Home Forums Discussions General Discussion UpDox Developer

I don't use UpDox. But, I have invited the lead developer to join the board as a vendor to answer questions and/or field suggestions.

Is this something others would benefit from?

Yes!

Yup.

That's all I need.

yes please

I suggested this week that UPDOX add a print button instead of having to open the fax in PDF and print or print it through their editor. I was told this was on their "short list" but no timetable was given.

I could really use this. Also there should be a scheduled webinar for us who use AC, just to demonstate exactly how to best use Updox. I feel like it is something that i need but I do not know how to best use it.

Thanks!

I'd also like to see how we could use updox. We have a fax server and a dedicated fax line, so I've assumed that updox isn't something that makes sense for us. However, the patient portal option is awfully nice.

Barb

We use the portal constantly, and it makes filing and signing off incoming faxes and imported documents very easy.

Our dedicated fax line was ported over to Updox. It saved me on the cost of the telephone line. It is pretty simple to use. Check out their website.

yes!

For those who think this will go nowhere, I have a phone call lined up next Wednesday with the CEO and lead developer. So, we'll see how it goes.

And, remember, I don't even use UpDox, lol.

Due to popular demand, here we are!

We were hesitant to join simply because we didn't want to come across as an overly commercial voice in what is a very community-driven website. However, it's clear that quite a few people would appreciate having us around, and when Bert was kind enough to ask, we thought it appropriate to join.

We're still deciding how exactly to interact here, but we're here, and we're ready to talk.

Tobin
lead developer @ Updox

Thanks Tobin. I didn't expect you to come on this soon. To answer your question, I don't think you will have to push the product. It seems to sell itself. There are many users on here who swear by your product, and I would just take their lead. I am sure you will get those with accolades, those with questions and suggestions and users who are still deciding how to manage their faxes and imported items.

Thanks again.

Absolutely, we're not here to push Updox on people, rather, we'd just like to be a good source of information for both current and potential customers.

Welcome to the user board Tobin.

Welcome Tobin--
Just started Amazing Charts first week of Nov 2011 and have been with Updox for about 3 weeks and am quite impressed with all the functions and how well AC and Updox complement one another. Your product has allowed me to go paperless and my Fujitsu scanner is essentially sitting idly by now. Just started the patient portal this week. I have been emailing Charlie (at Updox-tech support) incessantly and driving him crazy with all my questions but have found the support to be extremely satisfactory.
One question for you--when a patient wants to view their CCD on line, will they be able to automatically or will a request have to be made by the patient.
Thanks for coming onto the user board.--jimmie

P.S. to bert-I am now backing up my computer everynight thanks to you --so please don't go sleepless

Thanks. I am sure I can find another reason, lol.

Jimmie,

As far as I know, a patient cannot view their CCD online through Updox automatically. It will have to be requested. You'll then have to print it to Updox and email to the patient through the portal.

I do not wait for the patient to request their CCD. I send it automatically with the patient summary. I print it to Updox and then send it to the portal. Waiting for AC to make the export CCD a reality.

Any one using UpDox in the HIE environment? The web site lists is as a service they have.
I am part of the steering committee for a local HIE. I have requested an online meeting with them on this topic. sure would like to hear from users on this topic.

On a personal note, I will start a 15 day trial of UpDox soon, which brings me to a 2nd question: It seems to me that using Imported Items is glacial at best. It takes "forever" to load the list of imported documents in AC. I see why File Assistant Pro is popular, as are other external ducument managment suites (such as PaperPort, which I also thought was slow). To get the the question, does the use of UpDox "force" you into using the AC Imported Documents tab?

Roger, one of the major advantages of using Updox is its integration with AC for importing items. So while you could use Updox AND another program outside of AC for II, that would neutralize one if its main benefits.
It sounds like your issue is the slowness of loading the imported items. That has apparently been a problem for some people with certain versions of AC, but not for most. Which are you using?

I am using AC version 6.12, and Imported Items (I I) load in a snap. Obsolete versions of Adobe Acrobat (8 or 9) have also slowed up I I for me in the past.

I'm using 6.0.10
I've got at least 3 issues that are making it very difficult for me to use the imported items capability:
When I open Imported Items tab. it takes 45 seconds for the list to display for a patient that has a fair # of items (approx 350).
Then the TIF files (from my scanner - B/W 100 K or less) open in QuickTime (not my default viewer, and QT seems to be internal to AC as it opens in the integrated viewing area) and takes at least 5 seconds for a 1 page tiff.
Opening an interfaced lab report from Quest on this patient, another 15-30 seconds and closing the lab results form, reloads the imported items list (looks like a treeveiw control to me) and another 30-45 seconds of hourglass.
There are about 250 tiff files total and about 100 text files for this patient. I back loaded all scans and progress notes I have on this pt for 10 years. That really isn't very much. I stopped back loading when I discovered this.
I spoke to AC about the QuickTime issue, and got only "it opens in your default viewer", which is not the case at all.
I have yet to talk to GS about the slowness, but am just not using it pending resolution of this "Feature".
And this of course this creates reluctance to use UpDox if Updox "stores" the images in AC in II.
Any thoughts are appreciated.

