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There has been alot of talk about updox but I wonder if someone who uses it would mind taking the time to briefly summarize how you use it in terms of your office flow. Thanks.

Bill,

We use it as out incoming Fax machine. Our old fax number is forwarded to the toll free number UpDox supplies.

UpDox allows a color flag to be set for each incoming Fax. We have a staff member who reviews incoming faxes, and sets the flag appropriately, then each user filters for his/her flag. There are now other ways of doing this, I think, but this works easily for us. That is the equivalent of the old way where the staff member took the incoming faxes and put them in the proper inbox.

The providers check the incoming faxes, and import them into the proper chart and sign them off (assuming they are patient data). If they are something like lab or x-ray, a copy is sent to the patient portal at the same time, along with a brief note.

The UpDox print interface is used to send notes and copies of labs to the patient portal. We import labs from Quest. I then pull the lab, review it, send a copy and comment to the patient portal, and sign it off.

For reasons related to Alaska phone systems we are not much using UpDox for outgoing faxes, preferring to use either a plain old fax machine or a network fax printer, but sending outgoing faxes is clearly an option.

We are sending forms to patients for pre-registration via the portal.

There are several other features that we are not currently using, but this is our approach.

My office uses Updox much like David's. A few comments:

1. I believe that you can "port" your own fax telephone number to Updox (with their help) in most cases, which means you can save money by giving up a fax line.

2. The faxes from PT/OT, home health and the like, which need signature and fax back, can be all marked up, signed and refaxed without paper.

3. As David implied, there is a general "practice" workspace and individual user workspaces. You can reassign an incoming document to a specific user to review and act on.

4. The patient portal can be used to post electronic forms for patients to complete, such as registration, history updates, etc, which can be received in Updox and imported into AC.

5. The Updox method of importing documents into AC is superior to AC's own method IMHO. The document can be named, sorted into a category, responded to with a comment, sent to a staff member or patient with a message, and faxed out as part of a collection of records, all with a single click.

6. All this costs me $45 a month, for 3 registered users and 1,000 in/out faxes.

Can you return a marked up FAX without reentering the phone number?

No, the fax numbers are kept in an Address Book, and can be called up by typing the first few letters of the recipients name in the document routing window.

This is all extremely helpful. Thank You very much. I think this is the route I am going to go. You have 15 days to bail out if you don't like it so I am going to give it a try. I will let you know how it goes.

This is another example of how this forum has made an incredible difference in my practice. We have been using Updox for a week now and have loved being able to electronically file and respond to faxes. It is taking me a while to learn the ins and outs, but at the end of the day, I do not have papers to sign and give back to the front to rescan and fax. The items have all been neatly filed in AC and sent back to pharmacies, home health companies etc and no paperwork at all!!.
About 90% of my pts are diabetics and with the new rules about having to have a signature for diabetic supplies, I can write a script and fax it directly to the pharmacy with my digital signature.
Thanks again for all the ideas shared here by my AC board buddies.

Vicki, it is a pleasure to have your participation. It makes me feel good to be at least sometimes be able to be of some use to someone.

Thanks David!

My Updox program automatically updated today, and it is now possible to use Updox to customize folder names within AC's Imported Items. Also, its possible to set a default folder. Which makes Updox a simple way to import received faxes into AC, and keep them organized. Now if I could only send a message to my MA at the same time as I'm filing the report into the correct folder in AC, I'd be in heaven.

Wow! Another big plus for Updox. This is a significant improvement which is much appreciated. It adds that much more value to Updox....and actually increases the value of AC to some extent.
It also again demonstrates the commitment of the management and programmers at Updox to responding to customers needs and requests. Are you listening, JB?

I'm loving it!

I spoke too soon. It is possible to send a message from Updox to an AC user while the received fax document is being filed into a patient's AC chart. The patient's chart can't be attached to this message, as it can in AC, so include the patient's name in the message.

We have two main UpDox issues; first, if you retrieve a lab from Quest and print a copy using the UpDox print interface to send to the patient portal, attaching a comment, your note is not saved anywhere on the chart. Second, at the moment at least, there is no notification when you send a patient a message and they do NOT pick it up. So we have this example: "Sue, as you see on the attached lab test, your TSH shows you need more thyroid, so take one and one half pills every day and see me in a month". No way to show in the chart that you sent her the message, and no way to know if she got the message or not.

You can print with the UpDox interface and then re-import it into the patient chart as if it were an incoming fax, but then it will be in the chart twice (once as the nicely formatted and color coded Quest display and once as a b&w pdf form), and the confirmation of receipt remains lacking.

