Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Updox...

Have used Updox for document management in conjunction with AC over the years. Like everything else, cost has increased and support is worsening. Anyone else out there using Updox these days, or is there a better alternative out there? Thanks.

I have never used UPDOX due to the cost. I have always had a Brother MFC machine. There are other posts about using this machine in place of UpDox. I use one MFC as a fax and import machine and another as the central printer. I tried an HP unit but it did not work as well as the Brother machines.

Hi Chris. Thank you for your reply.
You are spot on about the cost.
The sad thing is, that Updox was an affordable, great option when I first started using it years ago. Provides me with a secure portal, payment on-line, unified in-box, and importing to AC that seemed easier to me than doing it within AC. Seemed perfectly suited to small practices using AC.
Now, expensive and sold to a larger entity. And to add insult to injury, tech support and customer service are now terrible.
Updox went from being a great product and brand that I enthusiastically recommended to just another corporate product that I now am very disappointed in.
Oh well, sign of the times I guess.
I'm probably just going to suck it up and continue until I retire (hopefully soon, but not soon enough).
Thank you for the suggestion on the Brother MFC. I do use a Fijutsi scanner for hard copy imports.
I'll consider that if the Fujitsi dies or if I bail on Updox for my incoming faxes.
Best,
Ton Zwaan, ACZ

Look into the old posts from Leslie. I think there was extensive write up about using an MFC for your fax. It is very easy and a free program with the machine! I know there is a thread somewhere on the forum. I also use an old Fujitsu scanner for things that are not faxed in to the office, The Fujitsu is amazingly fast.

About 2 years ago, I bought a small Brother desktop scanner for the check in person. She is able to scan insurance card and such in about 30 seconds and into the chart almost as quick. It is one that can scan full pages but is slower than the Fujitsu.

Found one of the many posts by Leslie about Brother MFC, also can search for Paperport (the program Brother uses):

https://acusersforum.com/ub/ubbthreads.php/topics/13086/my-paperport-document#Post13086

Updox has been very handy and especially helpful because I can work from anywhere I have internet access without having to remote in to my office.

It was a bargain when they started, but has been quite an expense in the last few years. We kept it because it is easy to use, and switching over to a new fax system would be a "last straw" for some of the staff.

Accessing support is quite cumbersome, but fortunately we haven't needed it very often.

Thank you Chris for the link, and Tom for the reply.

It has been very nice to have the remote access and monitoring of incoming messages, faxes etc. via Updox.
Unfortunately, they "broke" may ability to monitor Updox on my Samsung phone a couple of weeks ago with their security update.
This started a series of disappointing exchanges with technical support.

Tom: do you have access to Updox on your phone, and if so did you have any problems?

Thanks,
Ton, ACZ

We were early adopters of Updox, and have generally been big proponents. I view it as two connected programs (and in fact you now could say it is three). The first is for document management, the second as a patient portal, and the third is a telemed platform.

For years we only used Updox for document management. Sending and receiving faxes, importing into AC, etc. All things that can be done other ways, but simplified (in some cases, significantly) by Updox. I used to say that if I got rid of Updox my office staff would quit because it made their job so much easier.
On the other hand, as noted here, this can be done other ways. Leslie was an early advocate of Paperport and while she has not posted here for years (or used AC), Donna is one of her acolytes and still successfully uses that program. I will touch base with her and see if she is willing to stop by here in case people have questions.
The document management portion of Updox has changed a bit (a desktop version was eliminated) but it generally functions much the same as it did 10 years ago.

The patient portal is mandated by MIPS, etc. I think AC itself comes with a form of it, but the separately purchased Updox by subscription has a portal that is much more robust and well integrated. Both have their limits. We use the portal more now than in the past, especially with the advent of telemedicine.

Finally, for an added price, Updox has a telemed feature. Better integrated with AC but though we pay for it, I am not sure it is worth the cost vs free products like Doximity dialer and doxyme.

In summary, features have not changed a whole lot since the early days. We don't need support often, but have not had major issues reaching them when it is needed.

As to cost... that is where things have changed over the years. Due to changes in the way they calculate costs per number of faxes, and simple price increases (as well as the telemed changes) costs have risen dramatically. We were paying $30 a month in 2012. Now it is like $180 (though with two providers instead of one, telemed, and lots more faxing). I need to take a hard look at whether it is worth it or not.

Indeed, as Jon said, Leslie taught me to use to use PaperPort with a Brother MFC for fax document management. This setup has none of the other features of UpDox (portal, payments, etc), but is free for fax management. With my small, solo practice, it continues to suit my needs.

Faxes arrive on the Brother MFC and are transferred to a folder in PP. They arrive as TIF, in PP we batch convert to PDFs, then drag and drop to AC patient files. It's simple, works fine for my limited needs and, as Wendell would say "Did I mention it is free?"

If anyone is interested, I am happy to show the setup, but I think most of you want more bells and whistles. The link above to the old post by Leslie gives much more detail of the set up.

Ton (ACZ)
Other than occasional experiments to see if I can make it work, I haven't tried to use Updox on a cellphone. The interface isn't optimized for a tiny screen, so I just wait until I can use a laptop.
I Even if I were going to continue my practice, I would discontinue due to cost -- we are paying about $450/month. Others on this thread mention costs like $180/mo, but we have not been offered that fee in several years.

I just bought a $40 USB modem from E-bay to deal with the few faxes that still come in as we wind down the practice. It isn't here yet, so I don't even know if it will work

Tom,
That sounds more like the price I was getting when I did the math for the amount of faxes we get in every month. The faxes are now WORSE because of the Medicare Advantage plans.

I've been trying to fax back non-essential notices and ask them to snail mail. If we all do it maybe they'll get the message not to clog up our fax inboxes.

Thanks to all for your responses and suggestions.

I started with Updox at the same time as AC over 10 years ago.
Was $35/month, though admittedly with additional charge for "bundles" of faxes over the limit at that point.
Perfect product for a small low volume practice using AC. In some ways it is more useful to me than AC.
Then, they went to unlimited faxes and increased the price.
It was nice not to have to worry about limiting the number of faxes anymore, but the handwriting was on the wall, and the price has steadily increased since.

I do like many of the features that Updox provides (portal, credit card processing for bills, combined in-box, filing to imported items).
I did have a nice interface on my samsung phone ( touch.myupdox.com ) but they recently broke that; hope to fix that soon.

In a moment of panic early on in the Covid19 pandemic, I foolishly added the remote video option. (have rarely used it.)
Cost is now about $220/month, but plan to discontinue the remote video, which should decrease it a little.

More recently, I think Updox was sold, so it seems it is a different company now...
Tech support and customer service have severely declined (as they seem to have with every product out there).

No plans to ditch it anytime soon, but certainly weighing my options and looking at the expense.

Best to all and hang in there,
Ton Zwaan

Was thinking about this recently. Amazing charts never wanted to put coding into doing a Portal, so just satisfied federal requirements by partnering with Updox. We still use it daily but it doesn't interface with Praxis, so I was thining about other options. Any other company a good competitor for updox>

Wow, Alaska!
Yeah, your take on it is also my understanding.
The kicker is that Updox now costs me more annually than AmazingCharts!
Still, it is a good product and I have no immediate plans to change.
I started the thread because I was pretty cranky about the deterioration in tech support and customer service.
Also, just to line up alternatives in case things worsen.
Personally, I do not know of similar products that offer the same range of function.
Best from New Hampshire,
Ton, ACZ