In a recent report, Orem, Utah-based KLAS interviewed over 700 medical professionals in order to fully understand how their EMR vendors tackle each of their varied specialties-both as an enterprise offering and by individual specialty. The report, Ambulatory EMR by Specialty Study 2012: Finding the Fit, was intended to intend providers of the capability and performance of the measured vendors.

It was divided into two sections: inpatient and large group analysis and specialty insights & key players. The first one examines vendors that provide broad coverage of specialties and are frequently scored by inpatient environments, including vendors like Allscripts (Enterprise), Cerner (PowerChart), eClinicalWorks, Epic (EpicCare), GE Healthcare (Centricity EMR), and NextGen (EMR). The second one looks at high-volume and/or high-revenue specialties, including vendors like Amazing Charts, Aprima, athenahealth, e-MDs, Greenway, PCC, Praxis, SRSsoft, and Vitera (Sage).

The research found inpatient and large group leaders balance physician demands with the realities of implementing, interfacing, and supporting each solution. According to KLAS research director Mark Wagner, "Providers also want a solid solution for the critical, high-revenue, and high-volume specialties; strong ambulatory/inpatient data exchange, whether through native EMR integration or HL7 interfaces; and clean code releases built on top of dependable applications that work in tandem with reliable customer support."