How do you guys respond to PT faxes by checking and signing off boxes in UPDOX?

It depends. I assume you mean "physical therapy". If it is just a notification, then either hit "send to" and import into the EMR in whatever category you want and sign off, or select the pages you want, hit "compose" and import. If it requires a reply, we just print it ("view as PDF" and print) then write what is needed and fax from a normal fax machine; or you can edit in UpDox and fax it back while importing. UpDox can't fax to Alaska numbers, so we use technique #1; also, although it is "cool", I find it is really a lot more time consuming to edit in UpDox and fax than just print and do it the old way.

I click on the document pages from the Updox Workspace window, and use the "Next" & "Previous" buttons that appear at the upper right & left of the page to find where I should check or sign. Then use the pencil icon at the top of the page to enter the edit mode. A new page opens, with the mark-up tools at the upper left. There are tools for making checkmarks, arrows, circles, text entry and even a signature icon that inserts a signature that you've uploaded to Updox. I don't use that much any more for signing, since I can scrawl my signature with the pencil tool just as fast, and it looks more unique if you need to sign several pages.

I also customized the fax coversheet in Updox so that it has the statement "Text and signatures entered on the attached documents are electronically generated by the physician, and are not stamped", so I don't get anything faxed back about not accepting stamps.

Then save the document and click the send button to fax it back. You have to enter the patient's or facility's fax number in the Address Book first, no place on the send window to enter the fax number.

Takes about a minute to receive, markup and refax a form. And no paper to shred.

The updox workflow does seem to work nicely with AC. Is there anyone who has transitioned from paperport to Updox? I would like hear how it improved the work flow for that specific situation.

Also, there are 2 doctors and 7 staff members in my office. Right now we use paperport and transfer documents between different folders. Are there additional charges for more "users"? Is the speed of moving documents an improvement compared to paperport.

From what I can tell, updox is all web-based and depends on having a reliable internet connection. Occasionally, we will have short periods of time where our internet will be out for a little while. Has anyone had any concerns or issues because of that and how have you dealt with it.

Thanks,

Jay

I can't comment about comparing Paperport to Updox. I couldn't get Paperport ver. 10 to work reliably (came free with my fax/scanner/printer).

The basic plan is 3 logged-in users (who are able to manage, mark-up and receive/send the documents) plus 500 in/out fax pages plus a fax telephone number for $35/month. Additional users are $10, and additional 500 page fax units are $10. There is no added charges for import/export from AC, emails or the internet-based patient portal. Our 2 physician practice uses 1500 fax pages/month. We saved some by giving up our dedicated fax line ($65/mo). Other computers in the office can be used to send documents and faxes into Updox at no additional cost.

Again, I can't comment on the comparison. But moving documents in/out of Updox is like printing (creates a software-based "printer"), and doesn't hold up any other computer tasks while it is happening. In addition, it notifies you when the transfer is done.

You can't log-on to Updox unless you have an internet connection. However, the Updox client on each computer will "hold" the document until the link is re-established.

If you are interested, do the 15 day free trial while you are using Paperport and do the comparison yourself. Let us know your comments.

We are generally quite pleased with Updox. There are a few gaps... one is that if an imported lab test is sent to the patient portal via the UpDox print driver, the comments are not saved in AC. All in all, however, it solves a lot of problems for us.

Hi David,
I think the comments are saved on another page that is imported with the lab.

Vicki,

That is true if you import the lab by receiving it via fax it or first sending it to the practice workspace, then importing it from the "left side'' of the screen with comments. However, if you import it to AC directly from Quest in the Quest format, then print it using UpDox, unless you use the left side of the screen (and import the lab a second time) and instead just send the results and your comments to the portal via the right side of the screen the comments are not saved.

Jay,
I had Paperport and changed to Updox about 3 weeks ago. It has been a great transition. Much faster. We had a Brother fax so we needed to convert all incoming files to PDFs. No need for that anymore. The tools are better with updox. The signature is better with updox. It is transparent so it can be used to sign documents. You can work from any computer that has an internet connection to at least look at and sign off on documents (I guess this could be considered a mixed blessing if you don't wanted to be tempted to work at home).
All in all it was a vast improvement for my office. The cost is quite reasonable now that we are using electronic prescribing and are not getting all of our refills faxed to us.
I have not done anything with the patient portal yet so I can't comment on that.
If you have other specific questions I would be happy to answer them.
Go for it.

Best thing since sliced bread! Fantastic support. Intuitive, lots of ways of working around issues like in AC.

Bill,

Thanks for your reply.

