Home Forums Andy66--"Does Updox work in trial mode?"

Andy66,

Yes, however.....

I think to get a feel of Updox and how it integrates with AC may be worth trying out for at least a month or two.

Quite frankly, using AC by itself is a bit clumsy but doable, but once joined to Updox enhances AC "useability" exponentially IMHO. However, you will definitely get other opinions to the contrary.

If you decide to go with Updox, I would suggest getting the 888 fax # from Updox and have your nurse give that out to all labs, referring docs, hospitals and start using the e-faxing in and out, and doing a one time sync with AC. The folks at Updox can help with the sync function.

However the basic 40 dollars a month only includes 500 faxed pages and over that will cost 10 dollars per 500. My monthly cost is about 80-85 dollars per month for about 2500 faxes per month. One can also run an extra fax line to save that cost and the Updox folks can talk that over with you.

If you like what you see, then after about a month, I would highly suggest incorporating the patient portal, which is a whole other discussion.

However if you choose to use Updox, it is internet and Updox dependent. You may want to have an alternative faxing capability to use when Updox goes on the blink.

Even with the intermittent Updox blips, the efficiency saved in the office has saved me from hiring another staff member to shuffle the paperwork.

Updox is a dream come true...I can handle the downtime..it lets me look outside....I am still learning...

Andy66,

One additional point, if you decide to use an alternative electronic faxing option to save money, make sure you do your homework. Some will actually utilize email and not be secure, which could expose yourself to a HIPAA violation. Just chat with Tobin or Charlie at Updox about this issue if you decide to take the step of trying out Updox.

thanks; they seem to have great customer service
WOW, what a program.
I currently have a fax modem setup on my computer which brings everything in digitally anyway. (using vonage for the fax line)
I've been using allscripts (that's another story). So, now I can have the fax send it to updox's auto-upload folder.

No problem. I hope you find (have found) the system that works best for your needs. Donna (Dcubed) has some insight about allscripts as a backup for when Newcrop goes down. You might want to put in allscripts and Dcubed into the search function and look at her threads. This may give you some thoughts there too.

I should also clarify about the HIPAA noncompliance issue I discussed above. If you use an efax service that emails you your faxes or forwards faxes to your Updox account or any email address, then that can be a HIPAA noncompliance issue.

I started the PC-Fax service on our Brother fax machine. All the faxes go into the laptop I started the service on.

Employees get this folder mapped onto their computer and can access all the files, delete the cover pages, and import fax into patient charts/print refill requests for the controlled substances.

Pain is that the service shuts off once in a while if someone uses the laptop, and I have to restart it. The fax machine holds 100 pages without a problem. Just need to check the connection each day.

If that's what Updox does, then I don't understand the need. Am I missing something?

Patient portal, however, is another story.

Updox allows you to "mark up" or edit documents, sign them, import them to Amazing Charts, return them to the sender after signing, and post them to a patient portal, all with one click.

yeah, a couple of times I've used Updox to redact some info from a lab for a patient. Much easier than Acrobat.

Ansharda,

With all due respect, the functionality of AC has to include the patient portal to achieve maximum efficiency in the office, so it is more than just e-faxing.

The Updox portal with the e-faxing intertwined with AC, in my opinion, if placed face to face with any other EMR wins hands down. I propose at the next Prime Med meeting that Mr. Squire challenge any of his other rival EMR COO's to a little game.

I suggest an agreed upon "patient type" in for an annual exam using NextGen, Epic, e-clinical, from check in to check out, and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each EMR in every day use head to head, and the winner will be deemed on both patient and physician satisfaction. I suspect AC/Updox will win hands down.

But, more seriously, I would like to walk you through a scenario that happened yesterday, to hopefully address your question. I had a patient come in with ankle pain of a set amount of time, so before she even made it to the x-ray department she had a summary (the same one I dictated with dragon to my office note) in her portal account. But as soon as I got the xray report which showed up in my Updox workspace, I was able to do two things with the report simultaneously.

I typed up a message interpreting the results of the xray and reconfirming the summary recommendations, which was attached to the actual report, and with the click of one button, I then sent the xray report/message to both the AC inbox and patient portal.

I do not want to sound like a darn know it all, but Updox is really hard to describe and I suspect you may be able to interlink the Brother PC-fax to Updox somehow to help save the cost of extra fax bundles, and if so you will be money ahead. I think once you try it out a bit you will be able to see the improved efficiencies.

I am reaffirming what John above is saying, and he has been at this at least 5 more years than I, and much more knowledgeable, so just trying to expand on his premise with a two fold risk of not ticking him off and confusing you.

jimmie, your example is exactly what I was trying to convey.

ANSharda,

One other aspect of Updox in conjunction with LogMeIn, that I am reminded of this Thanksgiving Break, is being able to enhance a patient's peace of mind.

However, as Tom "Tomastoria" has indicated in another thread, the EHR can be ever consuming. So you may choose not to do this at the risk of "spoiling" your patients, and not being able to have any down time yourself. I had told myself on Wednesday, "No logging in to the office this break." But I broke down.

Yesterday, the day after Thanksgiving I took off as well. I had 4 normal mammogram reports sitting idle in my Updox workspace, and had decided to clean things up before Monday.

In less than 5 minutes from home, I was able to attach the normal mammogram templated letter (my wife designed) to each of the mammogram reports. With the click of the send button the mammogram report/normal mammo letter attached went to the portal and AC inbox. I did this 4 separate times to each patient.

In less than 24 hours, two patients have read their results, and one messaged back how grateful she is at hearing the results so quickly.

I suppose I am still in the "learning stage" with all of this electronic gadgetry, but at least one has the option to do this kind of thing that did not exist in the paper chart era. And, I think would not be possible with just e-faxing with the Brother fax machine, but please correct me if I am wrong as I have never used the Brother fax machine.

ADDENDUM to above and too late to edit:

I am re reading this and want to clarify the above, Tom never implied the "spoiling" of patients. He lamented in another thread about the EHR being ever consuming. It is I that brought up the point of "spoiling".

I should have said more delicately that with some of these technological advances, we may be setting the bar of patients' expectations to a whole new level, to the point where becoming so consumed with efficiency and immediacy of result reporting, we as physicians may be ever consumed with the tools that are intended to help us in our practice of the Profession.

So as an observer of the tools at hand, utter amazement abounds, as a user caution advised, so please try to maintain the buffer between home and work as best as can be done in this technologically dependent, McDonald mindset, XBOX, Netflix blitzed era in which we find ourselves.