Home Forums Discussions General Discussion What are the positives of Amazing Charts

I believe that one of the reasons the old board was scrapped when it needed a new server was a lot of the comments had become too negative, mine included. A lot of us always said that because they were honest and fair and somewhat split between negative and positive comments, users looking for a new EMR would appreciate the EMR and feedback more and be more likely to purchase. I believe from AC's or Harris' perspective that split was leaning more and more on the negative.

This is a private board and, thus, gives us more leeway to be open with our thoughts. But, some statements (including mine) are so negative that prospective buyers may be steered away from AC.

We also happen to have threads that lend themselves to criticism like the prescribing problems.

I believe we forget why all of us started on AC in the beginning. A rather inexpensive (at the time and still I guess), easy to use EMR which did what it needed to do. It is fast and allows a very quick note, faster likely than any other EMR.

Granted it does seem like the Harris company and those in development don't seem to hear our issues and don't communicate as often or as well as they should. I believe that is one of the main criticisms a lot of us have.

I know that lately it has been mentioned that IT used to be more present on the board and their presence has always been welcome. I wonder if they stopped coming over due to pressure from the higher-ups.

I don't want to sound like a polyanna, but sometimes I think I and many others overlook the good things that AC has provided.

Another issue may be that we make comments on features and offer better solutions that have been going on for years which by themselves would improve AC dramatically. But, many of the improvements are based on the number of time they are made and not the acuity of the problem. Plus, of course, development having to spend so much time on government-mandates. The regulars who have a lot to say about the direction of AC tend to write these in the threads. I wonder if the recommendations were communicated properly under "Recommended improvements" if they would get more attention.



Thoughts?

Bump

One thing I will say that is an absolute PLUS for Amazing Charts it that, so far, it is the easiest EMR to get your data out of.

I can't tell you how many times I've spent hours of my life I will never get back (and never get paid for) going through an EMR database to export the data only to find:

* Tables encrypted.
* Files encrypted
* Table names and other object names that are totally indistinguishable from others. For example, you find a table that has the CPT codes in it for a patient and two date fields one named DATE1 and the other named DATE2. Which one is the date of service and which one is the entry date?
* Use of a totally alien database with no support.

The list goes on. So if you want an EMR that you can get your data out of when it's time to retire with no muss, no fuss, and no greasy aftertaste, AC is it.

James

It's good to hear that when the time comes, it will not be so difficult to export data from AC. My wife has decided to close her private solo practice in January, after 20 years (with AC from the beginning). -The end of the road for the usual reasons: we'd need to hire another person just to handle prior auths and referrrals, etc.
She's going to work for a few more years with a group practice that will soon be transitioning from Allscripts (sp.?) to Epic. But I will need to export single charts, as we expect a good number of present patients to follow her to the new office. So, good to hear that the AC export options available are usable.
Best thing for me is that I can concentrate on helping elderly parents and in-laws, and no longer have to work as an office manager!

Kurt

kurt,

Just so we are clear, the export is something I wrote. And it's an "all or nothing" process. It exports all patients, not just a hand-picked few.

When the time comes, reach out and I'll provide more detail and pricing.

James

Ghost from the past here... James was very helpful in exporting my data from amazing charts. Thanks!

3 weeks ago, Bert made an initial post asking people to list the positives of AC.

He is a summary of all of the items on the list so far:

1. When you want to leave AC, it is easy to get your data out of it.

2.

Nothing else yet.

Positive: It seems when you have a life-and-death issue, support responds immediately. Like can't start AC, problem during upgrade, etc.

I think there are a few positives:

Easy and familiar SOAP note type chart note
Easily Customizable templates
Easy to do order sets
Interface with lab (for me) has been good, could stand some improvement but overall good
Has historically been cheaper than others
In house server vs just online option, back when I started the online would have been a nightmare with lag time, now probably better but still like having it in house
I have had flawless back ups when needed, had a total crash/hard drive failure and Guardian Angel support was there
Guardian Angel support has done well for me in the past, I know others have had problems but for me they have been there most of the time, the only issues they have not been able to help with seem to be some of the little idiosyncrasies of the programming
Although not perfect, they have been trying to continually improve the product
I can think of more but yes I also know the flaws..........

