EclinicalWorks EMR Review – Is 1k per month worth it?
by Andrew Eriksen | Posted under : EclinicalWorks EHR Reviews,EMR Reviews,Selecting & Implementing
I just finished speaking with a client of mine (http://physiciancredentialingservices.com) who we are helping to set up his practice and we had an interesting conversation about EMR/PM software. He said that he was going to use EclinicalWorks as his PM and EMR solution when he opens in January. I was okay with his decision, until he told me that he was going to pay $1,000 per month to “Lease” the system and have it hosted on their server.
He felt that this was an affordable solution for his new primary care office. He told me that he was quoted over 100k from Nextgen, so the 1k lease option sounded like a really good deal. I do not like to single out systems to dissuade someone from purchasing, but 1k per month is not a good deal in my opinion. Oh, I almost forgot, that does not include training which is another 5k. Am I alone in thinking this is crazy? 1k per month in my world will cover the total cost for 4 physicians including licensing, hosting , clearing house fees, and support with one of the best ASP Practice Management/EMR & billing systems currently available. Usability and cost are the most important factors when considering an EMR/PM solution and I am curious if anyone else feels that 1k per month doesn’t pass a simple cost-benefit analysis.
If you are a user of Eclinical Works, can you please use this post to rate your experience with EclinicalWorks. I have demoed the software and was not too impressed with their level of support or response time to my interoperability and work flow management questions. I (and my client) are curious as to how some current or past users feel about the software.
Tags : 100k, affordable solution, amp, asp emr, asp practice management, billing systems, clearing house, cost benefit analysis, eclinical works, eclinicalworks, EMR & EHR Companies, EMR Article, important factors, interoperability, lease option, management questions, nextgen, physicians, primary care office, response time, usability, work flow management
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My personal experience has not been that great with Eclinicalworks. We implemented it in our 4 physician practice about 2 years ago and I honestly wish we would have done a little more research before deciding on the right program. Overall I will give them a 6.5
I’m an Internist in MA. I opened up a solo practice in 2006, and was very excited to start with an EMR from day one. I chose eCW but I must say that, after three years using it, I’m very disappointed. The interface is clunky and cumbersome. It’s poorly designed from a user standpoint – too many clicks and screens to get anything done, way too “granular”. Space to enter free text or dictation is very limited. Writing notes takes about twice as long as used to when I just dictated (unless I use templates for every note, which does not fit my practice style).
More importantly, eClinical is lacking a lot that I would expect from an EMR. There is no decision support, extremely limited quality tracking and data mining, no patient reminders. No native support for MCMP/PQRI measures (you could program in “queries” for these measures but it would require designing a whole new data collection scheme as well as fairly sophisticated programing knowledge to create the necessary queries).
eClinical pharmacy support is very poor. Their pharmacy database is years out of date, many of the pre-assigned drug doses and intervals are wrong; and eCW refuses to integrate with established services like Dr. First because they have their own service for which they charge extra.
There is no way to batch review prescriptions, documents or labs – each individual lab test, document etc. needs to be opened and marked reviewed, each separate prescription requires four or five clicks to process. This is very time consuming.
Support (which you are required to buy at $200/month) is poor to middling. Most support requests are ignored or mishandled and then marked “completed” by their tech staff. You really have to keep on them to get any problem handled.
There are all kinds of unexpected “extra” charges they don’t tell you about. ePrescribing is extra, for example (and without it, you don’t qualify for insurance company rebates); and they charge $100 each time you want to install their client on a new computer.
We have also had many problems with document handling, especially their fax software, which keeps crashing and which they cannot seem to fix.
I feel like it was a mistake to purchase eClinical. I am actually looking now at spending thousands of dollars to try to migrate my date manually to a new EMR (since eCW doesn’t support standard data migration protocols).
In my opinion, eCW is a dinosaur and should not be on the market any more. There are other EMR programs that provide far better functionality. The fact that it is still available speaks to the poor job CCHIT does setting standards for EMR products.
What an excellent post. Thank you for the detailed account of your experience with ECW thus far. I have been concerned that many physicians have been bamboozled into thinking that ECW is a cost effective solution for their office. The whole ECW in Sam’s Club is a perfect example of this.
This is one area (Support) that greatly worries me as a former practice administrator. I understand what IT/EMR issues can cause in physician and staff productivity. I have seen first hand how IT issues can delay patient care and cause numerous headaches on the revenue cycle side. I believe (ECW) began outsourcing some of their IT support a couple years ago and there has been a sharp decline in the efficiency and knowledge of their personnel since that time.
ECW is not alone in tacking on additional charges, many EMR/PM companies “specialize” in this technique. They get you in with low subscription fees or reasonable physician licensing fees then hit you with a nice fee every time you want to add a user or need a vital system upgrade. Think of how many offices are going to be forced into paying for the ICD10 coding upgrade $$$$$. Most EMR companies know that the pain of switching systems is too much for most offices to even consider.
