Top Questions to Ask Every EHR Vendor at ASCRS 2026

Top Questions to Ask Every EHR Vendor at ASCRS 2026

ASCRS brings together more cataract and refractive surgeons in one place than any other event of the year. It also brings EHR vendors, health technology companies, and practice management platforms all competing for your attention. Before you spend time at any booth, arm yourself with questions that separate real capability from polished marketing.

The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Annual Meeting is one of the most important conferences in ophthalmology. It draws not only the specialty’s leading clinical innovators but also the full technology ecosystem that serves eye care practices. EHR vendors invest significantly in their ASCRS presence, and their booth experiences are designed to impress.

That investment is not a problem. The problem is when a compelling demonstration obscures the questions that actually determine whether a platform will serve your practice well after implementation. Booth demos are controlled environments. Your clinical day is not.

After the conference closes, see what your peers prioritized at ASCRS 2026 for a clear picture of where the specialty is heading. 

This guide gives you the questions that cut through the noise, organized by evaluation category, so every conversation at ASCRS 2026 produces information you can actually use.

The most fundamental question in ophthalmology EHR evaluation is whether the platform was built for your specialty or adapted to serve it. This distinction determines the quality of every feature that follows.

AI is the centerpiece conversation at ASCRS 2026. Every major EHR vendor will have an AI narrative. Your job is to determine which capabilities are production-ready and which are roadmap promises.

For deeper context on evaluating AI claims, read the complete guide to AI in ophthalmology EHR before you walk the floor. 

Ophthalmology is one of the most device-intensive specialties in medicine. The daily clinical workflow depends on data from OCT systems, fundus cameras, visual field analyzers, topographers, biometers, and other diagnostic instruments. How a platform handles this data is a primary differentiator.

Ophthalmology billing is among the most complex in medicine. Medical visit codes, surgical CPT codes, optical sales, ancillary services, and bilateral modifier requirements create a coding environment where errors are frequent and costly. Ask vendors how their platform addresses ophthalmology-specific RCM.

MIPS participation affects reimbursement for most ophthalmology practices. How an EHR handles quality reporting determines whether MIPS participation adds workflow burden or is seamlessly embedded in the clinical encounter.

The evaluation period at a conference is brief. The implementation and support experience spans years. Ask questions that reveal what the relationship looks like after the contract is signed.

Healthcare data security and interoperability requirements are regulatory obligations, not optional features. Verify compliance capabilities directly rather than assuming them.

The right EHR vendor will welcome these questions. A vendor that becomes defensive, deflects with marketing language, or cannot demonstrate live in your subspecialty encounter types is telling you something important about what the post-sale experience will look like.

Bring Optivate’s evaluation framework to ASCRS 2026. Download the Optivate at ASCRS 2026 one-pager before you arrive and walk every booth with confidence. 

A conference evaluation only delivers value if the information collected is organized and acted on. After ASCRS 2026, structure your notes by vendor across each category in this guide. Compare responses across vendors on the same questions to identify meaningful differences rather than surface-level claims.

Request follow-up demonstrations specifically in your subspecialty encounter types, not a general platform overview. Ask vendors to connect you with reference customers in your practice size and specialty mix. The practices using these platforms every day have information that no booth demonstration can provide.

Prioritize specialty focus, AI documentation capabilities, diagnostic device integration, and coding support for ophthalmology-specific billing. These four categories have the greatest direct impact on daily clinical workflow and practice finances.

Ideally, one. A platform built exclusively for ophthalmology directs 100% of its development resources at eye care workflows. Platforms serving multiple specialties divide their roadmap, which affects the depth and speed of ophthalmology-specific feature development.

Ask for the specific technology (NLP, machine learning, LLM), the training data composition, a live demonstration in your subspecialty encounter types, and documented performance outcomes from current customers. Distinguish live features from roadmap plans.

Ask whether ophthalmology-specific measures are available natively in the clinical workflow, whether the system generates real-time alerts for unmet measures, and how data submission to CMS is handled. Embedded MIPS support eliminates manual tracking overhead.

Yes. Practice administrators and office managers evaluate different dimensions of the platform than clinicians. Workflow efficiency, staff training burden, implementation timeline, and RCM performance are best evaluated by someone managing these functions daily.

Structure your notes by evaluation category and compare vendor responses on the same questions. Request subspecialty-specific follow-up demonstrations. Reference objective data from KLAS Research and connect with peer practices using each platform.

Ask how many specialties the platform serves and what percentage of development resources are directed at ophthalmology. This single question reveals more about long-term platform quality for your practice than any feature-specific question.

AI coding support reduces claim denial rates by catching documentation gaps before submission. AI documentation assistance reduces after-hours note completion time, which has indirect revenue implications for provider capacity. AI predictive analytics can identify scheduling gaps and patient retention risks.

Ask whether support staff are trained specifically in ophthalmology or cover multiple specialties. Request average resolution time data for ophthalmology-specific coding and clinical questions. Ask whether escalation to an ophthalmology specialist is required for common issues or whether all support staff can resolve them directly.

Yes. Optivate will be at ASCRS 2026. The platform is built exclusively for ophthalmology, serving over a decade of eye care practices with seven integrated solutions and zero compromises for other specialties. Visit the Optivate booth at ASCRS 2026 to see AI built specifically for ophthalmic subspecialty workflows.