Hospice EMR

alyiana · Jan 27, 2014

We use Consolo. It can be difficult to learn/use at times, but once you learn the program, it's pretty useful. It's designed only for Hospice, not for Hospice/home health like other programs, which means that staff won't get confused by things that are not relevant.

I do like that Consolo does frequent updates to keep up with guidelines, and they always have release notes that explain what was updated.

chopwood carrywater · Jan 27, 2014

Not too thrilled or impressed with Brightree/Careanyware at our inpatient unit. Not user friendly and it has been very buggy. The training materials they have provide are poor and are not useful for figuring out how to use the program and it is really useless if you are up against a wall and must trouble shoot on the fly. They are supposed to come out with improvements - we are hoping - but not holding our breath.

NC29mom, ASN, LPN, RN · Jan 29, 2014

Will you be using for in pt unit or rhc?

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · Jan 30, 2014

Will you be using for in pt unit or rhc?

Rhc for now

Kabin · Jan 30, 2014

Avoid Cerner. The company will initially lift your hopes and then disappoint daily thereafter. Lots of server crashes, miserably slow operating software, inability to resolve problems, and slow to develop new programs.

okhospicern · Jan 30, 2014

Agree, not Cerner. Slow, not user friendly. Developed more for home health than hospice. My hospice used this and no one liked it. The nursing staff spent many of unpaid hours at home keeping up with documentation from the previous day. It was also very time consuming trying to back and read previous nursing notes to get needed information for your visit.

NC29mom, ASN, LPN, RN · Feb 2, 2014

We've used McKesson and Homecare Homebase. Neither fabulous in my opinion.

McKesson can be manipulated by your company and used how you want. I worked for one hospice who had it figured pretty basic & another company who made it harder than it should have been. Basic care planning, nurses responsible for entering visits/recerts/meds/admits, etc. If nurse enters new order, it's automatically updated in pts info....don't have to wait for manager to approve to see on pt profile. Idg notes were simple. Finding information on pts was pretty easy....if you had them on your pt list (Needed internet to add new pts who weren't on your list but you needed to look at their info) have to "Transfer" regularly using internet to remain up to date on pt info. Entered own time in system. Used on toughbook laptop which I loved bc had keyboard. Can send notes to other team members, look at attachments, search pt education database.

Homecare Homebase is our current system. You can do a search on this site and get others opinions on it as I have seen it talked about several times. Not my favorite, but ok. Every second of everyday is logged on this program. We have constant internet on our tablets with GPS that keeps up with every move. Each visit requires a pt/Cg signature which stops clock. I feel like I have to account for every second and explain why I had to stop to use a bathroom. The nursing assessment is lengthy, interventions annoying and very basic. Can only look back at pt info for benefit period they are currently in. On call is a nightmare bc we have to get on a desktop and pull prn visit over from calender, assign to self, and synch to pull over to tablet. Takes too much time in emergencies. And if out on one call and get another call its impossible to get to desktop to assign a new pt visit. Recerts are done by manager. In fact nurses can't do anything without manager pushing through (workflow, new meds/orders/frequency changes, etc) it's annoying to say the least. And, geared more toward home health as interventions are achieved and disappear. Don't feel as if nurses have any freedom. ..everything & I mean EVERYTHING has to be approved by mgmt before shows up in pt record (notes, new orders, etc) plus I totally despise pecking on a tablet all day. I can type....give me back my laptop. Has attachments you can download, pt education. ..

We order pt supplies through homecare Homebase through Medline. Only thing is can only have supplies sent once q7days to pt home. So if supplies ordered wed if this week, and Mon of next week, Mon order will not be sent. You won't get a note alerting you to the fact supplies were ordered too early...the pt is just out of luck. And with pts being admitted every day it's hard to keep up with who gets supplies ordered when. Its a great concept if there wasn't a once every 7 day rule. We can order supplies for a pt and have sent to our office every day....just can't be sent to residence but once q7days.

Questions? I'll try to answer. Wouldn't recommend either program.

NC29mom, ASN, LPN, RN · Feb 6, 2014

Forgot to add....our hospiscript account is linked with our homecare Homebase. So, hospiscript can see our pt med profiles. Does it help? No. Actually had a local pharmacy call me today bc apap suppositories were declined. ....seriously? ?? Had to call hospiscript and add to pt profile to be covered. Most annoying thing ever to have to call for every single med

Jost930 · Jan 7, 2015

We are exploring EMRs as well. chopwood carrywater - how is Brightree with homecare? and I was let to believe improvements are soon for IPU? Would like to talk to anyone currently using Brightree to hear pros and cons. I've see a few systems and realize each one will have pros and cons - like to hear from users what general thoughts are.

chopwood carrywater · Apr 30, 2015

I recently had a chance to use mckesson. I was not impressed. While I c/o Brightree's EMR earlier this year, I have to say that despite its bugs, conceptually it's a much better system than McKesson. It is an integrated program that allows one to effectively search for past information, and trends. Checking a box on one screen/ assessment will bring up new screens if they are relevant.

I like the way you can create interventions and goals. Maybe I'll learn more about McKesson that will change my mind, but I would recommend that any hospice contemplating a new EMR, should look into Brightree. No, it's not perfect, and no, I have no affiliation with them.

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · May 3, 2015

I posted this over a year ago so I'll update. We currently are using hospice soft & we all love it. While there is no perfect EMR, this one is very user friendly & the printed documents are very professional looking. And from my understanding, it's like half the cost of Brighttree

Avoid Healthcare first. There is nothing user friendly about that system.