Ehr Bargains Review – Purpose Ally

(Survival Tips for Small Practices)

Most of us know Office Ally every bit a gratuitous clearinghouse for medical claims processing. Over fourth dimension Office Ally has consistently added spider web based services to their master copy claim processing offering. First came Office Mate, a Practice Management System, as well as then came Patient Ally, a Personal Health Record as well as instantly nosotros accept the Office Ally EHR. Since most offerings are completely FREE to physicians, I idea this would endure a practiced fourth dimension to review the Office Ally selection for a cash strapped small-scale do attempting to boot the bucket electronic as well as qualify for regime incentives.

The Concept of FREE

Unlike most other FREE products on the market, the Office Ally model is really slowly to understand. Office Ally’s revenue flow comes from its clearinghouse operations as well as originates amongst payers. All clearinghouses have transactional payments from insurers as well as inwards add-on they also accuse monthly fees from submitters. Office Ally is forgoing the submitter fees, which average nearly $100 per provider/per month, for electronic claims, electronic remittance as well as eligibility checks.

Office Ally’s spider web based services create non require lengthy contracts. You utilization it if you lot similar as well as you lot halt using it if you lot don’t. Most “free” clearinghouse services require that you lot outsource your billing as well as pay betwixt 5% as well as 8% of internet collections. Office Ally does non offering an outsourced billing service as well as you lot may boot the bucket along to create your billing inwards house. As far every bit I tin tell, the products are non mention supported, hence you lot volition non encounter Diabetes Wonder Drug ads every fourth dimension you lot access a nautical chart amongst a documented ICD-9 of 250.00. Since the products are spider web based, your information volition endure residing at the vendor information centers. I accept non seen a populace contestation on Office Ally’s policy regarding their utilization of deidentified patient information collected from their customers. This should endure clarified earlier you lot sign upward for the service.

Office Ally EHR

The novel Office Ally EHR is spider web based as well as has the mightiness to integrate a certified electronic prescribing solution from NewCrop. The EHR is non free. The subscription fee is $29.95 per provider/per month. You tin cancel the contract amongst a xxx days’ honour as well as larn your information exported for a apartment fee of $39.95. The electronic prescribing module runs at $30.99 per provider/per calendar month for the sum service every bit required for Meaningful Use. This brings the sum parcel monthly cost to $60.94 per provider. This comes to nearly one-half the cost of Amazing Charts, the Gold touchstone for affordable EHR solutions. To endure certain the Office Ally EHR does non include advanced functionality similar clinical determination support, social club sets, character reporting, lab interfaces as well as other advanced features available to the CCHIT certified Amazing Charts users. These features volition endure required for regime incentives. It is possible that Office Ally volition endure adding features as well as eventually volition endure applying for Meaningful Use certification, only at this signal inwards fourth dimension at that spot are no expressed guarantees as well as I would hold off the electrical flow subscription fees to growth for a fully certified product.

Practice Mate

Practice Mate is a typical Practice Management System amongst registration, scheduling as well as billing management functionality. It is gratuitous to clearinghouse users. While lacking bells as well as whistles functionality, Practice Mate should serve a small-scale do good enough. There is a telephone reminders service that tin endure added for a book based fee.

Patient Ally

The patient portal, or PHR, is completely gratuitous as well as integrates straight into the Practice Mate as well as the novel EHR. It has the basic functionality institute inwards most patient portals, such every bit secure patient communications, refill requests, appointment requests, viewing results, etc.

Office Ally Billing Clearinghouse

This is the master copy flagship service offering. It is gratuitous for providers submitting to a greater extent than than 50% of their claims to commercial payers (not Medicare/Medicaid). Otherwise, at that spot is a apartment fee of $19.95 per provider per month. The clearinghouse is inwards broad utilization as well as the payer list, field non roofing 100% of payers, is steadily growing. The clearinghouse tin be, as well as is, used inwards conjunction amongst other EHR/PMS software, through take away access past times newspaper based offices or every bit component subdivision of the entire suite of Office Ally suite of products.

Bottom Line

The Office Ally EHR is the most recent add-on to a historically billing focused company, in all likelihood inwards an get to offering the client base of operations a path to achieving Meaningful Use, field creating a novel revenue flow for Office Ally. All inwards all, the EHR is really basic as well as volition require to rapidly add together a host of feature/functionality inwards social club to certify for Meaningful Use. The cost signal is really attractive for a small-scale do as well as hence is the completely spider web based model. From what I could see, the EHR software is every bit clear as well as uncomplicated every bit the older Office Ally minimalistic modules. This is practiced intelligence for a do trying to salvage money on grooming as well as implementation.

If the EHR becomes Meaningful Use certified, field maintaining the thin aspect & experience as well as a cost signal good below $100 per provider/per calendar month for an entire integrated suite of clinical as well as trouble organization products, I would charge per unit of measurement it every bit a definite Best Buy. Right instantly I would state it is definitely worth adding to a small-scale do curt listing of products to review.

07/18/2011 Update: Office Ally EHR is certified every bit a Complete EHR past times an ONC-ATCB for 2011-2012. It is also CCHIT 2011 pre-market certified. Last calendar week Office Ally announced that its "full suite of office back upward tools for healthcare providers is instantly compatible amongst all Apple products, including MAC computers as well as iPads".

Next Review: Amazing Charts