I have a different take on Updox...
We rely on it for document management.
Note that these comments pertain to the separate Updox product; not the one that "comes with" AC. It is very hard for me to know how the "free" version functions since we do not use it. When someone talks about Updox, it is important to know which version they have.
We get some snail mail, but the great majority of our incoming results, reports, and notes from other providers come as faxes. The same is true for initial visit and demographic forms completed by patients at home. All arrive and are viewed in Updox so the "inbox" gets a ton of activity. Everything is filed from there. In addition, our hospital and most of the physicians here use Epic. Anything viewed in Epic and wanted in the patient's chart is "printed to Updox" from Epic and filed from there.
Initially we rarely used the portal. We use it more now for communicating with patients. We do find it somewhat useful but it has serious limitations as noted by Serene.
Most of the problems stem from the fax that Updox was developed as a separate application. It was grafted onto AC and the two are poorly integrated. This is especially true for the portal. If a patient could complete forms online and have them smoothly inserted into AC fields, that would be huge. If saving communications was not so clunky, that would help. Like Serene, we use Jotforms which is a much more robust form filling application - another added cost though.
This version of Updox has increased dramatically in cost in recent years. I used to rave about it and recommend it to everyone; due to the significant cost increase, I no longer do so. If we were just starting out and not so dependent on it for our work-flow, I might not purchase it.
