ModMed, Epic, NextGen Healthcare, Netsmart, athenahealth, and Specialty Category Innovators Lead Black Book's 2026 Ambulatory EHR Rankings

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / January 15, 2026 / Black Book, the independent source for healthcare technology user experience benchmarking, today released its 2026 list of top-rated Electronic Health Records (EHR) vendors supporting physician practices and ambulatory care organizations across the United States. Built on a comprehensive nine-month survey cycle, the 2026 rankings reflect direct feedback from 33,178 participating physician practices and ambulatory facilities, representing clinicians, practice administrators, revenue cycle leaders, and operational executives.

The 2026 evaluation assessed performance and satisfaction across 239 distinct brands spanning enterprise ambulatory suites, specialty EHRs, outpatient surgical systems, anesthesia information management, imaging/RIS-PACS workflows, laboratory/pathology systems, and niche clinical platforms-each scored through Black Book's ambulatory EHR KPIs covering usability, interoperability, implementation outcomes, support performance, workflow impact, and value realization.

2026 Trends in Ambulatory EHR Systems

Black Book's 2026 surveys show that ambulatory practices are no longer rewarding "feature breadth" alone. The highest-rated vendors are separating themselves through measurable reductions in operational friction, faster support resolution, and specialty-native workflow execution.

Ambient and AI-assisted documentation becomes mainstream: Across participating practices, nearly two-thirds (≈63%) ranked documentation burden as their top operational pain point, while more than half (≈54%) reported active pilots or planned adoption of AI-assisted documentation tools in the next 12 months.

Support performance is now a renewal-level differentiator: About three in four respondents (≈74%) rated vendor support responsiveness as "highly influential" in renewal decisions, and roughly half (≈49%) said their acceptable threshold for mission-critical ticket acknowledgement is under four business hours.

Interoperability shifts from compliance to clinical utility: Over seven in ten (≈71%) listed interoperability as a top-three selection criterion, while six in ten (≈60%) reported at least one workflow-impacting external data exchange issue (referrals/labs/imaging/CCDs) within the prior quarter-driving demand for "integration reliability" metrics, not just connectivity claims.

Specialty workflow depth outperforms generic configurability: Nearly two-thirds (≈65%) stated that specialty-specific templates, procedure workflows, and coding alignment materially reduced training time and variability across clinicians, versus general-purpose EHR builds that require heavy customization to reach comparable efficiency.

Revenue integrity capabilities move into the clinical core: Two-thirds (≈66%) reported increased denial pressure or payer documentation scrutiny over the past year, and more than half (≈52%) said they now expect EHR workflows to proactively support coding accuracy, authorization requirements, and clean-claim readiness.

Digital front door maturity is tied to retention and throughput: Approximately seven in ten (≈69%) indicated the patient portal and self-service experience affects loyalty and appointment adherence, while about half (≈48%) reported measurable improvement in intake efficiency when eCheck-in, forms, and payments are integrated directly into the EHR workflow.

Security and resilience expectations harden: More than half (≈57%) said cybersecurity controls and vendor incident readiness are now weighted more heavily than in prior years, and about two in five (≈41%) reported that MFA/strong identity controls are considered baseline requirements for vendor selection or renewal.

Implementation outcomes carry more weight than roadmap promises: Nearly four in ten (≈38%) reported that their most recent EHR implementation or major upgrade exceeded the planned timeline, and about one in three (≈34%) cited post-go-live optimization support as the most important factor separating top-rated vendors from the rest.

"Across 2026 surveys, the standout vendors are those proving innovation where it matters most, measurable documentation relief, specialty workflow precision, resilient interoperability, and implementation outcomes that translate into operational stability," said Doug Brown, President of Black Book Research. "When practices consistently report stronger support responsiveness and faster value realization, that is not marketing, it is performance validated at scale by the users who rely on these systems every day."

