How to Choose the Best EHR Vendor: Features Guide (2025)

Choosing the right EHR vendor is a pivotal operational decision. With the wrong system, you risk compliance gaps, staff burnout, and clunky workflows. 

This guide helps you assess proper features of EHRs, evaluate your real needs, and decide if a traditional vendor is right for you — or if a custom solution is better.

Read on to learn more about:

• What EHR vendors are and how they differ from EMRs
• Key selection factors and pitfalls to avoid
• When to build a custom EHR
• How Blaze compares to traditional vendors

Let’s discuss what EHR vendors are. 

What Are EHR Vendors?

EHR vendors are companies that develop and provide electronic health record (EHR) software. They sell these platforms, which are designed to manage and store patient health information, to hospitals, outpatient clinics, and specialty practices. 

These solutions replace traditional paper records with secure, accessible, and centralized digital charts. EHR vendors often provide training, technical support, compliance resources, and system upgrades.

Popular EHR vendors include Epic Systems, Oracle Health (formerly Cerner), and NextGen, each offering tailored solutions for various healthcare settings. In 2021, Epic led the hospital Electronic Health Record (EHR) space with a market share of 32.8%. 

Choosing the right EHR vendor helps improve documentation, increase data accessibility, and ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations. The goal is to reduce manual paperwork, strengthen coordination between departments, and enable providers to deliver safer and higher-quality care.

What’s the difference between EHR and EMR vendors?

EHR and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems differ primarily in scope — EMRs are used within a single practice, while EHRs enable data sharing across multiple facilities.

Thus, electronic health record vendors’ products are ideal for large hospitals, clinics, and growing healthcare networks. 

This distinction helps you choose an EHR vendor that meets large-scale demands and removes workflow fragmentation. Choosing top EHR systems means investing in tools that support HIPAA compliance, reduce documentation bottlenecks, and integrate with third-party apps. 

Key Factors to Evaluate When Choosing an EHR Vendor

Selecting the right EHR vendor goes far beyond checking off features. You’ll need to ensure the system is HIPAA-compliant and easy to implement across several departments before considering special functionalities. 

After all, non-compliance will result in legal ramifications, and a difficult-to-onboard system can create a complex web of bottlenecks and frustrated users. Here’s what to prioritize when selecting EHR vendors for hospitals and large clinics:

Compliance and Security

When evaluating each EHR vendor, compliance should be the primary consideration — a non-compliant platform will result in legal issues, or worse. Leading electronic health record vendors offer healthcare management systems that comply with HIPAA and SOC 2 standards. 

HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant systems ensure that sensitive patient data is encrypted, monitored, and stored in compliance with federal regulations. These platforms offer detailed audit trails, which provide protection and accountability in the event of data breaches or unauthorized access. 

Ensure the EHR vendor offers role-based access controls. These ensure only specific professionals can view information that’s pertinent to their work. For instance, billing teams cannot access detailed medical history meant for physicians.

Onboarding, Customer Support, and Implementation 

Customer support can make or break the EHR onboarding experience. Some vendors, like Blaze, offer hands-on implementation teams with dedicated success managers. They ensure that your onboarding experience is smooth, and the entire team knows how to use the platform.

Some other EHR vendors offer email and community support. In these cases, onboarding doesn’t necessarily involve hands-on, human-to-human interaction. This can lead to slower adoption and bottlenecks. 

Before purchasing an EHR system, determine if the vendor offers hands-on implementation. Then, identify how many staff members will use the system and define their roles. For larger organizations with several roles, onboarding and support can save significant time and prevent frustrations.

Customization and Workflow Fit

Every hospital runs differently, and your EHR should reflect that. Vendors of popular EHR systems offer flexible workflows and template customization that adapt to your organization’s unique needs. These can adjust intake forms, create specialty-specific charting fields, and configure role-based dashboards.

Top EHR vendors for hospitals offer modular systems that can be customized. In other words, enable adjustments across different departments. These systems suit departments like surgery, oncology, or behavioral health — no heavy code changes required.

Avoid systems that require vendor intervention for every re-configuration. Instead, prioritize platforms that offer drag-and-drop builders, automation, and templates that you can tailor to your clinical and administrative processes. 

