Marcus,
My apologies for taking so long to reply. It's been busy. And I hope you and yours had a great Thanksgiving. Thank you for the correction of the name you preferred to be called by.
You are quite correct that we both see TotalMD, and probably many other things, from totally different perspectives. Sadly, you are also correct that many AC users do not share the same resources as me. It would be nice if the world had another JamesNT or two or five in it, but it doesn't (queue ego-deflating remark by Indy).
Regarding interfacing and training, you're not wrong. But then again, neither am I. A lot of softwares don't offer free training videos like Amazing Charts does. They see training as another revenue stream so they charge for it. As for interfacing with a clearing house, most softwares will have a list of "compatible" clearing houses, but as far as getting the actual 837 file to the clearing house goes you are on your own. Some will offer an interface to their one "preferred" clearing house, but that's it. Our difference of opinion here is mostly likely from the fact that I have worked with a higher number of softwares than you have which is why I still say you are not wrong. You are quite correct given your experience just as I am quite correct given mine.
In regards to the 30-day money back and training goes, I'm afraid I may have to disagree with you somewhat. From what I'm reading, you actually tried to transition from your old program to TotalMD as part of your evaluation. That was most likely a mistake. You are quite correct in that making a full transition will take quite a bit of time. We are still in the middle of ours and our transition will take almost all of 2014 to finish up. I would have tested the program, gone through some training, evaluated processes, things like that during the 30-days to determine if the program is right for my needs. I would not have tried to take it into production - especially if that meant transitioning over. However, I would still argue on your side that 30 days is a bit short. I'd go for 45 just for the sake of having enough time to kick the proverbial tires.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say "blank canvas." Can you elaborate?
I wasn't trying to discredit you. I do, however, think your approach could have been better and you could have saved yourself some grief - and it seems we agree on that a bit. It's important to remember that no PM or EMR software vendor is here to look out for you. They are all here to take your money and once they have it you are ON YOUR OWN. It's up to you and you alone to make sure you thoroughly test the software and make as much of an informed decision as you can before pulling out your wallet.
Otherwise, I think you're a smart guy who unfortunately got caught in the traps involved in trying to find a new PM or EMR software. If there is anything I can do to help you, just ask.
Lastly, you mentioned that you rarely post here. I would ask that you change that position. I have found my dialog with you to be refreshing, your diplomatic skills top notch, and your ability to convey your point-of-view to be excellent. People like you are what's needed to keep people like me in check. You are quite correct when you point out our very different positions - your being the pharmacist that owns/manages the medical practice and mine from the tech-savvy billing center.
What's that old saying? We need more engineers to leave the lab and go to the field and more of those in the field to be in the lab.
JamesNT
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