Guest guest Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Yes, we use Tangible Solutions (Happe-MDs). We did have to purchase a new fax server from them when we went with the ASP. We did not notice a difference in speed over having an in-house server. We pay for 3 " seats, " which can be shared if you have part time staff. With 3 seats, the cost was about a wash for us over buying a new server, with the added bonus of no longer having to do the updates for e-MDs ourselves. If you would like more info, you can contact me off-list. Pratt , , and any other e-mds folks: Is anyone using a remote hosting option, and if so, how is that working out?We are faced with purchasing a new server vs. going to the ASP model. (or “cloud”, I suppose it is now called…) Now, as opposed to a few years ago, high speed (reliable?) internet is available in my building. Seems that my monthly costs might be overall reduced using a remote hosting company. Any thoughts/feedback/knowledge would be greatly appreciated!Ramona Ramona G. Seidel, MDwww.baycrossingfamilymedicine.com Arnold, MD410 518-9808 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 While not an eMD user, It looks to me like network maintenance is much of the cost and a server is a smaller part of long term cost when compared with SaaS solutions. A server is just one more PC on your network. Either you pay for it on someone else’s network or on your network. Before you give up a nice responsive local server for an untested remote hosting approach, take a look at what’s driving your decision. Before going the SAAS route test your internet perhaps once ever ten minutes for the next month to see how available it is. You will never know the real story by trying it a few time a day. I know my internet isn’t good enough so I haven’t needed to check it. There is probably a freeware program that can run in the background. Out of curiosity, I’d like to run a long term internet check myself. Anyone know of a utility that can automatically checks your internet connection for speed say every 10 minutes, 24/7 for a month or so? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama Solo using FlexMedical EMR/Billing since 2/2009Attested in 2011 From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Ramona G. SeidelSent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 9:36 AMTo: Subject: e-mds question , , and any other e-mds folks: Is anyone using a remote hosting option, and if so, how is that working out?We are faced with purchasing a new server vs. going to the ASP model. (or “cloud”, I suppose it is now called…)Now, as opposed to a few years ago, high speed (reliable?) internet is available in my building. Seems that my monthly costs might be overall reduced using a remote hosting company. Any th oughts/feedback/knowledge would be greatly appreciated!Ramona Ramona G. Seidel, MDwww.baycrossingfamilymedicine.comArnold, MD410 518-9808 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 , interesting that you outsourced your EMR data but still have a fax server. I’m curious how you save by outsourcing one server while still keeping a server running that could do both jobs. With my EMR, the EMR data and Fax are served by the same PC. From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of PrattSent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 10:17 AMTo: Subject: Re: e-mds question Yes, we use Tangible Solutions (Happe-MDs). We did have to purchase a new fax server from them when we went with the ASP. We did not notice a difference in speed over having an in-house server. We pay for 3 " seats, " which can be shared if you have part time staff. With 3 seats, the cost was about a wash for us over buying a new server, with the added bonus of no longer having to do the updates for e-MDs ourselves. If you would like more info, you can contact me off-list. Pratt , , and any other e-mds folks: Is anyone using a remote hosting option, and if so, how is that working out?We are faced with purchasing a new server vs. going to the ASP model. (or “cloud”, I suppose it is now called…)Now, as opposed to a few years ago, high speed (reliable?) internet is available in my building. Seems that my monthly costs might be overall reduced using a remote hosting company. Any thoughts/feedback/knowledge would be greatly appreciated!Ramona Ramona G. Seidel, MDwww.baycrossingfamilymedicine.comArnold, MD410 518-9808 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 An e-MDs server is not " just one more PC on your network. " It requires setup specific to e-MDs, backup daily, maintenance, etc., and needs to be an actual SERVER, not a PC. There is a huge difference. We had one in-house for 5.5 years. The cost to purchase the server, set it up, and pay someone to maintain it cost us about $225/month over those 5.5 years. PLUS I spent about 6 Saturdays per year coming in to run updates, scripts, and we took home backup tapes weekly (rotating 2 sets of tapes). Logging in remotely was do-able, but slow and took some setting up to be able to print (had to be logged in to a specific computer that had a specific printer hooked up). We now pay $239/month for 3 users, we can access from anywhere (including the iPhones!), can print (unfortunately, NOT from the iPhone) from anywhere. It was worth the extra few $/month to not have to worry about backup. If something goes wrong, we aren't the ones trying to figure it out OR trying to get ahold of our IT guys. I just submit an online ticket or call the 800#, although I have to say that we really haven't had any issues. We had only had our internet go out 1 time in 5.5 years and it was down for less than a day, so internet reliability is not really an issue for us (perhaps being 1 block away from AT & T Global Headquarters helps!). By the same token, we had our e-mds system go down for 2 half days during that same time period. And since we can access it remotely via iPhone or iPad, we are not completely reliant on our in-house internet. We did purchase a mobile hotspot so that Steve can do Nursing Home rounds with the iPad, and