Epic vs. WebPT

Epic is great to access from home or anywhere there is a wifi connection. It is very convenient for office or hospital employees. One time when it is not optimal is when I write a Certification of Terminal Illness for a hospice patient. I can never see it again. It drops off of Epic. I wish those notes would remain.

Incentivized

Well suited: outpatient private clinics where PTs; sports environments. Less well suited: seems like a large hospital setting might have a more difficult time with the operations. Practices with multiple disciplines in it--are PTs and SLPs and OTs all able to document as they need?

Incentivized

• Interdisciplinary Communication: The care of patients improves when you are able to have the entire care team communicate with each other. Epic makes this process very easy by utilizing one chart for all physicians in the organizations. Care decisions and patient safety are greatly improved by seeing past decision making processes.
• Patient Communication: With features like MyChart and Care Everywhere, Epic gives patients a great deal of control over their information. MyChart acts like a patient portal allowing them to see what their providers have to say, see lab results, make payments, and share information with their doctor all from a mobile device or computer. Having features like this allow the patient to take part in their care.
• Improves Claim Efficiency: The way that Epic handles insurance claims is incredible. Claims are correct and double checked before they are sent to the insurance companies. This in turn, reduces the number of denials and improves the speed of payments.

Incentivized

• The scheduler is easy to use and allows for a clear view of each clinical day, week, and month.
• The authorization/visit limit functions really help in managing each case and assist in minimizing insurance denials.
• The documentation is comprehensive and specific to physical therapy documentation. The ICD-10 lookup function is very helpful.
• Transfer of claim information to Therabill really helps with timely claim submission.

Incentivized

• Difficult to find what you need.
• Almost impossible to correct mistakes.
• Multiple screens must be navigated to get to what you want.

Incentivized

• I wish the patient reminders didn't cost as much to send, and it would be great to be able to send text messages for any other reason.
• WebPT adds on extras that always seem to cost more - overall, it is kind of expensive.
• I always wish the documentation was quicker - but I'm not sure what else that would take.

Incentivized

The ease of use and the modern feeling of the software is what keeps us coming back. Being able to have a new employee trained on the software in less than a week is a money saver. The many other softwares that the team at WebPT offer that intergrate with WebPT is numerous and streamlined.

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 is very easy train people on and make each not the way you would like it. My first time using it I only needed one time walking through it. The software is self explanatory and easy to find what you need in a note

Incentivized

Entire suite down numerous times in 2022 and 2023. Individual modules down as well. Modules rated as operational but not functioning numerous times, most so with scheduling, online intake, and outcomes.

Incentivized

Pages often load slowly. Our iMacs are highly reliable and we are connected to the highest speed Comcast business internet. We also connected each iMac via Cat 9 cable during COVID-19 pandemic to speed telelhealth appointments. Zoom does integrate very well with WebPT for telehealth. Their own modules do not integrate well with each other. For example, patients receive separate emails for patient intake and clinical outcomes. If confuses and frustrates many patients. Similarly, EMR flow sheet does not integrate with HEP creating redundancy.

Incentivized

A dedicated support staff for each module/area is provided by Epic. This is beneficial for points of contact, however, not all support staff are created equal, and there seems to be high turnover in these roles(staff seems to turn over every 1-2 years). This can make it challenging for continuity and quick support resolution as new staff are not as familiar with organization-specific needs, environments, and/or questions.

Incentivized

Support was pretty much always helpful. My only complaint was not being able to always get someone on the phone immediately during working hours and having to wait to hear back. But once we heard back, problems were solved quickly and sufficiently. Staff was always friendly and knowledgeable

Incentivized

WebPT has its entire separate platform for training, containing many different guides, tutorials, and video references to help you become familiar and competent with the software suites. This includes having various demonstrations that allow you to click and navigate pages in the ways you would actually do it in WebPT. WebPT also gives you a sandbox company in the actual website to tinker with and trial things out. This makes it easy to catch and avoid errors you would have otherwise made with active patient data/schedules.

Incentivized

I think it would help to have another education session maybe 6 months after the initial sessions. This would help the user come up with an enhanced experience after they have used the program for a period of time. It is hard to comprehend everything at first, especially for people that need hands on learning

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.

Also, I have used PTWired and HEP2GO, but they were not in the database. WebPT automatically generates a patient profile, which is very helpful. WebPT also doesn't require the patient to download an app from the App Store, which is an added step for patients to perform, which will decrease compliance.

Incentivized

The current terms and pricing would be fair if they provided adequate performance, reliability, support, and customer service. As they have lapsed in these areas WebPT is overpriced. I would not recommend any PT practice of any size agree to a long term contract with WebPT until they prove they will deliver on their promises.

Incentivized

It grew with us from practice inception to our largest size of 12 employees.

Incentivized

Extremely poor technical support and customer service.

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

• The payment on claims when they go through correct is phenomenal and very timely.
• Our productivity is better as notes get done quicker and able to focus more on patient care.
• Sometimes the long flowsheet gets hard to see when treating a chronic patient.