I also like that fact that you inept CCHIT is in determining the appropriate standards needed for the various EMR products.
Thanks again Dr. Schamess for the valuable information. I notice that you have some great posts on your site so I have added your site to our blogroll.
Not a fan of eClinicalWorks … they keep blaming our network, when after further investigation, it’s always been their end.
Stay away from eClincialWorks!
Just signed up about 4 months ago, I couldn’t agree anymore with the above points (identical problems). Unfortunately, I am a victim.
For the users who have already signed up, it would be phenomenal if we put our efforts and problem solving experiences together.
http://www.ecwusers.com is one place I’ve gone to find stuff, but I’m not sure if the real information on problem solving is being hidden.
Wish we could file a law suit.
My parent company (i work for their lab) has chose eClinicalWorks for a set of their affliate clinics. They went with this EMR so that they can improve from their flag ship EMR and give better solutions.
I was managing in integrating this EMR with our lab system. After working with several EMRs and HIS systems, this is the worst vendor i have worked. Not very pleasant Currently the whole lab is scared of this EMR.
Very bad experience working with their employees and my parent company IT also agrees with us.
Now we are realizing that the flagship EMR is far better than eClinicalWorks.
Stay away from eCW. Their entire IT support staff is a joke. The recomend 2 application and database servers but can not give you any info on how they are to be configured, they wont configure them and if you have a cluster environment they cant support it. The system is built on a patch work of “open source” software like MySQL and appache web server so they circumvent any software licensing. likewise they will post issues they cant fix to the open source forums for MySQL.
*They constantly upload and install open source or free utilities to
fix you problems and leave all kinds of software and file/folders
cluttered about the system.
*When ever there is a problem it is always your network or server
hardware.
*Every software version upgrade has crashed our system forcing us to
use paper charts for up to 14 days.
*They will schedule times to work on system problems then not call.
*When they do work on your system they always want everyone to log out
and not do any work in the system. (we are a 700 user practice..go
figure that out)
* Their software requires every user have full admin acces/rights to
the system. (HIPPA no no)
In short their entire business is a joke if you have more then 2 physicians.
I am employed by a clinic that just bought eClinical Works. Obviously not designed by physicians who will be using this all day every day. Waaaayyy too many clicks to get anything done. Certainly NOT an improvement in efficient use of my time. Definitely a risk for developing carpal tunnel disorder. The progress note structure does not meet the standard we have used in training our residents…who ever heard of putting the lab and xray orders in the treatment section? And the lab results aren’t even in the notes, only the lab orders are. If you want to see lab results, you have to use more clicks to go to another whole area of the software.This is just insane. The nurse’s clinical goals are put under the History of Present Illness section…we think these should have their own section, and not clutter up the HPI. There is no patient education material, as we had been led to believe. This whole thing is just EMR run amuck. I have used 3 other EMR systems, and this is by far the worst.
I have had approximately 4 years of experience using eclinical works. It is absolutely horrible. I crashes daily and often freezes which wastes valuable time each day. The headquarters in Boston has poor service quality and often doesn’t know how to correct the problem since these problems occur daily. I WOULD NOT recommend this company to anyone. If anyone is considering this product, chose something else or you will be frustrated daily. Worse product on the market!!!!
IT Grunt can you contact me I have some questions we are in the process of implementing this system??? Please as soon as possible.
ymarrero@mitral.com
This is very good company.
I am using their services.my friends are also used their software.
I am an IT consultant, helping a physician with a new office startup, we are looking into EMR and clinical is one of the choices, we have looked AmazingChart and waiting room, I am open for suggestions, please advice.
I put a mouse click counting program on my work computer used only for the eClinical chart work the last couple of days. 3958 mouse clicks to complete only the doctor parts of 40 family practice visits level 99212. Plus a ton of typing to generate the HPI, document treatment and discussions. This is separate from all the clicks required by the nurse to document her parts of the note. I bet nobody has studied the effects of long term clicking at that level of use on doctors’ or nurses’ hands. I know it is making my hands quite painful.
IT Grunt nailed it!! So I joined his team…
I thought I was alone trudging through the muck that is eCW. I can’t compare this application to others, as this is the only emr I have ever used, but eCW is completely awful.
When it does work, which isn’t often, it’s okay at best. The outsourced tech support is a joke!! I open a ticket, wait days to hear back if at all, and when I do receive a response the tech’s main goal is to close the support ticket, not to solve the problem. I have had issues redirected to our server admins and our lab company and EVERY TIME (no exaggeration) the problem is sent back to eCW.
And the CLICKS!!! All day long I hear about the number of clicks it takes to complete anything. I rarely use the system for emr, mostly I am in the system to fix the nonsense that is eCW configs, but when I am forced to partake, I instantly understand the click issue. eCW has tried to offer too many features and in doing so, they have completely ruined there interface.