that will be our backup if our internet goes down. speedtest.com will test your internet speed. I think it has some sort of way to check it on a regular basis, but I don't think it's free. While not an eMD user, It looks to me like network maintenance is much of the cost and a server is a smaller part of long term cost when compared with SaaS solutions. A server is just one more PC on your network. Either you pay for it on someone else’s network or on your network. Before you give up a nice responsive local server for an untested remote hosting approach, take a look at what’s driving your decision. Before going the SAAS route test your internet perhaps once ever ten minutes for the next month to see how available it is. You will never know the real story by trying it a few time a day. I know my internet isn’t good enough so I haven’t needed to check it. There is probably a freeware program that can run in the background. Out of curiosity, I’d like to run a long term internet check myself. Anyone know of a utility that can automatically checks your internet connection for speed say every 10 minutes, 24/7 for a month or so? Neighbors, MD Huntsville, Alabama Solo using FlexMedical EMR/Billing since 2/2009 Attested in 2011 From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Ramona G. Seidel Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 9:36 AMTo: Subject: e-mds question , , and any other e-mds folks: Is anyone using a remote hosting option, and if so, how is that working out?We are faced with purchasing a new server vs. going to the ASP model. (or “cloud”, I suppose it is now called…) Now, as opposed to a few years ago, high speed (reliable?) internet is available in my building. Seems that my monthly costs might be overall reduced using a remote hosting company. Any th oughts/feedback/knowledge would be greatly appreciated!Ramona Ramona G. Seidel, MD www.baycrossingfamilymedicine.com Arnold, MD 410 518-9808 -- Pratt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 , that’s incredible. With FlexMedical I’ve never had to do any of that maintenance. If the company changes anything they log in at night and aside from a note on my PC in the morning that new features are available the updates are invisible. I see why you got rid of it. From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of PrattSent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 11:46 AMTo: Subject: Re: e-mds question An e-MDs server is not " just one more PC on your network. " It requires setup specific to e-MDs, backup daily, maintenance, etc., and needs to be an actual SERVER, not a PC. There is a huge difference. We had one in-house for 5.5 years. The cost to purchase the server, set it up, and pay someone to maintain it cost us about $225/month over those 5.5 years. PLUS I spent about 6 Saturdays per year coming in to run updates, scripts, and we took home backup tapes weekly (rotating 2 sets of tapes). Logging in remotely was do-able, but slow and took some setting up to be able to print (had to be logged in to a specific computer that had a specific printer hooked up). We now pay $239/month for 3 users, we can access from anywhere (including the iPhones!), can print (unfortunately, NOT from the iPhone) from anywhere. It was worth the extra few $/month to not have to worry about backup. If something goes wrong, we aren't the ones trying to figure it out OR trying to get ahold of our IT guys. I just submit an online ticket or call the 800#, although I have to say that we really haven't had any issues. We had only had our internet go out 1 time in 5.5 years and it was down for less than a day, so internet reliability is not really an issue for us (perhaps being 1 block away from AT & T Global Headquarters helps!). By the same token, we had our e-mds system go down for 2 half days during that same time period. And since we can access it remotely via iPhone or iPad, we are not completely reliant on our in-house internet. We did purchase a mobile hotspot so that Steve can do Nursing Home rounds with the iPad, and that will be our backup if our internet goes down. speedtest.com will test your internet speed. I think it has some sort of way to check it on a regular basis, but I don't think it's free. While not an eMD user, It looks to me like network maintenance is much of the cost and a server is a smaller part of long term cost when compared with SaaS solutions. A server is just one more PC on your network. Either you pay for it on someone else’s network or on your network. Before you give up a nice responsive local server for an untested remote hosting approach, take a look at what’s driving your decision. Before going the SAAS route test your internet perhaps once ever ten minutes for the next month to see how available it is. You will never know the real story by trying it a few time a day. I know my internet isn’t good enough so I haven’t needed to check it. There is probably a freeware program that can run in the background. Out of curiosity, I’d like to run a long term internet check myself. Anyone know of a utility that can automatically checks your internet connection for speed say every 10 minutes, 24/7 for a month or so? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama Solo using FlexMedical EMR/Billing since 2/2009Attested in 2011 From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Ramona G. SeidelSent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 9:36 AMTo: Subject: e-mds question , , and any other e-mds folks: Is anyone using a remote hosting option, and if so, how is that working out?We are faced with purchasing a new server vs. going to the ASP model. (or “cloud”, I suppose it is now called…)Now, as opposed to a few years ago, high speed (reliable?) internet is available in my building. Seems that my monthly costs might be overall reduced using a remote hosting company. Any th oughts/feedback/knowledge would be greatly appreciated!Ramona Ramona G. Seidel, MDwww.baycrossingfamilymedicine.comArnold, MD410 518-9808 -- Pratt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.