What software do you all use? I'm considering having custom software generated, specific to my practice needs, which are all in the conservative care realm. Any thoughts out there, pros and cons, of current systems available? Does anyone have custom made software? Do your chart records, emr, link to your billing, thereby saving a step, or do most outsource billing?
custom software
- Thread starter podpal
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Now may not be a great time to change your software......YET. As I'm sure you're aware, there are/will be government incentives for offices to go completely electronic in the very near future. As a result, a lot of vendors are making a lot of claims and promises that may or may not be true.
There is a certification that these vendors must have/meet in order to qualify for the financial incentives offered from the government, so "buyer beware" and please do your homework.
As you know, I would like to remain anonynmous on this site, therefore I won't name the specific software our practice is utilizing since it's a very unique software and it's not presently being used by too many podiatric practices.
Additionally, our practice is relatively unique with well over a dozen doctors and over twice that many locations. Therefore, our computer needs may differ significantly from yours and your needs may differ from the doctor down the street.
I believe that it is important for most practices to have software programs that integrate billing with their records, but I also believe that many small practices are "oversold" products that they may not need.
The major things to keep in mind if you are a relatively small practice, is the history of the company, whether or not they are podiatry specific and the cost of yearly support and/or updates.
I would DEFINITELY ask for a list of references. In my experience with these companies, the list of unhappy clients is usually longer than the list of happy clients. A great resource to ask about a particular software program once you've found one, is Dr. Barry Block's website/email "PM News" which is a daily email listserv you can subscribe to for free. If you post your question on that site, it's read daily by thousands of DPM's.
For our office, I created templates for the most common ailments we treat, including follow up visits, new patient visits, etc. However, unlike some templates, information for each patient is unique and must be added so each note doesn't look like a "cookie cutter". The only problem is that you must be a decent typist, and some of my partners are almost computer illiterate and still want to dictate or handwrite, so there's a slight lack of consistency in our practice.
I'm presently working with our software company with a TRUE EMR system which is a point and click menu which covers EVERYTHING but still has space to allow you to type any additional information.
So, the bottom line is that true custom made software will probably be cost prohibitive. You would probably benefit the most from a podiatric specific all inclusive podiatric program that allows for customization. But also follow my advice about the companies history, support fees, renewal fees, update fees, whether they have CHCI (or whatever the letters are) certification, etc.
And when you find a few companies, go on PM news and ask for other's advice or experience with that company and I guarantee you'll get some responses.
There is a certification that these vendors must have/meet in order to qualify for the financial incentives offered from the government, so "buyer beware" and please do your homework.
As you know, I would like to remain anonynmous on this site, therefore I won't name the specific software our practice is utilizing since it's a very unique software and it's not presently being used by too many podiatric practices.
Additionally, our practice is relatively unique with well over a dozen doctors and over twice that many locations. Therefore, our computer needs may differ significantly from yours and your needs may differ from the doctor down the street.
I believe that it is important for most practices to have software programs that integrate billing with their records, but I also believe that many small practices are "oversold" products that they may not need.
The major things to keep in mind if you are a relatively small practice, is the history of the company, whether or not they are podiatry specific and the cost of yearly support and/or updates.
I would DEFINITELY ask for a list of references. In my experience with these companies, the list of unhappy clients is usually longer than the list of happy clients. A great resource to ask about a particular software program once you've found one, is Dr. Barry Block's website/email "PM News" which is a daily email listserv you can subscribe to for free. If you post your question on that site, it's read daily by thousands of DPM's.
For our office, I created templates for the most common ailments we treat, including follow up visits, new patient visits, etc. However, unlike some templates, information for each patient is unique and must be added so each note doesn't look like a "cookie cutter". The only problem is that you must be a decent typist, and some of my partners are almost computer illiterate and still want to dictate or handwrite, so there's a slight lack of consistency in our practice.
I'm presently working with our software company with a TRUE EMR system which is a point and click menu which covers EVERYTHING but still has space to allow you to type any additional information.
So, the bottom line is that true custom made software will probably be cost prohibitive. You would probably benefit the most from a podiatric specific all inclusive podiatric program that allows for customization. But also follow my advice about the companies history, support fees, renewal fees, update fees, whether they have CHCI (or whatever the letters are) certification, etc.
And when you find a few companies, go on PM news and ask for other's advice or experience with that company and I guarantee you'll get some responses.
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We have ProtoChart and I hate it. It promises to do everything but it just makes things more complex and slower than it was before. It has the capacity to link with billing but we don't use it because it would add hours of work per week to each doc. We have our own in-house billing person instead.
I just use it for charting. It has a point-and-click setup but using even that is a pain and the syntax comes out screwy. I dictate directly onto the chart using Dragon 10. It can be seriously frustrating.
I've heard from a couple of other (non-DPM) practices that they like the functionality of Allscripts.
I just use it for charting. It has a point-and-click setup but using even that is a pain and the syntax comes out screwy. I dictate directly onto the chart using Dragon 10. It can be seriously frustrating.
I've heard from a couple of other (non-DPM) practices that they like the functionality of Allscripts.
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Allscripts is a great program, that presently is only working with a very limited number of DPM groups and then customizes it's software for that group to make it more podiatry specific, since it really doesn't cater to podiatry.
ALthough it's a great software program/system, it may not be great for podpal since it's really geared for larger practices and is one of the most costly systems available.
ALthough it's a great software program/system, it may not be great for podpal since it's really geared for larger practices and is one of the most costly systems available.