I could literally go on for days!! But I will refrain, as my ecw lab interface is requiring attention at the moment.
Be forewarned, eClinicalWorks is pricey, difficult, and will require a dedicated IT employee to keep it running. (My own job security is the only eCW pro I can think of
Just a quick comment, general in nature, to those complaining about “clicks” in an EMR. As a seasoned EMR sales rep, it sometimes gets a bit frustrating to read / hear these complaints. When preparing to perform demonstrations it’s quite simple to setup templates in order to demonstrate how a progress note can be completedt, in the appropriate sub-specialty I might add, with minimal clicks; we all know as sales reps how doctors DON’T like the thought of having to “click” through a note. Therefore, we utilize the features of the software that allow you to create shortcuts, macros, to create default for things like your ROS and Physical Exams. We demonstrate how bubble sheets will allow the patient to input their own History Reviews. And with the use of Dragon Medical v.10.0, I can even demonstrate how to complete a very thorough 99214 note with absolutely NO clicks and in less than 4 minutes.
The key word in my dialogue above is “preparation”. No EMR comes ready to use out of the box. Without the adequate preparation up front, trying to use a product as is will ALWAYS cause these frustrations. Sometimes it’s lack of training, but from my experiences over the past few years, the doctors that go into the process with realistic expecations, that know they will get out of it what they put into it, don’t have these problems. Unfortunately, they don’t comment on these blogs either, because they’re happy with their product, they’ve done what what was necessary to insure speed and efficiency are realized in their product. And it came with due diligence during the implementation process.
Having said that, I feel like the expectations of the physicians is unrealistic in many cases. I have never told a doctor that implementation of an EMR is going to make their life or their jobs easier. I have told them that they will have quicker access to real time mission critical data, that the software will alert them of dangerous drug intereactions based on past medical history and current subscribed meds, that accurate documentation will take the guess work out of billing and insure that they are not underbilling and that their documentation will support their E&M, that their notes will look better, more legible, that it WILL help improve the quality of care that they provide their patients; but never that it will make their life necessarily any easier. It can, but not out of the box . . .
This is a horrible product.. Don’t ever buy this software. As mentioned it is made from all the Open source available like MySql and Apache. They always blame any issue on the network though the problem resides on their end. They initially make a lot of promises and then the only thing you do is spend money to get all the hardware they recommend (which is absolutely ridiculous)..
Thanks to all of you. I am not a victim of eCW! Actually I am looking for a decent EMR with integrated E-RX for a small Psychiatrist practice with.
Thank you.
Jalal
I have been using the system for 6 weeks in a three person office. I think the previous comments made absolutely are accurate and sum up the problems. The screens are not intuitive or organized well. My nurse demonstrated to me that to screen one document into a patient file probably requires 30 clicks. Previously you would just put in the patient folder and be done with it. I have had to hire extra staff members and pay overtime just to keep the office running. I calculate it takes approximately 30% longer to see each patient and I must get to the office earlier just to prepare for the day, so I end up seeing less patients. The bottom line-If I had another chance I would never never purchase this system. And yes it frequently freezes, and has periods particularly in the evening around 7-8 PM where it runs very slow and they insist it is a problem on my end even though my IT professional says we have have no problem at the office. I wonder if is a problem with their server.
and one more comment-If they cannot fix my system it may be worthwhile to organize ourselves and obtain an attorney.
Good Morning!
I would be very interested in speaking to anyone regarding their experience with eClinicalWorks as this is one vendor we are seriously considering for our clinic’s EMR. Please call me at
515-284-2088. Thank you! Becky
I am not surprised to see the negative comments here. But there IS a great cost-feasible system available which is well-organized, user-friendly, with minimal clicks and windows” through an ENTERPRISE-BASED system called MD-2. This application is available through TECNEX SYSYEMS, a competitor of eClinicalWorks. The price is right, and almost every physician and/or administrator that has seen a demonstration of this product is amazed and excited to see how simple but powerful this EHR-PM system is to use.
My comments are based on being a healthcare provider myself, a registered nurse. I’ve seen demos for eClinicalWorks, NEXGen and Practice Partners and in comparison would recommend this product hands-down.
If you don’t believe me, then consider that I walked away from an excellent position and over 15 years employment with a major healthcare system in Texas to join this company. It is worth the time to demo if you are evaluating various systems.
Good Luck and my best wishes to each of you as you look to implement an electronic system in your practices!!!
I would recommend that anyone interested in purchasing EMR/EHR software download our free tools found here:
You can download Ten Steps to Selecting EHR Software or Apples to Apples Software Price Comparison Guide.
You might also benefit from reading the Evaluating Software Vendor Viability.
