After a long tenure as "Best in KLAS Overall Software Vendor," Epic Systems has been replaced by athenahealth for the top spot in this year's ranking, which is tallied based on provider feedback.

That's the first time Epic has been edged out of that category since 2008, when KLAS first began ranking an overall software leader.

athenahealth was also ranked first in the Overall Physician Practice Vendor category, as well as in the Practice Management Service (1-10 and 11-75 physician categories) and Patient Portal brackets.

The Watertown, Mass.-based vendor was quick to seize upon the results as validation, touting its own cloud-based software as the antithesis of Epic's client-server technology.

"Clearly, the tide is changing in health care," said athenahealth chairman and CEO Jonathan Bush, in a press statement. "The old guard of health IT leaders is finally being displaced by more nimble, innovative models designed for health care's future – not for its past."

athenahealth was also ranked first in the overall physician practice vendor category, as well as in the practice management (one-10 and 11-75 physician categories) and patient portal brackets.

Still, while Epic was displaced as overall software vendor, the Verona, Wis.-based behemoth did maintain its ranking as the top overall software suite. It garnered nine awards in total: ambulatory EMR (11-75 and 75-plus physicians); acute care EMR; surgery management; radiology; pharmacy; patient accounting and patient management; heath information exchange and practice management (75-plus physicians).

All told, though, there were plenty of awards to go around for a widening and ever-more-advanced slate of technology categories.

“We listened to the providers, and these are the results,” said Adam Gale, CEO and president of KLAS Research, in a statement. “This report isn’t about KLAS. It is a reflection of thousands of providers who wanted to be heard and counted. That is the reason top-performing vendors should be proud of their achievements."

See the next page for 2013 Best in KLAS winners.