Custom vs. Off-the-Shelf EHR: Choosing the Right Solution for Your Practice

As the world is moving towards a digital landscape, the use of computers and software systems is becoming more and more evident. A significant reason for this is seen in the healthcare industry. On this note, let me ask you a question.

When was the last time you handed a physical paperback form to a patient?

Well probably when you were a child or somewhere around a decade ago, right? Today, you would rather prefer to give them an online form to fill out and take their basic demographics. Well, this transition was brought about by electronic health records, simply known as EHR. From taking patient demographics to storing their entire health history, EHRs have completely changed the way healthcare institutions or healthcare clinicals work.

When you hit the market in search of an EHR system for your practice, you are generally given two choices in the form of a custom EHR software solution and an off-the-shelf EHR software solution, aka generic EHR software solutions.

Both have their unique offerings and limitations, cost comparison: custom vs off-the-shelf EHR; and assessing them based on your needs, helps you answer the age-old question, ‘How do choose the right EHR for my practice?’

In this blog post, let’s uncover both of these solutions and help you in choosing the right option for your practice.

Custom EHR: Tailored for Your Needs

Let’s get the basics right and learn the unique offerings of custom EHR/EMR software and the benefits of a custom EHR for a small practice or a larger healthcare institute.

1. Functionality and Workflow Optimization

The only major difference between off-the-shelf and custom EHR software systems is that custom EHR software systems are built to match your unique needs and the specific healthcare workflow efficiency of your practice. Custom healthcare software systems are curated to align with the unique clinical workflows, which helps the practice improve its efficiency by automating repetitive tasks and leading to more productivity.

2. Scalability and Future Growth

With time, healthcare practice grows, which loosely translates to the practice having a higher number of patients coming in and out of your practice. Meaning with time, there will be an increase in load on the system, and as the technology evolves, the system should be able to adapt to that. While off-the-shelf EHR software fails to do so, custom EHR software solutions understand this and offer enough flexibility to accommodate the increasing needs of the practice concerning future growth.

3. Seamless Integration

Custom EHRs also can seamlessly integrate with independent and disparate software systems. This is essential because it helps in staying the healthcare IT ecosystem connected and eliminates the formation of data silos. This seamless integration enables your practice to easily share data with other healthcare systems and ensures that healthcare delivery is complete and efficient, resulting in better patient monitoring optimization and the desired results.

Off-the-Shelf: Affordable and Ready-to-Use

Now that we’ve briefly understood the unique offering and prospects of custom EHR software, let's now understand the unique offerings and benefits of off-the-shelf EHR software solutions.

1. Lower Initial Investment

Compared to custom EHR software solutions, off-the-shelf EHRs have a lower upfront cost. Since they are ready to use software solutions with pre-defined features and functionalities, they have very low upfront investment. This is the reason why it has become one of the favorite options of healthcare providers looking for a basic Electronic Health Records software solution. This is mostly chosen by independent clinical practices with lower patient populations.

2. Faster Implementation Time

The best part about choosing an off-the-shelf EHR software is that it is very easy to implement. Meaning it will be implemented in your practice and it will be up and running in almost no time. Because of its readily available features and other components, the system finds it very easy to be a part of the system.

3. Ongoing Support and Updates

Last but not least, most vendors offer ongoing support and regular updates for their off-their-shelf EHR systems. It encompasses the maintenance of the software and updates by resolving bugs and other complex technicalities in the system. The best part about this comes under a monthly subscription and you don’t have to pay extra for maintenance and support.

Choosing the Right Fit: A Breakdown

	Custom EHR Software Solution	Off-the-Shelf Software Solution
Cost	Higher Development Cost	Lower Upfront Investment
Customization	Highly Customizable	Limited Customization Options Available
Scalability	Highly Scalable and Adaptable	Limited to No Scaling Options Available
Integration	Easy and Unlimited Integrations Options Available with Desperate Systems	Limited and Pre-defined Integrations Available
Implementation Time	Generally 3-4 Months Depending on the Requirements	Quick to Implement within a Day or Two
Support	Available	Available

Making an Informed Decision

The choice between custom EHR/EMR software and off-the-shelf software solutions can be daunting. The wrong choice can not only affect your practice but also hinder your clinical processes and healthcare workflow efficiency.

But worry not! We’re here to help you make an informed decision that will help you make the right choice. Furthermore, when it comes to choosing between these two software solutions, it can be pretty simple. Here are some of the questions that you can consider as a checklist to choose the right software solution.

Here are the questions or checklists for evaluating EHR vendors:

Do I have a higher patient population?
Does the practice serve any specific specialty that requires customization?
Does the software system perfectly align with my practice's clinical workflow?
Does the vendor provide you with support and maintenance?
Does the software have all the necessary features that are required for smooth operation and clinical care delivery to the patient?
Does the software have enough features to keep the patient engaged in their care journey?
Is the software solution interoperable?
Does the software support all the necessary integrations that are required for smooth care delivery?
Is the software safe and secure to use?
Is the software HIPAA compliant?
Does the software fit in my budget?

Conclusion

Both custom EHR software and off-the-shelf EHR software have their advantages and disadvantages that have the potential to define your practice. While custom EHR software solutions offer you more flexibility, freedom, and scalability options, the off-the-shelf EHR software leaves you with very little room to customize but is very easy to implement and cost-effective.

Though the benefits of both software systems are lucrative, let it not influence your decision about choosing the right Electronic Health Records software. The decision should be based on the clinical needs and requirements. Let the questionnaire above be a guide for you in choosing the right software and follow us for detailed tips for optimizing EHR workflow efficiency.