an older adult’s chronic conditions (without slowing doctors down).
The best family practice EHR systems are fast, intuitive, and support the full scope of primary care. Unlike hospital EHRs that can feel clunky for a small office, specialized systems are tailored for outpatient workflows, emphasizing ease of use, communication, and long-term patient care.
Why family practices should opt for specialized software
Family medicine is the front line of healthcare, often acting as the coordinator for all of a patient’s medical needs.
Unlike narrower specialties, family physicians see infants, children, adults, and seniors, handling everything from routine wellness visits and immunizations to management of diabetes or hypertension.
This breadth means a generic one-size-fits-all EHR might not cut it.
A family practice EHR should support longitudinal care – keeping a continuous health record as patients age – and streamline referrals when specialists are needed.
It also needs to be efficient for high-volume outpatient use, because family clinics often see many patients per day. In short, family doctors require an EHR that enhances their ability to deliver preventative care, track health maintenance, and coordinate care across the healthcare system.
The right software helps you spend less time clicking and more time caring for patients, which is the ultimate goal in primary care.
Unique challenges in family medicine make certain EHR features especially important. For example, family practices may treat multiple members of the same family, so it’s valuable if the EHR can link family member records and even enable group scheduling (e.g., booking parent and child appointments back-to-back.
A specialized EHR anticipates these needs with flexible templates and reminders for all ages, helping you provide comprehensive, continuous care.
Key features to look for
When evaluating family practice EMR/EHR software, focus on features that improve your day-to-day workflow and patient care. Below are essential features and capabilities to look for, with an explanation of why each matters:
- Usability and speed: Busy family clinics can’t afford clunky software. Look for an EHR that is fast, user-friendly, and minimizes clicks. Things like easy navigation, configurable dashboards, and quick search help physicians chart efficiently without hunting through menus. High physician satisfaction ratings often stem from EHRs that prioritize ease of use and smooth workflows, so consider feedback from other family doctors on this aspect. (Tip: During demos, pay attention to how many steps common tasks take – e.g. writing a note or ordering a test – to gauge usability.)
- Comprehensive patient charting: You’ll document everything from well-child exams to geriatric assessments, so seek out flexible, customizable charting templates that cover a wide range of visit types and conditions. Ask about free-text notes, template-based documentation, and voice dictation if you prefer. The EHR should let you modify templates or create your own so it adapts to your style of practice rather than forcing you into a one-size-fits-all note format
- Family profiles and linked records: A no-brainer; your software should link family member records for easy access. For instance, you enter a family’s address or insurance once, and it populates across all their charts. Some EHRs enable household or family profiles, allowing you to see family history connections and schedule multiple related patients together. This saves time on data entry and helps provide more holistic care (e.g. noting a family’s genetic risk factors or ensuring all family members are up-to-date on vaccines).
- Preventive care and health maintenance alerts: Good EHRs have built-in health maintenance reminders and screening alerts based on patient age, sex, and history. For example, the system can flag when a patient is due for a colonoscopy or when a child needs a vaccination. These proactive prompts help your team close care gaps and ensure patients receive recommended screenings and immunizations on time. Make sure the EHR lets you customize these alerts (since guidelines can change or you might want clinic-specific protocols).
- Integrated E-Prescribing: Electronic prescribing (eRx) is a must-have for efficiency and patient safety. Your EHR should enable you to send prescriptions electronically to pharmacies, including controlled substances (EPCS), if your practice requires that. Look for automatic drug interaction and allergy checking. and the ability to retrieve medication histories. Advanced eRx systems can also handle prescription refills in a couple of clicks, send prescriptions to mail-order pharmacies, and provide formularies or eCoupons to save patients money. E-prescribing not only saves time (no more phone calls to pharmacies) but also helps prevent errors with legible, well-documented scripts.
- Lab and imaging integration: In family practice, you order a lot of lab tests, bloodwork, and the occasional X-ray or ultrasound. An EHR that integrates with labs and imaging centers is extremely helpful. This means you can send electronic lab orders directly from the patient’s chart and receive results back into the EHR without faxing. Seamless lab integration reduces manual data entry and ensures results are not missed; they’ll be attached to the patient record and often generate an alert when ready. Similarly, the ability to order imaging studies electronically and get reports back speeds up diagnosis.
