Thank you for all the interest and comments! Here's an update on our current thinking, though, as always, I'm open to other thoughts or ideas.

1. Version 4 Status: We are getting much closer. In fact, I believe it is just about ready for beta testing, though I would like to do a bit more alpha testing. From the standpoint of data integrity and migration from V3 to V4, this seems to be working well in general, though there may still be issues with Midmark, and UpDox testing hasn't been done at all yet. If you are tech savvy and don't rely on UpDox, you can test the alpha version at this point. You will need to be on the latest version of Amazing Charts (3.7.15) before the update can proceed. The alpha is at www.amazingcharts.com/alpha. You can ping us for help at www.amazingcharts.com/help.

2. CCHIT: Although the interoperable part of CCHIT is important, the vast majority of the hundreds of CCHIT requirements are BSHIT. That said, the third-party payors have, as they always do, believed the hype and over time will be varying reimbursement based on whether the note was documented by a CCHIT-certified EHR. Thus, it is time for Amazing Charts to suck it up and get certified. As you've noted above, this will entail significant work and expense, but we've budgeted for it and will be developing a plan to be certified sometime in 2009 or early 2010 before these disparate payments become significant.

3. e-Rx and HM: We are working on this now, and hopefully it will be ready for testing later this year after V4 becomes our official release.

4. Practice Management: We are designing the overall big picture for PM, and I would like to ask some users to volunteer their time and knowledge. Specifically, I am looking for a few people from existing Amazing Charts practices (providers or their staff) who feel they completely understand the ins and outs of billing and are willing to share their experiences with existing software to help us develop nothing less than the best billing software for small practices. My plan will be to bring these people together both physically and virtually to design the specific windows, features, reports, etc. that the software must have to work amazingly. If you are, or know of somebody, who clearly knows and are able to articulate their needs to do outstanding billing, please email me their name, contact information, and what software they currently use.

Thank you again for the comments, constructive criticisms, and being part of the Amazing Charts community.

Jon

Jonathan Bertman, MD, FAAFP
President
Amazing Charts