Since the passing of the HITECH Act in 2009, the American healthcare industry has witnessed an explosion in the number of health IT startups. Many of these companies provide services related to the creation, management and analysis of electronic health records (EHRs).
Legal demands and hospital needs mean that the EHR space can always use a few new ideas. Just look at the five EHR startups we have profiled below. We considered companies that are already starting to dominate the market and others that are brand new. Though they differ in age and size, we believe all five rank among the most innovative in the industry.
1. Practice Fusion - The Giant in the Cloud
Valued at $700 million, Practice Fusion is one of the fastest growing and most well-funded startups in the EHR space. According to the company's website, the medical records of more than 25% of Americans are managed on the Practice Fusion platform. The broad adoption of the startup's services is likely being driven by the company's innovative business model and product design – Practice Fusion is cloud-based, free (ad-supported) and scaleable. The company's iPad app interface even won an IxDA 2013 Interaction Award for "its ability to increase the efficiency of clinical workflow management for medical professionals" (Practice Fusion).
As 2013 winds down, Practice Fusion continues to grow at a rapid clip. However, the startup's handling of patient review data recently sparked a privacy controversy.
2. CareCloud – The Up-and-Coming Fighter
This Boston- and Miami-based startup is out to compete with the big guys. The company’s audacious vision is to rise to the top of the fiercely competitive EHR market and become “the single log-in for healthcare.” And, the Intel-backed startup seems off to a fighting start – it's ramping up its user base quite quickly and recently raised $29M in a round of Series B funding.
Like Practice Fusion, CareCloud offers a free, cloud-based EHR platform designed to serve medical organizations of any size. According to a recent press release, CareCloud is used by over 3,700 providers to manage the medical records of 5.5 million patients.
One of the most innovative aspects of CareCloud's EHR platform is its approach to charts, specifically the integration of a "real-time patient flow" system. This user interface feature gives physicians the ability to "drag and drop patients intuitively across columns as they progress through the practice" (CareCloud).
CareCloud continues to improve and expand its other practice management services, as well. In October of 2013, the company announced a partnership with another health IT startup, ZocDoc, to enable online appointment scheduling for the patients of CareCloud clients.
3. ElationEMR – The God of EHR Design
Of the five EHR startups profiled here, ElationEMR probably has the most intriguing backstory. In 2010, the founders, Conan and Kyna Fon, tried to help their father select an EHR system to use for his small family practice. Based on their research, the siblings concluded that existing EHR options would require their father to practically double his staff.
Realizing that their father's case was not unique, the siblings decided to build their own EHR platform. Now, two years later, ElationEMR is supported by the likes of Facebook co-Founder Dustin Moskovitz and the design firm IDEO.
To separate themselves from the competition, the ElationEMR team heavily focuses on user-experience research and design. In a Gigaom article, one of the company's founders explains that the unique layout of the ElationEMR software interface "allows a physician to see many different pieces of information at once – from problems to active medications to notes from their last visit and lab reports – all in one screen." On the ElationEMR website, the company also notes that every employee, "from developer to salesperson," shadows a medical professional who uses its software.
Because ElationEMR is still a relative newcomer to the EHR market, it is yet to be seen how many practices and hospitals will opt for good design over the free services offered by competitors – Elation EMR charges $149 per month.
4. DrChrono – The King of iOS-based EHR Systems
Another cloud-based EHR service, DrChrono carved out a corner of the market by almost exclusively focusing on iOS apps. The company's iPad app in particular is now well known by thousands of physicians for its array of powerful features. For instance, the iOS 7 version of DrChrono enables physicians to easily and securely transfer sensitive medical information, like an X-ray or EKG, to other physicians and patients via Apple AirDrop.
At present, DrChrono primarily targets small practices in which the physician logs most of the patient data, but one can easily imagine its feature-rich apps inspiring EHR providers serving larger medical establishments.
5. Modernizing Medicine – The EHR Platform Coded by Doctors
While many EHR startups strive to build a single system that meets the needs of diverse staffs, Modernizing Medicine creates EHR platforms for specific fields, from dermatology to orthopedics. Since 2010, the Boca-Raton, Florida-based startup has seen its user base grow to over 2,500 practices, including 15 percent of the US dermatology market. Like DrChrono, Modernizing Medicine mainly serves small to medium-sized practices and offers its cloud-based products as an iPad app.
In addition to its vertical-specific approach, Modernizing Medicine sets itself apart in the EHR market by employing medical professionals as part-time software developers. That's right – physicians write the code. "It's a lot easier to teach doctors how to program than it is to teach medicine to engineers," says founder Daniel Cane (also the founder of Blackboard, Inc.). These programmer-physicians continue to practice medicine, testing the software they develop in a real-world environment.
With sales that rocketed up 5,175 percent from 2010 to 2012, Modernizing Medicine has had little trouble finding investors. In August, 2013, the startup closed a round of series C funding, raising $14M.
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