1. Do EMR companies build features clinics request?
Some do, quickly; many collect requests on a public voting board and build what the most customers vote for. Neither is wrong, but only one of them helps a clinic with a need that few others share.
| How a vendor handles requests | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Voting board, quarterly roadmap | Your request competes with every other customer’s; niche needs rarely win |
| Paid custom development | Possible, but you pay for it and may maintain a fork |
| Account manager passes requests to product | Depends on the manager, and on whether anyone tells you the outcome |
| The people building the product talk to you directly | Fastest, if the vendor is small enough; ask how long that will last |
2. What should you ask a vendor about feature requests before you sign?
Eight questions, and the answers are more useful than any demo.
| Ask | A good answer | A warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| What did you build last month because a customer asked? | Two or three specific things, with the customer type | “We have a roadmap” |
| How long did the last small request take? | Days to a few weeks, with a date | No example |
| Who will I talk to about a request? | Someone who decides what gets built | A ticket form |
| Will I be told when it ships, or that it will not? | Yes, either way | Silence is normal |
| Does a feature you build for me become part of the product for everyone? | Yes, so it is maintained | A custom branch only you run |
| Can I talk to a customer who asked for something? | Yes, or a clear reason why not | Only curated references |
| What will you not build? | A clear line, with the reason | Everything is possible |
| If you do not build it, can I export my data and leave? | Yes, in a standard format, at no charge | Export fees or “on request” |
3. What does a feature request look like when it is built?
Four requests Aminova received in 2026, and what shipped. Each one is now part of the product for every clinic.
| The request | From | What shipped |
|---|---|---|
| “When a patient books a service, the right intake and consent forms should go to them automatically.” | A hormone and wellness clinic | Forms and consents attached to each visit type, sent once at booking, and never re-sent once signed |
| “I need a patient’s history for a date range, as one document, to fax to a third party.” | A pain management practice | Records requests as one PDF with a contents page, filtered by note type, faxed from the chart and logged as a disclosure |
| “Our providers each have their own note layout.” | A multi-provider hormone clinic | Clinic-wide and personal note templates with any number of sections |
| “Aftercare instructions should reach the client automatically after the treatment.” | An aesthetic and wellness practice | Care programmes attached to a service, sent before and after the visit |
None of these was large. Each had been worked around by hand, every day, by someone at the clinic — which is the real cost of a request that sits on a board.
4. When is custom development a trap?
When the feature only exists for you. A one-off build that the vendor does not maintain for everyone breaks on the next update, and you become the only customer who cares whether it works.
| Trap | How to avoid it |
|---|---|
| A paid custom branch | Ask for requests to be built into the product, even if it takes longer |
| A promise with no date | Ask for a date, and put it in writing if it decides your purchase |
| A workaround presented as a feature | Ask to see it run on a real patient in the demo |
| Lock-in once you depend on it | Confirm the data it creates is included in your export |
5. What should be in writing?
Three things, whoever the vendor is.
| Put in writing | Why |
|---|---|
| Any feature your purchase depends on, with a date | A roadmap slide is not a commitment |
| A free, complete export of your data, in standard formats | It is your record, and federal information-blocking rules restrict fees for getting it out |
| Support response times, and who answers | A request process only works if someone answers |
If you are weighing a switch because a request went nowhere, start with how to switch EHR without losing patient data.
6. Frequently asked questions
Can I request a feature from my EMR company?
Almost every vendor accepts requests. What differs is whether anyone who decides the roadmap reads them, and whether you are told the outcome. Ask for the last three requests the vendor built and how long each took.
How long should an EMR vendor take to build a small feature?
For a small change that many clinics would use, days to a few weeks is realistic for a small vendor. Large vendors typically work to quarterly roadmaps.
Should I pay for custom EMR development?
Only if the result becomes part of the product the vendor maintains for everyone. A custom branch that only your clinic runs tends to break on the next update.
Is a small EMR company risky?
It can be. Ask about data export, backups and what happens to your data if the company changes hands. The upside is that you talk to the people who build it, and requests move faster.
Does Aminova build features clinics request?
Yes. We are a young company, requests go to the people who build the product, and features built for one clinic are built into the product for all of them. We will also tell you plainly when we will not build something.