Hope this information helps.
thanks,
Andrew
Thanks to all for the valuable contribution about your experience with EclinicalWorks. I was about to decide in few hours about the software, but now I will Think again.
Plus, the review are very current not few years old.
I have one question, did any one cancelled eClinalWorks after purchase and which software did they went to?
Looking for software for one Provider Practice.
Finding this to be a good venue for EMR reviews. I am a CPA who is trying to assist my clients in their EMR research – we have some vendors come to our office so the PM’s and Providers don’t have to coordinate the vendors themselves – PM’s and docs can come to our office or view remotely. I’ve seen ECW and thought had a lot of clicks; disappointing to hear about the down-time issues too, as they are one of the vendors we have on schedule to show clients. Going to check out the FastStart Consultation to see what they are about, so can advise my uncertain PM’s and Providers. Will be keeping tabs of this site for other viable comments and suggestions since they are current- good luck all.
I disagree.
I understand that all EMRs are not the ideal that the news and government is making them out to be. That being said, I have suffered terribly as an Eclinical purchaser and user for the last six years. It is an absolute nightmare and every bad detail mentioned in the other posts is true. As a doctor, it has made my work harder, take longer and the end product is worse than the paper files we were using before EMR. On top of all that, I have found I must constantly police the system because it is so faulty that it makes dozens of mistakes and loses data without even so much as a warning to the user. Using Eclinical is very similar to getting trapped in quicksand. You struggle and struggle thinking you are making progress. It’s only when you stop to catch your breath for a second that you realize you’ve sunk lower and are closer and closer to going under. My entire practice has fallen victim to Eclinical works. Those who say that they’re happy with Eclinical do not seem to be looking at the system in depth or questioning the quality of the medical records that Eclinical is creating. They pretend to care and be open to communication and suggestions from their users. They are not. They hold fancy conferences and meetings that are nothing more than a lot of glad handing and self congratulation. Eclinical deserves very close scrutiny and auditing from either the government or an oversight medical body. They are not to be trusted and are putting medical record quality far behind private profits. If it is not too late for your practice, avoid Eclinical at all costs! Do not become another one of their victims, they are not a good EMR company.
We currently and have been using Sage Intergy since early 2009. Of the start it is not the cheapest system, but an extremely stable one. The support from Sage is Phenomenal. Every service request is handled promptly and on avergage we have a resolution within 48 hours. The downsides are that Sage is not quick to adopt or incorporate a change. We have made a couple of recommendations, which go through a research process and are made part of future upgrades, but I think the process is a little too extensive for simple things, but then again I am not expert on database and enterprise software’s.
Initially, I was completely lost in EMR, but after having implemented 2 seperate practises with the help of trainers and clinical support, I am a little short of amazed of the features and the interoperability. There can be a few changes made in the workflow and features, which would place this product above and beyond any other products out there.
In time, we shall see.
You may call me at 813-943-7114 to discuss any and all experiences with Sage Intergy.
At last, I am glad we did not jump on the ECW band-wagon.
Its great to hear everyone’s perspective on eClinicalWorks. Finding the right EMR system is not an easy decision, especially since there are over 2,000 EMR products on the market today. Choosing the wrong EMR system can cause serious financial harm. Implementation difficulties, collection issues, and corrupted or lost patient data could result in losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars, even for the smallest practices.
So, we launched a new online service called WireTap (www.wiretap.com) “the Yelp for Medical software products” as the premier social destination to help medical professionals rate, review, and buy medical software. WireTap allows users to leverage the expertise of others to make informed purchasing decisions by a giving them access to the real experiences and opinions of their peers. Simply put, we believe that we are in an era where you should trust your peers more than brands – feedback and customer success is what builds great product brands, not the other way around.
WireTap was just launched into beta in July 2010 and has grown to over 80 active members quickly and over 80 medical products. We look forward to your participation. Your feedback on your EMR will help thousands of other doctors worldwide make better informed decisions when selecting their EMR solutions.
I am an IT Admin; MCP, A+, Net+ and Linux+ certified. I’ve been working on computers since the early ’80′s and networking since the early ’90′s. I’m currently the MIS Director for a non-profit organization in central Florida. Many of my side consulting jobs are with doctors – one of which uses eClinical – and it’s the biggest mess I have ever encountered.
For starters, his original server is a 6 year old Gateway that was running out of space on it’s RAID 5 array. I was able to add another drive to the array, extending the server’s life for a while longer. The problem was, he was adding 150MB of data every week, so it was a temp fix. We recently installed a new server for eCW and requested info regarding migrating the database and application to the new server. What a mess this turned out to be.
