athenaIDX vs. Tebra EHR

I couldn't recommend IDX to anyone. Most of the reviews on this site appear to be for the program that broke off from Athena IDX, Centricity Practice Solutions (CPS). CPS is a much more capable program managed by Unlimited Systems (a separate company) that should NOT be confused with Athena IDX (managed by Athena Health). It's possible that Athena IDX was usable in the 90s compared to other peer programs at that time, but there are so, so many better, modern solutions available now for far less money. This software is priced at the enterprise level with a level of quality that is below budget tier with an ancient feature set to boot.

Kareo is not an appropriate application for any real-world clinical need. It is highly unreliable, crashing frequently, and often becomes frozen. It also cannot ingest data from Therapy Notes, which was a promised feature of the platform according to the sales team. Additionally, when we ran into reliability issues (every day, with every clinician at the practice, across a dozen different office locations with different internet service providers) we were not offered the ability to cancel our contract. Until the reliability issues are fixed Kareo is not well-suited to any use case because it does not work.

• One of the best things about Centricity is it is flexible. We are able to add a data point behind a term (CPS calls this an observation term) and track any data needed. These observation terms also allow us to pull information forward and display information needed to make a good decision or used to decrease errors. For example in our history forms given to the patients one of the questions is side of injury. This affected side displays on our EMR forms which helps providers and prevents mistakes.
• CPS integrates with other programs. We are paperless and use DocuSign to send each patient their history, ROS and all new paperwork. This allows us to import the history into the forms and has saved us from adding extra staff (FTEs) to room and take history. The history form can be completed at home or in the waiting room. Each section has a observation term behind it and allows it to be placed into the note at the correct section. Since we have a fully integrated product we do not have to have another program to enter or transfer our charges from the EMR to the PM side of the program.
• Our notes look great! We did a lot of customization which gave us the detail and look we wanted. It seems like a lot of work at first, but the outcome has so much efficacy. We increased our providers without having to increase our staffing and it is due to he efficiencies we gained by using the EMR.
• One other note, Centricity is flexible but that means it is complicated. You can not have flexibility without it be complicated don't let that stop you the end results can be great.

Incentivized

• Catching missing patient info
• Catching missing insurance info
• Providing mailing addresses

• Statements print only current open accounts, would be nice to print a total statement for patients so they can see if payments are split between open and closed/zeroed out accounts
• Ability to create custom reports

Incentivized

• Everything created can always use adjusting depending on the situation
• Adapting to client needs quicker
• Problems are not reported in a timely manner

Incentivized

Kareo was a massive waste of money. It's an unreliable product without promised features and sold by a disingenuous sales team. We will stick to reliable services like Doxy, Therapy Notes, etc.

The user interface is fine but it the app constantly freezes or crashes.

Training consists of overly specific points with no general process considerations. Trainers will regularly go 'into the weeds' on pointless edge cases while the meat of the training still needs to be addressed.

Athena IDX is more reliable than other platforms. It rarely has latency challenges where it has to be intermittently shut down or updated. It is accessible on multiple devices and overall, easy to use and navigate.

Incentivized

I selected Kareo EHR because it was a lot simpler to use and the customer service was definitely better. Every representative I have spoken to has been super friendly and helpful.

Incentivized

The pricing structure is outlandish for how old and feature poor this program is.

Zero ownership. Zero responsibility. Zero desire to build something good.

• Extremely expensive software for the limited feature set. We're talking millions of dollars with off hours support (anything outside of 8-6EST) that starts at $1200 for the first hour and $300 for each hour afterwards.
• Multitasking isn't a thing unless you assign more licenses (thereby increasing your costs). Users can quite literally only have one IDX window open at a time unless you assign more licenses. This slows down everyone as there are plenty of times where examining different parts of a patient's profile is useful.
• Reporting has been nearly impossible as we use modern reporting software. IDX's analytics site is firmly stuck in the 1990s and lacks decades of innovation present in something like Power BI.
• Nickel and diming philosophy. A limited API server costs ~$10k/month. Setting up a new facility in IDX costs you and requires a 4 month lead time. Many more instances of this.

• We have negative reviews as we were sold a product that left out some key variables. Things we really needed to make the transition.
• I don't think KAREO is good for small business (0-10 employees) because their prices for additional or standard features is steep. They charge by the therapist to boot and it is steep!
• Again ASK questions; do a test run; ask about the migration of your data and its charges.
• You sign with them you will be locked into a 12 month contract with no out clause. If they are costing you the money you have to stay with them.

Incentivized