Epic vs. Valant EHR

Epic is very good on the medical side and continues improving mental health and dental care. Having integrated telehealth via Zoom was a game-changer. During COVID, it was vital to have telehealth options and to ensure it was completely HIPAA Compliant and easy to document inside their health record.

Incentivized

Valant is a great space for front office to use in a patient/medical setting. I think it's best used on a small scale than a large scale. I have found it challenging at times with multiple locations and with about 3000 patients to keep track. Valant is excellent at record keeping, and communicating with the client via the patient portal. However, due to size and limited functionality - this would be hard to maintain for a larger scale.

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

• User Friendly - Valant is user friendly and easy to navigate
• Record Keeping - it allows you to upload docs and files within the patient charts to keep on file at all times.
• Scheduling - Easy to view and make/edit appointments
• Access Management - easy to set features viewable by specific people only such as physicians versus nonclinical
• Reporting - lots of reporting that can be used for a multitude of things from payment billing to notes, etc

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

• BILLING- This is all Caps - There can be room for improvement in terms of billing efficiency
• Automatic Reporting - this would be beneficial to set up or have as a feature
• Billing Dashboard - to view all accounts that have matured or are outstanding
• Batch Posting - be it insurances or specific patients. Even Superbills cannot be "chosen" by specific people - it's all clients with balances that are active or no balances and all charges but nothing that says you want statements for say these 20 people.
• Appointment Recording - this could be more efficient versus one by one processing.

Incentivized

It is beyond measure the best EHR on the market.

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

It's very user friendly. The workspace is big, easy to read and navigate. Also, the resource knowledge base is great for when you have questions and there are several videos and guides for how to use or do something. I have had less than a year of using it and adopted it pretty quickly within the first 3 months.

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

Well-vetted lesson plans that teach you what you need to know for success.

Incentivized

While not as effective as in-person training, it is still adequate.

Incentivized

Epic has a regimented implementation process that ensures a successful go-live.

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.

• Being able to track and document all of our services in the same place has made an exceptional improvement in continuity of patient care, both internally across departments (medical/dental/mental health) and externally with specialists and other healthcare organizations on a national scale.
• Continuous improvements in Data reporting and analytics make tracking and implementing quality improvement measures throughout the year easy.
• Massive improvements to the ELLA training platform, combined with detailed and interactive training materials for all system areas, make onboarding and staff training much easier!

Incentivized

• Labor efficiency - this has been negative. Billing has had a lot of manual processes that unfortunately take up a lot of man hours - if this were improved, I could see a ROI that's positive
• Valant has been great at certain features including the "waitlist" to capture patients and improve our chances for revenue being increased

Incentivized