EHR Showdown: DrChrono vs Practice Fusion

Choosing the right Electronic Health Record (EHR) software for your medical practice can be a taxing affair. There are so many different applications to choose from, each with its own set of features and pricing options.  In this piece, we will compare two of the most popular EHR applications on the market: DrChrono and Practice Fusion. We will discuss their features, pricing plans, subscription options, ease of use, and user reviews - concluding with a recommendation. Let’s begin with a quick introduction to each application.

DrChrono: A Quick Primer 

DrChrono is a cloud-based EHR application that was founded in 2009. The company’s mission is to ‘connect doctors and patients through technology.’  DrChrono’s features include:  

  • Appointments and scheduling 
  • Billing & invoicing 
  • Clinical decision support 
  • e-prescribing
  • Electronic medical records (EMR) 
  • Patient portals 
  • Practice management  

The software comes certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and is used by over 80,000 medical professionals (serving more than 17 million patients – as of the time of this writing).  

Practice Fusion: A Brief Distill 

Practice Fusion is another popular cloud-based EHR application that was founded in 2005. The company’s mission is to ‘empower healthcare providers with the freedom to practice medicine.’  Practice Fusion’s features include: 

  • Appointments and scheduling 
  • Billing and invoicing 
  • E-prescribing 
  • Electronic medical records (EMR) 
  • Patient portals  
  • Referral management 
  • Telemedicine  

Practice Fusion also comes certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and is used by over 100,000 medical professionals (spread – per the official vendor site – across 30,000 practices; serving 5 million patients a month). 

Now for the Showdown

Now that we have provided an overview of each application, let’s compare their features side-by-side. 

Appointments and Scheduling 

DrChrono offers a patient self-scheduling feature that allows patients to book their own appointments online. Practice Fusion does not offer this feature.  

Billing and Invoicing 

Both DrChrono and Practice Fusion offer billing and invoicing features.  

Clinical Decision Support  

DrChrono offers clinical decision support tools that provide guidance on diagnosis and treatment options. Practice Fusion does not offer this feature in exactly the same way – instead providing practitioners with timely alerts against prescribing allergy-causing medications to individual patients (based on their recorded histories).  

e-Prescribing 

Both DrChrono and Practice Fusion offer e-prescribing features.  

Electronic Medical Records (EMR)  

Both DrChrono and Practice Fusion offer the standard slate of EMR features.  

Practice Management  

DrChrono offers practice management features such as insurance eligibility checks and appointment reminders. Practice Fusion also offers these functions; albeit with a different set of addons and functionality triggers. 

Referral Management  

Practice Fusion offers referral management features that allow users to track and manage referrals. DrChrono does not offer this feature.  

Telemedicine 

Practice Fusion offers a telemedicine feature that allows patients to consult with their providers online. DrChrono does not offer this feature.   

Pricing

Like most EHR vendors, DrChrono does not publicize the subscription costs of its various plan offerings. Based on industry estimates and genuine user accounts available across the internet and on this platform, the vendor’s base service pricing starts at $249* per provider per month. Practice Fusion, on the other hand, and for its basic subscription, starts at an even more attractive cost of $149* per provider per month (inclusive of organizational deployment charges, training, and customer support). * Please Note: The price figures stated only represent our best researched approximations for each mentioned EHR software – for exact/detailed pricing info, please reach out to our customer help executives through our dedicated chat-box or the contact number given on the top-right.  

Ease of Use 

DrChrono is rated as one of the easiest EHR applications to use. Practice Fusion also, popularly, boasts the same.  

User Reviews 

DrChrono has mainly positive user reviews, with users praising its ease of use and customer service. Practice Fusion has also garnered such testimonials, with users praising its features and price.

Our Recommendation 

DrChrono and Practice Fusion are both popular, cloud-based EHR applications that offer a wide range of features.  DrChrono is slightly more expensive than Practice Fusion, but it offers more features, such as clinical decision support tools and practice management features. So, we recommend DrChrono for larger practices that are looking for an all-in-one EHR solution.  For smaller practices on a tight budget, Practice Fusion may be the more practical option.