At first, eCW demanded a fee of $1,000 for them to do the migration – which is completely asinine. The doctor was finally able to get them to talk to me about it; during the conversation all they would say was they have a certification program for IT Professionals to become eCW certified – but would not discuss with me how to go about doing this. When I asked them what would be different with this migration than any other database migration he stated there should be a backup done before hand and it was quite involved…
At this point, I explained to him that I really didn’t appreciate being talked to like I was clueless. I’ve moved many databases and their applications, and the process is usually quite similar. I also discussed my opinion that there was fine line between running a business to make a profit and outright greed. Charging someone $1,000 to migrate a database, when they are already paying $500 per month for the software and maintenance fee was crossing that line.
By the time I was done, the doctor got the migration for free. The process took two days – why? When they began working, they copied almost 90GB of data from the old server to the new one – all of the contents of the data drive. That was day one. After installing eCW and Tomcat on the new server, they went back and removed much of what they had previously copied. What they did not do was point the doctor’s laptops to the new server – which I had to call them and ask them for info on what to do. Simple process, but, a little documentation goes a long way.
And since he’s used eCW for several years, he’s not looking to change right now. However, they are giving him the run around regarding ‘Meaningful Use’. Several other local practices are inquiring about eCW, but, eCW is telling them they cannot use eCW for Meaningful Use. All of that’s beyond my desire to understand, but, why would a practice pay the money for eCW to manage their practice if it couldn’t provide the necessary services?
Today, I still am no closer to getting the certification info from eCW than I was on that day of my initial conversation with eCW. And knowing what I know now, I’m not sure I’d want to pursue that anyway.
I’m currently an IT professional working part time for a doctor’s office in southern Illinois. Having used EMR’s for several years, I have to agree with the EMR sales rep above who says you get out what you put in. This is true in any case, with any EMR. Any physician who expects to open the box and use it to its full extent immediately is not being very realistic. It’s simply impossible to tailor a software to a practice’s needs before you use it.
We’ve been through several vendors, namely greenway, medisoft, eclinical works, and lastly landing on American Medical Software which we currently use.
All systems have their pros and cons, but eclinical had WAY more cons. AMS, which we currently use, requires a bit of set up initially.. luckily, they don’t nickle and dime the training as it’s included free with their system (We paid, ballpark, 10k for the full system and training), so they actually help tailor it and get through the setup. This is by far the worst part of software integrations and it was nice having help there. Furthermore, you can tell they’ve listened to their clients over the years as there’s a lot of what I call “common sense” features available. I guess that’s why they tote being one of the oldest EMR companies around.
Anyways, I can say from experience to be careful with eclinical. They’re sort of like Walmart.. Big, generic, and staffed by idiots. People just seem to go their way for the pricing.
Interesting replies from everyone. Frankly, I think it is shocking that one of their modules just got certified taken the fact that the different versions of their product are so riddled with patient safety issues! It is quite alarming. One of their customers actually posted a youtube demo of one of them. It is located at this url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V2bN06oW4g . These go back 7 years. CCHIT receives a “F” when it comes to certifying EHRs.
TJ Bridges aludes to these problems above:
“I have found I must constantly police the system because it is so faulty that it makes dozens of mistakes and loses data without even so much as a warning to the user.”
and Adrew Schmames says:
“I have found I must constantly police the system because it is so faulty that it makes dozens of mistakes and loses data without even so much as a warning to the user.”
You should read what they have to say on our user’s forum. Patient safety issues in the product are a very common discussion. They need a governmental body that can oversee them, like the FDA, or other governing medical body…
I wonder how many patients have died because doctors are using this inferior software product and not realizing they are putting the wrong information in wrong charts, or prescribing too much or the wrong medications for their patients…
I am the CEO of small company specializing in sleep clinics and labs. We have used eClinicalWorks since 2005. In our experience, eCW isn’t quite as unstable as some comments suggest. We don’t have much down time. It is good that eCW has added features regularly since we implemented it.
What is easiest to use is the scheduler, document manager, and claims billing. Electronic incoming /outgoing faxing works well once it is set up (for us a very lengthy process in which we relied on our own solution, not eCW’s). Other functions are more complicated to learn, set-up, and use and these include the EMR itself, forms and letters, the registry (a feature that allows searching demographics and EMR). Some features promoted by eCW are not ready for prime time such as, the patient portal, eMessaging (e-mail reminders/communication), P2P (allows 2 eCW users to share patient records). So, it is a mixed bag.
My own feeling is that the user interface is not intuitive. The same can be said about learning to use many of the features. Also, support is inconsistent. Some support techs are capable and others aren’t good at helping us to get where we need to be.
For example, the other day we opened a ticket to see if the referral feature could track our incoming faxed referral documents. The referral feature allows us to track incoming referrals (if they are on the schedule yet, number of visits approved, assign diagnosis for tracking, etc). The support tech said we could not. However, by accident, we realized that we could create the patient in the system, add the fax to the referral folder in the patient’s chart and that the fax image would become available to view from the referral feature. eCW techs should know this since it is a useful feature.
