Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Phreesia and AC

I know I have seen discussion about Phreesia here in the board, but wanted to find out how well it integrates with AC.

We are talking to the Phreesia guys and wanted to find out if the demographics information can be imported into AC?

comments about good and bad will be awesome

Phreesia is currently testing their full interface in house - waiting for Version 5 to be released. They are planning on beta testing as soon as AC will allow it with Version 5.

Right now it does not automatically import information, but I have talked with them and once it is released it will be great.

Can't wait. We have Phreesia, but haven't found it helpful the way it is now. I love the concept. Hope it helps.

I too have phresia and it is getting little use now. I am tired of the hype about version 5, pmr, etc and have realized this may be in the distant future so have moved to systems that will soldify us as we move into this rocky change in the American health care system. I pray they get us something fast as I may not be willing to spend the time and learn a new system.

Has Phreesia changed? Last year I tried them for a few months. They expected us to customize the history questions, etc., myself. Their standard info questions were superficial. They advertise that they use physician consultants to customize the patient questions, but I didn't think it meant me. Turnover at Phreesia was remarkable. I had 3 different customer reps. I packed it all up and sent it back.

Does AC still not automatically populate the Phreesia demographics? Does it do verification, and is it helpful?

I wonder if Windows 7 will get here on mini-tablets before AC and Phreesia work together properly.

According to the info I got directly from Phresia the only hold is version 5. They have reportedly beta tested and will be ready to put the program into place as soon as v5 is released. I checked with customer service at ac and they cannot give me any date that they even expect v5 to be released. We need to train on phresia and was hoping to do this along with v5.

Ditto here. I have put the phresia on hold till v5 comes out.

We got our Phreesia pads installed. Just waiting on v5 to start using them.

I've been "on-line" with Phreesia for 1 month now, and love it. It's wonderful being able to catch right there on the spot those patients with $3000 deductibles and those whose insurance has run out due to job loss.

The HPI and PHM summaries are pretty well laid out, too. The only problem is that 1) they are slightly slow for some folks, and 2) I've got a small but significant illiterate patient load that can't use it, even though it's laid out in 2 languages.

It's the best deal that I've seen in a long time, and it costs only $50/year! Incredible...

Al

Are you using a v5 beta? Can you get the online insurance info with v4? We tried using it and my patients with many meds found it very clumsy. Especially if it interfaces directly with the program, it would be great for a check box h&P or a check box ros for the visit or screening instruments being used.
Phreesia told me that they have heard now that v5 is going to be Dec or possibly Jan
The most frustrating part about being an ACer who is not one of the the "insiders" is that I/we do not have access to even what is coming down the pike or an estimated time line on updates. I wish the news section on the website had info like that instead of info about AC that has been published in magazines.

I use Phreesia - it generates a paper or PDF printout after they finish - I load it under imported items. The current version can do all the insurance checking, etc without waiting for Version 5 - what it will do then is allow you to export your appointments for the day with the information you have entered for the patients to the Phreesia pads allowing the preloading of quite a bit of data. It will then share some information (assuming what they have told me will become reality).

I have talked to Jon and he says that no one is beta testing Version 5 - I think he tends to really work on the program until he is very confident of the switch over before he beta tests it. I think he would love to get everyone to actually upgrade to the latest 4. 073 first (I think there are always hold outs).

I also do not think there really are many "insiders" - maybe more people send more Suggested Improvements or e-mails to Jon, but I don't think other than occasional responses about some new feature or such I don't think many of us get a lot more information. Maybe in the future we can all convince Jon to do some type of e-mail or announcement of "baby steps" he is working on.

Hi Steven,
Thanks for the info about Phreesia. I guess it may have sounded a little sour grapes when I used the term "insiders". I am actually glad that Jon actually interacts with some of the more advanced users-esp those with a better understanding of programming and networks.
Would love to hear about the baby steps.
Learning what has been done by looking at the updates page has helped me learn more about both programming and networks. I think the same would be true to hear about the baby steps. There are so many really talented folks who have fantastic ideas-can't do them all at once.

PS Thanks for giving me a buffer on the users board

Can anyone tell me of your experience with Phreesa and what you use it for. yes, I have been to their website, but havent yet called to get tied up on the phone.

Does the system ask "patient interview" questions concerning their visit and symptoms? Anything else it does? I do see that it checks insurance.

Yes, it does do that. It also does the first patient visit with demographics, etc. They will pretty much customize it for you, and if you send them forms such as HIPAA and demographics that you use, they will customize it for you.

@Vicki I agree there are very few insiders, if any really. Sometimes, I don't think we know what's coming down the pike because Jon doesn't know. (don't mean that in a bad way). Programming can be difficult to predict.

