Guest guest Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 We don't use this product but from the chart reviews I do on other organizations I can tell you that APTA Connect is a far superior product to anything else I've seen. Â Alan PetrazziPittsburgh, PA Subject: Re: APTA Connect To: PTManager Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 3:06 PM Â Hi Randy, We are intending on going with APTA Connect in 2012 and I am wondering what kinds of issues you are having. We have had Meditech in the past and it just doesn't work well for our Rehab documentation, have also looked into ReDocs, Hands On Technology and a few others. We are a CAH with a large Rehab staff, inpatient and outpatient PT/OT/ST, peds, hands, and sportsmedicine. any insight you can offer will be helpful. Thank you. Wodzinski, MSPT, CSCS Rehab Manager Bell Hospital Ishpeming MI > > Is anyone currently using APTA Connect for EMR? We went live about 6 months ago and are still having several issues. I'm interested in how others have built out their flowsheet and how it is working, how the outcome/ stats analysis reports are working for you, and if or how you have set up communication with the front desk staff through the system. I would be more than happy to share our experience/ what we've learned. > > Randy , PT > Director of Rehabilitation > Memorial Hospital of Union County > sville, OH > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 , I could give you a list of concerns, but a great example is my experience today.  When we initially went live there wasn't data to use for training on the analytics (stats/data analysis), so all that was covered was a brief, superficial " what you can do " type of explanation.  We were supposed to get a training session on that once we had a month or two of data.  We went to do that later and there were errors/bugs in the system when trying to use custom reports.  So we were supposed to have a session when that got worked out.  We upgraded to the newest version, which eliminated the errors, but the training session never happened.  So we have tried to muddle our way on our own. Today i was trying to put together some reports so we could finally quit keeping our stats by hand and excel spreadsheet.  So I tried to do a basic report so that I can select a day of interest and see how many OP visits we had, how many units were produced, and how many no-shows and cancels we had.  I couldn't get it to work, so i called support.  The support tech stated that the scheduled data doesn't connect to the analytics, so the ns/cancels were out (that seems like a basic function), we worked through the visits and units, but given the canned reports the system comes with and the fact that none are accurate, i will wait to determine if it indeed is accurate.  That's a small piece of frustration from today.  We have been building / training since January 2011, went live May 2011, and we still spend about 3+ hours/ week working through issues, some with system, some with trying to get it to work with our Paragon system. One of the reasons we chose the system is because it has been around for a while, but it has flaws that just seem like they never got feedback from actual therapists.  For example, the flow sheet alphabetizes the exercises you group.  So if you make a total knee exercise kit, it will alphabetize each exercises.  If you do an exercise that is not in the " kit " you can easily add it.  Well over time there gets to be a lot of exercises and the box that pops up to enter parameters (reps, sets.....) is about 3 in. H and 5 in. W (so you can only see the first 7-8 exercises).  You find yourself looking all over the place for the checked exercises (the ones that are currently being performed) and you have no way of indicating in what order you perform them.  So if you like to group the exercises to avoid having your patient flipping over and back from prone to supine or NWB to WB..... you can't group them.  Hopefully you can follow that.  It seem like a simple fix - just put a sequence column that allows ordering of exercises (they actually have this feature for goals, which I could care less about ordering). If you have any questions, please ask.  This is a hard decision I know.  I have not heard many good things about other systems (except from the sales guys, who will disappear once you purchase), so APTA may be good in comparison. Randy ________________________________ To: PTManager Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 11:06 AM Subject: Re: APTA Connect  Hi Randy, We are intending on going with APTA Connect in 2012 and I am wondering what kinds of issues you are having. We have had Meditech in the past and it just doesn't work well for our Rehab documentation, have also looked into ReDocs, Hands On Technology and a few others. We are a CAH with a large Rehab staff, inpatient and outpatient PT/OT/ST, peds, hands, and sportsmedicine. any insight you can offer will be helpful. Thank you. Wodzinski, MSPT, CSCS Rehab Manager Bell Hospital Ishpeming MI > > Is anyone currently using APTA Connect for EMR? We went live about 6 months ago and are still having several issues. I'm interested in how others have built out their flowsheet and how it is working, how the outcome/ stats analysis reports are working for you, and if or how you have set up communication with the front desk staff through the system. I would be more than happy to share our experience/ what we've learned. > > Randy , PT > Director of Rehabilitation > Memorial Hospital of Union County > sville, OH > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 , I am the director of our faculty clinical practice at Washington University in St. Louis. We specifically chose APTA Connect over other products because of