Leave Luminello for Theranest?

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sighchiatry

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I have an out of network private practice.

I've been with Luminello for a long time. Overall, it's been working, but there are some key features they are missing that would be very useful.

They include:
- text message/phone call appointment reminder to patients
- g suite calendar integration
- group practice functionality
- integrated/ native telemedicine (not using a 3rd party service)
- mobile app
- live customer service

They also can't provide a timeline for any of these features.

Theranest is a very popular mental health EMR that I previously ignored due to the lack of prescribing ability. Recently I learned that Theranest rolled out e-prescribing. Now I am seriously considering transitioning. It includes all the above features and costs the same as Luminello.

The only thing stopping me right now is inertia and the inevitable annoyances of changing EMRs.

Curious if anyone has thoughts/ experience with Theranest, changing EMRs in general, etc
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Have you done the free trial? What would the process be like for transferring over your current charts into the other EMR? What are their costs for e-prescribing, payment processing, online video visits?
 
Luminello is sufficiently confident that they will finally have group practice support integrated in the very near future that I am currently enjoying a complimentary subscription that will be totally free until they roll out their group practice features.
 
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clausewitz2 said:
Luminello is sufficiently confident that they will finally have group practice support integrated in the very near future that I am currently enjoying a complimentary subscription that will be totally free until they roll out their group practice features.
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Wow nice negotiating.theranest seems better overall from the initial post. Really nice to have an app and integrated video sessions within the emr.
 
clausewitz2 said:
Luminello is sufficiently confident that they will finally have group practice support integrated in the very near future that I am currently enjoying a complimentary subscription that will be totally free until they roll out their group practice features.
Click to expand...
It's interesting they said this.
I asked them for a timeline on the items I listed above (including group practice) a day or two ago.
They told me they have no timeline or ETA.
 
sighchiatry said:
I have an out of network private practice.

I've been with Luminello for a long time. Overall, it's been working, but there are some key features they are missing that would be very useful.

They include:
- text message/phone call appointment reminder to patients
- g suite calendar integration
- group practice functionality
- integrated/ native telemedicine (not using a 3rd party service)
- mobile app
- live customer service

They also can't provide a timeline for any of these features.

Theranest is a very popular mental health EMR that I previously ignored due to the lack of prescribing ability. Recently I learned that Theranest rolled out e-prescribing. Now I am seriously considering transitioning. It includes all the above features and costs the same as Luminello.

The only thing stopping me right now is inertia and the inevitable annoyances of changing EMRs.

Curious if anyone has thoughts/ experience with Theranest, changing EMRs in general, etc
Click to expand...
Group practice funtionality, if needed, then yeah, make the switch.

But are the other 5 features really that needed? Personally, I won't be making the switch, and now knowing that the group practice is closer to roll out, I'm staying put.
 
Only slightly related to your post, but, I'm not really in favor of any sort of reminder system for appointments. The people who would no-show anyway, just end up canceling or rescheduling, only to then run out of medications, call with an 'emergency', etc. That's how it went in residency... after I while I resented the front desk calling people the day before to 'remind' them. From day 1 in my practice I've not had any kind of reminder system. Yeah a few people have moaned about it but they learn pretty quick. It's their money... if they want to miss it that's fine (well, not really, but). I also notice the people who are so busy putting their next appointment into their iPhone calendar that they aren't even listening to what I'm saying as we wrap up, are the ones who usually end up missing an appointment.

I know not to compare myself to patients, but honestly if I -ever- straight up missed a doctor or dentist appointment without even calling with an excuse, I would be way too embarrassed to ever go back to that practice. I have never no-showed to a doctors appt in my life. Off the top of my head I know exactly the day and time of my next PCP and dentist visit, and they are like 6 months away.

And no, I'm not OCPD or anything. Those patients miss their appointments just as often as anyone else, I've noticed.
 
Basis said:
I have never no-showed to a doctors appt in my life. Off the top of my head I know exactly the day and time of my next PCP and dentist visit, and they are like 6 months away.
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This is not a common behavior or skill. Patients who have a ton of responsibilities and also a mental illness to boot can easily forget an appointment if it is a few months out.

Youre essentially saying that people do not need planners or schedules. I think you are overestimating people's organizational skills.

Speaking from personal experience, I have missed multiple doctors appointments, especially during residency when it was hard to actually make it to the doctor.
 
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liquidshadow22 said:
This is not a common behavior or skill. Patients who have a ton of responsibilities and also a mental illness to boot can easily forget an appointment if it is a few months out.

Youre essentially saying that people do not need planners or schedules. I think you are overestimating people's organizational skills.

Speaking from personal experience, I have missed multiple doctors appointments, especially during residency when it was hard to actually make it to the doctor.
Click to expand...

Ha yeah I would agree with this I definitely need to put appointments into my calendar and don't know them off the top of my head.

You could also set the reminder text message/call system to be 48/72 hours ahead of time so that if they don't cancel or reschedule and no-show they still have to pay if you have a 24 hour cancellation fee. I mean I'm assuming what the poster above is saying is that he'd rather have them no-show and take their money for no-showing rather than send a reminder? Hopefully your patients never get wind of that line of thinking and that strategy probably only works for a very specific slice of the population (who I guess you must have a lot of in your clinic).
 