- Referral management and interoperability: Family physicians frequently refer patients to specialists (cardiologists, orthopedists, etc.) and then need to receive consultation notes or hospital records. You should be able to create a referral order, attach the relevant chart notes, and send it to the specialist. Some systems even allow specialists to send consult reports back through an integrated network or portal. Interoperability is key, so check if the EHR is ONC-certified and connected to health information exchanges or networks (CommonWell, Carequality, etc.), which can allow you to pull in outside records. At a minimum, it should support standards like CCD/C-CDA for summary of care documents so you can exchange patient information with other providers.
- Practice management integration: In a small practice, clinical and administrative workflows are closely intertwined. Consider an EHR that includes or easily integrates with a practice management (PM) system for scheduling, registration, and billing. An all-in-one platform (or a well-integrated EHR/PM) avoids double-entry of data between systems.
In short, avoid rigid systems; opt for one that can be molded to your practice’s needs through settings and personalization. This guarantees longevity as you won’t be looking to switch again in a year due to outgrowing the system.
Popular EHRs for Family Medicine
Below is a list of some notable EHR systems that family practices often consider, along with their distinguishing features. Keep in mind that 'best' is subjective; the goal is to find the best fit for your specific needs. (Listing here does not imply endorsement; always do your own due diligence with demos and comparisons.)
Practice Fusion (now under Veradigm)
A cloud-based EHR known for being affordable and user-friendly for small practices. Practice Fusion has a strong showing among 1-3 provider offices (it has been ranked #1 for solo practices in some surveys).
It offers e-prescribing, scheduling, charting, and a patient portal in a relatively streamlined package. Many like its low cost and quick implementation for going digital.
Note: Practice Fusion was once free; it’s now a paid but moderately priced product. If budget is a major concern and you need a solid, basic EHR with good eRx and lab connections, this is one to consider.
Elation Health
Elation provides an intuitive, physician-friendly design and a clinical-first workflow (as opposed to feeling like a billing system).
The AI-native EHR features an integrated patient portal (called Patient Passport), e-prescribing capabilities, lab integrations, and an integrated billing module. Elation is praised for its longitudinal patient records (enabling easy access to a patient’s entire history) and for features that support value-based care, such as population health dashboards.
This platform also streamlines the onboarding service through a free data migration service. Elation's implementation specialists also provide training and assistance in setting up practice-specific workflows, as well as ongoing support for any other issues (should they arise).
eClinicalWorks
A widely used EHR in ambulatory care, including many family practices. eCW is a feature-rich system (telehealth, kiosk app, messenger, patient portal, etc.) and is customizable with templates and forms.
Physicians who are “power users” and invest time in templates can be very efficient on eCW, but others find it cumbersome and dated in UI. It’s a stable, mature product, but ensure you test its workflow to see if it suits you. eCW can be cost-effective for what it offers, but consider the training and optimization needed to make it truly efficient.
Praxis EMR
An EHR that takes a unique approach with AI-driven, template-free charting. Praxis has been rated #1 by physicians in multiple user satisfaction surveys (including those by the AAFP) for categories like ease-of-use and medical quality.
Instead of templates, Praxis’s AI learns your writing style (they call it Concept Processing) and helps you document faster over time. This can be appealing if you dislike rigid templates and want notes to reflect your own voice. Praxis is worth a look, especially if documentation speed and quality are your priority.
Other notable vendors:
- CharmHealth: Charm EHR is a modular EHR popular with small clinics for its low cost and MU-certification.
- CureMD: A cloud-based EHR/PM suite that offers a specialty-specific version for family practice. If you want a truly all-encompassing system geared for family practice, CureMD should be on your list to demo.
- Athenahealth: Often used in larger outpatient groups. athenaOne is robust, offering EHR, practice management, and revenue cycle services in one. It excels in interoperability (connections with hospital systems, labs, and its large network of users) and has a powerful billing rules engine and reporting tools. Many family physicians like Athena for its ability to pull in specialist notes and hospital records through its network.
Remember, the “best” software for one practice might not be the best for another. Focus on whether the system’s strengths align with your practice’s priorities (be it ease of use, low cost, specific feature, etc.).
