I have first hand experience with one other EHR before AC and that system just happened to be Practice Partner. Although their ads are extremely impressive, the system is exceptionally difficult to customize. So, if your friend is the type that likes to customize his own temnplates, like I do, he will probably not be very happy. While it is possible to do, the syntax for template writing is very complex, and time/labor intensive. Most physicians in practice would find it impractical do on their own so good local support is a must. It is also written very inefficently and requires a massive server if you are not using the cloud version. Because of the complexity of the customization process, one is likely to requiring ongoing support services which over time are much more expensive than the software itself (also very expensive). There are also a lot of per user licensing and support fes that also add to the expense. For example, if the practice uses more than one scanner, each one has to be separately licensed, etc. I would suggest he talk to other collegues in his area to get their opinion. There are a fair number of disgruntled docs in this area! To be fair though, some people like it, especially if they are doing mostly dragon dicatation.
