Epic Cadence

Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Easy to program and propagate across different specialties

integration with Onbase ECM system.

Faster for users with keyboard only access if preferred.

Overall faster performance of system interface access.

Web-based application with full features.

Visually the schedule is very easy to see and you can get a great snap shot of the entire day regardless of how many providers you are scheduling for.

They also have easy to use templates for scheduling productivity.

Other systems offer a bit more support - such as easy to see patient confirmations on the schedule, calls to patients in need of follow-up appointments, saving your staff valuable time, and quick and easy reports added to your dashboard of insurances that need further authorization.

The system is simple to use it helps schedulers create appointments and, avoids placing patients in situations where they are scheduled at the same time in different facilities.

It has many reports that can help managers maintain a smooth operation and shows what areas need to improve.

It has a one place for all scheduling information for schedulers to see patient's appointments, especially when patients do not recall where or when their next appointments will be.

The system can be created in such a way that you can control who can make appointments and who can't.

They system when built provides warnings to schedulers helping to minimize many scheduling errors like overbooking.

I may not call it a weakness, but previously getting certification for the application was difficult.

Things have become better in providing analyst information on how the system should be built. In my early experience, I had to learn things myself seeking assistance from the technical support from Epic.

Upgrades usually comes every two years, keeping up with the things they have upgraded takes learning.

Sometimes they tend to change many functionalities for the better, but sometimes better is not good.

Cadence is particularly good at scheduling. It is a simple interface that allows a provider to have a diverse schedule while making sure that patients are seen at the appropriate times.

Mistakes are minimized through a series of schedule locks and customizations.

Cadence really shines in complex scheduling scenarios allowing a user to schedule a patient with multiple providers while making sure those providers are available.

I would like to see the process streamlined. Currently there are about 3 screens for the full scheduling process. I think this could be cut to one.

I would also like to see a user customizable scheduling screen for different types of appointments.

Templates are much easier to build now in EPIC 2014. In some of our practices, Prior to Cadence, one of our largest practices (averaging 250-300 pts per day) would build out templates in their old systems and only publish one month in advance since their templates were so hard to change. With Cadence they now publish 1 year in advance because template changes are the fly are so easy to do . Patient satisfaction has grown tremendously as well since now patients are given "real" appointments not told to call back next month when the schedules open up

Recalls: Recalls have been a tremendous asset to many of our practices. Our Cardiology practice utilizes recalls and we have built out a custom access data base that is accessed the first day of each month which prints out patient labels based on month of recall to put on postcards that are mailed to patients. Postcards state that your 6,9, 12 month recall is due, Please call the practice to schedule. Patients love it.

Access to schedule Appointments thru My Chart" For some practices we have built time slots in Cadence for self scheduling. This is mostly in our Primary Care departments for physicals.

DAR ( Department Appointment Report ) - everyone absolutely loves customized DARS. We have been able to add so many "at a glance" things to the DAR. We recently pulled in an abstract icon to the DAR to alert new practices as they come up, that charts have been abstracted prior to the appointments, saving time for the Med. Assistance doing this from scratch with the patients there. This saves the patient so much time as well as the practice. On time performance has improved. Two days prior to a scheduled appts, the DAR is accessed and at a glance, anyone without that icon, will need to have a paper chart pulled, and abstracted prior to the patients arrival.

Auto Confirmation: We have contracted with a EPIC recommended service, to auto confirm appointments set on a standard criteria for some large practices saving staff time and monies.

Questionnaires: EPIC seems to be very stringent on questionnaires and how may can be attached (only 1) on a Cadence level causing us to be quite inventive on how to get questioned answered on only certain visit types. One big stumbling block was the Ebola questionnaire. Currently we have a particular questionnaire for new Phy. Therapy patients which prevents us from adding the Ebola questionnaire to NEW patients. We are still struggling with this.

Patient Itinerates used for multiple appointments: Not very professional looking regardless of how you set up (OP visits, instructions etc: Most practices will not use the itinerary therefore adding dollars to having printing cards with the practice name on them. (the old fashioned way)

Building new DEP records: Wish there was a way to copy entire builds from one DEP to another.

Security": EPIC security is a nightmare to develop for multi faced users. RN that schedule appointments. Many of our practices are small practices that only have 2-3 people (the doc, the RN and the scheduler/biller . This creates the need for everyone to do everything from a scheduling perspective and building this security can become very cumbersome from practice to practice as each is unique.

Continuity of Care

Reliability

Efficiency

Simplicity

Easier appointment conversion for newly acquired facilities

Visual interface (GUI) that is better than most of the competition out there.

Integration with all other Epic modules, allowing for the entire Patient Access flow to be contained within one system.

More power and administrative roles are given to the users rather than the IT staff, providing easier maintenance of the product.

Better reports.

Better ability to customize the schedules.

Integration with other medical records products.

Easy, intuitive registration process for end users.

Only one day of training required.

Currently not integrated with patient self-scheduling at our organization.

Difficulty of accessing registration information from the patient medical chart.

Complicated payment process.

Identifies patient popualtion

Tracks referral, orders, etc.

Tracks Meaningful Use measures.

Providing specific details about what certain measures mean.

Its layout could be clearer.

Organization of topics