Most EMR vendors ask clinics to request a quote. A low first-year licence figure does not tell you what the full commitment will be. Use the same worksheet for every vendor. Ask for every answer in writing. Compare like-for-like terms before you make a shortlist.
Download the printable EMR pricing worksheet (PDF)
Copy this EMR pricing worksheet
| Quote line | Vendor A | Vendor B | What the clinic should confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence model | How clinicians, staff, locums, part-time users and locations are counted. | ||
| Base licence fees | Monthly or annual amount, currency, taxes, contract term and first renewal date. | ||
| Implementation | Included setup work, delivery owner, timeline and acceptance criteria. | ||
| Data migration | Records, attachments and historical data included; validation owner; access to anything left behind. | ||
| Training hours | Audience, format, included hours, extra-hour rate and go-live support. | ||
| Support tier | Support hours, escalation route, after-hours coverage and response commitments. | ||
| Interfaces | Provincial billing, labs, referrals, eFax and other required connections. | ||
| Billing add-ons | Claims, submissions, fee-code tools and any province-specific services. | ||
| Patient-engagement add-ons | Booking, reminders, intake, messaging and integration fees. | ||
| AI add-ons and funding expiry | Product scope, price after any subsidy or pilot, and the date that funding ends. | ||
| Annual increase cap | Renewal date, maximum increase, notice period and any index used. | ||
| Exit and export terms | Export format, timing, fees, assistance and post-contract access. | ||
| TOTALS | Compare the same term, including one-time and recurring costs. |
How to compare EMR costs without guessing
Start with the term, not the monthly licence. Put one-time implementation and migration work beside recurring licences, support and interfaces. Then ask each vendor to identify what happens at renewal. A quote with a lower base price can still cost more if a required interface, training block or export service sits outside it.
Keep clinical and operational owners in the review. A physician lead can confirm charting and prescribing needs. A clinic manager can confirm scheduling, intake and staffing workflows. Finance can compare the full term and annual increase terms. Your privacy or IT lead should review data migration, access controls, backup responsibilities and export commitments.
For Canadian clinics, list provincial billing and lab connections before you request quotes. For US clinics, list payer, e-prescribing and interoperability requirements. In either market, include every patient-facing workflow that you expect to use. This makes the quote useful after go-live, not just during selection.
Which costs do EMR vendors quote separately?
Public product pages do not always show a rate card. In Cortico’s source review, Accuro did not publish pricing on the public pages reviewed, and OSCAR Pro directed prospective customers to sales rather than a public per-provider price. Both are reasons to request a dated written quote, not evidence that any particular item is charged separately.
Ask the vendor to break out implementation, migration, training, support, interfaces and patient-facing tools. Ask whether AI features have a temporary subsidy, a pilot term or a later renewal price. Record the answer in the table above. This protects the clinic from treating a sales conversation as a contract term.
Use the worksheet during EMR selection
Save one completed worksheet per vendor. Review it before a contract signature and again before renewal. If a vendor cannot answer a row, mark it as pending rather than assuming it is included.
Cortico works alongside the EMR a clinic chooses. Explore the EMR integration hub to see the systems Cortico supports, then use the worksheet to keep implementation and patient-engagement questions visible in every quote.
