Home Forums Feeling hopeless...Any alternative to Updox?

I'm completely fed up with Updox support. I keep having issues that no one can explain (patients who double book over other people and even one who managed to double book over himself, appointments that aren't syncing). Which I think I could cope with if I could get a timely response from support...but I can't save all the problems for weeks until they get around to doing something about them, I have to fix the problems so that I can function.

I haven't even heard back from them on the most recent problem (a couple patients I created in AC didn't show up in Updox for days...until suddenly they did and all three attempts of one patient ALL showed up in Updox). I was thinking of switching over to them for patient payments until I realized that it would be my money they were screwing up in addition to just my schedule and workflow.

I don't even feel like bothering to contact them anymore. They clearly are in over their heads and probably need to hire more people but when they recently acknowledged the horrible support (not quite the words they used) all they said was that they were triaging the calls and to not contact them multiple times as it slowed them down. I wanted to hear that they had a real solution. Their response time was slow before but now taking on AC patient portal it's abysmal...did they not see this coming?!?!

Is there any other option or are AC and Updox now in an exclusive relationship? I need something that does online scheduling/patient portal/electronic faxes. I'm guessing Updox is it and I'm trapped in EMR hell but I'm looking for a little hope.

Sorry for the rant. I'm wanting to go back to paper charts today.

I do not like the idea of patients scheduling themselves. I leave that to my office staff who can place them appropriately in the schedule depending on who they are, what they are coming in for and how long their visits usually take. I use Updox for the portal, which more and more patients are using for communication, printing their lab orders (eg 1 week before their next appointment) which I have posted there instead of giving them a copy to lose), faxing, completing (editing) forms without printing them out, printing copies of lab and other test orders that I import into the chart for documentation (and reprinting when the patient calls needing a new copy because they lost theirs).
It is sometimes frustrating, especially since they did not explain the recent direct AC connection well, but I think I do better with Updox then without it.

I LOVE having patients schedule themselves. No one ever complains about not having enough time. :-) They chose it themselves. I also recently did a survey using sogosurvey to find out what times people prefer I be available and all complaining about what is available has stopped. Even the handful of people who wanted late Friday afternoon appointments available for them to schedule themselves (um, no?) were completely satisfied when they found out that almost no one wanted appointments at that time. It seems as is having a sense of choice and democracy is more important than getting what they want.

But I agree, I couldn't function without Updox. Which is why I'm wondering if there are any alternatives...it's a little scary being completely dependent on them and not knowing if they are going to ever address the problems or not. I have enough other stress in my life. But right after posting my question, I came up with an escape plan just in case. I used Practice Fusion in the past and while it's not the EMR of my dreams, which is why I left it for AC, it does everything I need and their customer support is great. They didn't have a portal when I used it before (which was one of the reasons I left) but they do now. I've been really happy with AC and Updox in the past so I'm sticking it out for now but my anxiety is greatly reduced knowing I have a back up plan.

Try office ally.

I use AppointmentQuest to schedule appointments. You download the days schedule into AC. It is very flexible, but as a result it can be a little tricky to set up and get to do what you want. There are alot of options. But as a scheduler it is very good.

I am also having a problem with appointments not syncing. If I book an appointment in Updox, it does not show up on the AC Scheduler. I don't use it very often so it is not a frequent issue for me. But sometimes it is.

I am about ready to stop using the scheduling option. I believe I pay more for this. Several patients really enjoy it, but very few actually use it. I have been having a problem where people show up, they are not on the schedule in AC, and they said they booked it on Updox. Sure enough, my secretary checked and it did not sync correctly.

Has anyone contacted Updox about the scheduling sync issue? As I said, I don't use it often so I hadnt gotten around to it. I'll probably contact them today or tomorrow.

On getting patients to use it, you must understand that patients have been taught that physician's offices are basically their secretaries. They don't know the name of the doctor they have an appointment with (new patients), who their specialist was, they call you back for the phone number since they didn't think it was important enough to put in whatever they keep phone numbers in, etc. You have to aggressively promote it to them. Refer to it on your voicemail greeting, tell them that most patients schedule their own appointments, talk about not having to wait for a call back, etc. You should have a standard website, with a page dedicated to Online Appointments and then a link to the scheduler/Updox.

Weird...I think emails are being removed from updox, but they are in AC...I must be nutts...AC version 6.6.5

Yes! At first it seemed hopeless to get people to use the portal and online scheduling. But I decided it just needed to be a priority. I'll even have people schedule their follow up appointment through the portal during their appointment with me. Usually once they've tried it, they think it's pretty awesome. :-) And I use peer pressure too. If everyone else is doing it... And I get one family member to teach other family members or where I know patients work together I'll suggest they ask a co-worker to help (without naming names because that would be breaking HIPPA). I also am trying to get new patients to schedule their first appointment through the portal as much as possible and I'm only sending labs to the portal and not calling until I receive the "not read" notice a week later. So patients learn they can get their results right away with the portal or wait. I now have the majority of my patients using the portal for majority of communications. It's pretty awesome.

Oh my yes. But the more the merrier. Maybe if others complain it will help me. :-) They acted like no one but me had that problem.

One problem I'm having is that I have to go back and fix the mistakes when I find them so I don't always have an example to show them by the time someone calls back two weeks later. I was finally able to show some to Meg and she got a developer and he couldn't figure it out and they said they were going to do something more but that was weeks ago and I haven't heard anything.

Then I contacted them again because of patients not auto-creating in Updox when I enter them in AC. Haven't heard back on that and it's been quite awhile.

I just linked to this thread over at the new Updox user board
http://www.updoxcommunity.com/

We don't discuss labs on the phone unless it is an emergency. we tell patients we will send them the lab results with a letter explaining anything significant automatically. If they do not wish to use the portal, they can come in and pick them up. This got alot of them using it.

On Getting Patients To Use Updox:

I just read an article in Physician's Practice that suggests using "coercive measures." Like, charging a fee for persons who insist on having bills and lab results mailed to them.

I must admit, I had not considered charging a fee.