Most common healthcare CRMs by total installations

What is the most common healthcare CRM?

The most popular healthcare CRM, as of reporting, is Epic Systems Corporation’s “Cheers” tool. The product leads the pack with 428 installations and a market share of 22.4% among hospitals tracked in our database. Epic is commonly known for its EHR systems, which also rank highly among the top inpatient EHR tools used.

Salesforce Essentials from Salesforce—a global leader in CRM software development—is the second most common healthcare CRM. The product has 363 installations and a market share of 19.0%. Microsoft comes in third place with its Dynamics 365 product, which has 267 total installations and a market share of 14.0%.

A significant number of hospitals use proprietary CRM software. According to Definitive Healthcare data, 118 hospitals are reported to be using a self-developed CRM tool, which accounts for a 6.2% market share. Developing proprietary CRM software helps to promote interoperability across all hospital technology solutions and ensures that the software will communicate and integrate effectively with other hospital systems.

Types of healthcare CRMs

Healthcare CRMs can come in various types, tailored to specific needs within the industry and even to specific types of healthcare organizations. Here are just a few different types of healthcare CRMs:

• Patient engagement: These focus on enhancing patient interactions and experiences. They include features like appointment reminders, patient education materials, feedback collection, and communication tools.
• Physician relationships: These CRMs are designed to improve relationships between healthcare institutions and physicians. They assist in tracking physician preferences, engagement, and communication, ultimately helping hospitals maintain strong partnerships with their referring physicians.
• EHR-integrated: These CRMs integrate with electronic health records (EHR), allowing seamless sharing of patient data between systems. This integration ensures that patient information is consistent and up to date across different platforms.
• Marketing and outreach: These CRMs focus on marketing and outreach efforts. They help healthcare organizations design targeted campaigns, track leads, measure campaign effectiveness, and manage patient acquisition strategies.

Common features of a healthcare CRM software

With how customizable and scalable healthcare CRM software can be, it’s no surprise that each tool can offer a diverse range of features to help providers achieve their goals. Generally speaking, CRM systems are designed to enhance patient care, improve communication, and streamline operations. Common features you might find include:

• Patient portal: Offer patients access to a secure online portal where they can view their medical records, test results, treatment plans, and communicate with their healthcare team.
• Appointment scheduling: Allow patients to schedule appointments online, view available slots, and receive automated appointment reminders. Some CRM tools may also facilitate virtual or telehealth appointments.
• Referral tracking: Manage patient referrals between primary care and specialty providers, ensuring smooth coordination of care.
• Workflow management: Assign tasks to team members, track their progress, and manage workflows related to patient care and administrative processes.
• Analytics and reporting: Generate reports on patient demographics, appointment statistics, patient satisfaction, and other key performance indicators to support data-driven decision-making.
• Billing and payments: Integrate billing and payment processing functionalities to streamline financial transactions and manage patient invoices.

Why are CRMs important in healthcare?

Healthcare organizations face constant pressure to deliver high-quality care while maintaining (or increasing) safety and reducing costs. CRM software can help providers achieve this by empowering them to know their patients better, potentially leading to more personalized interactions, a better patient experience, and improved outcomes. The marketing and analytics tools most CRM platforms are equipped with also help healthcare providers expand outreach and boost patient acquisition.

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