Home Forums Thread Like Summary - In Defense of Amazing Charts

Hello Everyone,

Over the many years I have been involved in this forum, and the previous one, going all the way back to when Jon Bertman owned Amazing Charts and would see my posts, raise an eyebrow, and wonder who was this smarty pants spelunking through his database, I have seen the occasional thread from someone entertaining the idea of jumping ship to another EMR.

I get it. AC has had some issues over the years. From strange bugs that make no sense to usability issues to tech-support being slow to respond. Furthermore, AC has been bought and sold two times over the past 10 years. Bertman sold out to one company and now Harris runs the show - and AC isn't the only EMR Harris sells. For many of you, the day Bertman jumped ship was the end of an era. And it was. AC just doesn't feel like AC anymore. All the tech-support people, sales reps, and so on you got to know are all gone and you're talking to all these strangers now. Again, I get it.

But before you start plunking down serious coin to move to another EMR, I recommend stopping for a moment and taking a deep breath. I've worked with a lot of EMRs over the years and have learned a lot from all of them. So before you give some salesperson your credit card number, consider the following:

-- All EMR systems have bugs. This is a fact of existence. If you leave AC because you're just tired of a few bugs here and there, within 2 years you'll feel the same way about your new EMR. As long as companies that develop software embrace Agile development and keep their backs turned on older, more refined paradigms like Waterfall, you can count on every software out there having bugs that will make you scratch your head and wonder aloud if anyone tested the thing before deploying it.

-- All EMR systems are expensive. Ask yourself just how much money you've spent on AC since you bought it. Is spending all that money and switching to another EMR worth the anger you felt at that one negative tech-support call experience? I got news for you, all EMR systems have so-so tech-support. And every tech-support engineer was once a beginner.

--Ask yourself how many of your problems are caused by you. This one will be tough for many of you. I am well aware of the legions of "do-it-yourself" networks that are out there. I'm also well aware that many doctors and their office managers need to stay away, far away, from the network server closet. I can't count over the years the number of offices that have seen many of their problems just melt away when they hired someone like me to clean up their mess and get their network running smoothly.

-- Beware the online guys. Moving to an online EMR sounds like the bees knees. No more server. No more expensive IT guy to manage it all. Sounds like a dream come true. Not so much. Many offices still need to retain that server for file shares and other stuff and that IT guy is still there. Then, one day, you decide you want your stuff back. Good luck. I just did a conversion from Kareo and the only export they have is the database export. They do not export scanned items. Imagine having to explain that to a doctor who scans everything and that's were most of the patient data is. Imagine having an online EMR telling you they don't support your browser or that you have to have this XYZ printer to see the HCFA correctly. And the online guys pump out new versions whether you are ready or not. And woe unto thee whose online EMR gets infected with a crypto-virus for thy pain and thy suffering are truly to be great.

This is just a partial list of things to consider. Jumping to another EMR may be the right thing for some of you. I'm not saying it isn't. What I am saying is make sure this is an informed decision. Don't fall into the romanticism on the forum of the one or two that did and it worked out for them. You are not them. You are you. And this is one of those decisions where it pays to take your time.

Mark@AC is here with us. We should continue to hold his feet to the fire whenever there is an issue - but at the same time make him feel welcome here so our concerns make it to the dev team. I can tell you now you won't get that kind of access with another EMR.

In conclusion the reason I wrote this is because AC, for all its flaws, is still one of the better EMRs out there from a "bang-for-your-buck" standpoint. It's also fairly easy to support and their database design isn't overly horrible (eClincialWorks get the award for most terrible database with MicroMD and NextGen as runners up). AC is also the easiest EMR to fix from a network and server standpoint, hands down. Again, not saying you shouldn't look around. But I am saying don't let one bad thing run your decision making process.

James

Did the self upgrade to 11.1.2. No trouble. 1 day running no crashes or issues!

setup:
server 2012 r2 virtual machine (will try 2016 in a month)
workstations - windows 10 fairly clean with minimal extra software 8yr old and newer at least 4 gb memory

Looked at Athena - expensive and demo has online lag
Looked at Praxis- love the idea but Dr. Low one man shop did not inspire confidence - a lot of "best" "done it a billion times" and demo crashed while adding a rule. await new 64 bit codebase - major undertaking to do well.
Looked at Charm - looks nice. not a fan of chat box in ehr prefer traditional message system ala AC.

Thanks to JamesNT for your post (and for so many over the years that have been so helpful.)
And to Mark@AC for working so hard to bridge the gap between the the corporate culture and the medical culture.

I too have had my concerns about AC -- but in reality, it holds to its original goal of being simple, easy to use, flexible as a tool for recording medical encounters and relatively inexpensive -- as well as very reliable. I haven't seen any option that come close.

Now on Ver 11.1.2 (we self-upgraded a week ago) and so far there have been no issues at all. It feels about the same; a little faster in some ways, a little slower in others, but most importantly for me, no long waits for the Rxwriter to open up -- obviating the long, somewhat embarrassing pauses at the end of a visit.

It continues to allow multiple styles of record-keeping (necessary in our office of independent-minded practitioners who won't be herded into a corporate mold). It doesn't stray into areas that seem terribly unproductive like the abominable pseudo-AI features of the hospital's Cerner EMR, which "assists" in "decision making" by producing long lists of differential diagnoses which are much more distracting than helpful. It doesn't compose pseudo-English "paragraphs" from a bunch of point-and-click drop-down options.

I can't imagine any single EMR that could satisfy all the varied needs of all the different practices there are out there -- so I will stick with what for me is tried and true.

Just don't hold my feet TOO close to the fire. I prefer them lightly toasted.

Thanks for making me feel welcome. I will be here is anyone ever needs me. I will always help when I can. While I am not dev or tech support, I can express your concerns and issues to those department. If anyone needs to get a hold of me directly, my email is mdabeck@harriscomputer.com