the ability to customize note forms (particularly since we have a large number of specialty/niche areas), track clinical outcomes, ultimately do more clinical research, and have our info pulled into the National Outcomes Database. We " went live " in January, 2010 with documentation. In January, 2011 we began to use the patient interface/kiosk mode which allows us to e-mail health history and outcome questionnaires to patients. We plan to start using it in January, 2012 to participate in CMS's PQRS initiative. I agree with Randy, that the training can be somewhat limited and there was (and is) a major learning curve. We, too had to create interfaces with our billing/scheduling system and an outbound interface to the medical school's EMR (permanent clinical record). That said, Cedaron has been very flexible and amenable to modifying their product to our many, very specific demands. The implementation was rough, but in speaking with many other colleagues in a variety of practice settings, this is typical for any EMR/EHR system. The greatest advantages of Connect are that it is specific to therapy and it is HIGHLY customizable. If you're interested in talking with me more, I'm happy to share any information with you, Beth Crowner, PT, DPT, NCS Division Director of Clinical Practice Washington University, Program in Physical Therapy (314)286-1416 ________________________________ To: " PTManager " <PTManager > Sent: Friday, November 4, 2011 8:35 PM Subject: Re: Re: APTA Connect  , I could give you a list of concerns, but a great example is my experience today.  When we initially went live there wasn't data to use for training on the analytics (stats/data analysis), so all that was covered was a brief, superficial " what you can do " type of explanation.  We were supposed to get a training session on that once we had a month or two of data.  We went to do that later and there were errors/bugs in the system when trying to use custom reports.  So we were supposed to have a session when that got worked out.  We upgraded to the newest version, which eliminated the errors, but the training session never happened.  So we have tried to muddle our way on our own. Today i was trying to put together some reports so we could finally quit keeping our stats by hand and excel spreadsheet.  So I tried to do a basic report so that I can select a day of interest and see how many OP visits we had, how many units were produced, and how many no-shows and cancels we had.  I couldn't get it to work, so i called support.  The support tech stated that the scheduled data doesn't connect to the analytics, so the ns/cancels were out (that seems like a basic function), we worked through the visits and units, but given the canned reports the system comes with and the fact that none are accurate, i will wait to determine if it indeed is accurate.  That's a small piece of frustration from today.  We have been building / training since January 2011, went live May 2011, and we still spend about 3+ hours/ week working through issues, some with system, some with trying to get it to work with our Paragon system. One of the reasons we chose the system is because it has been around for a while, but it has flaws that just seem like they never got feedback from actual therapists.  For example, the flow sheet alphabetizes the exercises you group.  So if you make a total knee exercise kit, it will alphabetize each exercises.  If you do an exercise that is not in the " kit " you can easily add it.  Well over time there gets to be a lot of exercises and the box that pops up to enter parameters (reps, sets.....) is about 3 in. H and 5 in. W (so you can only see the first 7-8 exercises).  You find yourself looking all over the place for the checked exercises (the ones that are currently being performed) and you have no way of indicating in what order you perform them.  So if you like to group the exercises to avoid having your patient flipping over and back from prone to supine or NWB to WB..... you can't group them.  Hopefully you can follow that.  It seem like a simple fix - just put a sequence column that allows ordering of exercises (they actually have this feature for goals, which I could care less about ordering). If you have any questions, please ask.  This is a hard decision I know.  I have not heard many good things about other systems (except from the sales guys, who will disappear once you purchase), so APTA may be good in comparison. Randy ________________________________ To: PTManager Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 11:06 AM Subject: Re: APTA Connect  Hi Randy, We are intending on going with APTA Connect in 2012 and I am wondering what kinds of issues you are having. We have had Meditech in the past and it just doesn't work well for our Rehab documentation, have also looked into ReDocs, Hands On Technology and a few others. We are a CAH with a large Rehab staff, inpatient and outpatient PT/OT/ST, peds, hands, and sportsmedicine. any insight you can offer will be helpful. Thank you. Wodzinski, MSPT, CSCS Rehab Manager Bell Hospital Ishpeming MI > > Is anyone currently using APTA Connect for EMR? We went live about 6 months ago and are still having several issues. I'm interested in how others have built out their flowsheet and how it is working, how the outcome/ stats analysis reports are working for you, and if or how you have set up communication with the front desk staff through the system. I would be more than happy to share our experience/ what we've learned. > > Randy , PT > Director of Rehabilitation > Memorial Hospital of Union County > sville, OH > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 , I am the director of our faculty clinical practice at Washington University in St. Louis. We specifically