Small practices often walk a fine line between providing quality care and managing administrative overload. As these clinics grow, this balance becomes harder to maintain. Managing an increasing number of patient records, administrative tasks, and staff members often stretch resources thin.
This is where practitioners need an organized Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. A well-designed EMR centralizes patient information, automates documentation, and improves coordination among healthcare providers.
However, not all EMR systems are created equal. Some are complex and costly, while others are tailored specifically for smaller practices looking for smooth interoperability without budget constraints.
To help narrow down the choices, we curated a list of the best EMRs for small/solo practices, so it’s easier to make the perfect choice for setting up new clinic in 2025.
NextGen is a popular EMR system that offers a range of features built to make everyday clinical work easier for small and growing practices. It provides customizable templates, e-prescribing capabilities, and integrated billing and scheduling functionalities.
The system also offers smooth data exchange with hospitals and labs, along with options tailored to different medical specialties (neurology, cardiology, behavioral health, and more).
One of its standout features is NextGen Ambient Assist. It uses ambient AI to listen to patient visits and creates ready-to-review (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) SOAP notes. This helps cut down the time providers spend on paperwork.
Key Features
- Patient Care Access: This feature lets patients easily book, reschedule, or cancel appointments online. Practices can also use reputation management tools, IVR/call-deflection and chatbot workflows to improve access
- AI Rules Engine: It automatically checks and corrects billing data before claims are submitted. It applies customizable rules to catch errors, reduce denials, and speed up the reimbursement process for healthcare practices
- NextGen Data Platform: This feature provides users with a unified, cleaned dataset with daily updates, built-in quality checks, and support for self-service analytics and AI/ML modelling
NextGen EMR Pricing
The vendor offers custom pricing depending on the needs and size of a practice.
Why NextGen Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices
NextGen is a good choice for small healthcare practices due to its flexibility and scalability, as it helps clinics to adapt the system to their specific operations. The software’s analytics tools help teams track performance and improve decision-making without needing separate reporting tools.
With strong interoperability, it connects well with hospitals and labs, thereby helping with smooth care coordination. Though the software requires some setup time, its customization and long-term efficiency make it a practical investment for growing practices.
eClinicalWorks EMR is a comprehensive solution that provides EHR for ambulatory and behavioral healthcare practices. It helps providers manage patient records, schedule appointments, document visits, and bill for services.
The platform supports value-based care through its population health tools. It enables care coordination, risk management, remote patient monitoring, and quality tracking. These modules help practices shift from volume-based to outcome-driven models by identifying high-risk patients, managing chronic conditions, and monitoring performance metrics.
Key Features
- healow Genie: It is an AI-powered contact center that provides patients with 24/7 self-service access to health information, appointment management, lab results, and provider connections. It also helps take care of routine inquiries automatically
- Emergency Room (ER) Module: It helps hospitals manage ER operations by handling patient registration, charting, orders, medication, bed assignments, and discharge. It also provides dashboards and reports to track performance and key metrics across the ER
- Eva – Virtual Assistant (VA): It is a voice‑ and text‑enabled VA embedded in the eClinicalWorks EHR. It allows clinicians to fetch patient records, compare current and past notes, launch educational videos, and book appointments
eClinicalWorks Pricing
The vendor offers the following pricing plans:
- EHR Only – $449/month/provider
- EHR with Practice Management – $599/month/provider
- RCM as a Service – 2.9% of practice collections
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why eClinicalWorks Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices
eClinicalWorks features an intuitive interface that enables staff to easily navigate the system. Its integrated telehealth features let practices offer virtual visits, improving patient access and convenience. Being a HIPAA-compliant software, the platform keeps all the sensitive patient data remains secure.
While customer support may sometimes be slow and pricing varies with practice size, its core features and usability make it a practical choice for smaller healthcare settings.
PrognoCIS EMR is a HIPAA-compliant medical software with integrated features to manage clinical and administrative tasks. The software offers specialty-specific and customizable templates that fit all medical specialties of small to large size. The platform also provides mobile accessibility and telehealth integration, which allows clinicians to access patient records on iPhone/iPad apps and conduct secure video consultations.
In addition, its API supports the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard and the Substitutable Medical Applications, Reusable Technologies (SMART) App Launch Framework. These help third-party apps to plug into the system and extend its functionality.
