Epic vs. Prime Suite 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

PrimeSuite is great for a practice that has knowledgeable billing staff and a hands-on approach to billing; it is not ideal for those who need something more automated. You can customize PrimeSuite to prevent posting errors at charge entry and to catch some common mistakes. However, these must be set up by someone who knows what those errors are, and as payers change their requirements, they must be updated.

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

• It is a trusty software that does not crash or glitch very often
• It is very secure
• I can use it from different locations

Incentivized

• 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

• Speed, it continues getting slower and slower with each new upgrade.
• Prime Suite does not use the screen space very effectively. On larger monitors with higher resolution, there is a LOT of wasted space.
• Strange errors pop up that give little to no useful information about what the issue is, and the typical response from support is to uninstall and reinstall the programs on the workstation.

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

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

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.

I liked PracticeAdmin for the way it showed key metrics and the simplicity of the software. However, you get what you pay for, and PrimeSuite has so much more functionality than PracticeAdmin ever did. I prefer the reporting, the options available in setup, just the overall customization you can do with PrimeSuite to that of other platforms.

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