It was not intuitively evident how to use this feature and that is a common theme in eCW.
Other features developed by some vendors that we would like in eCW are: inventory, point of sale, Quickbooks integration, more intuitive interface, marketing tools and reporting (or dashboard), working e-mail and phone reminders, good financial reporting, workflow tracking.
We are currently using a EMR/PM system and are a bit unhappy about the performance. As a result we have a demo with eClinical scheduled for Noon. After reading comments on the performance of this system, especially the comment from Mr. Blake, I think I will opt out of sitting in on this Demo. Although our current system is slightly cumbersome, it is manageable and the vendor is very accommodating. The thought of having to worry about the migration of data that has been compiled over the past 3.5 yrs is to say the least FRIGHTENING! Cost would be a hugh factor for us as we have 44+ providers which equates to a the possiblity of additional lost revenue when you have to consider a slow system, constant down time, etc. I was hesitant to consider this Demo, but agreed, however, the opinions above will grealy impact my decision to consider this product.
Thanks to all for your honest opinions.
Chris
eClinicalworks is not a disaster. But is completely mediocre. Installing a copy on a PC is much to complicated. The actual daily experience is OK. Support when you have a problem is very weak. You can wait days for them to get back to you. I am hoping their next version is better.
I have experienced multiple issues with ECW. I have continuing issues with inadequate support for the system as well as issues with implementation. The implementation issues have caused significant damage. As a result, I have retained a lawyer and attempted to mediate a settlement. Unfortunately these efforts have not been successful, and the matter is now litigation. I would caution anyone who is contemplating the system to proceed very carefully. Any statement prior to purchase by ECW about the software’s features or capabilities, and any promises about how the software will be implemented, should be documented. Have your contract reviewed by your attorney. If you’re interested in further information regarding my lawsuit, feel free to email me at ECWlawsuit@gmail.com.
Jonathan E. Jensen M.D. FACP FACG.
I am an IT consultant and we have clients on ECW without good success. We also have clients that use Centricity, GreenWay, McKesson, E-MDs, AllMeds, and Allscripts to name a few. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. My advice to anyone looking for an EMR is to please do your due diligence when researching them. Multiple demos from multiple vendors is key. Site visits to a similar practice with the EMR you like the most can be a great asset. We are going through a situation with a client that just purchased an EMR and did their site visit to a practice that was not of the same specialty. Now they are finding out things that were not revealed during signing.
Check out a product called Aprima based out of Texas. It is fully certified for “MU” and qualifies for the stimulus money. Support is not outsourced and clients using it are having success. Aprima is not template based, so there are no preloaded one’s nor do you have to spend the time creating them. From a technical side I love the fact that it is a single database.
Hi Everybody,
I understand exactly what everybody is refering too. I work with a company called Nortec Software and we specialize in Electronic Health Records. This includes (EMR, E-Priscription, Patient Portal, Practice Management just like our competitor(s) Eclinical works. I am in sales and I am still fairly new at this but I have been to many practices/clinics and I tend to hear the same answers which are Eclinical works offers this and there prices are better than other compititors we looked at. This proves to me they are good at marketing their product.
The Truth is ALL ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD companies do the same thing including provide the same products or solutions. Its about making your software sound better than the other “guys.” The truth is You need to ask EMR/EHR companies are you Customer Service first or Software?
This is something I learned to be helpful because this is an investment in the MD’s clinic or practice for the next few Years. Everybody is selling a software including us here at Nortec Software but we focus on Customer Service and the company you decide to go with should also have that on there agenda. Sorry I didn’t mean to sound like I’m selling our product over here. i was just trying to give an effective example what to ask and look for.
I hope everybody the best in there search for EMR/EHR solutions. And anybody is ever interested in switching over or would like to see a FREE LIVE DEMO please feel free to call us at (800) 899 1EHR (1347)
I learned a lot from this post and so I would like to thank everybody that posted any comments.
The success rate of any EMR is dependent on the practice and their chosen IT group not just the EMR vendor. I understand after reading these threads that eCW is the chosen vendor in discussion. So let’s start: Technical Doctor has implemented over 60 eClinicalworks clients in the Midwest (2 doc practices to 50 doc practices) and continue to actively support each of them. You can go to our website and understand our credibility.
Yes, like any IT group, we have to prove issues are not network related. This process for a competent IT group is simple to prove (you must have a robust network in place). After becoming eCW IT certified, we were able to understand a practice’s workflow, question the use of “clicks” for clinical data, find issues in the system, explain issues to an eCW tech and what is needed to resolve the eCW related issue. Example: Lab compendiums, e-prescriptions errors, templates or progress notes that seem to vanish. Yes, we have had specific eCW issues which were difficult to resolve but if you ask to be escalated, eCW has been responsive (sometimes it is necessary to cut a tech short and ask for a manager). We all have learned this from AT&T.
