Home Forums Discussions General Discussion AC vs Athena vs Dr. Chrono

We currently use Amazing Charts and also use Updox. We will be separating from our billing company in 90 days, and are currently looking into options of other EMR and Billing options.

Charting is not the strong point of the practice. Charts are open for way too long, and providers (one MD, one PA) are slow to chart. I know this because I am the spouse of the Dr. and the PM and IT person (don't ask-apparently I make bad decisions). Every night is spent before bed working on charts, every weekend is spent working on charts. I think there has to be a better, more efficient system.

Billing percentage offers from Athena and Dr. Chrono are very similiar (6.5-6.8%). With our AC costs currently over 6,000 and current billing at 9%, along with Updox running 600, I am looking for an all in one system, which may also save some money.

Athena and Dr. Chrono seem to have many software advancements that leave AC a bit in the "before times".

The question for everyone out there, have you either come from or gone to Athena or Dr. Chrono. Also, is there anyone on here who has experienced the new Deepscribe AI? Deepscribe is interfaced with Athena and Dr. Chrono, but not AC. I am attending a webinar tomorrow for Deepscribe, the AI apparently listens to conversational speech and populates the HPI.

Hi chas1025,

You are asking really good questions, and I wish I had answers.

I have been in private practice for about 15-1/2 years (after being at a Community Health Center for 18 years), and have used Amazing Charts all 15 years. I agree completely with all of your concerns about charting, I am behind, and spend way too much time charting.

I am somewhat suspicious of the artificial intelligence type programs. It seems that people are happy with them, and that they are timesavers. Another thread on this board speaks of this issue

https://acusersforum.com/ub/ubbthre...true/re-ac-patient-data-to-pdf#Post76056

Specifically a few people liking praxis.

I have done some web searches, and it seems really hard to get any useful information. It almost like you have to get the program and try it, at which point it more or less would be too late.



Practical impediments to switching:

-I, my physician's assistant, and our staff are all used to Amazing Charts, and we are all pretty much creatures of habit
-We use EZclaims for billing, and are reasonably happy with this. Changing clearing houses is time consuming and may cause short-term disruption in billing.
-Data conversion may be a bear. James NT who posts on this board, I believe, has helped several people with this, I am sure he would be reasonable and treat us fairly, but there still would be expense involved.
-Even the interfaces we are using now, Labcorp and Sunrise, would have to be switched over.
-There is still a part of me which likes having a server on-site, no question about who owns the data, or what happens if the Internet goes down. I believe all of the newer programs are cloud based.



None of the above is a deal breaker, IF charting would really be quicker and easier. I am just not sure how to find this out.

So, none of the above is at all helpful to you.

Hope someone else with good information chimes in.

Gene

Gene,

Thank you for the reply. Any discussion helps, as it brings out other talking points. Medicine as it is, is too cumbersome to allow physicians to have a life outside of the practice. There has to be a point where technology makes things more efficient and allows more visits without stressing time/resources.

Points that I like from Athena and Dr. Chrono so far

1. Simplifies front desk duties
2. Templating and Macros are better than AC
3. Document management system of both would do away with the need for Updox
4. Both have built in telemedicine system, would do away with the need for Updox telemedicine
5. Getting patient photos into the system is a breeze compared to AC
6. Patient portals and patient communication system is built in and part of the EMR

I agree with you that the data is a concern, none of the systems makes "owning" your data easy, as none of them ever want you to leave. For me, this is the last data migration and new system that I want the practice to experience. Training staff on a new system, getting all the bugs out, is just too much to keep going through.

Chas,

What is the cost difference?

Thanks.

I've used the practice management side of athena for almost 20 years. It is excellent. can't speak for the EMR part, as well, I have used amazing charts for that.

Bert,

The cost difference is pretty close. Athena is 6.79%, Dr. Chrono is tiered 0-50,000 monthly is 6.5%, over 50,000 monthly is 5%.

Dr. Chrono has the slight edge with their Ipad/IOS Kiosk mode options, full service billing/denials and price difference.

I also went through the presentation today for Deep Scribe. It was very impressive and is able to use natural speech to fully populate the HPI. If you have Dr. Chrono they have a tight integration which will also populate all of the templates you choose within Chrono. Cost for Deep Scribe is 750.00 per month for the full integrated version, closer to 500 for the lesser integrated EMRs. I know this may sound a little pricey, but you have your patient visit, leave the room and 10 minutes later the full visit is populated in your EMR. Raw recording is available for you at any time to review. We are doing a mock patient visit on Thursday, to see how it will handle our providers.