Epic vs. Intergy EHR

Epic is not priced or designed for the small provider offices. However, if current Epic customers are willing, they have the ability to bring those smaller groups onboard through Community Connect. This allowsthe smaller group to have the full benefit of Epic without the hardware and software costs associated with owning Epic.

Incentivized

How well is the product customizable for workflow modifications for my clinic? Does the result flow easily for the provider or are there many chunky clicks required? (i.e. one modification to a workflow between the nurse and provider requires 27 clicks.. ok this accomplished the workflow that was needed but at what cost?) Can your system produce customized reports on the fly, is the data real time or lagging? Can the system be tuned in terms of document/note templates and the Graphic User Interface forms so a particular practice/provider/speciality needs can be taken into account?

Incentivized

• There are doctors' notes templates with prepopulated fields in them. This saves a lot of time.
• Epic sends medication orders to pharmacies electronically so that we do not have to call. This saves a lot of time.
• Epic has a Secure Chat feature via which we can send HIPAA protected messages to any employee with the patient's name and record attached.
• It has a PDMP link. We can look up what controlled medications such as opiates patients have been prescribed and by whom.
• It links to MyChart, which is a platform via which patients can look up their own information without them having to call the doctors. This saves a lot of time.

Incentivized

• Health Reminders- for different patient needs or preventive care/screenings. For example patients who have a diagnosis of Diabetes- their health reminders will show if they need an A1c, foot exam, eye exam, etc. and when it was last performed
• Orders Tracking- This helps nursing staff make notes on referrals or orders and they are able to look at the order tracking section for all patients and filter it by provider, order type, status, etc. to know what needs to be followed up on or what has been completed and so forth...
• Tasks- This is a nice feature that has many different options for use. It can be used internally to send a quick message to another user, a phone message, billing message, and any task gives you the option to make it "patient related" if necessary. It can be used by the providers when they make an order they can then send it to the nurse to complete. Lots of different ways for Tasks to be used

• Visual Updates: While Epic is constantly improving the user experience, there are a few features that still need a design refresh. While this does not effect functionality, it does have an impact on user perception.
• Ordering: While placing an order for a physician is very easy, a few changes to the workflow could improve the experience for physicians.

Incentivized

• Sometimes, Intergy tends to crash on occasion, which is understandable.
• Also, when checking for insurance eligibility, sometimes Intergy will not accept a specific insurance card and I have to call up the insurance to make sure the patient is eligible for coverage. It would be nice if more types of insurances could be added.
• When creating recalls for patients to remind them to visit, sometimes the system does not cooperate properly.

Incentivized

You should invest time into taking a training class before using Epic, but once you get the hang of it the usability features are endless! My favorite part about Epic is how it is automated and "trained" to catch user errors that would typically be missed in normal documentation/charting. This ensures accuracy and eliminates errors.

Incentivized

Very user friendly and efficient

Incentivized

The initial training was good but would have been even better had I been more familiar with the system before taking it. I found learning how to deal with Epic while working in the field at the same time was a (pardon the pun) Epic learning curve. I really think there should be a scribe who does the data entry and others can focus on what they do best.

Incentivized

Usually they are very helpful. I would prefer they do some of the actual changes I am requesting instead of having me do the work. I feel that they could walk you through it, instead of letting you figure out the desired results on your own.

Track all hours and don't sign off on anything if you are not 100% happy.

Incentivized

Epic gives extensive customization options in terms of utility and view. I have found this to be highly useful and efficient EHR as compared to other EHRs we use in our organization.

We moved from Intergy to athenaCollector and athenaClinicals. Athena is cloud-based, meaning we can access it from any location that has internet. My staff misses the ease of scheduling in Intergy, but the accountability of users' productivity is amazing. We had more control over document classification with Intergy, but sometimes that's a double-edged sword. When some people label a document "MRI-Lumbar spine" and others call it "Lumbar Spine MRI," there is some redundancy and sometimes important documents get missed.

Incentivized

• It must have had a positive impact as things get done quicker, leading to easier billing/coding. It must be saving a lot of money and time. I am not aware of a better product.
• Employee satisfaction
• Efficiency

Incentivized

• Intergy has had a positive ROI. The financial tracking and tools have been easy to use and helped recover additional monies for practices.
• Claim Tracker allows practices to have a real time view of all unpaid claims.
• The E&M calculator helps providers choose the appropriate code for billing compliance.