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I'm not sure that an integrated virtual visit system is as important as a simple and reliable one. The hospital where I did residency used basically a link in Epic that took you to a Zoom appointment and I've found that working with Zoom was very reliable.

My new private group practice is using Epic links to this organization's browser-based video chat (I'm not sure if this is the one that Epic sells or if it's something else) and it can often be rough. Patients run into all sorts of compatibility issues. It freaks out when people change mobile/wifi networks or open another view on their phone. I'd really like to go back to Zoom.
 
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I appreciate the head-up on theranest. I signed up for the trial. I'm running into the same gripe I had with luminello and CHARM. Too many bells and whistles. I'm a KISS kind of guy.

I think text-reminders are key for reducing no-shows. Mine go out 2-days (cancellation window) before the appointment and have my patient portal and telemedicine link.
 
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RomanticScience said:
I appreciate the head-up on theranest. I signed up for the trial. I'm running into the same gripe I had with luminello and CHARM. Too many bells and whistles. I'm a KISS kind of guy.

I think text-reminders are key for reducing no-shows. Mine go out 2-days (cancellation window) before the appointment and have my patient portal and telemedicine link.
Click to expand...

You think this because research has supported it's truth. There's a reason that even online hairdressers have this functionality built into their software. The world is an increasingly busy place and have brief and non-intrusive reminders clearly makes a difference to human behavior.
 
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FlowRate said:
I'm not sure that an integrated virtual visit system is as important as a simple and reliable one. The hospital where I did residency used basically a link in Epic that took you to a Zoom appointment.

My new private group practice is using Epic links to this organization's browser-based video chat (I'm not sure if this is the one that Epic sells or if it's something else) and it can often be rough. Patients run into all sorts of compatibility issues. It freaks out when people change mobile/wifi networks or open another view on their phone. I'd really like to go back to Zoom.
Click to expand...


Agree with you on this.
The native virtual visit function was not a big-ticket item on my list, but it is another advantage over Luminello.
 
Basis said:
Only slightly related to your post, but, I'm not really in favor of any sort of reminder system for appointments. The people who would no-show anyway, just end up canceling or rescheduling, only to then run out of medications, call with an 'emergency', etc. That's how it went in residency... after I while I resented the front desk calling people the day before to 'remind' them.
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Perhaps your residency patient population and/or clinic was just unpleasant. The patients who no-show at my resident clinic get discharged after exceeding their quota. I agree it doesn't matter if they get reminded or not, because these types of patients end up showing themselves out the door relatively quickly. The ones who run out of meds, they have to schedule an appointment for this week or next to continue meds, and only get a 7 or 14 day bridging supply.

However, most patients are just human and occasionally make mistakes. I have lots of nice patients who regularly make it to their appointments but will slip up once or twice, and it's no big deal. They appreciate the reminders. Stuff happens, people mistakenly double book themselves with work meetings, other appointments, etc. It's a 2-way street, and they cut me slack too when I make mistakes like sending their meds to the wrong pharmacy.
 
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I am currently experiencing Luminello being down. Have had maybe ~2-3x in past 1.5 years for brief spells of like 20-30 minutes. We'll see how long this outage lasts. Far less than my experiences with Big Box shops using Epic. I am still able to see my patients because the Telemedicine service, Doxy.Me is separate from the EMR. Today, I discovered why I am glad they are not integrated. The patient portal component of Luminello is still functioning and active, just not the doc/assistant access.
 
Sushirolls said:
I am currently experiencing Luminello being down. Have had maybe ~2-3x in past 1.5 years for brief spells of like 20-30 minutes. We'll see how long this outage lasts. Far less than my experiences with Big Box shops using Epic. I am still able to see my patients because the Telemedicine service, Doxy.Me is separate from the EMR. Today, I discovered why I am glad they are not integrated. The patient portal component of Luminello is still functioning and active, just not the doc/assistant access.
Click to expand...

Weirdly I could get in just fine today but my admin was completely locked out. Glad to hear it's not just us this happened to.
 
I guess luminello never came through on a group practice feature..
 
Basis said:
Only slightly related to your post, but, I'm not really in favor of any sort of reminder system for appointments. The people who would no-show anyway, just end up canceling or rescheduling, only to then run out of medications, call with an 'emergency', etc. That's how it went in residency... after I while I resented the front desk calling people the day before to 'remind' them. From day 1 in my practice I've not had any kind of reminder system. Yeah a few people have moaned about it but they learn pretty quick. It's their money... if they want to miss it that's fine (well, not really, but). I also notice the people who are so busy putting their next appointment into their iPhone calendar that they aren't even listening to what I'm saying as we wrap up, are the ones who usually end up missing an appointment.

I know not to compare myself to patients, but honestly if I -ever- straight up missed a doctor or dentist appointment without even calling with an excuse, I would be way too embarrassed to ever go back to that practice. I have never no-showed to a doctors appt in my life. Off the top of my head I know exactly the day and time of my next PCP and dentist visit, and they are like 6 months away.

And no, I'm not OCPD or anything. Those patients miss their appointments just as often as anyone else, I've noticed.
Click to expand...
“I’m not OCPD” if you have to say it…
 
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Has anyone used Therapy Notes or Valant EMRs for group practices? Any opinions?
 
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