Here is Why I Chose RevolutionEHR as a New Graduate Practice Owner

Being a new graduate practice owner can be extremely overwhelming and intimidating.

Not only do you need to make countless critical decisions when starting a new practice — from build out, frame selection, equipment purchases, and office design to marketing and branding — but you are still finding your feet as a new clinician.

One of the most important decisions you will need to make as a new practice owner will be choosing an electronic health record that essentially will serve as the backbone of your practice.

Dr. Courtney Dryer opened cold as a new graduate practice owner 6 years ago and ultimately chose RevolutionEHR to power her practice. She shares how the software, support, and environment surrounding Rev360 and its growing suite of products can facilitate a smooth and seamless transition for new practice owners.

1. When did you graduate? How long after graduation did you open your private practice, and why use an Electronic Health Record instead of starting out with paper charts?

I graduated in 2011 and opened Autarchic Spec Shop in February 2013. I worked as an associate doctor for a year after graduation before I opened my practice. There is an emphasis in healthcare now on patient involvement, provider efficiency, and decreasing healthcare costs.

In the age of MACRA, MIPS, Meaningful Use, and the way information is accessed and shared between health providers, it’s almost impossible to practice optometry presently, or at the very least look at the future of optometry and healthcare, and not have an EHR.

2. What were the main things you considered when looking for an EHR? What other EHRs did you consider as a new graduate practice owner?

I looked for a system that was doctor-friendly. I wanted charts that were logical in thought process and yet fully integrated with the optical and accounting components of the EHR. Basic necessities like having eyeglass recommendations from the chair transferred to the optical for efficiency was a must. The beauty of RevolutionEHR is that it is an all-in-one system — allowing you access and handle scheduling, examination data entry, optical ordering and dispensing, and accounting on one platform.

Learn about RevolutionEHR as an optical management tool.

3) Why did you choose RevolutionEHR? What were some of the major deciding factors?

I chose RevolutionEHR because of their constant innovation. It is a system that not only can help your practice grow, but subsequently grows with your practice. Rev360, the parent company of RevolutionEHR, always has their finger on the pulse of government regulations and is constantly adding new integrations for both equipment and technology. They’re also developing a growing suite of business solutions exclusive to RevolutionEHR practices like:

The customer support was also extremely important to me. Rev360 looks to their customers and doctors to address problem areas to improve functionality of their system. There is a dedicated Facebook group for open discussion for practice owners to learn from each other and obtain additional support from the community of RevolutionEHR users.

RevolutionEHR routinely hosts webinars to provide updates on government regulations, required reporting procedures, or other new features and products to help the busy practitioner keep up with the changing landscape in healthcare and find new ways to grow their practices. Additionally, there is RevU The Reunion – the annual RevolutionEHR user meeting. The Reunion brings RevolutionEHR users together to learn how to use the software better and share tips and tricks with other users.

Finally, partner integrations was another one of the major reasons I chose RevolutionEHR. I depend on their partner integrations to run my practice smoothly: Vision Web for sending spectacle lens orders, RxNT, clearing houses, and integrations to transfer data from refractive and diagnostic equipment. RevolutionEHR integrates seamlessly with so many industry partners to allow their users to utilize every resource possible, all within a single platform. In addition, the process of setting up integrations is simplistic, easy and involves no extra costs. It only takes a few clicks.

Check out this list of industry partners that integrate with RevolutionEHR.

4. Describe the setup process? How long did it take? Did someone come on-site?

The setup was fairly quick.

I used a lot of resources on RevolutionEHR’s Customer Portal, INSIGHT, to get me started. Someone at RevolutionEHR contacted me about setting up some training sessions. I spent a few weeks the month before I opened learning the system, which I was able to master extremely fast.

RevolutionEHR provides videos and step-by-step manuals on how to complete certain tasks that I found very helpful. In the beginning, I used the standard exam and order templates provided and over time I have customized them to my preference.

The process of setting up an optical is a breeze. RevolutionEHR integrates and pulls inventory data from FramesData.com which auto populates sizes and colors for every single frame you carry, saving you a massive amount of time!

5. What is the implementation process like?

Within a few days of signing a RevolutionEHR purchase agreement, new customers are assigned an implementation specialist that contacts you to learn about your practice, answer questions, provide access to both your production and sandbox environments, and provide your implementation start date.

RevolutionEHR uses a Google classroom environment for guiding practices through the implementation process. The classroom includes all the resources needed for implementing RevolutionEHR, and includes two 4 week phases. Phase one includes set-up, data entry, and configuration of the software, and phase two focuses on learning the software. You can move through these two phases as quickly as you’d like.

While working through the different steps in each phase, you are able to correspond with both your Implementation Specialist and peers to get answers to questions. Office hours are also provided to meet with your Implementation Specialist to ask questions, get advice, as well as listen to what others are asking.

The staff at RevolutionEHR always made me feel comfortable about contacting them if I had questions. For example, when I set up my clearinghouse integration, a RevolutionEHR support rep helped me test it before I went live to make sure my claims were being submitted properly. If I came across something I was unsure of, it was easy to consult INSIGHT or call, email or live chat with support.

6. As a new graduate practice owner, was there anything specifically RevolutionEHR did to help you in the transition?

When I looked at the medical records market, I knew I needed a system that would grow with my practice, change with the healthcare environment, and I would be confident with going into the future.

The process of switching systems with an established practice is something that I wanted to avoid. RevolutionEHR made me confident that it was a system that I could learn, invest in, and would make it easier for me to focus on the other aspects of running a practice.

This made it one of the only parts of opening a practice that I was not worried about. I have now been a RevolutionEHR user for 6 years!

7. Any support or pricing specific to new grads?

I believe there may be some discount per month if you are part of a buying group, and they also have discounted pricing for new practices to help doctors out with the initial costs incurred when starting a new business.

8. What do you think is the shortest and longest time it would take, in your opinion to get started with RevolutionEHR?

I think if you are opening a new practice, you need at least a month to feel confident.

In reality, time is dependent on how many aspects of RevolutionEHR you feel you must master. As a practice owner, you should know every component from the optical, to accounting, to vendor integrations, and billing, but RevolutionEHR makes that easy.

Check out some other top features of RevolutionEHR.

9. What is your FAVORITE feature of the EHR side and FAVORITE feature of the Practice Management Software aspect?

Customization is the best feature from the perspective of an EHR. You can really save yourself a lot of time by using customizations like adding and assembling your most used treatment plans to quickly complete your assessment and plan when charting.

As for practice management, there are many; however, for my practice, and the kind of practice that we are, and the fact that I am heavily involved in my optical, RevolutionEHR and how it serves as an optical management solution has been a dream.

The fact that RevolutionEHR can auto populate sizes and colors for every single frame you carry through its integration with FramesData.com saves you a lot of time, and subsequently means you can quickly and efficiently search your inventory at any time with the use of custom filters. You can track your best and worst sellers, and make informed decisions when it comes time to make frame buying decisions.

Learn more about RevolutionEHR as a practice management tool.

10. How do the security and backups work with RevolutionEHR? Are you confident that your data is secure?

RevolutionEHR keeps a log of every time the system is accessed. It allows you to assign individual passwords to each employee to act as an additional safeguard. RevolutionEHR, as a company, is very aware of HIPAA laws and meaningful use audits. The system is designed to protect doctors in this area.

With an abundance of options available, the most important advice I could give a new practice owner would be to choose an EHR that not only meets your present need, but can grow with you and your practice, and provide you with more than just data entry. It is important to have an EHR that can serve as a practice management solution. For my practice, RevolutionEHR checked those boxes 6 years ago, and continues to check those boxes today.

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