This is a bit long, so let me start by getting right to the point: I think that for all of our benefit, the resources available to new users of Amazing Charts need to be expanded.
This is not to diminish the value of the AC support staff, nor of this forum, both of which I have found to be tremendous assets in the ongoing process of converting to an EMR and a paperless office. Two providers from our office attended the ACUC and we both found that to be a valuable and enjoyable educational experience. We had a list of questions, many of which were answered (whomever told the group to use “tab-enter” to go from screen-to-screen in magnified mode; you saved me literally thousands of mouse clicks. Thank you! Even Jon Bertman had no idea how to do that). We got lots of answers, but we are only a few months into our use of AC, and we still have many unanswered questions and a ton of learning to do.
On the other hand, comments made by some attendees at the conference and some posted here remind me how far we have come from true “new user” status. I distinctly remember those first few weeks when EVERY aspect of the process was a question. Using the program is probably the best way to get comfortable with it, but at first that is a challenging proposition. I hope I am not insulting anyone here, because I know significant effort has been expended in this area, but we need more. There is no user manual. The wiki is incomplete and is sometimes outdated. Searching for answers on the board here may be helpful, but the “search” function is not great. Besides, why use resources (space, time, etc.) on answering simple questions over and over on the forum.
Why is this important? Of course we all want to learn how to use the program quickly and easily. Naturally, Jon Bertman wants more users; I would bet that some significant percentage of trial users are turned off by their inability to do things that we now see as second nature. Jon said (and I believe him), this is not just about getting more customers: it is about changing medicine. This will only happen if thousands more people use AC. And as Martin pointed out, we need to be sure that the 3500 users continue to expand in number to be sure that AC isn’t relegated to the dustbin of history (ok, maybe he didn’t exactly use those words). It is in all of our interests to try to insure that everyone who downloads a free trial becomes a user, and everyone who buys it STAYS a user. Towards that end, we should try to smooth the transition for those new users. That is exactly what many of the “answer-men (and women)” here have already been doing (you know who you are). Of course some of this may fall to the AC company itself.
Here are some suggestions:
1. A forum on the board specifically for new users (with threads about “how to….”). There is lots of room for input here since so many people do things differently (how many different ways are there to pull a patient’s chart, import a document, etc; I would bet that no one knows them all). Keep all this information organized well, in one place that is easily accessible.
2. Changes to the next ACUC, with more emphasis on truly “new” users. Wendell and others have expressed useful ideas in a couple of threads.
3. A user manual.
4. Updating and expanding the Wiki.
5. Creating instructional video tutorials of common tasks, expanding on the handful on the AC website.
For starters, we are going to create some video tutorials which will be used within our office to orient new staff coming on board (now and in the future). We will look for a convenient way to post them and share them.
So am I out in left field here, or does this strike a chord with the brand new users out there who are first exploring the program? How about you old-timers, trying to remember back to those prehistoric days (or maybe yesterday) when you tried to do something new with the program?
