5 Top Medical Practice Management Software Systems

Practice management software keeps the medical office running smoothly, and the wrong package can wreak havoc with billing, scheduling, and other essential business processes. A closer look at KLAS' top-ranked systems will help you choose the one that best fits your practice.

Practice management (PM) software runs the business side of healthcare, from scheduling patients to billing to generating monthly reports, so picking the right system is crucial for any size medical practice. Unlike with electronic health records (EHRs), selecting and overseeing a PM system isn't typically the physician's domain. In a large practice, it typically falls on the office manager's or IT manager's shoulders.

While physicians may have little to say about choosing a PM system, they sure do pay attention to it when problems occur. When they don't get paid, or they receive constant complaints from back-office staff, these programs suddenly become top of mind.

[ Update available: 10 Medical Practice Management Systems For 2014.]

But how do office or IT managers know if they're choosing the right PM software system for their business? Rosemarie Nelson, a principal with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) tells InformationWeekHealthcarethat a major decision point is picking a PM system that works well with the practice's EHR.

"Oftentimes it isn't which EHR to buy or which practice management systemto buy; sometimes it's which bundle to buy because the physician wants a tightly integrated solution," Nelson said. She added that the EHR is more the driver than the PM system. "You pick the EHR that fits you because billing is billing, so chances are the PM systems that works for that EHR will be just fine," said Nelson.

However, when choosing a PM software system it's still a good idea to determine if you want to go with a single vendor system that's natively integrated with an EHR, or a best-of-breed system that requires an interface.

Physician practices large and small often turn to the Best In KLAS Awardsfor software and services as a guide when selecting a PM software vendor. KLAS independently monitors vendor performance, with the assistance of thousands of healthcare organizations. KLAS ranks PM software vendors for applicability to various practice types, from single practice to 150-plus physician groups.

According to Mark Wagner, senior director of ambulatory research at KLAS, PM software is one of the highest scoring segments that KLAS examines. Wagner told InformationWeek Healthcarethat most leading PM systems have similar core functionality.

"Functionality is important to providers. However, if you're hung up on functionality and that's all you've got, and you're not taking care of the relationship [with the healthcare provider] and you're not making sure [the providers] feel like their success matters to you as a vendor, they are going to score you poorly when you start measuring their overall experience and satisfaction," said Wagner.

Industry insiders point out that a leading challenge for physician practices is how long it takes to implement the PM system. Getting all the physicians in a large group up to speed on software can be a real headache. That headache will only be made worse if, after the practice buys the license, the vendor isn't helpful in getting doctors over the speed bumps.

Here's a look at 10 of the top PM software vendors, as ranked by KLAS, along with an overview of the features that office and IT managers want.



NextGen Healthcare's Practice Management scheduling and billing system is ranked among the top 10 in all of the Best In KLAS Awards physician subsets, from single-physician to 150-plus physician practices. Popular features include its WorkLog Manager, an automated task management system that's fully integrated with NextGen Practice Management's main features. WorkLog Manager is capable of automatically instructing a staff on what action to take when, for example, there is a canceled appointment. The system's person database helps to avoid duplicate data entries, while at the same time maintaining all demographic data from one visit to another, and makes it accessible from all practice locations. Integration via NextGen's product suite allows for consistent, real-time clinical and administrative workflow among providers, hospitals, and patients. In addition, NextGen can keep physicians' practices on track for regulatory changes, including transitions to the new HIPAA 5010 transaction set, the ICD-10 code set, and SNOMED-Ct.

AthenaHealth's AthenaCollector cloud-based 

medical billing

 system helps identify issues, track trends, and improve workflow. One popular feature is the Billing Rules Engine that is designed to help physicians collect money by drawing on industry-leading payer-rules intelligence and making sure thatmedical billing claims are addressed the first time. According to Athena, practices that use AthenaCollector see an average 12% increase in collections and an average 35% reduction in their days in accounts receivable. The cloud-based network delivers robust reporting, tracking, and benchmarking of a practice's financial performance.


Physicians, from solo practices through those in enterprise-class health networks, can take advantage of the features in eClinicalWorks' Practice Management system. The appointment, scheduling, billing, and storage system is integrated with eClinicalWorks' EHR system. The schedule-management feature administers multiple providers' schedules across several office locations, blocks off hours, sets rules for recurring appointments, and creates schedule templates. The system allows the staff to check the next day's schedule for patient insurance eligibility. The 

medical billing

management feature submits claims electronically, interfaces with clearinghouses, utilizes claims-rules engines, tracks the status of claims, and determines what and when services will be paid.


Among the benefits of McKesson's Horizon Practice Plus practice management system is the comprehensive master person index (MPI) that drives accurate patient information and 

business management

. MPI has advanced search and retrieval technologies designed to prevent duplicate registrations and errors. The system enables scheduling of equipment, rooms, and personnel. McKesson's open architecture enables integration with Horizon Ambulatory Care and other hospital information systems. An appealing feature for office and IT managers is access to online worklists and collection tools that track payment activity from patient visit to collection of overdue accounts.