ChiroTouch is cloud chiropractic software offering an integrated EHR software built for chiropractors, top to bottom. ChiroTouch is an integrated system for payment processing and insurance claims management.
$159
per month
eClinicalWorks
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
eClinicalWorks headquartered in Westborough offers their EHR / EMR solution, which can be upgraded to a full practice management solution at higher pricing tiers.
ChiroTouch has helped us maintain more accurate records, notes, billing, and the text reminders help to ensure the patients remember their appointment which keeps our numbers good.
eClinicalWorks should be used in most medical situations. The program generally speaking works the way it should keeping track of patient records and the like. They have recently added an inpatient module for ASCs. Seems to work pretty well for smaller practices that don't require a lot of additional features or integrations.
One of the strengths of ECW can also be a weakness depending on the user's perception. ECW has a lot of redundancies. There are multiple pathways to perform a task. It can be appealing to advanced computer users because of the versatility. I have found that it tends to confuse lesser experienced computer users.
The creation of templates is very easy and any provider in our system can create one. It definitely makes documentation more efficient. By creating a set of templates for the clinic, we are able to standardize the orders/procedures along established guidelines.
We have converted our scheduling to open access. ECW allows us to set the follow up time and the end of the visit and then an alert is created. Front office staff can run the report and schedule patients closer to the actual time. It has improved our no show/cancellation rates.
There is quite a bit to learn, even if you have experience with other EHR systems like I did, and required our staff and providers time and patience to get accustomed to it. It may be helpful for the Chirotouch team to develop a curriculum of sorts to navigate practices through learning the system in a logical way.
The EHR system is higher in price than other comparable systems, especially with all the add-ons - it would be nice if Chirotouch were a little more transparent about what you get when purchasing the item off the shelf, and, more importantly, what features are not included without a package upgrade.
The graphic layout and color scheme isn't as "pretty" as other EHR systems I've worked with, and actually looks quite outdated. It might be worthwhile for Chirotouch to work with graphic designers to make the interface a little more aesthetically pleasing.
Meaningful Use Reports should be capturing data in real time and generated fairly quickly instead of the MAQ dashboard extraction process.
Their support teams are not very helpful at certain topics such as the definition/logic of Meaningful Use calculations. These are generally difficult to determine but several cases in regards to Meaningful Use take several days before it gets addressed.
Training videos would be helpful on their support website.
If we had an option to easily switch to another EMR product we would. However, an EMR keeps you invested solidly in it - once you've started you're then going to be stuck with it. The investment into the data in the system are such that you have no real option to back out of what you are in and move into something else. Again, if we could, we would immediately move to another EMR. The ability to use it and be supported by the vendor has decreased nearly to the point of inability to use.
It is fine once it is up and running, but the customization takes a long time, does not have some things setup in advance that seem very straight forward, and for most people the learning curve is very high for learning the system even once it is properly setup and customized. However, it is "fine" not particularly impressive. Additionally, their customer support and training is substandard.
[In my opinion] the features allowed by the system are not designed for providers. [I think] the systems are inefficient, and new features tend to be "bolt on" features either as products purchased and added from other providers or simply a module created and strapped onto the software. There doesn't seem to be much idea around making things easier for the provider, though they like to state that provider burnout is something they are working on.
Sometimes we get weird error messages. We have been having a problem with our check-in computer and ChiroTouch hasn't been able to figure out the problem
Generally we never have problems with speed. If we have, it's been because we needed to perform software updates, and then it went back to working quickly.
I often cannot assign a proper diagnosis under the assessment section; and as mentioned, sometimes (about once a month) the dictation just freezes because "the request has timed out" (even restarting the iPhone/ laptop does not help).
You put in support cases through a support portal. [I believe] for no apparent reason, the company decided that their support cannot have access to actual patient records and as a result, it's required that they have to connect remotely to a computer system in our network, and log in as one of our users to do anything. This also entails that they are completely incapable of diagnosing problems and require significant amounts of user input and time to try and begin any sort of work on the problems. [In my opinion] this takes away from patient care and other concerns. Also, while you can put in as detailed a ticket as you want, when you are called, you have to go over the ticket again, as they don't seem to read or care what you put in, as it's more important to them to go over everything in painful detail. Often times you must explain to the tech how the process works. In the past month, we were upgraded overnight with zero warning, which caused issues the following day as we had to update every single computer in our network (over 300) and it requires administrative privileges so couldn't be done by a user. This also doesn't update any information in the programs list, so there's no way to tell whether the update happened or not.
Paid for training, did not help. They trained prior to go-live, but it was so long ahead that users weren't able to function well when it actually happened, they seemed unable to provide adequate support. [In my experience] further support is typically very boilerplate, and is thus not useful, and has additional cost.
The particular person we were assigned was not very well versed in the software. Several things we asked about we were told we not possible, and then I later figure out how to do them by myself after getting to know the software. I guess that is what comes from trainers who use the system in theory but not in an actual office. They are basically reading off a script that guides you how to set things up, nothing more. If she didn't know the answer, she didn't research it, she just told us it wasn't possible. However, it was a multi-session training spread out over a couple weeks and they did walk you through all the basics. It does take a lot of customization, so this was appreciated. It would have been very intimidating to do without guided support sessions.
It's very important to limit your schedule during the weeks after go live but it is equally important to have a resource that is the lead at the practice that ensures that milestones are met leading up to the go-live date. Someone must be the point person at the practice otherwise milestones will be missed and the implementation will run into problems.
We had been using medisoft before and it wasn't organized enough or clear enough for insurance billing, coding and doctors notes. Chirotouch solved all of these problems with the additional bonus of being customizable
I was attracted by the final note format of ECW. I said then and still say that most EMR's clinical notes are terrible to try to read and follow in orderly fashion by comparison...BUT the devil is in the data entry and that is where "you live" as a clinician. Incredibly frustrating software because of inflexibility and restrictions of multi level data fields that can only be opened one at a time (i.e. no "toggling" between windows... ooen read and close...then reopen other data entry window....then close and repeat if you need to refer back to original window of data. This applies throughout the software and is due to its reliance on SQL architecture from what I have been told). Kills productivity.
It's reliable, though occasionally has connectivity issues. Their support says it's our computing issue, not the software, but we don't have similar problems with other software. Definitely needs to be backed up daily. We use ChiroTouch's backup and it works well
I will just share one area that our organization saw the ROI in a very short time period. That is the elimination of a dictation service for most of our specialty group doctors when we introducec Dragon Medical. This functionality brought a tangible benefit and a significant ROI in a short time period.