Key Features
- Population Health Management Software: PrognoCIS Population Health helps clinics combine patient and claims data to identify health risks and care gaps. It provides live tracking tools and data insights that help doctors monitor patient trends effectively
- Documentation Management: This module stores and organizes all patient files, scans, and lab reports in one digital space. It lets providers quickly access, filter, and share documents through patient or provider portals
- PrognoAI: It automatically creates clinical notes and visit summaries from provider-patient conversations. It also acts as a smart assistant that offers quick clinical insights directly within the EHR
PrognoCIS Pricing
PrognoCIS pricing starts at $280/per provider/month. However, the cost may vary depending on the inclusion of additional plugins, integrated software, and the size or type of the practice purchasing the program.
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why PrognoCIS Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices
PrognoCIS's cloud-based setup makes it a solid choice for small practices as it removes the need for hardware and complex data management. While it may require some hands-on learning due to limited customization, it has an accessible design.
In addition, its secure patient portal enhances communication, helps with daily operations, and builds stronger patient relationships. The combination of convenience, flexibility, and patient engagement makes PrognoCIS a great choice for growing practices.
AdvancedMD EHR is a cloud-based platform that brings scheduling, billing, patient engagement, and clinical documentation in one place. It’s telehealth feature helps providers expand care access. It also offers users customizable templates and EPCS functionality, which gives an all-in-one solution for managing care and operations.
Among its many capabilities, the Electronic Remittance Advice (eRemittance) feature truly stands out. It automates the process of receiving, matching, and posting insurance payments while generating worklists for denied or unexpected claims.
Key Features
- Patient Cards: It shows important patient information, like medications, labs, and notes, at a glance. They are customizable and can be arranged to highlight the most relevant details for each clinician’s workflow
- Patient Rooming: This feature shows real-time visibility into where patients are in the clinic and tracks room availability. It also sends wait‑time alerts, monitors room and staff activity, and delivers analytics on peak times
- Task Donuts: Users get a visual dashboard where “donut” graphs show all pending and urgent tasks (like to‑dos, refills, labs). These graphics let users click in to see into each task category and prioritize workflow without having to hunt through multiple menus
AdvancedMD Pricing
AdvancedMD provides a range of customizable pricing plans tailored to your clinic’s needs. Its most common pricing plan, with costs ranging from $485 to $729/provider/month, provides a fully integrated EMR and practice management system. The plans include:
- Build A Bundle – Custom pricing
- Software Pricing – Custom pricing
- RCM Pricing – Custom pricing
- Billing Service Pricing – Custom pricing
Disclaimer: The pricing is sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change.
Why AdvancedMD Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices
AdvancedMD has an all-in-one design that combines billing, scheduling, and patient management, making it a good fit for small healthcare practices. The built-in revenue cycle management proves to be of great benefit as it helps reduce many common errors.
While the support may feel unreliable for small businesses, its user-friendly interface, mobile accessibility, and AI-powered tools make AdvancedMD a great choice for growing healthcare providers.
DrChrono EHR, a user-friendly, mobile-first EHR software. The platform covers customizable medical forms, telehealth, real-time patient engagement, and an open API that connects easily with labs, wearables, and third-party apps. This integration lets practices access all their tools in one place.
What's interesting is ‘DrChrono Payments’ makes collecting payments simple and quick. Practices can send invoices, accept credit cards, and set up recurring payment plans. Text payment links can also be sent directly to patients. Everything happens within the platform to help practices get paid securely.
Key Features
- Billing Software: This module works by connecting the billing system directly to the EHR and automatically populating codes and patient data into charts. The software tracks claim in real time, flags denials, and generates reports for financial analysis
- Practice Management: DrChrono helps automate scheduling, check-ins, and patient communication through digital tools. It also handles lab orders, e-referrals, and messaging
- Revenue Cycle Management: It also works by outsourcing billing and claim management to DrChrono’s expert team, who handle coding, submissions, and denial resolutions. The system then tracks payments and collections
DrChrono Pricing
The software offers the following five plans, available at custom pricing:
- Essentials
- Essentials Plus
- Advanced
- Advanced Plus
- Elite
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why DrChrono Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices
DrChrono is great for small healthcare practices because it works on smartphones and tablets, so health practitioners can access patient records and manage their work from anywhere. Furthermore, its integrated telehealth feature facilitates patients with remote monitoring and consultations.
However, as a mobile-first platform, it may have limited offline functionality, and some features can take a little time to get used to. While minor glitches may occur, DrChrono overall helps small practices handle scheduling, billing, and patient care all in one place.
athenahealth is a widely known provider of cloud-based services for healthcare, offering a comprehensive suite of products. One of which includes athenaOne that covers electronic health records, practice management, and patient engagement tools like patient portals, secure messaging, and real-time performance dashboards. The software integrates AI in most of its modules to connect clinical, financial, and administrative tasks easily.