I am unclear on why some of the EMR IT vendors on this thread are having issues. To maintain an EMR system, be an EMR consultant or an EMR Implementation Specialist is more than being a Desktop Support Technician. You MUST be an EMR Solution Provider not just an IT company. I recommend you all get “eCW IT Certified” so you understand the architecture of the system, it will help improve your implementations and resolve issues quicker with eCW techs. Not to mention, grow your business in a positive direction.
Needless to say, Technical Doctor and our Clients enjoy eClinicalWorks. We are rolling out version 9.0 to 20+ MD’s this weekend. No need to wish us luck, we understand the system and have the prerequisites in place (ie: eCW contacts, PM, and SAMs at our fingertips!)
I HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THIS EMR BECAUSE IT HAS INFURIATED ME SO. this ecw constantly hangs, freezes. I am badgering our tech support department on a daily basis (who in my opinion is very competent with their network management). they let me know what i already know, “we can’t fix it it’s ecw, we opened a ticket with ecw…” i see about 20-25 patients a day in a primary care setting, have been working with ecw for the last 2 years. it takes me way too many clicks to get things done. it is slow. it freezes so much i lose my train of thought. i think it’s giving me add. i am computer friendly, heck i just came out of residency 3 years ago. i LIKE computers. If I could have a sit down with this ceo i would ask him to spend the day with me and watch me see patients and how many times emr freezes and how my index finger is getting rsd from clicking the mouse so much. they need to sit next to the provider and witness the painful agony we suffer on a daily basis as we repeatedly apologize to our patients, “sorry, the system is frozen, what medications is it you said you were taking?”. aaaaaaaargh. e clinical please get your act together. you are sending me to the funny farm.
I just read all the replies here. I have eclinicalworks since april 2010 and has problems all the time but much worse since it has been upgraded to V9 to meet “meaningful use” 1 month ago. And ever since then nothing works! Patient portal, p2p were not working and still not working. Tech supports are working but they dont know what they are doing, and like you guys, we are constantly being blamed for everything–either its our server, firewall, etc. One tech even changed my internet explorer from version 8 to 6!!! Whenever we have error, someone will fix it but mess another part of our emr. Just as i am typing this, tech was trying to fix the billing part (we couldnt send our claims for 3 days now), then now I cant send any prescriptions at all. My question is how do we fix this support problem? i cant believe a company can make a software but doesnt know how to support it. they have taken our money but we are left to deal with their software problems. but we are paying for support, but not actually getting any support. I myself called to speak with support supervisor but he never returned my call, even emailed him but no response. I am a solo practitioner so cant afford to waste the money and change emr. i would appreciate someone’s input. Thanks. jean930@comcast.net
i was encouraged to look at this product by my PHO. having just viewed their demo, i was impressed that this was a possible contender.
many if not all of the above comments suggest users are not web or asp or cloud based but have the EMR on their inhouse equip.
i did not feel there were that many mouse clicks, however the demo did move quickly and there was a lot of material covered.
unfortunately, the strongest take home of these reviews seems to be POOR SUPPORT. this was addressed during the demo. the recent entries, 2011 and dec.2010 suggest this to be a CURRENT problem.
Lytec MD may be my best choice.
Thank you.
Had an issue with disappearing about 200 documents from the scan screen ! Urgent ticket was put in and it took me 6 phone calls, persoanlly, after I saw all my patients, because my asistant went nowhere! to get to somebody who at list speaks a decent English to explain what the problem was ! And ….There is no help form technical support! Their “tech support” staff does not understand the issue, cannot communicate, cannot communicate to each other, cannot fix the problem and I can not understand their English ! There is something must be done to improve the service ! I absolutely agree with above comments – I would like to “sit down with this ceo, and would ask him to spend the day with me and watch me see patients and how many times emr having problems”, while I see 35 patients a day and my staff answering 200 calls, schedules 100s test and filling out 1000s paperwork’s for insurances, patients, etc !!I even switched my internet provider per their recommendations to avoid freezing and problems !!
Just curious what EMR’s anyone has been impressed with and easy to use? Also, I am finding many with integrated EMR and PM don’t make it easy if you have outsourced billing to get info. to billing service or be able to print a superbill for the billing service. Has anyone found luck with EMR that is friendly to physicians offices that outsource to a billing office? Thanks!
This is actually a great question. I will talk to some billers and see what I can find out. I would also love to hear people’s experience regarding this subject.
I am the office manager for a 6 provider practice. We went implemented and went “live” with eClincalworks in May 2010. All was well until October 2010 when we started to experience the “freezing” problem as described with many of the providers above. Currently our eCW system freezes every hour on the hour, every single hour of every single day…
The freezing can occur from 5 minutes up to 15 minutes at a time. My providers are extremely aggitated and I just do not know what to do. I’ve put in so many tickets now I cannot keep track.