This type of control improves documentation and bolsters staff satisfaction. For hospitals aiming to eliminate inefficiencies and siloed systems, flexibility is crucial.

Hosting Model 

Where and how your data is hosted affects scalability, cost, and compliance. Many modern EHR vendors offer cloud-based healthcare solutions that reduce IT overhead and provide remote access. On-premise systems give you more direct control, but with higher maintenance responsibility.

Some organizations prefer a hybrid model, combining the reliability of local infrastructure with the flexibility of the cloud. When choosing a hosting model, assess your IT maturity, security needs, and budget.

Cloud-hosted EHRs often offer better uptime and faster feature updates, but may come with additional scrutiny for compliance.

Interoperability 

An EHR that can’t talk to other systems becomes a silo. Strong interoperability ensures seamless data exchange with laboratories, imaging centers, billing platforms, and other electronic health record (EHR) systems. This improves care coordination, reduces duplication, and supports value-based care initiatives.

Ensure your vendor provides a platform that can integrate with your entire tech stack. An EHR that prioritizes connectivity can save hours of manual data entry and improve overall data quality.

Pricing and Licensing Models 

EHR pricing varies widely: From per-provider monthly fees to enterprise-level site licenses. Look for transparent, scalable pricing that aligns with your growth plans. Some vendors use tiered pricing. Others offer à la carte modules, so you pay only for what you need.

Be aware of hidden costs, such as implementation fees, training hours, or API usage fees. Request a detailed quote and clarify renewal terms and support levels. 

Once you have a quote, try to extrapolate an accurate price range based on your hospital’s user count and features needed. A predictable cost structure will help with long-term budgeting and ROI analysis.

Reporting and Analytics 

Strong EHR vendors offer customizable dashboards, real-time reports, and built-in analytics tools. These features help you understand clinical, financial, and operational data. This helps inform decisions, track quality initiatives, and comply with reporting mandates like MIPS or UDS.

Advanced platforms enable you to set alerts for critical indicators, analyze key performance indicators (KPIs), and even forecast trends over time. If reporting is manual, switching to a more analytics-friendly vendor could save hours and improve outcomes.

Update Frequency and Product Roadmap

An EHR should scale with your organization and evolve in line with healthcare industry innovations. Ask how frequently vendors release updates, whether they’re automatic or require manual installation, and how well-documented the changes are. Frequent updates mean faster access to new features — if they’re stable and supported.

Equally important is the product roadmap. Products with the latest technological features, such as healthcare AI tools, mobile apps, or deep integrations, should be shortlisted. A transparent roadmap signals that the vendor is committed to innovation and your long-term success.

Common Pitfalls When Comparing EHR Vendors

Many overlook key challenges when choosing an EHR vendor. From hidden costs to integration issues, blind spots are common. To avoid these blind spots, it’s essential to be aware of them before shopping for systems. Here are some pitfalls to avoid:

Overbuying Features That Go Unused

Many top EHR systems come loaded with feature sets that sound impressive. But they end up collecting dust after launch. To avoid overbuying features, do your homework: Ensure you know your organization’s precise needs and the features that can meet them.

Choose a modular, no-code EHR vendor like Blaze so you can build out features one at a time. This puts you in the driver's seat when it comes to selecting features, as you’ll be creating them yourself. 

Ignoring Support Models

Even the best EHR systems are only as effective as their support — yet many buyers assume all vendors provide responsive service. When they launch their platform, they discover that support is ticket-based, slow, or entirely self-service. 

Go with an EHR vendor that offers hands-on onboarding and live support. This will especially pay off at the time of launch, when hiccups and kerfuffles are common. When your vendor provides a team of EHR experts to walk you through issues, you’ll resolve them rapidly. 

Misjudging Implementation Time

Some EHR vendors underestimate timelines or skip key steps like user training or data migration. What was promised as a quick rollout can drag on for months. This can lead to clinician burnout, budget overruns, and missed compliance deadlines.

This is why getting a system with no-code architecture is crucial. Opting for a system that lets you develop either parts of or your entire healthcare EHR provides time-saving flexibility. Your team can build, test, and launch workflows quickly. This allows you to go live faster and iterate without developer dependency.