Black Book's 2026 Top-Rated EHR Vendors by Specialty

Addiction Medicine: Kipu Health - Highest specialty satisfaction for configurable substance-use workflows and program-level documentation consistency.
Allergy & Immunology: ModMed - Recognized for specialty-native charting speed and streamlined allergy testing and follow-up workflows.
Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASC): Surgical Information Systems (SIS) - Top-rated for perioperative efficiency and reliable case-to-charge operational throughput.
Anesthesia (AIMS): Provation iPro - Standout for anesthesia documentation continuity and perioperative workflow integration.
Behavioral Health: Netsmart - Leading scores for care coordination, longitudinal behavioral documentation, and operational reporting depth.
Cardiology: NextGen Healthcare - Rated highest for cardiovascular workflow structure, configurable templates, and practice-wide performance visibility.
Chiropractics: ChiroTouch - Recognized for clinic-ready documentation workflows and daily usability in high-volume environments.
Community Health Centers / FQHC: NextGen Healthcare - Highest satisfaction for complex reporting needs and scaled ambulatory operations.
Correctional Facilities: TechCare NaphCare - Top-rated for secure workflows and documentation controls tailored to correctional care environments.
Dermatology: ModMed - Leading specialty satisfaction for dermatology-native documentation and efficiency-enhancing workflows.
Emergency Medicine: Wellsoft EDIS - Recognized for ED-ready workflow speed, throughput visibility, and operational reliability.
Endocrinology: Veradigm Ambulatory EHR - Highest ratings for adaptable documentation structures and specialty continuity.
ENT / Otorhinolaryngology: ModMed - Standout for ENT workflow depth and clinician-first charting efficiency.
Family Practice / Primary Care: athenahealth - Top satisfaction for front-to-back workflow consistency and patient access performance.
Fertility / IVF / Reproductive: Meditab - Recognized for IVF-specific workflow alignment and specialty documentation structure.
Gastroenterology / Colon Rectal Surgery: ModMed - Highest specialty ratings for procedure documentation alignment and streamlined GI workflows.
General Surgery: Oracle Health - Leading scores for surgical case management structure and operational integration across ambulatory care.
Geriatric Medicine / Long-Term Care: Netsmart - Recognized for long-term care documentation continuity and care coordination support.
Home Health (Small Agencies): WellSky - Top-rated for mobile-ready workflows and operational usability in smaller agencies.
Home Health (Large Agency): Netsmart - Highest satisfaction for scalability, documentation governance, and enterprise home health operations.
Hospice: MatrixCare - Recognized for hospice-specific workflow support and dependable clinical-operational alignment.
Internal Medicine: NextGen Healthcare - Leading scores for configurable clinical templates and operational reporting performance.
Mobile Healthcare Applications: DrChrono - Highest satisfaction for mobile accessibility and clinician-friendly on-the-go workflow execution.
Multispecialty Clinics & Enterprise Facilities: Epic - Top-rated for cross-specialty integration, operational standardization, and enterprise-scale performance.
Nephrology & Kidney Dialysis: iSalus Healthcare NephroChoice - Recognized for dialysis-aligned documentation and nephrology workflow depth.
Neurology: Epic - Highest satisfaction for specialty workflow structure and integrated clinical data access.
Neurosurgery: Epic - Standout ratings for complex documentation support and enterprise-level clinical coordination.
Obesity Medicine / Medical Weight Loss: PatientNow - Recognized for clinic workflow fit and patient engagement support in weight loss programs.
Obstetrics & Gynecology: ModMed - Leading scores for OB/GYN specialty workflow alignment and documentation efficiency.
Oncology: Varian ARIA - Top-rated for oncology-specific workflow support and treatment documentation continuity.
Ophthalmology: ModMed - Highest satisfaction for ophthalmology charting speed and specialty-specific workflow design.
Optometry: Eyefinity - Recognized for optometry workflow specialization and daily operational usability.
Orthopedic Surgery: ModMed - Standout ratings for orthopedic workflow depth and specialty documentation consistency.
Pain Management: ModMed - Leading satisfaction for structured pain workflows and reliable specialty charting execution.
Pathology / Laboratory: Epic (Beaker) - Highest ratings for lab/pathology workflow integration and clinical-operational data continuity.
Pediatrics: athenahealth - Recognized for pediatric practice usability and patient engagement enablement.
Physical Therapy / OT / Rehab: SPRY - Top-rated for therapy-specific documentation and workflow efficiency in rehab settings.
Plastic Surgery: ModMed - Highest satisfaction for surgical specialty workflow fit and patient engagement enablement.
Podiatry / Foot & Ankle: ModMed - Leading scores for podiatry-ready documentation and specialty workflow reliability.
Radiology & Diagnostic Imaging: INFINITT Healthcare - Recognized for imaging workflow performance and operational throughput enablement.
Rheumatology: WRS Health - Top-rated for specialty documentation adaptability and daily workflow usability.
Sleep Medicine / Pulmonology: NextGen Healthcare - Highest satisfaction for specialty workflow support and scalable practice operations.
Transplant Medicine: Epic - Recognized for care coordination strength and enterprise clinical continuity.
Urgent Care / Occupational Medicine: Experity - Leading ratings for speed-to-chart, throughput support, and urgent care workflow reliability.
Urology: ModMed - Highest satisfaction for urology-native templates and efficient specialty charting workflows.
Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine: Net Health WoundExpert EHR - Recognized for wound-specific documentation rigor and operational workflow fit.

2026 Standout Innovation Leaders

In 2026, multi-specialty leadership continued to concentrate among platforms demonstrating both specialty workflow depth and consistent implementation outcomes. At the same time, niche category leaders gained recognition where specialization, operational fit, and documented practice impact outweighed the value of general-purpose platforms.

About Black Book Market Research

Black Book Market Research independently measures technology satisfaction and operational impact across healthcare's most critical vendor categories. By aggregating large-scale, verified user sentiment and performance scoring, Black Book supports healthcare leaders with practical, comparative intelligence on usability, interoperability, implementation outcomes, and vendor support performance.

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SOURCE: Black Book Research