ArcticInferno:
Hello,
Thank you all for your replies.
On second thought, maybe I should increase my budget to $6000, and possibly a little more. After all, it's tax-deductible.
Although Medisoft has many limitations, it works and does it's job. EMR that has billing capability would be better than something that can merely interface with Medisoft.
I need something that can do custom templates for medical records. Here's why.
I have a PM&R practice that has Physical Therapy, Pain Management, etc.
We do procedures like trigger point injections and nerve blocks.
I want a single monolithic software that allows me to do:
(1) detailed initial intake (history and physical exam)
(2) document follow up exams
(3) document procedures (trigger point injections and nerve blocks)
(4) document testings (EMG/NCV)
(5) document physical therapy modalities (done by a physical therapist)
(6) scan EOB, radiographic reports, etc.
(7) speadsheat, or be able to import excel and subsequently edit
(8) for billing, produce print-images files to be uploaded to OfficeAlly
(9) this last request is a bit asking too much, but here it goes,... I'm in NY, and NY Workers Compensation requires something called C-4, instead of the CMS/HCFA-1500. C-4 looks similar to 1500, but not identical. Billing softwares that allow custom format modules will allow you to print the C-4 form. This is not absolutely necessary, because sooo many softwares can't do this. Medisoft and Eclipse can do it, but Amazing Charts can't.
I'm not a vendor, I'm a user. We use eCW.
eCW does have the C-4 (11-05) form built in. I am in Texas, and I have absolutely no use for a C-4, but I do have it! I'd be happy to send you one, with all the fields populated, with the big bold letters "THE INJURED WORKER SHOULD NOT PAY THIS BILL". I'm sure that gets you off to a good start with your patients, eh?
What kind of images does Office Ally need? (We use an electronic statement company that takes our statement data, creates the statement, folds it, adds a return envelope, pre-sorts by zip code, and takes it to the post office for only slightly more than the cost of postage itself. My statements beat your statements by a day or two....) . If Office Ally can take ANSI 837 files which most can, you should be fine here.
For documenting procedures, you can customize templates, or if you need to sketch trigger points , use tablet with digital inking on to an eCliniform. One of my partners who does breast work locates lesions like that. I use an inkable form for writing and printing insulin doses. (You can see this on my You Tube video in the EMR Showcase.)
All of the other items are really easy. We don't scan our xray reports. They come in on fax, get captured, and then attached without killing any trees. For inhouse studies read by our radiologists, they are saved in PDF format, again killing no trees. We do scan EOBs and letters from doctors who don't fax us.
You want the spreadsheet for financial data, or clinical data? On the financial side, we can export almost anything to Excel. For clinical data, we have flowsheets that automatically populate whatever you want....labs, vitals, meds, etc.
Have fun shopping. My biggest word of advice is GO AND VISIT several practices using your top 3 or 4 finalists in the selection process. You will learn so much more there than you will from a demo or from folks hawking their wares here. Talk to the doctors, nurses, and office people. They will gladly share their best ideas with you.
Reddy Biggs
William "Reddy" Biggs, MD
Endocrinology
Amarillo, Texas
Unbiased and independent, YES!
"Live on eClinicalWorks since 2/1/2007"
http://tinyurl.com/ywqd49