Healthcare is all about ensuring a high-quality, seamless patient experience while maintaining an effective and productive practice. In reviewing my professional career and experience with healthcare IT — including how I found my way “back home” to eClinicalWorks — I realized something that I had really known all along: eClinicalWorks is the comprehensive solution that empowers my practice to be the best it can be.
Texas Family Medicine provides full-service medical care to families over multiple generations, from infants to grandparents. Learn more about us at TexasFamilyMedicine.com.
My journey with eClinicalWorks
2010/2011 — The Start Back in 2010-11, I was building my own independent practice with a couple of other doctors and decided to switch from a small EHR company to eClinicalWorks. We worked on the server version of the software and were doing great with it.
January 2020 — The Merge
The start of a new decade saw some significant changes for the nation and the healthcare sector, most notably the challenges of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. And there were significant changes in my professional life, as well. Just before the pandemic, my practice merged with another local healthcare group. This group was already on eClinicalWorks but was utilizing the web version. We continued with eClinicalWorks, albeit on the new format, and continued to enjoy its flexibility and innovation.
2023 — Career Shift
By mid-2023, I had decided to work as a solo provider once more. But despite knowing my departure from my group practice was imminent, contractual obligations delayed my departure by several months. The group practice at that time had decided to make a switch from eClinicalWorks to another leading EHR vendor. I decided to give that alternative a try. What better time to seize the opportunity to experiment? For all I knew, a new EHR might prove to be a viable alternative to eClinicalWorks once I set up my own practice again.
August 2023 — Testing Another EHR
My trial with the other leading EHR started, and I was able to fully test it for a good four to five months. My intention was to gauge whether it was a more fitting solution for my practice than eClinicalWorks. By the end of 2023, I left the group and my trial with the other EHR had ended. It was then that I realized that, despite this other EHR being a major player in the market, it simply wasn’t the right fit for my healthcare practice.
January 2024 — Reconnecting Back Home With the start of a new year, the time was right both to return to solo practice and to once again adopt the EHR that I had known and enjoyed using for so long. Confident in my decision, I reached out to the eClinicalWorks team to share my experiences, the journey I had taken, and my decision to return. The team introduced me to a new product, tailored for practices like mine — starting afresh and unsure of the initial patient volume. The pricing structure was accommodating, ensuring that stepping back into eClinicalWorks would not be cost-prohibitive for a new setup like mine.
February 2024 — A New Chapter, New Practice
I took January to set up the practice and opened it in February 2024. Starting a new practice comes with its fair share of uncertainties, especially when, technically, I had no patients yet. However, being in the same city where I had built my previous practice, many of my patients chose to follow me. Thanks to this, my practice took off, and I found myself very busy. Moving beyond the initial phase, I switched back to eClinicalWorks. It’s a relief to know that I don’t need that support anymore and can move ahead at full speed with eClinicalWorks. Today, I can firmly say that my return to eClinicalWorks marked a new, promising chapter in my healthcare practice journey.
Key Findings
Returning to eClinicalWorks was like stepping back into a familiar yet newly renovated home. In retrospect, the journey has taught me many lessons, the most significant being realizing the importance of a comprehensive, reliable EHR system like eClinicalWorks in running a successful healthcare practice.
Detailing is Everything
With the other EHR vendor, what caught my attention was the lack of detail in the charts and the inability to effectively track things over time. There was loss of valuable data and details, a crucial aspect in medical practice. However, eClinicalWorks’ ability to provide detailed, longitudinal patient records not only enables efficient patient care but also empowers practitioners with insights to continually improve services.
Embracing the Features and Innovations
One aspect I’ve always loved about eClinicalWorks is the continual innovation and upgrade of features, enhancing the overall user experience. After my brief hiatus from the platform, I was pleasantly surprised by the new additions I had missed. The annual National Conference was an exciting opportunity to learn about these advancements. While I can’t tell whether these are recent introductions or whether my previous practice was merely not using them, the joy of discovering something new on a familiar platform was an exciting experience.
Customization, Flexibility and Completeness
Perhaps the most striking difference between the two platforms was the level of detail you could enter into the patient’s chart. For instance, in the History of Present Illness, the other platform just did not include a section for allergic rhinitis and for documenting other various medical conditions. There were around 50 to 75 prebuilt sections for history input, a figure that pales in comparison to the innumerable potential conditions a patient could have. Altering and customizing that EHR interface was quite a challenge. With eClinicalWorks, I could easily add new sections on the fly, offering flexibility.
Superior Telehealth Functionality
One of the pivotal aspects where eClinicalWorks shines is its integration with healow TeleVisits. With the recent emphasis on telehealth due to global circumstances, having a reliable telehealth solution is critical. eClinicalWorks excels in this department, offering a smooth and convenient platform for virtual healthcare consultations. eClinicalWorks is ahead of the curve. Patients appreciate this convenience — the ability to have a consultation from the comfort of their homes without the hassle of waiting rooms.
The Power of Patient Portals
The Patient Portal is another area where eClinicalWorks outshines other EHRs. Every major EMR company might have a patient portal, but not all of them are user-friendly or flexible. The options and convenience eClinicalWorks offer, whether it’s posting notes into lab results, sending a message, or using text messaging — the ease of use is remarkable.
Balancing Efficient Communication
The flexibility offered by eClinicalWorks enables me to cater to different patient preferences. A point to note is that phone calls can often become time-consuming, leading to potential follow-up questions. Also, from a business perspective, it’s important to find the balance between providing necessary information to the patients and generating income for the services provided. eClinicalWorks effectively helps me navigate this line.
eClinicalWorks — The Clear Choice
eClinicalWorks offers a user experience that’s hard to match. The level of customization, detail-oriented charting, and innovative features ensure that my practice continues to deliver outstanding patient care. The return to eClinicalWorks has not only benefited my practice operationally but also contributed significantly to enhancing the patient experience. As my practice continues to grow, I am confident in my decision to return to eClinicalWorks and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.
