Insights From Our Software Advisors: Drive Impact with Medical Software

Tools buyers are replacing with medical software

When our advisors asked buyers what methods they were currently using to handle their day-to-day medical operations, here's what they found:

• Around 40% of buyers have no particular method for managing their daily medical workflows, while 30% use non-specialized tools for billing, note-making, and patient scheduling.
• Nearly 8% of buyers rely on manual methods, such as spreadsheets, or have a paper-based approach.

While spreadsheets and non-specialized tools may suffice for small practices, they often lead to inefficiencies, tracking errors, and rising costs as operations scale. Non-specialized tools can also cause misalignment, requiring multiple licenses and integrations that add financial and operational strain.

This gap presents an opportunity for vendors. A dedicated medical solution can centralize key functions, such as patient records, billing, and scheduling, reducing errors, simplifying workflows, and improving long-term efficiency.

Why buyers switch to medical software

Our advisors spoke to buyers who are currently using either manual methods or non-specialized software and are seeking a switch to medical software. These discussions shed light on businesses’ real-life pain points—missed business opportunities (37%), limited functionality (26%), and inefficiency (21%), related to their existing tools.

• Missed new business opportunities: Existing tools often fall short as practices expand or diversify. Buyers need scalable systems that support growth, whether that means adding new locations, services, or staff, without increasing complexity.
• Limited functionality: Most non-specialized tools lack medical-specific features like automated patient onboarding, integrated evaluations, or compliance tracking. This forces teams to rely on workarounds, increasing admin load and error risk.
• Inefficiency: Manual workflows for clinical staff onboarding, shift-based leave tracking, and competency-based performance reviews are slow and error-prone. Typos and missed updates don't just lead to payroll mistakes; they can cause critical staffing gaps and non-compliance with hospital accreditation standards.

From our interactions with buyers, it’s clear that many vendors miss the mark in showing how their software improves medical professionals’ daily workflows. Compared to manual methods and non-specialized tools, dedicated medical systems offer clear, purpose-built advantages, as listed below:

• Centralized workflows: Instead of juggling multiple tools for patient records, billing, and scheduling, a dedicated solution brings everything into one platform. This reduces data silos, improves coordination across departments, and saves time spent switching between systems.
• Fewer errors: Manual entry and disconnected systems increase the risk of typos, duplicate records, and missed updates. Medical software automates key tasks and ensures data consistency, helping prevent billing mistakes, appointment conflicts, and compliance issues.
• Scalability: Adding new locations, services, or staff using manual methods and basic tools often leads to frustrations and extra admin work. Medical software is typically built to scale, allowing businesses to expand without overhauling their systems or increasing administrative burden.
• Built-in compliance: Healthcare regulations require accurate documentation and timely reporting. Medical software often includes automated compliance tracking, audit trails, and alerts to help practices stay aligned with legal and industry standards.
• Time savings: Routine tasks like onboarding, evaluations, and scheduling can be completed faster with automation and templates. This frees up staff to focus on patient care and strategic initiatives, rather than repetitive admin work.

What medical software features are valued the most

When evaluating medical software, our advisor conversations and review analysis reveal a gap between what buyers seek and what users value most.

• Buyers prioritize EMR (88%), followed by patient scheduling (86%), e-Prescribing (57%), medical billing (52%), and telemedicine (40%).
• Current users rank HIPAA compliance highest (45%), reflecting its critical role in daily operations and meeting medical legal standards.
   

This discrepancy highlights a key insight: While buyers prioritize features that support clinical workflows and patient engagement, users rely on tools that ensure security, accuracy, and regulatory compliance.

• Electronic medical records (EMR) centralize patient data, streamlining documentation and improving care coordination across teams.
• HIPAA compliance ensures sensitive patient information is protected, reduces legal risk, and fosters trust between providers and patients.

Use cases for medical software

Beyond traditional medical sectors, dedicated software supports a wide range of industries, from family medicine and psychiatry divisions to medical spa and internal medicine, each with distinct workflows and specialized feature needs. For example:

• Family medicine organizations use medical software to manage patient records across age groups and coordinate care among general practitioners and specialists. It also streamlines appointment scheduling for high-volume, multi-provider practices.
• Psychiatry divisions rely on secure documentation tools for sensitive patient notes, telemedicine features for remote therapy sessions, and e-Prescribing for psychiatric medications, all while maintaining strict confidentiality standards.
• Medical spa businesses leverage it to manage client bookings, track inventory for cosmetic treatments, and ensure compliance with health and safety regulations. Integrated CRM features further help personalize services and retain clients.
• Internal medicine firms employ software for chronic disease management, lab result tracking, and integrated billing. These tools support long-term patient care and reduce administrative overhead for complex treatment plans.
• Physical therapy businesses use medical software to schedule therapy sessions, document progress notes, and automate insurance claims. Built-in exercise libraries and patient portals help improve engagement and outcomes.
   

Average budgets for medical software across industries

Businesses across the top five industries are willing to allocate an average budget of $306 to $417 per provider, per month. Additionally, the overall average budget for purchasing medical software is approximately $390 per provider, per month.

