Before she looked at a single feature, Dr. Sarai Ambert-Pompey timed how fast each EHR vendor answered her email. That one test eliminated most of them. One year into owning Libelula Primary Care in Boise, Idaho, she shares how to vet an EHR, what salespeople will not show you in a demo, and the three telehealth skills most physicians were never taught.

Ten questions decide whether your next EHR helps you practice medicine or just generates paperwork. Score candidates on ten categories, from charting speed to who owns the company, and learn the one question vendors hate: how do I leave you?

One month shy of five years with the same system, Dr. Maryal Concepcion switched EHRs, not from outgrowing it, but because the terms controlling her patients' data changed. Her four-bucket cost math and the one question vendors dread: how do I leave you?