NextGen Healthcare EHR vs. Aaniie, formerly Smartcare Software

I would recommend NextGen Healthcare EHR 9 times out of 10 for a mid-sized multi-specialty practice, internal medicine, family practice, peds, and behavioral health (for CHCs, FQHCs, and private practice), but beyond that, I don't believe that NextGen Healthcare EHR is the best solution most times. Consider having all staff at all levels read "Raving Fans" and employ the model. Do what you do well, don't do what you can't do well. You'll be far more successful.

Incentivized

I am not able to think of a scenario where Smartcare Software is less appropriate. All the scenarios that we use it for are appropriate and well-suited. We are very pleased with its user-friendliness, functionality and versatility and it allows us to function better and more efficiently than we would without it

Incentivized

• NextGen has always stayed on top of the many changes every year and remained certified. I have seen many EHR companies go out of business or seen users have to change EHR systems in order to remain compliant for reporting.
• With NextGen, I am able to make a few customizations that my providers ask for to make their documentation easier. Not all EHR's are customizable. While it is not best practice to do a lot of customizations, sometimes it is worth the extra work to keep your providers happy!
• I love going to the NextGen User Group Meeting they have every year. I always learn things I didn't know and learn more about the things I do. They offer classes for everyone no matter what you do that pertains to NextGen. Even Government updates for healthcare.

Incentivized

• Scheduling
• Communication
• HR records
• Client information and management
• Notifications and alerts
• Billing and invoicing

Incentivized

• EHR and Practice Management are two completely different interfaces within the same program and are not easily navigated.
• Only super users can perform all tasks, making it so all staff needs to become a super user.
• Credit Card processing is difficult to set up and change-- we moved offices but need to process CC payments through our old office.
• When patients prefill their registration information online, we are unable to confirm their insurance information due to small glitches with the program.
• There are multiple ways to view the daily schedule, and none of them are easy to use.

Incentivized

• Sometimes takes a long time to load
• GPS not always accurate when recording clock-in location
• Give us the option to show or hide client's phone number from caregiver shift reminder email
• Provide the ability to tell when a message has been seen on the desktop version, just as we can in the app version
• Update tutorials and training videos to keep up with the upgrades

Incentivized

The usability of the product is great. The difficulty that we have is in the background with the speed of servers or of things loading. If there are any issues with the remote server, things can really slow down drastically.

Incentivized

Pages load quickly and reports are uploaded quickly. It just takes far too many clicks to get anything complete in this program. If a patient wants to pay for something after we have checked them out of their appointment, or wants to make an appointment it is not efficient. In a busy practice like ours efficiency is key and we need to keep the flow going

Incentivized

Tier 1 support is useless. They gather details we've already provided and have no idea how to help us. Techs just call rather than scheduling an appointment which means we are in the middle of something else and our internal IT is unavailable to provide appropriate connection. Webex details aren't provided in advance of the call so it's difficult to get connected timely to have a conversation in real time during the support session. Many issues drag on for months and tickets get closed without resolution. It's a "known issue" is the most unhelpful response to a recurring problem. UGM Learning Lab is perfect because the issues based experts are there! It would be ideal to always be connected like that in real time

Incentivized

NG is like no other software I have ever used. I thought if you used one software they are all alike. Not this software, it is totally different but let me tell you very thorough and it also can track anything that anyone has done in a work day. Good auditing system.

Incentivized

There are a lot of software programs out there that do the same or similar things, but we chose Smartcare Software because it was good value for money. All the functionality it offers address the elements of our business that allow us to be more efficient. It is user friendly and the support is prompt and knowledgeable

Incentivized

• Our AR days are very low compared to industry standard.
• We end up using many 3rd party tools (IMO, virtual scribes, voice recognition, etc.) to accommodate shortfalls.
• In my experience, some support issues take over a year to resolve. In the meantime, you have to develop workarounds.

Incentivized

• Time saved with pre-packaged reports
• Real-time alerts/notifications that allow us to be proactive and not reactive
• HR functions increase productivity and efficiency

Incentivized