Selecting the right electronic health record (EHR) system is crucial for healthcare providers, as it directly impacts patient care, workflow efficiency, and overall practice management. A well-optimized electronic medical record (EMR) can streamline documentation, enhance communication, and improve decision-making for medical professionals.
Among the many EMR solutions available, Elation Health and Cerner stand out for their robust features and widespread adoption. While Elation Health is known for its intuitive interface tailored for independent practices, Cerner (now part of Oracle Health) is a powerhouse used by large healthcare systems worldwide.
This blog provides a detailed comparison of Elation Health vs Cerner, evaluating their usability, features, and overall effectiveness to help you determine which system best suits your needs.
Elation Health Vs Cerner: Head-On Comparison
Elation Health is a cloud-based EHR system designed for primary care practices. It offers a clinical-first design, enhancing efficiency and patient care. This system integrates seamlessly with labs and diagnostic facilities, providing comprehensive solutions for managing patient records, ePrescribing, and referral management.
Cerner EMR, now part of Oracle Health, is a cloud-based healthcare system designed for medical practices of all sizes. It supports clinical, financial, and operational workflows, offering comprehensive solutions to enhance patient care and streamline healthcare operations.
Additionally, the software is recognized for its advanced analytics and AI integration, providing actionable insights for better decision-making and patient outcomes.
Elation Health Vs Cerner: At A Glance
Feature
Elation Health
Cerner
Cloud Access
✓
✓
Telehealth
✓
✓
Scheduling
✓
✓
Reporting
✓
✓
Medical Billing
✓
✓
Integration
✓
✓
Compliance
✓
✓
Document Management
✓
✓
Support Options
✓
✓
Mobile Access
✓
✓
Elation Health Vs Cerner: Pros And Cons
PROS
Send referrals directly from the chart
Drag and rearrange chart boxes
Auto text reminders for visits
Easy medication prescribing
Helps manage patient orders
Orders sorted by classification
Reduces patient wait times
Easy clinical note-writing
CONS
Onboarding takes too long
No way to flag key patient data
Hard to find key information
Interoperability needs work
Power chart templates lack value
ICD-10 codes not entered correctly
Elation Health Vs Cerner: Side By Side Comparison
Reporting And Analytics
Elation Health provides essential reporting tools tailored for primary care practices, focusing on patient data, practice performance, and revenue cycle management. Its built-in and premium reporting options enable real-time insights, helping independent practices improve efficiency and financial stability.
Cerner (Oracle Health) offers an extensive analytics suite with enterprise-level capabilities. It integrates data from 130+ EHRs and 345 data sources, enabling comprehensive clinical, financial, and operational reporting. With AI-driven insights, prebuilt dashboards, and advanced data visualization tools, it surpasses Elation in scalability and interoperability.
Winner: Cerner takes the lead with its extensive reporting capabilities and advanced analytics, including deep data integration and predictive analytics, providing a more comprehensive solution for healthcare providers.
Referral Management
Elation Health’s referral management system emphasizes workflow efficiency through its integrated provider directory, efaxing, and electronic chart sharing. Its close-the-loop tracking ensures timely follow-ups and seamless coordination. However, it lacks deep analytics and payer-agnostic capabilities.
Oracle Cerner, in contrast, offers an end-to-end referral management solution with EHR-agnostic interoperability, advanced analytics, and in-network patient retention strategies. Its ability to integrate diagnostic orders and map referral data into workflows makes it superior for larger healthcare networks aiming to minimize patient leakage.
Winner: Elation Health excels with its close-the-loop referral tracking and efaxing platform, ensuring better follow-up and efficiency in referral management.
Artificial Intelligence
Elation Health features Note Assist, an AI-powered ambient scribe streamlining clinical documentation. This tool captures real-time patient interactions, generating structured notes directly within the EHR. Note Assist reduces administrative tasks, allowing providers to focus on patient care and decision-making.
As part of Oracle Health, Cerner offers the Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent. This multimodal voice-first assistant integrates clinical automation, note generation, and dictation, enhancing clinical workflows. It provides pre-visit patient insights and generates well-structured clinical notes, improving efficiency and patient interactions.