In paperport, there is someone who "triages" documents and places them in the appropriate staff members folder. Each person then marks up documents and then we transfer documents around until they are ready for import. When they are ready we place them in the "ready for import" folder.

In Updox, how is the transfer of documents between staff members set up? Is it easy to use. Is it similar to the paperport work flow? I do understand that there is a mechanism to directly import the document into AC, so that part is already different. The rest?

For your office, how many people do you have as actual "users". Do all of your staff members access Updox. In my office, there are 2 physicians, and at least 6 staff members (office manager, 2 front, home care coordinator, and 2 MA).

Thanks
Jay

In our office,each staff member is assigned a tag color. The person triaging assigns the appropriate tag color to the fax or message . Each staff member then sets his or her tag filter to his/her color.

What is a tag filter?

Look at the right hand side of the workspace screen. There is a button that says "filter". It allows you to choose which items you want to appear on your workspace. I just deselect all colors except my own.

I see a few of you folks also have quest labs. It's like pulling teeth trying to get them to get a link setup so we can actually interface with them. I'm tempted to jump from the quest sinking ship and go else where. I am wondering if updox imports of quest lab reports create discrete data within amazing charts that can be trended/graphed? (basically a ghetto fix for getting labs into the EHR without having to beg quest for anything). THANKS!

No, sorry. If only it were so.

Don't give up on Quest. It has been flawless for us. I'll try to get the name of the person who worked with us and post it.

One of the things that we have learned the hard way with quest is that their software doesn't work in a 64-bit server environment.

If you have a 32-bit machine in your network, you can run their software on it, if that works for you.

For our clients that are on a pure 64-bit platform, we are working on an interface with Quest so that we can onboard the files for the practice without using their software.

Having dealt with other labs, I can assure you that there is worse software out there.

My personal perspective is that Labs will be getting out of the software business as they need to focus on their core business and there are other players that are focused on meeting provider and practice needs.

Reading through the thread on Updox, has been very helpful.
I sincerely thank all the contributors: Bi,Dg,Ry,Mk,Vr,Jbs,Sp,Ja,and Sl. I will contact them today, to start my registration. I will return to give my feedback.
THANK YOU TO ALL.

mercy! i have had udox for 3 months and i can't seem to figure it out! i feel so stupid! i have managed to set it up on one station, i have sent practice faxes to pts and one other office. i guess i am way behind the times but it seems to transfer our old way of handling faxes to this new way will be difficult for the staff to pick up! Where to begin? suppose i'm just venting...

We have been using UpDox for 2 years. We would be lost without it and use it constantly, but we have not plumbed all of its depths, so do not feel stupid.

I would begin with just importing faxes into the chart. We scan old records into files other than AC, but lots of other things we want to go into the chart we just fax to ourselves and import via UpDox. There are more efficient ways we will explore as we go, but this is one everyone is familiar with, and we still opt for familiar.

We did the patient portal next, so we could eliminate phone calls about labs and test results. At first, there was a fair amount of confusion with our patients, and a staff member spent considerable time doing tech support for patients who were not very computer literate. Gradually, everyone got the hang of it, and it saves a huge amount of time not getting into long winded discussions about tests over the phone. We basically say "here is your test result, it means such and such, it is normal, and if you have further questions please make an appointment."

We mostly use our old fax machine for outgoing faxes, as it seems simpler.

Tobin and his crew were very supportive of us in getting started, so you might give them a call. As I have stated previously, I really wish they had some more YouTube videos to get folks started. Here is one link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMCiwkePVY0

Dear Bridget:

I would echo David's comments. We've been using Updox for about a year and it's great. We don't use the portal but use it for all our incoming faxes. My medical assistant handles all the incoming documents to Updox. In a small office it's best to have only one or two staff persons doing it so they are well trained and consistent.

The program is a little hard to figure out at first, but once you get the hang of it is really simple to use. What aspects of the system are you having trouble with? Have you figured out the Updox Connector? Have your figured out how to use the Address Book?

Bridget,

I too found UPDOX much more cumbersome than our free Paperort program which came with my Brother MFC. Minus the patient portal, I can do everything with it that UPDOX can do and I really think it is much more intuitive and easy to use. I have also found it to be much more flexible for the way I want to handle documents. Plus, did I mention, it is FREE

Leslie,

Do you use Paperport for receiving our faxes?
Just getting started and seeing the best route for receiving faxes into Amazing Charts.

Peter,

Yes, my Brother MFC is a Receive Fax to PC machine. All the faxes are directed to a folder in Paperport I have named "Received Faxes".

Peter,

Here is the link to the Paperport thread
http://amazingcharts.com/ub/ubbthreads.php/topics/21532/1