Selection 14 min read
Best EHR for Cardiothoracic Surgery Programs (2026 Buyer Guide)
Cardiothoracic programs need high-fidelity data and highly coordinated perioperative workflows. Generic ambulatory templates are not enough for registry-quality documentation, multidisciplinary case flow, and reimbursement resilience.
Non-negotiable requirements
- Perioperative workflow continuity across clinic, OR, ICU, and follow-up settings.
- Structured data capture compatible with STS-aligned quality reporting workflows.
- Reliable multidisciplinary tasking across surgery, anesthesia, nursing, and care coordination.
- Procedure-level coding and denial controls for complex surgical episodes.
- Strong integration with imaging, lab, and external referral ecosystems.
Demo script for enterprise surgery committees
- Referral-to-surgery pathway with pre-op diagnostics and risk documentation.
- Day-of-surgery documentation flow with postoperative handoff traceability.
- Complication follow-up and quality-event capture workflow.
- Case-level billing review including modifiers and denial handling.
Implementation controls
- Create a surgery data-governance council with registry and quality representation.
- Use phased rollout by service line with KPI gates between waves.
- Measure op-note completion, follow-up closure, and denial trends weekly for 90 days.
- Audit template variance monthly to prevent quality drift.
Bottom line
The right EHR for cardiothoracic surgery programs is the platform that supports reliable perioperative execution and high-quality outcomes data under real production conditions, not just scripted demos.
Next Steps
Editorial Standards
Last reviewed:
Methodology
- Mapped cardiothoracic operational requirements to practical EHR procurement and rollout controls.
- Prioritized structured documentation and quality-reporting readiness for complex surgical workflows.
- Aligned recommendations with major national surgery quality and payment-program guidance.