Among so many amazing features, its interoperability is top-notch. It allows instant data sharing between labs, imaging centers, pharmacies, and other EHRs.
Key Features
- Medical Dictation: This module is integrated directly into the system. It lets clinicians dictate notes and navigate patient records using voice commands, on both desktop and mobile
- Population Health: This solution works by collecting data from multiple sources, like EHRs, payers, and labs, and analyzing it in one dashboard. This lets providers create targeted care plans to improve outcomes
- AI-Powered Chart Review: athenahealth uses AI to read and extract details from clinical documents, then automatically updates and organizes them in the patient’s chart. Clinicians can also ask the system questions and get instant answers
athenahealth Pricing
The vendor offers custom pricing tailored to the needs and requirements of a practice.
Why athenahealth Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices
athenahealth is ideal for small healthcare practices due to its comprehensive feature set and flexible pricing. This plays a key role in ensuring growth for clinical practices without overwhelming budgets.
Practices can manage scheduling, patient tasks, and revenue cycle services, all from a single platform. While it requires stable internet and some upfront training to maximize its capabilities, the cloud-based design ensures secure access to patient and financial data.
Cerner, now branded as Oracle Health, is an EHR system that helps hospitals and clinics manage large amounts of patient data with ease. It keeps all patient records organized across different locations and makes ordering and documentation much simpler.
Features like ‘Remote Patient Monitoring’ makes it easier for clinicians to track patients’ health data using connected home devices. The system automatically integrates this information into the EHR to detect any issues at the earliest.
Collaboration tools (messaging, video calls, etc.) help medical teams stay connected and respond faster to patient needs. The system also links nurses with medical devices and alarms to ensure quick access to patient data.
Key Features
- Clinical AI Agent: It records patient-provider conversations and uses speech recognition to generate clinical notes automatically. Later, it analyzes the data to suggest relevant orders or actions and syncs everything into the patient’s chart
- Public Health Reporting: Using this feature, practitioners can set it to automatically send clinical and lab data to public health agencies in real time. It also helps with case reporting, immunization updates, and syndromic surveillance
- Device Connectivity: Medical devices such as infusion pumps, lab instruments, and vital sign monitors can be connected directly to the EHR for automatic data capture
Cerner Pricing
The vendor offers custom pricing depending on the business size, user volume, and other factors.
Why Cerner Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices
Small healthcare practices looking to run their daily tasks more smoothly can benefit from Cerner. As it connects well with hospitals and labs, users can expect increased coordination and patient care. Furthermore, its mobile access keeps practitioners and patients connected from any location.
While Cerner can grow with a practice, its setup may be resource-intensive for smaller independent practices. Cerner’s strong security, smart analytics, and smooth integration make it a reliable choice for many growing practices.
TherapyNotes is a cloud-based practice management system built specifically for behavioral health professionals. The software supports everything from patient intake to payment in one system.
It integrates various tools that help users with scheduling, clinical documentation, billing, telehealth, and secure client communications. A standout feature of TherapyNotes is its Outcome Measures functionality.
This lets clinicians send standardized assessments (such as the PHQ‑9 or GAD‑7) to clients, automatically score the results, and track progress over time within the client’s chart. These results can be integrated directly into progress notes and visualised in trend graphs via the ‘Insights’ tab.
Key Features
- Integrated Payment Processing: This feature lets a practice charge and securely store client credit, debit, or HSA cards right in the system. The funds from processed cards are also directly deposited into the practice’s bank account, the very next business day
- TherapyPortal: It works by giving clients secure online access through the TherapyPortal, where they can log in to manage appointments, complete forms, and make payments. This automation connects directly with the provider’s TherapyNotes account, so everything is updated in real time
- Telehealth: This module allows users to have secure, HIPAA-compliant video sessions directly through the platform that patients can join through a simple browser link
TherapyNotes Pricing
- Solo: $69/month (for one user)
- Group: $79/month (for the first clinician)
- Enterprise (30+ users): $79/month (for the first clinician)
The vendor also offers a 30-day free trial.
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why TherapyNotes Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices?
TherapyNotes is a good fit for small healthcare practices because it offers an affordable, all-in-one solution available at a low cost. The software is easy to adapt, helps save time on daily tasks, and provide helpful customer support that is generally very quick.
