Primary Care | EHR Insider

Elation Health

forrest — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:56:55 +0000

Elation Health is a cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) platform designed with a “clinical-first” philosophy specifically for primary care practices. Founded in 2010 by Kyna Fong and Conan Fong in San Francisco, the platform has grown to serve over 32,000 clinicians caring for more than 16 million patients. Elation won Best in KLAS 2025 for Small Practice Ambulatory EHR (1-10 Physicians).

Key Features

The platform features a unique single-page, three-panel chart layout designed to minimize clicks and maximize clinical efficiency. Elation includes an AI-powered medical scribe that provides real-time transcription and can reduce documentation time by up to 2 hours daily. The system integrates EHR, practice management, billing, telehealth (powered by Zoom), and patient engagement tools in one platform.

Best For

Elation Health is particularly well-suited for independent primary care practices, Direct Primary Care (DPC) clinics, family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatric practices that prioritize an intuitive, physician-designed workflow over extensive customization.

AdvancedMD

forrest — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:50:33 +0000

AdvancedMD is a comprehensive, cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that unifies Electronic Health Records (EHR), practice management, and medical billing in a single solution. The platform helps healthcare providers manage both clinical and financial workflows efficiently, featuring AI-generated SOAP notes, ambient listening for clinical conversations, automated patient intake, prior authorization tools, and computer-assisted coding.

Key Features

Notable for being one of the first cloud-based EHR solutions released in 2000, the platform serves an expansive national footprint of more than 26,000 practitioners across 8,600 practices and 600 medical billing companies. Nearly 3.5 million insurance claims are processed monthly on the AdvancedMD billing platform.

Best For

AdvancedMD is best suited for small to mid-sized independent medical practices and multi-specialty clinics that want to consolidate patient records, appointment scheduling, billing, and encounter documentation within one platform. The company was acquired for approximately $1.1 billion by Francisco Partners in late 2024.

Tebra

forrest — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:50:33 +0000

Tebra is a comprehensive cloud-based digital healthcare platform created in November 2021 when Kareo and PatientPop merged to form a unified solution for independent medical practices. The name “Tebra” is derived from “vertebrae,” symbolizing the company’s role as the backbone of practice success. The company reached unicorn status in 2022 with a valuation exceeding $1 billion and now supports more than 150,000 healthcare providers covering approximately 123 million patients in the United States.

Key Features

The platform offers an all-in-one solution that includes certified electronic health records (EHR), billing and payments, practice management, patient engagement tools, telehealth, and marketing capabilities. Tebra’s EHR+ provides flexible, customizable tools for clinical charting, documentation, e-prescribing, and lab ordering, all integrated with HIPAA- and HITRUST-certified telehealth. The system also features AI Note Assist, an ambient listening technology that transcribes and structures clinical notes in real time.

Best For

Tebra is purpose-built for independent practices and billing companies rather than large health systems. The platform integrates with over 60 third-party applications and has bidirectional interfaces with major lab providers including LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics.

Kareo

forrest — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:30:39 +0000

Kareo is a cloud-based EHR and billing platform designed for independent practices. It offers a free EHR option with integrated billing services.

Key Features

Kareo provides clinical documentation, practice management, patient engagement, and billing services. It emphasizes ease of use for small practices.

Best For

Small independent practices seeking affordable, easy-to-use solutions.

Epic

forrest — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:30:38 +0000

Epic Systems Corporation is the dominant electronic health records (EHR) company in the United States healthcare market. Founded in 1979 by Judith “Judy” Faulkner in a basement in Madison, Wisconsin, Epic has grown into the largest EHR vendor in the country, now headquartered in Verona, Wisconsin on a 1,100-acre campus inspired by fantastical themes. Epic holds approximately 42.3% of the acute care hospital EHR market share and manages over 325 million patient records—more than the population of the United States.

Key Features

Epic offers a comprehensive suite of healthcare applications including EpicCare (ambulatory and inpatient EHR), MyChart (patient portal with 150+ million activated users), Care Everywhere (health information exchange network connecting 90% of US patients), Cadence (scheduling), Prelude (registration), Resolute (billing), Beacon (oncology), Stork (obstetrics), and Healthy Planet (population health management). Epic is known for its deep interoperability through Care Everywhere and its AI initiatives, including Hey Epic! (generative AI features) and integration with Microsoft’s DAX Copilot for ambient clinical documentation.

Best For

Epic is designed primarily for large hospital systems, academic medical centers, integrated delivery networks, and major health systems. It is NOT typically suitable for small independent practices due to its enterprise pricing model and complexity. Organizations like Kaiser Permanente, the Veterans Health Administration, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, and most major academic medical centers use Epic.

Cerner

forrest — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:30:38 +0000

Cerner (now part of Oracle Health) is a major healthcare technology company providing EHR solutions for hospitals and health systems. It offers comprehensive clinical and administrative capabilities.

Key Features

Cerner Millennium provides clinical documentation, computerized physician order entry, revenue cycle management, and population health tools. Oracle is investing heavily in AI and cloud capabilities.

Best For

Hospitals, health systems, and large ambulatory organizations.

NextGen Healthcare

forrest — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:30:38 +0000

NextGen Healthcare is a leading healthcare software and services company that develops and sells electronic health record (EHR) software and practice management systems to the healthcare industry. The company offers two main product lines: NextGen Office, a cloud-based solution designed for small to independent practices with 1-10 providers, and NextGen Enterprise, a comprehensive EHR and practice management platform tailored for mid-size to large ambulatory healthcare organizations.

Key Features

The platform provides pre-built clinical content for over 26 medical specialties, allowing providers to access specialty-specific tools, templates, and reporting capabilities out of the box. Core features include electronic prescribing, telehealth capabilities, patient portal access, claims clearinghouse integration, MIPS/MACRA reporting, and scheduling functionality. NextGen has recently invested heavily in AI technology, including NextGen Ambient Assist which uses AI to generate SOAP notes from doctor-patient conversations.

Best For

In 2023, Thoma Bravo acquired NextGen Healthcare in a deal valued at $1.8 billion. The company employs over 2,000 people and generates approximately $690 million in annual revenue. NextGen Healthcare earned the #1 ranking from Black Book Market Research for practice management solutions in 2026.