I had looked into MedFusion about a year ago, as they were offering a discount through the AAFP. From what I recall, they wanted to charge me about $4000-$5000 to set up the site and then $200+ A MONTH from then on, the prices depending on what "services" you want (a la carte). In the end, I designed my own website using Yahoo's Sitebuilder program (free), have the site hosted by Yahoo, and get most of what I wanted to do in terms of online presence for something like $10 a month. Especially with using AC, which isn't integrated with it, and data in AC not being accessible to patients directly, MedFusion would've been, to me, a huge waste of money.
Instead of their "PreRegistration", you can simply have online editable PDFs that they fill out and "send" to you prior to their visit.
Instead of their "Appointment Requests", you might try AppointmentQuest.com
Instead of their "Patient Messaging", you might educate your patients about online security... and have them agree to accept emails, or emails with encrypted messages, etc... there are many levels to go though. And if they don't want email communication, that's fine, too. Just do it the old way.
Instead of their "Virtual Office Visits" you might look into relayhealth.com. I don't use it, but I think Wayne Coghill has his sister's practice set up with this.
Instead of their "Online BillPay", you might just have a button-link on your site to Paypal, or other similar means of accepting payments.
Instead of their "Patient Education" page, creating a simple webpage with links to your favorites sites for info is a cinch, or do what they had done and just link to the AAFP's familydoctor.org. Oh, but with Medfusion's PtEd page, your practice name will be on top... big deal.
In the end, though what Medfusion could offer was nice, by no means would it have been a smart financial decision for me. Real "patient portals" I think are a cool idea, and in the future may be vital, but not yet. Even now, though still young, my website doesn't get all that much traffic from my patients... but at my low cost, I don't care that much. Had I been paying thousands up front and hundreds monthly, I wouldn't NOT be happy. And trying to pass on the costs to my patients I'm SURE would go over REAL well.