If there are any suggestions to aleviate this problem I would love to hear it. My IT company is at their wits end too.
In regards to eClinical Works….it was obviously designed by computer programers….it is a dinosaur program snd needs to be extinct !!!! It is so user unfriendly…don’t get it. I’ve been using it for over a year and it wastes my time!!! Like the old Tootsie Pop commercial…but the variation is how many clicks does it take to get to the end of an eClinical note?!!
i would not recommend this system to my biggest enemy. its an absolute disaster, especially if you using a billing part of it as well. it’s incapable of running all standard reports that you would expect to run in your billing software. god forbid something goes wrong and you need to talk to IT people its a nightmare. you have to hunt these IT people down they never call you as promised, when you finally get someone on the line its very hard to understand them due the heavy accent, so you keep asking them to repeat what they just said twenty times. then if you managed to understand them your problem is likely to be handled by another department and the whole game starts all over again…. getting ECW was the worst decision i’we ever made.
Ah, yes, some negative press on eclinicaldoesn’twork.
Boy, do I have some awesome stories. We were one of eclinicaljunk’s first large scale implementations, though our own office is small. Let’s just say this: within 18 months of “the monster” having arrived, 20% of our group’s physician’s left with tail between their legs.
Did you know that eclinicalworks started life as a video rental store software over 20 years ago?
Clickomania is the word of the day. You have to click, click, click as if the designers thought you’d get paid thousands of dollars per click (wish that was true). Every tiny little thing requires you to get into a tree/root of 3-4 screens, then back track 3-4 screens again. This is just to say the patient has “yes” or “no” to chest pain. Imagine having to order things!
Crashing? Oh yeah! I am posting now because I am to a new level of pissed off. Crashing? Well, the new eclinicalgarbage is supposed to give a new level of “interoperability” and ability to report for the medical home. Medical home is supposed to pay tens of thousands of dollars more, right? Well oh boy, I have found it is so much extra work that the tens of thousands of dollars extra for this medical home baloney don’t begin to properly compensate me for my time… so while on paper my practice WOULD qualify for being a medical home, what you have to do in eclinicaltrash requires so much extra time for each little step it’s not worth it. Put it another way: the software is over 2 decades obsolete, and cannot recognize that you are counseling people for smoking cessation even if you bill for tobacco use disorder. You have to do it only one way for which this long obsolete dinosaur was designed to recognize, usually an obtuse, time consuming, indirect way that brings more clickomania and distracting screens to the mix.
Let’s not even talk about how every update makes it work worse, not better. Any “improvement” is just a sideways step. It’s still the same garbage interface, but with more and more buttons to occupy precious screen real estate. There are always 6 different ways to do everything in eclinicalcrap. Unfortunately, every single one of them requires dozens of time consuming clicks and screen changes, leaving you in the same clickomania quagmire.
And the freezing. Even when it works well it freezes. I would say the only thing that eclinicaltrash does well is freeze your computer. I have never seen such malignant system crashes. We all crash our internet explorer from time to time, right? Well, with eclinicalnightmare, it also paralyses the star menu and prevents you from using any other program despite the PC being super fast and able to handle just about anything… anything except an eclinicalSNAFU.
I am no luddite. Hell, I grew up in the 80′s and was programming my own config.sys and autoexec.bat back in the day. I am willing to accept more modern technology that has a role, but head to head with paper charts and dictation, eclinicaluselenssness pales in comparison. Papyrus obsolete? Well, you have to go even further back to characterize the obsolete nature eclinicalneverworks. Try cave paintings that are trying to be read by legally blind neanderthals, how’s that?
Hello fellow frustrated eCW victims. I too have experienced similar problems with this atrocious system. Our middleman – MedAllies is worthless and useless in any assistance. Anyhow I am filing lawsuit and have gotten my lawyer involved.
If anyone is interested in joining a class action lawsuit, please email me – Dr. Umar I. Chouhdry, MD, MBA – at umarchouhdrymd@aol.com. I will be proceeding forward in the next few weeks.
My lawyer’s name is John Janusas, johnjanusas@gmail.com – if you email him directly – reference my name and subject line should be “Class Action Lawsuit against eCW – Electronic Health Record.”
Enough of being frustrated with these assholes. Time to strike back. Time is money and in this health care climate our efficiency cannot be compromised; our patients suffer, our practices suffer.
Compared to all the reviews here, I am so glad that we went to Sage Intergy EHR. I am 99% satified with the software, support and the company, the enhancements requests are a little slower and done behind closed doors and that is perhaps the only frustration I have with Intergy EHR.
The stability and the support for the program make every penny worth it. My recommendation is not to settle for ‘cheap’ product and demand bang for every dollar you pay in support.