On the downside, it doesn’t offer much room for customization, and updates can sometimes interrupt workflow. However, its unlimited storage for notes and files makes it a good contender.
A cloud-based platform for managing clients, CareCloud was created to help medical practices of all sizes run more efficiently. It provides an extensive set of tools for practice management and EHR. The software is fully HIPAA- and SOC 2-compliant, which ensures data security and patient privacy.
The software also has a ‘Revenue Cycle Management’ solution that automates the end-to-end billing process, from patient registration and insurance verification to claims submission, denial management and payment posting. It ensures less time is being spent on checking a patient’s insurance to sending claims and getting payments.
Key Features
- AI Powered Solutions: Using artificial intelligence, the software automates routine tasks like notetaking and data entry to help medical staff work faster
- Billing And Collections: This feature works by automatically checking patient insurance, sending electronic claims to payers, and tracking unpaid bills
- CareCloud Breeze: This module streamlines most front-desk tasks. It works by giving patients online access through their phones or tablets to schedule visits, fill forms, and make payments before arriving
CareCloud Pricing
The vendor offers custom pricing based on the specific needs of each organization, with plans starting at $649/user/month.
Disclaimer: The pricing has been sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change.
Why CareCloud Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices?
The cloud-based system of CareCloud removes the need for costly hardware and data management. It allows staff to securely access patient and billing data through any internet-connected device, while its integrated revenue cycle management helps improve reimbursement rates.
Furthermore, CareCloud helps with patient engagement through tools like the Breeze platform that allows for online check-ins and contactless payments. However, its variable pricing and occasionally slow customer support may pose challenges for smaller practices.
Practice Fusion is a cloud-based EHR for small and independent medical practices. Owned by Veradigm, it helps users manage patient information and handle billing. The software features scheduling, intuitive charting, lab integrations, and more to make medical practice management more efficient.
Most of all, its ‘electronic chart retrieval’ feature comes in handy, especially when clinicians have to quickly access and reuse previous patient charting through customizable note templates.
Key Features
- e-Prescribe: Using this feature, send prescriptions electronically from a patient’s chart straight to the pharmacy. It speeds up medication access by eliminating paper/fax prescriptions, and integrates seamlessly within the EHR
- Practice Fusion Reports: It lets small practices generate and export data-driven insights across three areas: quality (e.g., eCQMs, MIPS/MU dashboards), clinical (patient lists, prescription and medication history), and practice-management (appointments, payers, billing)
- EHR With Billing Solutions: The system combines all key billing-related tasks, like documenting patient visits, assigning medical codes, and submitting claims in one platform
Practice Fusion Pricing
The vendor offers a straightforward pricing plan, starting at $199/provider/month. It also provides a free 14-day trial, which allows potential users to explore its features without any upfront cost.
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why Practice Fusion Is Ideal For Small Healthcare Practices?
Practice Fusion is ideal for small healthcare practices due to its customizable interface, lab and imaging connectivity, and easy telehealth access on mobile devices. The patient portal also makes scheduling and record access for patients a lot easier.
However, some users mentioned experiencing long hold times on calls, and noted that live chat is not always available during busy hours. Despite that, its usability and flexibility make it a practical choice for small teams looking to streamline everyday operations.
Before choosing and EMR system, know what truly makes a software great. The following key factors can help narrow the search.
Affordability
Small practices often operate on tight budgets, so cost-effectiveness is crucial. Many EMR systems offer tiered pricing or pay-per-use models, which can be more manageable for smaller practices.
Ease Of Use
The EMR system should be intuitive and easy to navigate, minimizing the learning curve for healthcare providers and staff. This is especially important in small practices where there may be limited IT support.
Customization
The ability to customize templates and workflows to suit the specific needs of the practice can improve efficiency and patient care.
Integration
Seamless integration with other systems such as billing, scheduling, and telehealth services can streamline operations and reduce administrative burdens.
Data Security
Ensuring patient data privacy and compliance with regulations like HIPAA is critical. A reliable EMR should have robust security measures in place.
Support And Updates
Access to responsive customer support and regular software updates can help small practices stay current with technological and regulatory changes.
The growing shift toward patient-centered workflows and digital systems has increased the need for a reliable EMR. Everyday challenges, such as record management, billing, and scheduling, now call for automated solutions. The right EMR can tie all these elements together to create a better experience for both providers and patients.
The EMR systems listed above are designed with small practices in mind. Each solution has its strengths, so finding the one that fits your clinical and operational goals is key.
Have questions? Talk to our experts to find an EMR system that works for your practice.