Home Forums Discussions Meaningful Use Updox Patient Portal

We are cloud users of AC and would like to hear from other users how things are going with Updox Portal thru the secure button in AC.

As far as I can tell it is the same thing as having updox workspace. Clicking the secure button takes you to a webpage version of updox instead of the standalone Java based workspace. No added functionality. I don't understand because there has always been web version for updox users.

I have been using both for the last couple months and have to be honest, the java app is much more user friendly and faster. I think the advantage of the link through the secure button is to just get AC complient with MU2. We have gone back to using the stand-alone updox for convenience.

Aaron Way

Updox has said not to click the green create portal tab on the demographics page as they are having issues with it creating double portal accounts for patients, and if we have auto create checked in updox and add the patients email it will auto create a patient portal. Since I started doing that I have not received a message in updox that a portal has been created and my meaningful use wizard says I am failing that item. Anyone have an answer to that?

Neurology
Michigan

I don't use the cloud version, just the java version however this is exactly the problem I've been having...auto create hasn't been consistently auto creating. I have my patients almost exclusively trained to the portal so it's caused havoc when it happens. I've contacted support about the problem but haven't heard back. You might want to also...maybe if more people complain...

I recently also started using Updox via the AC interface and have also run into problems. We are unable to print any material in Updox--it prints what looks like a screenshot but not the document. This makes it useless for us. Sent a request for help from Updox support but haven't heard back from them.

We're also back to using our old Updox setup which works well.

Here's a medico-legal question about the Portal:

As I understand it, if a patient writes me a message or I write to a patient that becomes a part of the medical record. So portal messages are part of my medical records--yet they are on Updox's servers. Portal messages are not automatically sent to AC and saved on the chart. Yet Updox will only archive messages for a year. To my knowledge there is no way to download all my archived messages so I can store them. Yet, I'm required to preserve the medical record for six years after the last visit--even longer for children. I'm sure someone else must have thought about this issue. Any thoughts?

I have asked Updox Support but haven't gotten a reply yet.

John, I don't save absolutely every communication into the record. However, if it is medically significant, I send the message to their portal and also send it to their EMR chart.

John,

Updox will archive for 6 years- check your settings. My question is what to do when I retire and need to maintain records for another 6 years... will there be an export function?

Carla,

6 years? When I look at Admin>Practice Settings, the longest I can keep items in the Sent or Archive box is 1 year. How did you get 6 years?

I talked with my staff about this today and what we are going to start doing is something like this:

Messages we get from patients that have significant clinical information/questions will be sent to AC and appear in my Inbox to be dealt with. My staff had just been printing them and putting them on my desk and then archiving. Any message with clinically significant info that we send to a patient through the portal we will click both ?Send to Portal? and ?Send to EHR.? Refill requests, appointment requests, and other routine/trivial messages we will just archive in Updox.

John
I've had that problem with print button just printing a screen shot of the updox inbox.
I think what you have to do is make sure you have the item open and then check the box under the specific item and then print that instead of going to the print item button on the left.
I just tried to reproduce that problem but now cannot get it to print out the screenshot view!
hope that works for you.

Thanks Lynn, but it still prints the screen shot of the Updox screen. I'm waiting to here from TS.

I too would like to know how it extends to archiving for 6 years. I wish there was a 7 option, as this is our state requirement, although kids until 21! John: printing to your desk just means scanning back to chart, so your current method is much better.