However, the budget for purchasing medical software varies from one segment to another based on factors such as the size of the practice, complexity of workflows, regulatory requirements, and the need for specialized features such as mobile access, billing, or employee/patient scheduling.

Here’s how different medical industry segments budget (in dollars, per user, per month) for purchasing medical software.

Buyer goals and challenges—what advisors are hearing

Buyers in the medical space often come with specific expectations and recurring questions that reflect their unique operational needs. Through direct conversations with our software advisors, we’ve gathered insights into buyer behavior and tasks, revealing patterns in their priorities, challenges, and decision-making criteria.

• What common misconceptions do buyers have about medical software?
  Buyers often assume that all medical software, especially electronic medical records (EMR) and billing systems, are interchangeable across specialties. However, features and workflows can vary significantly between physical therapy and chiropractic practices, yet buyers may not realize this upfront. This leads to mismatches between expectations and product capabilities.
• What are some common problems buyers are trying to solve with medical software?
  Buyers are generally looking to automate billing and documentation to reduce manual work and errors. Other areas include improving patient scheduling and communication, especially in telemedicine and medical spa settings, streamlining revenue cycle management (RCM) to speed up claims processing and reduce denials, and ensuring compliance with specialty-specific regulations (e.g., e-Prescribing standards). They also need tools that adapt to niche workflows, like chiropractic SOAP notes or physical therapy progress tracking, which general EMR systems may not support well.
• What are the integration requirements for medical software, and how important are they?
  Integration is critical. Medical software buyers increasingly expect their software to connect with billing platforms, e-Prescribing tools, and practice management systems. They also need the platform to fit into broader core EMR suites, rather than operate as standalone tools, and support data sharing across departments or specialties, especially in multi-practice setups. This is particularly valid for telemedicine and RCM tools, where data flow between scheduling, documentation, and billing is essential.
• Is there anything unique that buyers in this specialty specifically ask for?
  Buyers in niche segments like chiropractic and physical therapy often ask for specialty-specific documentation templates (e.g., SOAP notes for chiropractors), integrated billing workflows tailored to their reimbursement models, and custom scheduling features for recurring appointments or treatment plans. In medical spas, buyers may prioritize client experience tools like appointment reminders, loyalty programs, and aesthetic treatment tracking.
   

Recommended actions for medical software vendors

Here are five strategic actions sales and marketing teams can take to better align with buyer expectations and stand out in a competitive market:

1. Target buyers replacing manual and non-specialized tools:
   Position your product as a purpose-built alternative to spreadsheets and general tools. Highlight how your software consolidates patient scheduling, billing, and documentation into one platform to reduce errors and improve efficiency.
2. Taylor messaging to buyer vs. user priorities:
   Customize demos to start with buyer-valued features (such as EMR and scheduling), then transition to user-critical capabilities like compliance and data protection. Use this contrast to show how your product supports both operational and regulatory needs.
3. Showcase speciality-specific workflows:
   Create marketing assets and product pages that highlight how your software supports niche workflows. For example, SOAP notes for chiropractors, teletherapy for psychiatry, or inventory tracking for medical spas. Use real-world scenarios to demonstrate fit.
4. Be transparent with pricing and integrations:
   Update your Gartner Digital Markets profile with clear pricing aligned to buyer budgets. List integrations with billing platforms, e-Prescribing tools, and EMR suites to show how your product fits into existing tech stacks.
5. Make onboarding and support a selling point:
   As buyers often struggle with training and implementation during tech adoption, sales and marketing teams could promote built-in onboarding tools, training resources, and responsive support. Use testimonials and success stories to show how your product reduces friction and accelerates time-to-value.
    

Rise above your competition with strategic insights

Medical software vendors face intense competition in a crowded market. With the right insights, you can identify buyer priorities and pain points, then tailor your messaging to address them directly and capture attention.

With more than 10 million active software buyers on our sites every month, Gartner Digital Markets can equip you with the strategic insights you need to level up your marketing strategy and become a leader in your category.

Log in to your Gartner Digital Markets account and optimize your profile to ensure buyers understand how your software meets their evolving needs.

Once your profile is ready, learn how vendors are gaining a 79% advantage building a high-quality sales pipeline, and use this resource to master follow-ups that convert leads into customers.

Methodology and buyer demographics

Findings are based on data from conversations that Gartner Digital Markets’ advisor team has daily with software buyers seeking guidance on purchase decisions. The data used to create this report is based on interactions with small and midsize businesses seeking medical practice management tools. For this report, we analyzed approximately 5,900+ phone interactions from Aug. 30, 2024, to Aug. 30, 2025.

The findings of this report represent buyers who contacted Gartner Digital Markets and may not be indicative of the market as a whole. Data points are rounded to the nearest whole number.

The buyers we interacted with are largely small businesses representing a growing majority of human resource software purchases. Below you’ll find the demographics of the buyers so you can see the size and type of businesses, from annual revenue to industry.