Roger,
I think the issues that you bring up are important and deserve their own thread. I will post more about it later. The thought of II slowing to the extent you describe concerns me; if it happened to me it would lead me to switch to an outside program like FAP, or find another EMR; it is that important.

One point about your QT issue that perhaps will help: I learned something that I found odd from Jon Bertman at Tahoe. The "viewer" on the right side of II is actually using your browser. It somehow uses the default browser on that particular machine. The viewer works best with Internet Explorer. So first be sure that the machine is set to have IE as the default browser, and then within the browser that QT is NOT set as the default to view tiff files. I think this is what the AC people are referring to with your "default viewer". I can't say that I understand this well, but maybe that is a starting point.

Jon, thanks.
I'll check out the "defualt viewer" issue per your suggestions. I have Chrome and Firefox installed as well (don't remember the default browser right now, and I'm not in office).

Re the slowness: I ran AU DB optimizer to no avail.
Every thing else is pretty snappy.

I'll contact GA support and ask them to remote in and tell me what they think.

Jimmie - Sorry for the slow response. Currently, patients can only see their CCD/CCR file if you send it to them through the portal, they cannot just pull it out of AC themselves.

Barb, we actually have quite a few customers who use their own fax server to receive the faxes, but then use Updox to import them into AC. I'd be happy to discuss this further, I believe JBS runs this way as well, so I'm sure he could help answer any questions as well.

I would love to see how that would work. Honestly I receive so many faxes the UPDOX cost for those has been inhibitory. I also really need my fax and fax line for other things than AC so I would not get rid of it. But having a better way to manage documents once they have arrived and once they are in AC is appealing.

Sure, I can explain the mechanics in a nutshell. Basically, rather than have us receive your faxes, you would plug your fax phone line into a USB modem, plug that into a computer in your office, and have fax software on your own computer answer the phone and receive the faxes. We can then upload those faxes into Updox as they come in, but since we aren't the ones handling the phone call, we don't charge you for those pages.

For the fax software, you could use the built-in Windows Fax & Scan to receive the faxes, or there are 3rd-party options as cheap as $30. I know there also all-in-one machines that can save a fax to a computer rather than spit out paper, we can also integrate with this.

I hope that helps, Leslie/Barb/anyone else.

Now that sounds great!! I have a Brother MFC (sorry, Bert) and receive faxes into my free Paperport software. I would be interested in then integrating with UpDox. I will check out the software more closely now online knowing that I can avoid the high cost of faxed pages.

Hey Catherine, I obviously don't know what version of AC you're running, but I know in the latest version (6.1.2), you can export CCR and CCD files. We actually have several customers using this today. There are a couple of ways to get it into Updox.

1) Just save the CCR/CCD to the desktop, and then drag-and-drop it right into the main Updox window

2) Save the CCR/CCD file directly into the Updox auto-upload folder, where it will get sucked right into Updox

Once it's in Updox, you can securely message it to another provider or make it available for patient on your portal. On the portal, the patient can either download the XML file or view a human-readable version of the file that we create. (you'll want to make sure that you enable the option in the portal that allows patients to view CCR/CCD records)

Hope that helps. I've attached a screenshot of where in AC you can go to export those files.

Leslie, I'd be happy to talk more about this with you, shoot an email over to support@updox.com and we can find some time to get on a call and talk it through.

There was a previous discussion where I did the cost-analysis of Updox, and the most compelling cost-benefit was sending communications through the patient portal. Roughly speaking, if you do a dozen of those a month, you get your return on the basic cost of Updox.

Folks using it on our hosted platform find it is a great way to 'go electronic", and keep all of their files and correspondence in one place, especially if they work on different machines, or different locations.

One of the things that comes out in implementing Updox is how office/documents flow can be improved.

Indy,
Yes, your cost analysis did show the benefit of the patient portal. But I don't use it at all, and I STILL believe that I come out ahead. To quote YOU:

"your unit cost per imported item is .6 without Updox, .46 with; a delta of $.14. That means that once you have handled 260 faxes in a month, you have gotten your cost return on Updox. If your staff is 50% faster, 180 faxes."

Jon, thanks for digging that out - I saw that spreadsheet the other day when I was doing my 'day job', and the underlying considerations were conservative. Most folks will do better than the model, but everyone has experienced a "Giveaway Bob" wild numbers scenario, so I run numbers the way I was trained by corporate accountants.

The other day I needed to run some numbers at a checkout, and I got the number ahead of the cashier with the calculator or the helper with the mobilephone app. They were a bit 'weird-ed out', but I told them you learn out to do math in your head so you don't have to break out the slide-rule until you absolutely have to get it out. Don't think they know what a slide-rule looks like.

I love the Brother MFC.

How does this make one money?

To Bert.
This is rather simplistic but mammogram result letter 45 cents by mail. 2 cents per page by way of updox--print up letter from Amazing Chart to Updox then mammogram from Radiology. 4 cents to email result to patient vs. 45 cents by mail--jimmie

Yeah, but in pediatrics, we don't mail or email results. Most parents want the result an hour before the procedure. Half of our patients don't have email. So everything is free other than the time.