Roy and Paul:
I have really tried to come at your concerns with an open mind, but I can't see it from your viewpoint.
Roy, your screaming ALL CAPS headlines are really over the top, and I think your characterization of the EULA could be construed as slander. I think if I were Jon, and I could shut somebody's EMR off at a whim, you would be just about at the top of my list. Just a thought.
Paul, I am not suffering from cognitive dissonance, I just disagree with you. I will explain why below.
I am moving my clinic and I will be off the Board for a while. If you really want an answer to your concerns, your best chance is to email Jon yourself. I have corresponded with him a bit, and you will have your best luck if you keep it brief, civil, and to-the-point. I hope you are able to reach some kind of resolution to your conflict.
That said, here are my (hopefully) last thoughts on this subject.
"AMAZINGCHARTS WILL REMOTELY TURN OFF THE PROGRAM"
Like Bert, I'm not getting this one. There is a vast difference between Amazing Charts ceasing to operate vs. Jon remotely shutting off your program. For instance, if you don't update your program, it will inevitably become dysfunctional as operating systems and other software change through time.
However, let's grant the possibility of a remote shutoff. What kind of promises would you like Jon to make? Do you want Jon to solemnly swear not to randomly cut off your EMR in the middle of a patient encounter, on the whim of a moment? If you're going to do business with an individual or a company, you have to hope that they are going to behave rationally. It's like avoiding marriage because of the "til death do us part" clause.
"PAY WHATEVER FEE WE DECIDE TO CHARGE OR BE TERMINATED"
What's the problem here? I have to pay whatever fee Quizno's charges or I don't get a sandwich. Your patients pay whatever fee you decide to charge or you terminate them. Jon reserves the right to raise his prices from time to time (annually, in this case). Again I ask, what's the problem?
"IS THERE SUPPORT OR NO SUPPORT DESPITE PAYING FEES FOR IT?"
I agree with you that the verbiage here is confusing. However, don't you imagine that the answer is somewhere in the middle? If you don't pay for service, you don't get service. If you pay for service, you get service. If you don't get enough service, you politely complain. If your complaints are not addressed, you stop paying for service, and you look for another EMR. Amazing Charts doesn't want you to do that, so they try to keep you happy. That's how it's supposed to work.
"IF YOU DON'T PAY WE WILL HOLD YOUR MEDICAL DATA HOSTAGE"
If a person doesn't pay for Amazing Charts, should they get to use it? If a person does stop paying for Amazing Charts, can't you kind of assume they have decided to do something else for an EMR solution?
Most people would say that a person who decides to stop paying for Amazing Charts needs to also start making arrangements to get their data transferred to another EMR, or printed out. If they try to keep using an old copy, it will eventually FAIL, and then they will be up that fabled creek. I'm having my lab and correspondence printed out by an IT contractor right now, for filing in a new paper patient record (long story).
So, in what sense is the data being "held hostage"? Jon doesn't have the data; it's in your computer. Over time, the EULA says, Amazing Charts "may" cease to function. If you choose to terminate your agreement with Amazing Charts by ceasing payment, you have the responsibility to make sure your data is managed properly.
"YOU MUST DESTROY ANY EVIDENCE OF POSSESSING THE PROGRAM FROM THE HARDWARE SO YOU WILL WIND UP WITH ABSOLUTELY NO MEDICAL RECORDS FOR YOUR PRACTICE!!!"
Paul, the plain reading of this paragraph is that if your contract is Terminated, you are supposed to "immediately" remove Amazing Charts from everything you own. I can't find any mention of "thirty days," but like Bert says, who's going to enforce this?
But most people don't decide to stop using an EMR on a whim. They come up with a plan to change services, and if they decide to stop payment, they need to make arrangements in advance for printing of the records or data conversion, as described above.
I doubt Jon would terminate someone's contract on a whim. He is presumably in this for the money. If I were in his position and terminated someone's contract, it would be because they had crossed some kind of line, had become threatening or abusive to me or my staff, they were trying to cheat me, or were trying to use my software in an inappropriate way.
