Wiki Software Practice Management

SA91

Networker
Messages
52
Location
Montgomery, TX
Best answers
0
Hi all!

Please can someone provide some input with their experience as far as a Software system goes?

We are an ASC and are looking into alternative EHR/Billing Software which caters specifically to ASC's. I found Kareo and it looks very straightforward and that's what we want. If there are any other software platforms to also consider I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you,
Lisa.
 
I would strongly steer you away from Kareo. We used them for over 15 years (our user account number was in the low 4 digits). Their support is horrible, they won't fix things that are obviously wrong (they just tell you to put it in as a feature suggestion), I could go on and on.
 
I would strongly steer you away from Kareo. We used them for over 15 years (our user account number was in the low 4 digits). Their support is horrible, they won't fix things that are obviously wrong (they just tell you to put it in as a feature suggestion), I could go on and on.
Thank you for the heads up! We are currently using Amkai Office and their customer service is sometimes just as bad the new reps working in customer service know majority of the time nothing about the software. So it's always a hassle to get something quickly resolved. What are you using now?
 
Thank you for the heads up! We are currently using Amkai Office and their customer service is sometimes just as bad the new reps working in customer service know majority of the time nothing about the software. So it's always a hassle to get something quickly resolved. What are you using now?

We are using Meditab now, for about three months or so. We happen to have a support person who is local to us, so he can come over and work with us when we need him, which has been awesome.

When I tell them something isn't working, they actually FIX IT, instead of telling me to submit it as a feature suggestion.

One Kareo example: Their built-in reports leave a lot to be desired, and making a custom report is clunky and difficult. So one of their built-in accounting reports gave wrong data. The heading was something like "payments received", which you expect to be... MONEY RECEIVED. Only it wasn't. It was all money activity, including unapplied credits being applied. So if you applied $1,000 in credits, it showed that you RECEIVED $1,000 that day, which you didn't. I ended up asking the rep on that call, "Do you have an accounting degree? No? Well I do. Do you have a programming degree? No? Well I do. And when I tell you the programmers need to fix it because this isn't the way accounting is done, I am RIGHT and you are WRONG, it is NOT a feature suggestion!!!!"
 
We are using Meditab now, for about three months or so. We happen to have a support person who is local to us, so he can come over and work with us when we need him, which has been awesome.

When I tell them something isn't working, they actually FIX IT, instead of telling me to submit it as a feature suggestion.

One Kareo example: Their built-in reports leave a lot to be desired, and making a custom report is clunky and difficult. So one of their built-in accounting reports gave wrong data. The heading was something like "payments received", which you expect to be... MONEY RECEIVED. Only it wasn't. It was all money activity, including unapplied credits being applied. So if you applied $1,000 in credits, it showed that you RECEIVED $1,000 that day, which you didn't. I ended up asking the rep on that call, "Do you have an accounting degree? No? Well I do. Do you have a programming degree? No? Well I do. And when I tell you the programmers need to fix it because this isn't the way accounting is done, I am RIGHT and you are WRONG, it is NOT a feature suggestion!!!!"
Thank you Sharon for that info. I feel like these companies focus more on the clinical aspect of the software than the actual billing/accounting aspect of it because I can definitely relate to this as we have struggled with the exact same thing with or software support. They also would say to us that they would add this to their suggestion list so basically they want the program to be catered to an individual entity but yet they make no changes over they past 2 years and we have a 5 year contract with them! Why would we want to renew this if we do not see any improvements? Not to mention the system is sometimes not very easy to navigate some tabs are not where I would have placed them to be to begin with they make it more complicated than it should be.

I have looked up Meditab are they based in Frisco, TX?
 