Side Note: When Jon was there one of the things I felt was the best was the user conference in Rhode Island. The reason I say this is because I remember sitting at a table with a programmer and Jon going around the room wanting to know the concerns and areas of improvement we, as the users, wanted. I do not even remember if there was a charge for this conference....I do remember the welcome party and the local beer that was so good! I know Harris/Caretracker had a user conference recently. I think they have had one for AC (likely the Caretracker one would have discussed AC). The recent one for Caretracker was in October and $895 registration. Who in family care or pediatrics small practice can afford to got to a conference in October? The one Jon coordinated was in June!

@ serene: I agree, I have not had the problems with support others have posted.

I have yet to have any problem with getting support from AC. Of course, there was that one time they had a problem with me...a story that can unfortunately not be told on the board.

But, seriously, support has always been there and rather promptly. The largest issue with support is not knowing they know you have need for support.

Only Bert can turn a positive into a negative.

Yes, there was. I do know they could have made three times as much selling sweat shirts at the one I went to.

I generally call and usually get a recording to leave my phone number and hear back between one to four hours even on weekends.

One of the things that always plagued support was the lack of responding with an email that they got your phone call or email. I just checked it, and you do now get a very timely response complete with a case number that support has received your email or call. That is a huge step forward.

Chat is usually not manned so not sure if that should just be gotten rid of.

Amazing Charts is one of the few support systems that puts the Remote Access request directly on the support site, something you don't see from Dell or Microsoft, etc.

I don't know if this happens with other EMRs, but it is nice that AC recognizes that the system crashed when you were in the middle of a note and asks if you want to recreate it, a process that seems to work 99% of the time.

A huge problem, something that was brought up with management and development which remains to be fixed is if you type a five paragraph addendum, then go back and change the Type from say, Addendum to Other, you lose the entire addendum you have already written.

The crash and get back the chart you were working on was a great enhancement!

Wish it wouldn't crash in the first place but it is more stable than before.

I learned that the hard way.
Now I make sure to select the type ahead of time or copy the written note so I can paste it if it disappears.
Lessons learned...

AC has a lot of positives, and I recommended it to others while using it. Foremost:
1. Low Price
2. Ease of use.

However, as government requirements continued to add on, the company did not continue to innovate, but fulfilled the portal part by using another company, which we have to pay for UPDOX, and fulfilled other requirements in a similar way. I used the AC for many years, and we had work around for many things. They continually did slow evolutionary improvements.

What made me finally pull the plug is that I had some bugs in the system that caused crashes and they would not fix this. Ultimately, they told me it was only affecting a small number of practices, and that small dollar figure was essentially not worth their time. They didn't think that I, a customer, was worth the time. This pissed me off, but also made me think that the company was just milking this AC for every bit of tech support money they could get. It's a really cheap chart and they don't make that much money on it, so that;s understandable. IT was the dream and creation of a doctor who care, and now it's owned by a corporation. Enough said.

I now the perspective of a career using EMR's. THe government tried to force the charts to be everything and do everything: portals, unmeaningful use, etc, and all we wanted was the ability to chart efficiently and communicate. Our greatest hinderance was actually the government and HIPPA, so everyone is now afraid to communicate and we are still stuck in the 90's with fax machines because of their rediculous concerns. NO one communicates, I can't get ER reports, and the system is broken.

The EMR field is ripe for takeover from a company like Apple, who could truly make it great. I had someone personally ask Tim Cook, and he's not interested. Google spent a heap of money and failed, so understanable. But imagine a slick Apple like app with all your records on it and the ability for all the doctors to share everything in the cloud with each other? IT could be awesome.

For now, the practice management software is passing the EMR's, providing portals, online payment, scheduling, and even their own EMR's now. What a mess!