chose APTA Connect over other products because of the ability to customize note forms (particularly since we have a large number of specialty/niche areas), track clinical outcomes, ultimately do more clinical research, and have our info pulled into the National Outcomes Database. We " went live " in January, 2010 with documentation. In January, 2011 we began to use the patient interface/kiosk mode which allows us to e-mail health history and outcome questionnaires to patients. We plan to start using it in January, 2012 to participate in CMS's PQRS initiative. I agree with Randy, that the training can be somewhat limited and there was (and is) a major learning curve. We, too had to create interfaces with our billing/scheduling system and an outbound interface to the medical school's EMR (permanent clinical record). That said, Cedaron has been very flexible and amenable to modifying their product to our many, very specific demands. The implementation was rough, but in speaking with many other colleagues in a variety of practice settings, this is typical for any EMR/EHR system. The greatest advantages of Connect are that it is specific to therapy and it is HIGHLY customizable. If you're interested in talking with me more, I'm happy to share any information with you, Beth Crowner, PT, DPT, NCS Division Director of Clinical Practice Washington University, Program in Physical Therapy (314)286-1416 ________________________________ To: " PTManager " <PTManager > Sent: Friday, November 4, 2011 8:35 PM Subject: Re: Re: APTA Connect  , I could give you a list of concerns, but a great example is my experience today.  When we initially went live there wasn't data to use for training on the analytics (stats/data analysis), so all that was covered was a brief, superficial " what you can do " type of explanation.  We were supposed to get a training session on that once we had a month or two of data.  We went to do that later and there were errors/bugs in the system when trying to use custom reports.  So we were supposed to have a session when that got worked out.  We upgraded to the newest version, which eliminated the errors, but the training session never happened.  So we have tried to muddle our way on our own. Today i was trying to put together some reports so we could finally quit keeping our stats by hand and excel spreadsheet.  So I tried to do a basic report so that I can select a day of interest and see how many OP visits we had, how many units were produced, and how many no-shows and cancels we had.  I couldn't get it to work, so i called support.  The support tech stated that the scheduled data doesn't connect to the analytics, so the ns/cancels were out (that seems like a basic function), we worked through the visits and units, but given the canned reports the system comes with and the fact that none are accurate, i will wait to determine if it indeed is accurate.  That's a small piece of frustration from today.  We have been building / training since January 2011, went live May 2011, and we still spend about 3+ hours/ week working through issues, some with system, some with trying to get it to work with our Paragon system. One of the reasons we chose the system is because it has been around for a while, but it has flaws that just seem like they never got feedback from actual therapists.  For example, the flow sheet alphabetizes the exercises you group.  So if you make a total knee exercise kit, it will alphabetize each exercises.  If you do an exercise that is not in the " kit " you can easily add it.  Well over time there gets to be a lot of exercises and the box that pops up to enter parameters (reps, sets.....) is about 3 in. H and 5 in. W (so you can only see the first 7-8 exercises).  You find yourself looking all over the place for the checked exercises (the ones that are currently being performed) and you have no way of indicating in what order you perform them.  So if you like to group the exercises to avoid having your patient flipping over and back from prone to supine or NWB to WB..... you can't group them.  Hopefully you can follow that.  It seem like a simple fix - just put a sequence column that allows ordering of exercises (they actually have this feature for goals, which I could care less about ordering). If you have any questions, please ask.  This is a hard decision I know.  I have not heard many good things about other systems (except from the sales guys, who will disappear once you purchase), so APTA may be good in comparison. Randy ________________________________ To: PTManager Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 11:06 AM Subject: Re: APTA Connect  Hi Randy, We are intending on going with APTA Connect in 2012 and I am wondering what kinds of issues you are having. We have had Meditech in the past and it just doesn't work well for our Rehab documentation, have also looked into ReDocs, Hands On Technology and a few others. We are a CAH with a large Rehab staff, inpatient and outpatient PT/OT/ST, peds, hands, and sportsmedicine. any insight you can offer will be helpful. Thank you. Wodzinski, MSPT, CSCS Rehab Manager Bell Hospital Ishpeming MI > > Is anyone currently using APTA Connect for EMR? We went live about 6 months ago and are still having several issues. I'm interested in how others have built out their flowsheet and how it is working, how the outcome/ stats analysis reports are working for you, and if or how you have set up communication with the front desk staff through the system. I would be more than happy to share our experience/ what we've learned. > > Randy , PT > Director of Rehabilitation > Memorial Hospital of Union County > sville, OH > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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