Thank you I will look into that!
Regarding Greenway. Our practice used Intergy and Intergy EHR for about 14 years (before being acquired by a large health system that made us use their systems.) There were some things I loved, and some I hated. I will also note we used a SERVER BASED system (more on that in PROS/CONS)
PRO: The system is fully integrated, with a lot of customization available. But you have to be knowledgeable enough and willing to take the time to customize.
PRO: System (at least to me) is intuitive. You can kind of figure some things out on your own, even if you don't remember a specific training.
PRO: Once you are familiar with the system, there are A LOT of very simple things that just make your day easier. Press F2 to select the next patient. Check in screen lists the copay amounts. Little things that compared to a cumbersome older system make me long for the days of Intergy.
PRO: Since we were onsite server based, and have onsite generator, NEVER, repeat NEVER downtime. Everyone in town could have no power and no internet, and we were fully functional. I do not even know if they still offer a server based product.
PRO: Because at one point, they had local reps, we knew of several other local offices using the same software. We created our own little help group.
CON: No local help anymore. Intergy was owned by several parent companies during the course of our use. When we signed up, there was a local guy who came for onsite training, and available to answer questions. That went away with the 3rd parent company. When we had a new physician join the group, we decided we really wanted onsite training. We had to pay for someone to fly here, hotel, meals, cost of actual training hours and then to boot, she didn't even know some aspects of the system as well as I did. I got the bill reduced, but we still paid way too much for the service provided.
CON: They sell a lot of extra modules. Each comes with an additional charge. Specifically for us, reports were an issue. There are built in reports that do 98.5% of what you would typically need. But every once in a while, the provider would ask for a report that I couldn't get. When calling customer service, all they did was try to get me to buy the reports module (which we never did due to a large price tag.) When I got frustrated enough, about 70% of the time I was actually able to figure out a way to get the system to give me what I wanted without the report module without Greenway's help.
CON: Onsite server comes with additional costs for maintenance and backup. Replacing that server when needed was not a cheap undertaking. I understand they do offer a cloud based product now.
CON: The cost of keeping the system running even though not currently used. We stopped using the system 08/2018, and kept full access for about a year following. We then wanted to just have view only access, and I thought the bill would be a fraction of what we were paying previously, but not really. But what companies charge to transfer or archive your data is also an arm & leg. So, we eliminated what we could and will likely be paying that until it's old enough that we no longer need to keep the records.
 
Regarding Greenway. Our practice used Intergy and Intergy EHR for about 14 years (before being acquired by a large health system that made us use their systems.) There were some things I loved, and some I hated. I will also note we used a SERVER BASED system (more on that in PROS/CONS)
PRO: The system is fully integrated, with a lot of customization available. But you have to be knowledgeable enough and willing to take the time to customize.
PRO: System (at least to me) is intuitive. You can kind of figure some things out on your own, even if you don't remember a specific training.
PRO: Once you are familiar with the system, there are A LOT of very simple things that just make your day easier. Press F2 to select the next patient. Check in screen lists the copay amounts. Little things that compared to a cumbersome older system make me long for the days of Intergy.
PRO: Since we were onsite server based, and have onsite generator, NEVER, repeat NEVER downtime. Everyone in town could have no power and no internet, and we were fully functional. I do not even know if they still offer a server based product.
PRO: Because at one point, they had local reps, we knew of several other local offices using the same software. We created our own little help group.
CON: No local help anymore. Intergy was owned by several parent companies during the course of our use. When we signed up, there was a local guy who came for onsite training, and available to answer questions. That went away with the 3rd parent company. When we had a new physician join the group, we decided we really wanted onsite training. We had to pay for someone to fly here, hotel, meals, cost of actual training hours and then to boot, she didn't even know some aspects of the system as well as I did. I got the bill reduced, but we still paid way too much for the service provided.
CON: They sell a lot of extra modules. Each comes with an additional charge. Specifically for us, reports were an issue. There are built in reports that do 98.5% of what you would typically need. But every once in a while, the provider would ask for a report that I couldn't get. When calling customer service, all they did was try to get me to buy the reports module (which we never did due to a large price tag.) When I got frustrated enough, about 70% of the time I was actually able to figure out a way to get the system to give me what I wanted without the report module without Greenway's help.
CON: Onsite server comes with additional costs for maintenance and backup. Replacing that server when needed was not a cheap undertaking. I understand they do offer a cloud based product now.
CON: The cost of keeping the system running even though not currently used. We stopped using the system 08/2018, and kept full access for about a year following. We then wanted to just have view only access, and I thought the bill would be a fraction of what we were paying previously, but not really. But what companies charge to transfer or archive your data is also an arm & leg. So, we eliminated what we could and will likely be paying that until it's old enough that we no longer need to keep the records.
 
Top