EMR/EHR experiences.

[p100]

Which EMR do you use and what are the pros and cons? Hospital vs private practice?

Here is my limited knowledge.

Athena - takes 8% in billing. It took a couple weeks to get used to all the clicking. Not an intuitive design. I don't know monthly cost.

NextGen - This was easy to use for nursing home work. Avg note time 1-5 mins. I do not know its monthly cost nor billing options.

CPRS - This is used by the VA system so its free. Lots and lots of clicking but everything was free for me and patients so it was very nice. The convenience of the VA system, minus the bureaucratic inefficiencies, just cannot be beat.

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[newfeet]

I hate EMRs. I have only used EPIC and ECW. EPIC is slightly better than ECW. Both in a hospital setting. I have no clue about their cost.

 

[Feli]

...used by the VA system so its free. Lots and lots of clicking but everything was free for me and patients so it was very nice. ...

"Free" = paid for by taxes.

Another way of putting it is stolen from other people, who have no choice but to pay (or risk jail). Not free.

 

[619]

I use eClinicalworks. I pay $699 a month for one solo provider. Also has Healow so patients can book appointment online. I have my own in-house biller who started as my front desk.
I like ECW because of the pricing and they have a good customer service to address any issues. Sure the cons is there are lots of clicks but it does not really bother me mainly because the price is reasonable. Most of the PCPs in my area also use eCW so I figured it must be good enough.

 

[Feeter]

I've used Epic, Cerner, eClinicalWorks and NextGen. They all have pluses and minuses. Epic is most comprehensive and I like it more than others but it is very expensive for pp. NextGen worked fine when I did a PP gig after residency.

In general we all agree that EMR is a necessity evil.

 

[Feli]

I've used Epic, Cerner, eClinicalWorks and NextGen. They all have pluses and minuses...

Yep, all will need good templates and setup regardless.
I was even able to make the garbage one in IHS/VA fairly functional (although it doesn't communicate directly to billers/coders at all).

I think the main difference is the lag time, down time, etc between most EMR. That can be the difference between good and rough days. Some take care of their servers and website and support, and some really don't. None are perfect, though.

...In general we all agree that EMR is a necessity evil.

I was going to go without it (just use sched/billing software)... but you need the EMR for eRx in most places (including mine), esp for control substances.

 

[Hybrocure]

CRPS is the saddest EMR ever. Just like the condition.

 

[DYK343]

I've used Epic, Cerner, eClinicalWorks and NextGen. They all have pluses and minuses. Epic is most comprehensive and I like it more than others but it is very expensive for pp. NextGen worked fine when I did a PP gig after residency.

In general we all agree that EMR is a necessity evil.

Epic is a little much for my liking. It works but its a beast of a program. Way too much on one screen and its not always intuitive. Also requires in house people hired full time to assist providers who cant figure out how to order or do something.

Cerner everyone hates but I thought it was pretty straight forward. Could be slow at times but if you type in "cardiology referral" it pops right up (unlike epic because some epic trainer needs to link that referral ability for you).

I didnt mind NextGen at all. It was pretty well organized and straightforward. But the free hand comment portion only had so many characters for physical exam. Its PE is designed around clicking buttons for autofill which when submitting for boards is not a good thing. Otherwise I think it was my favorite EHR.

No experience with eCLinicalWorks.

 

[Feli]

CRPS is the saddest EMR ever. Just like the condition.

Shoot, you did not see TrackNet and some of the bogus EMRs in the early going of the Obama EMR "innovation."
They were as slow and glitchy as an Atari game (not that you'd know what that is either).