Five top pediatrics EHRs for your selection shortlist

Many of the functionalities needed in pediatric EHRs overlap with those found in EHRs used in practices treating adults. However, there are certain aspects of pediatric practices require functionalities that are specific to children’s health.

A technical brief published by The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) through its Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) offers a systematic and nuanced examination of what should be considered core functionalities for a pediatric EHR.

AHRQ’s technical brief lists eight areas considered core functionalities:

• vaccines 
• routine healthcare maintenance 
• family dynamics 
• privacy 
• managing pediatric conditions in 8 vulnerable populations 
• medications 
• documentation and billing
• pediatric-specific norms and growth charts  

Pediatric practices should consider these functionalities as a baseline for purchasing an EHR, on top of extra functionalities to fit a practice’s specific needs.  

The current pediatric EHR offers a variety of products that are not simply general practice EHRs with pediatric add-ons. Rather these products are designed for pediatric practices and display the core functions listed by AHRQ.

1. ChARM 

ChARM Pediatric EHR offers a certified EHR with core pediatric functionality.

ChARm’s web-based delivery allows clinicians remote access to patient records. The system offers pay-per-encounter pricing model, effectively making it 'pay-as-you-go'.

One unique feature offered by this EHR involves documenting and treating medical, developmental, and behavioral conditions in children in addition to wellness and immunization tracking. Further, for ambulatory clinics ChARM is ONC-ATCB certified for Meaningful Use for ambulatory setup.

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2. Office Practicum

Office Practicum’s Meaningful Use-compliant EHR offers a comprehensive suite of EHR and practice management tools including scheduling, demographic data collection, insurance status, superbill charges, and vaccine inventory management among others.

Office Practicum offers a unique value proposition with over 200 pediatric-specific templates, decision support tools, electronic school, and camp forms along with pediatric developmental assessments, surveys, and disease-specific action plans.

Further, this EHR offers users a proprietary system known as VacLogic™ immunization forecasting which provides vaccine alerts for patients.

3. PCC Pediatric EHR Solutions

PCC’s EHR and practice management solution is a certified EHR offering a unique practice management dashboard that offers a range of reports and revenue cycle tools and billing applications, including a billing tool to manage shared bills for complex family relationships and a customizable interface.

4. CureMD

CureMD offers an all-in-one certified EHR suite which includes progress note templates, automated growth charts, ePrescribing functionality, and an integrated practice management system.

CureMD appears to have made a play for setting themselves apart in providing a more workflow-friendly product through automation features and templates that can increase productivity in data entry areas.

5. PrognoCIS EHR

PrognoCIS EHR offers the standard pediatrics range of features supplemented by pediatric templates, workflow enhancement and content.

Further, PrognoCIS offers a range of customizable data input features and sophisticated functionality which allows users to employ auto coding and data tracking of clinical quality measures.

The pediatric EHR market’s development is still somewhat behind other specialty practice areas, however the number of dedicated pediatric EHRs available to consumers has grown over the last few years to allow choices beyond the general EHRs that have been shoe-horned into use in pediatric practices.

In addition to the products listed here, pediatric practices will see more pediatric-specific EHRs enter the market over the next few years, thereby offering consumers greater leverage in the form of lower prices and more features.