Jon already has the number one form of advertising there is: word of mouth. Now he just needs the second, and he will sell many more. This is just I, but I would hire a top notch website designer and totally revamp it. I think it should be all things AC, such as user guides and upcoming information, etc.

It sounds like in some ways it resembles Instant Medical History, but less verbose. I guess they don't have an option to answer the Phreesa questions on your website before you arrive for the visit, huh?

No, they don't. But, you could make your own templates online. Phreesia does want you to have them use it on every visit. We couldn't conceive of that. Having someone take ten minutes to fill out an electronic form for conjunctivitis. May be different in FP land.

Instant Medical History is a lot different for me. Great idea. Too expensive and doesn't work well.

IMH is a great idea. But it is so verbose. So much extra "junk' gets written tothe chart. And then if the patient is giving inconsistant answers, you have a real mess.

Seems that is should be a really short questionaire for conjunctivitis. It wasnt that long in IMH. Too bad they dont ahve a web version to stick on the website before they get in.

I continue to talk to those at IMH, and 1) the price is ridiculous -- more expensive than AC, and 2) as far as I know it is still nearly impossible to customize.

I know my programmer could make an incredible one, but it would have to interface with AC.

Using Phreesia for 6 weeks. So far...love it. Some existing patients are a little grumbly their first time about having to provide all their info again. But mostly the reaction is "Way Cool!" (Older patients are the most intrigued.) Return visits are a breeeze, and makes sure we reconfirm their info each time. It handles demographics, med history, insurance, and HIPAA & financial agreements all in one fell swoop. No more "opps, sorry, forgot to get that form." Fits in great with our "paperless" model. Now, if only it would interface directly with AC . . . like we're promised with the mythical Version 5.

Our office received a call today from Phreesia. Initially-we were waiting to start Phreesia after the Version 5 upgrade. They called to inform us that Phreesia will not be able to fully interface with AC Version 5 upgrade as expected after all. Phreesia will only be able to interface with the AC demographics section of version 5. They gave us no time frame for full integration with AC. :-(

Hi Jim,

We have Phreesia now, but I know very little about how it will interface? Wouldn't you basically want it interfacing with the demographics?

Is it also supposed to send data to chief complaint or PMH?

Thanks.

I have the Phreesia pads set to make a pdf file on reception computer instead of printing and then import file. I can review and put whatever info I want. Demographic to and from AC would be great. I don't want it to change my PMHx, SocHx, etc.

Some people may want it to at least have an option to import FMH, SocHx, etc. If it does it w/o too much additional verbage or branching it could be great for new patients. But if it did, it should let you look at each one and then decide (maybe a checkbox?) which ones to actually import.

I am anxiously awaiting for Phressia to totally interface with AC. I am disappointed with Jim's information, and hope they can pull it off once V5 is a go. I'm hoping it won't be too longwinded. As for IMH, I thought it would be a good thing, at least the concept is. I signed up and loaded all my laptops....tried it first on a new older patient with the "geriatric" assessment and it too him 30+minutes to complete with reams of verbage. Then, because his wife had residual stroke limitations, my staff sat for 30+minutes completing her information. Too cumbersome, and not really needed for the acute illness of FP, eg URI, sprains, cuts, bumps, etc. I just discontinued the service. I guess, the old addage of "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't". Why am I always looking for a better mousetrap?

I agree with you completely Peggy. But, why not use it for demographics only?

Maybe we should invite Phreesia to comment on this in the vendor area.

Phreesia was supposed to be able to import/update any or all of the left side of the Amazing Charts Progress Note as determined by the wishes of each practice.

In addition to demographics, I would also like Phreesia to import Chief Complaint, and any updates to Social and Family History, Allergies, and Current Medications. I like to to reserve HPI for my descriptives only.

Guess we will have to settle for demographics for now-- Has anyone heard from their Phreesia rep. why there is such a problem with full integration with AC v5?

I can see how Phreesia would have hard time updating the left side of chart - none of us are consistent with how social, family, allergies and meds are entered. It would be easier if we all gave up some of our own methods and had the social history a predefined set of values with buttons, eg Tobacco - Y/N, ETOH - Y/N, qty ___/Day, etc. Otherwise I think your chart would look somewhat disorganized if programs made their own entries. I look forward to being able to send demographics to pads for day's appt and vice versa. Even Chief complaint would not be bad.

I thought there was supposed to be a Phreesia interface in V5. I didnt see it in the new beta.

I have not received by machine yet but a couple of reps came to tell me it is a more robust program. It is still 55 dollars a year but they have a new side of the program that collects the co-pay and they get one dollar for every 25 dollars collected. It is too close for me. Just another way for them to have a hand in my pocket.

So it does insurance verification, is it a PM program too or just verify coverage?