The record carries special protection in law and needs graded access rights. Reception must be able to see the appointment without seeing a line of the content, and that is exactly what decides the choice of software.
Following somebody across years is the real work. Seeing medication, dose and effect side by side matters more than any diary feature.
The letter to the family doctor is compulsory and devours time. Generated from the record it takes minutes; written by hand it blocks Friday afternoon.
Video consultation must open the same record. Two systems side by side manufacture two truths about the same person.
Missed appointments are commoner here than in other specialties. A rule with notice and a fee, agreed in advance, protects the diary with no conversation at all.
Retention periods are long and deletion at the end is a legal obligation. Not knowing which record must be deleted and on what date means failing at both, sooner or later.