Epic vs Cerner: A Comprehensive Comparison for Healthcare Providers

Choosing the right EHR/EMR system is important for healthcare providers to improve their efficiency. According to a research report, Epic leads a significant share of 34-39% of the hospital EHR market, while Cerner holds 22-25% in the U.S market in 2025.

In this blog, we have compared Epic and Cerner, analyzing their features, benefits, cost considerations, and more. If you’re a healthcare organization planning to select the right EHR software, this blog post might be useful and help you make the right decisions.

What is Epic EHR? 

Epic EHR is a cloud-based system that is ideal for large-scale practices and healthcare organizations. It includes various functionalities for practice management such as scheduling, billing, and data analytics.

Key Features of Epic EHR

• Epic provides inbuilt medical templates for different specialties and process documentation.
• Providers can access patient history and update data in real-time. It has efficient referral management between healthcare providers.
• Epic manages patient scheduling, medical billing, and insurance claims. It provides tools to support CDS.
• Seamless data exchange between different healthcare systems and organizations, and offers specialty-specific modules.
• Supports telehealth and remote care services. It provides security measures to protect patient data from cyberthreats.

Benefits of Epic EHR

• Epic enhances care coordination by enabling providers to work together, retrieve patient information, and provide improved patient care.
• Having complete patient information allows for informed choices, improving patient outcomes. Helps decrease medical errors and eliminate unnecessary procedures, leading to financial savings.
• Complying with security regulations like HIPAA helps organizations safeguard their data. Analytics tools enable data-driven decisions, providing access to information related to patients and improving their involvement in care.

Related: How To Customize Epic Hospital Software: A Beginner’s Guide

What is Cerner EHR?

Oracle Health (Cerner) is a cloud-based EHR that serves healthcare institutions of small and medium practices. Cerner supports over 40 specialties in the medical field. It has various features such as documentation, voice dictation, RCM, graphing, analytics, and CDS tools to streamline workflow. 

Key Features of Cerner EHR

• The Patient Portal enables patients to view their medical records, schedule appointments, and interact with their healthcare providers.
• Integrating labs and radiology systems to access patient reports, support telehealth, and RPM.
• Tools for managing patient information, which include patient demographics, treatment plans, and medical history.
• Voice Dictation, tailored templates, and charting help in clinical documentation.
• Mobile applications enable providers to view records while on the go. Providers can prescribe medications to patients through e-prescribing.

Benefits of Cerner EHR

• Cerner offers patient portals that enable individuals to view medical records, interact, and enhance involvement.
• Cerner features an intuitive interface, provides access to patient information, and simplifies workflows. Improves data accuracy and accessibility by making information easily accessible.
• Automated processes like results analysis reduce the administrative work for healthcare providers. Cerner’s RCM processes the billing, claims submission, and optimizes financial performance.

Related: Customize Cerner Like a Pro: Make the EHR Work for You

Comparison between Epic EHR Vs Cerner EHR

The ultimate comparison between Epic EHR and Cerner EHR. This includes: Cost comparison, interoperability, installation & implementation, customer support, and security compliance.

Pricing

• The Epic system ranges from $200 to $3500 per month for a cloud-based EHR. Self-hosted systems range from $1200 to $500,000 or more. It offers on-premise deployments and offers cloud options for small installations.
• The Cerner system starts from $25 per user per month for cloud-based solutions. It offers a flexible approach to implementation. It is suitable for small to medium-sized healthcare organizations with lower budgets.

Interoperability

• Epic does not offer interoperability via third-party integrations. Companies can connect via EpicCare Link, Carequality Network. It provides better connectivity via direct protocol.
• Cerner supports interoperability in various methods. Cerner Ignite APIs, Oracle smooth data transfer, CommonWell Health Alliance, and Cerner’s Interoperability Ticker facilitate data exchange.

Installation & Implementation

• Epic system implementation and installation are complex. Its cost is high when compared to Cerner.
• Cerner System implementation and installation are easy through its model experience. Its cost is reasonable.

Customer Support

• Epic offers 24/7 customer support via phone, MyChart, and UserWeb email support. It responds within 24 hours.
• Cerner EHR system offers 24/7 eService support, separate client and provider ambulatory phone support, uCern forum. It has a slow response time. 

Both offer excellent customer support and technical training to the in-house team.

Security Compliance

• Epic ensures that only authorized users go through an authentication process. It protects data during transmission and while it is saved. Epic conducts regular security audits to identify potential vulnerabilities in the system.
• The Cerner system allows only authorized individuals to access specific data. It uses encryption to protect data whether it’s stored or being transmitted. The system keeps logs to track the changes. 

Both Epic and Cerner offer security measures such as HIPAA compliance. It has user authentication, data encryption, and SMART on FHIR authorization.

Market Share

Epic System:

• Market Share (Acute Care) is around 39%.
• Epic has a significant share of multispecialty hospital beds in the U.S., with over 50%. 

Cerner (Oracle Health):

• Market Share (Acute Care) around 21.7%. 
• Cerner covers around 23.8% of hospital beds in the U.S.

Common Problems Faced During Customizing Epic and Cerner

Providers need to work manually due to the limitations in Epic for customization , increases the risk of errors. Over-customization make the system complex and  difficult to maintain. Default Epic system does not capture all the data required for patient populations.

Cerner provides various kinds of products, though customization choices are restricted. Small healthcare practices and specialty healthcare may find it difficult to customize them. Cerner EHR is expensive where small practices that cannot afford it. Some practices have reported that Cerner’s training sessions are not enough, and outsourcing for training.

CapMinds EHR/EMR Customization & Integration Service

CapMinds offers a comprehensive solution that can help streamline workflow for healthcare practices that use EHR/EMR systems. 

We are a group of professional experts with years of experience in the field. CapMinds’ customizable solution can help to solve the common challenges associated with your EHR/EMR system.

• CapMinds can customize the Interface and workflows in your EHR/EMR to simplify navigation and resonate with your healthcare practice.
• Our solution includes building customized accounting and financial reports tailored to your healthcare practice needs.
• We also excel in RCM, Medical Billing, and collections for practice-based physician groups. Our service includes medical coding, claim tracking, denial management, online payments, and financial reporting.
• Our specialists provide EHR/EMR credentialing service that helps you to submit claims quickly, boost revenue, and avoid productivity losses.
• We can guide you through the entire onboarding process and provide a customized EHR/EMR solution to streamline your healthcare practice workflow.
• Our EHR/EMR integration solution includes integrating third-party tools and apps with your EHR/EMR.

Whether you want to experience the full capabilities of EHR/EMR or a customized solution tailored to your specialty healthcare practice needs, CapMinds is the best cost-effective choice.

Contact us and unlock the full potential of your EHR/EMR system with the help of CapMinds’ customization and integration solution.

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