Winner: While Elation’s AI simplifies documentation, Oracle Cerner’s comprehensive AI ecosystem provides greater efficiency, automation, and patient-centered insights, making it the superior choice for organizations prioritizing workflow automation and data-driven clinical support.
Interoperability
Elation Health offers advanced clinical interoperability, enabling faster and more efficient data exchange. Its integrated solutions enhance patient safety and care by connecting practices with hundreds of vendors through APIs, HL7, and FHIR standards. This seamless integration ensures coordinated and informed care.
Cerner provides open systems interoperability, allowing secure data exchange across the healthcare ecosystem. Its Seamless Exchange feature aggregates and cleanses data from multiple sources, presenting a holistic view of patient history. Cerner's open APIs facilitate integrating various apps and devices, enhancing clinical workflows.
Winner: While Elation facilitates basic interoperability, Oracle Cerner’s advanced data aggregation, open APIs, and real-time exchange make it the top choice for healthcare organizations prioritizing comprehensive, cross-platform interoperability.
Telehealth
Elation Health offers an award-winning Integrated Telehealth platform powered by Zoom. It provides seamless, high-quality video visits integrated directly into the EHR, ensuring uninterrupted virtual care. This platform enhances patient and physician experiences by delivering reliable and effective virtual care within a user-friendly interface.
Cerner delivers a comprehensive virtual care portfolio, including video visits, remote patient monitoring, and digital therapeutics. Its telehealth capabilities are embedded into the EHR, supporting scheduled and on-demand video visits. Cerner's solution extends care beyond the hospital, enabling clinicians to monitor patient health data in real-time.
Winner: Cerner excels with its extensive virtual care offerings and real-time remote patient monitoring, providing a more comprehensive telehealth solution.
Elation Health Vs Cerner: Pricing Plans
Elation Health offers tailored pricing plans to its users based on the size, requirements, and preferences of healthcare practices. Moreover, the vendor also offers additional services, performance consulting, and technical advising to large organizations and value-based practices.
Although Cerner also offers flexible pricing plans that vary according to the needs and size of healthcare practices, it demands a substantial initial investment covering software licensing, implementation, and ongoing maintenance expenses. Its pricing structure often includes extended contract commitments, potentially reducing flexibility for healthcare providers.
When comparing pricing, both Elation Health and Cerner cater to healthcare practices with flexible plans, but their approaches differ. While Cerner’s structure may suit large enterprises seeking an all-in-one system, Elation’s adaptable plans provide greater flexibility for smaller or growing practices. Ultimately, the best choice depends on the practice’s budget, operational scale, and long-term goals.
Elation Health Vs Cerner: What Users Have To Say?
Elation Health reviews highlight the platform's intuitive user interface and robust patient engagement tools. Users appreciate the seamless integration with various healthcare systems and the efficiency it brings to their workflows. However, some users have concerns about longer onboarding periods and the initial learning curve.
In contrast, Cerner is praised for its comprehensive features and advanced analytics capabilities. Users find the system's integration with clinical and revenue cycle workflows beneficial. However, some users have reported the need for better interoperability options and certain billing features lacking.
Ultimately, both Elation Health and Cerner have their strengths and weaknesses, and the best choice depends on each healthcare practice's specific needs and preferences.
Making The Best Choice For Your Healthcare Practice
Both Elation Health and Cerner offer powerful EMR solutions. Still, the best choice depends on your practice’s size, workflow needs, and long-term goals.
Elation Health stands out for its user-friendly interface and features tailored to independent primary care providers, making it an excellent option for small to mid-sized practices. On the other hand, Cerner delivers enterprise-level interoperability, AI-driven automation, and deep analytics, making it a strong contender for larger healthcare organizations seeking advanced clinical and operational support.
When selecting an EMR between Elation Health vs Cerner, healthcare providers should assess usability, integration capabilities, and long-term scalability to ensure seamless practice management. Research suggests EHR usability is crucial in reducing physician burnout, so choosing a system that enhances efficiency rather than adds complexity is essential.