Overlooking Integration Needs

Realizing your new EHR doesn’t integrate with billing systems, lab tools, or CRMs after implementation can be costly and disruptive. Disconnected systems create data silos, manual entry, and patient care delays.

Integration should be a top priority when evaluating electronic health record vendors.

Prioritize platforms like Blaze that offer native integrations with popular healthcare tools and applications. Also, prioritize EHR vendors that provide a REST API. These tools let you connect lesser-known software or databases directly to your system. 

Believing “Customizable” Means “Easy to Customize”

EHR vendors often advertise their platforms as customizable. In reality, changes require technical expertise, vendor involvement, or long wait times. If you need rapid adaptation, you’ll be left waiting or forced to compromise on workflow fidelity.

Prioritize platforms that enable you to build or modify intake forms or billing rules with minimal developer input. No-code healthcare platforms allow any authorized user to configure the platform to match your workflow. 

When to Consider Building Your Own EHR System

If you struggle with rigid templates, sluggish onboarding, and poor integration, it may be time to reconsider your EHR. In many cases, building your electronic health record system is the smarter long-term investment. 

Here are some situations that merit serious consideration about creating your own system:

• Your EHR’s current tools and features are inflexible: Many popular EHR systems come packed with features that are difficult to align with your workflows, slowing staff down. 

• You need unique workflows: Standard EHR vendors often fall short when it comes to supporting complex or non-traditional care models. A custom EHR can be designed around your exact processes.

• Your current vendor makes changes too slowly: If you wait weeks for simple updates, a custom platform may be a better choice. No-code platforms give you control to meet clinical, billing, and compliance requirements without developer delays.

• You want a custom database and UI (user interface): Building your own EHR means full ownership of how data flows, how the interface looks, and what features get prioritized.

A custom EHR provides the flexibility to adapt to evolving regulations, workflows, and patient needs. It also puts your team in control of updates, user experience, and long-term innovation. 

How does Blaze compare to traditional EHR vendors?

Blaze is a no-code platform for building custom EHR systems — without hiring developers. Unlike rigid, pre-packaged EHR vendors, Blaze lets you create exactly what your organization needs, from clinical workflows to billing, dashboards, and nearly any other feature.

The platform is HIPAA- and SOC 2-compliant, ensuring your patient data stays secure, legal, and audit-ready. With integrations for labs, Stripe, clearinghouses, Zoom, and more, Blaze connects easily to your broader tech stack.

Ultimately, Blaze gives you full control over configuring your EHR. You get enterprise-grade security and full customization — no coding required.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is an EHR Vendor?

An EHR vendor is a company that develops and sells electronic health record (EHR) software to healthcare providers. These platforms digitize patient records, bolster data accessibility, and optimize workflows. 

Vendors typically offer services like training, support, and compliance tools. Leading examples include Epic, Oracle Health, and NextGen.

How Do I Choose Between EHR Vendors?

Choose an EHR vendor by evaluating HIPAA compliance, ease of onboarding, and customization options. Consider how well the system aligns with your workflow and integrates with your existing tools. Prioritize vendors with hands-on implementation, flexible licensing models, and robust analytics to ensure smooth adoption.

Can I Customize a Vendor-Provided EHR?

Some platforms require vendor assistance or coding expertise for changes. Others, such as Blaze, offer no-code tools that enable easy customization of workflows, dashboards, and forms. Look for drag-and-drop builders, modular features, and role-based configurations. These options simplify system adaptation without relying heavily on external support or developers.

Don’t Just Choose an EHR — Build One That Works for You

Tired of rigid platforms from traditional EHR vendors and EMR companies? Go with Blaze. It allows you to build a custom-crafted EHR system — no coding required. Here are some of the features you’ll get with Blaze:

• No-code EHR builder: Skip the tech hassle. Blaze’s drag-and-drop interface lets you create custom workflows, forms, and dashboards — no developers or coding required.

• HIPAA-compliant with enterprise security: Blaze is built for security, with HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance, role-based access controls, two-factor authentication, and single sign-on.

• White-glove onboarding: Blaze’s expert implementation team guides you through setup, training, and launch. They’ll ensure your EHR goes live smoothly and work to maintain it throughout. 

Build your own fully tailored EHR — on your terms. Schedule a demo today.‍