We are looking for home health nursing software

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hello everyone, i have been reading posts here for a while and finally decided to register. we are looking for home health nursing software. those who are computerized already and have had an experience with the different formats can give us ideas regarding how to go about this. i have seen many demos but nothing can compare with someone who has real world experience handling a particular software program in the field and witnessing its productivity.

we have looked at allscripts, also called mysis software, and are now checking out igea. anyone with any experience with these two please let me know what you like or don't like about each software.

i am also looking at healthcare synergy which is just billing and office based. we prefer a format that has clinical and back office components that are linked. some of the prices are outrageous, but we are a startup, so the costs matter to us, especially if they will not ask for it upfront.

anyone with any experience with software, please share the name and the experience you have had and whether you would recommend it to anyone else.

i have also heard that some are not web based applications and are 'superior' because they are off the internet.

thanks in advance, any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

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Specializes in Home Health, Med-Surg, Ortho.

From someone that has spent the past 2 1/2 yrs evaluating software for our agency - I can tell you that none of them are perfect. They all have their shortcomings, it's just a matter of what features are most important to your agency. We are currently using Healthwyse which has turned out to be a nightmare. It promotes some of the worst documentation I've ever seen, and frustrates our clinicians because of synching issues and down times with their devices. We almost went with a web-based product instead, (which was MY first choice, but the powers that be couldn't agree on a contract). Take a look at CareAnyware - Web based is going to be the future of all healthcare documentation anyway, as we move closer to a National Health Record. If you want more info, just let me know. Good luck in your search!

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thank you hhheart for that very informative reply. it is amazing the amount of time you have taken to evaluate software for your agency. are you on a long term contract? i have been approached by several companies that have the month to month arrangement, but one wonders what happens to your records when that arrangement is over. igea said that they would send us a cd/dvd copy of all our records once a month, so that we can have a back-up copy just in case, and i thought that was pretty neat. so far i have been impressed by igea because they have a reasonable fees structure and their oasis wizard and 485 canned text are very impressive.all scripts on the other hand were touting the fact that their software is 'offline', but i was skeptical, particularly when you see the arrangement they have with foundation management services out of denton, where they have an online configuration of their software.

in your reply you mentioned problems with synching devices, and down time of the hand helds, and i am glad you mentioned that because when one comes to think of it, if you don't update in real time, what would you do if your entire oasis assessment crashed along with the tablet or hand held? ...

i also wanted you to know that i shot an email to [email protected] and am waiting for a response from them.

you have been extremely helpful if guiding us in the right direction, and i appreciate that. in the light of all these facts, we are now considering the web based applications now more seriously.

we have contacted the following vendors so far.

alora, cerner corporation, visit wizard, health care first, tynet, kinnser software, inc, with their agency manager, meditech, home healthcare sos, inc.

the reason i have listed them is so that anyone who has had any interaction with their home health software, to please give us their take on them.

thanks again and anyone is welcome to leave a comment.

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Specializes in Home Health, Med-Surg, Ortho.

Best of luck to you in your search! We looked at Cerner, Mysis, McKesson, Delta, Homecare Homebase, Carecentric, just to name a few. I don't have much info on the data storage issue - I'm more on the clinical side than the IT side. Actually, I just submitted my resignation with this agency - and I would have to say that it is at least in part, due to the ongoing software aggravation! We had hoped that going "paperless" would lessen the workload, but in reality, it has increased - at least for our agency. Be careful of vendors that sell you everything piece-meal - it can get very expensive.

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best of luck to you in your search! we looked at cerner, mysis, mckesson, delta, homecare homebase, carecentric, just to name a few. i don't have much info on the data storage issue - i'm more on the clinical side than the it side. actually, i just submitted my resignation with this agency - and i would have to say that it is at least in part, due to the ongoing software aggravation! we had hoped that going "paperless" would lessen the workload, but in reality, it has increased - at least for our agency. be careful of vendors that sell you everything piece-meal - it can get very expensive.

wow! that is drastic. i will be careful when evaluating software. i will post an update here after i check out careanyware and let you know which way we go. i hope this information helps someone else who is going through what we are going through.

sorry you have to lose your job over this. one question though, would you work for a paper agency or one with electronic documentation like the one from careanyware?

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Specializes in Home Health, Med-Surg, Ortho.

Well, there's more to my leaving than the software issue - that was just the last straw. This particular position has never been a good one, and I had hoped that going paperless would ease some of the pain, but it didn't. I wouldn't stay even if we were using paper or went to CA at this point. Just too many problems, in general! However, I feel that in a well managed agency, electronic documentation is the only way to go. Best of luck and let me know how you fare!

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We use Allegheny Software. We have used it on the office side for many years and have used it on the clinician level for the last 2 years. It is not perfect but it does work fine. Price is reasonable compared to alot out there and the staff is usually very helpful in fixing problems and answering questions. It is the only software I have used so I can't really give you a comparison to others.

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Specializes in Home Health Field Nurse.

Love Kinnser. All communication is online and it's easy to email back and forth. I like it because you can see other nurses notes and follow teaching and wound care measurements weekly. I also like it because you don't have to sit in front of a patient and type away. Looking at a screen and entering information in front of someone just seems rude and inconsiderate. :nurse: That is my 2 cents!!!!

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Working for a large agency, Mgmt chose McKesson 8 yrs ago for our EMR as had both doccumentation, billing + finance features along with product support.

During the selection process, they listened to vendors pitches then traveled to sites to see it operationally--doing so helped prevent system that lloked great but was full of issues on back end.

My PCP has had EMR and been using laptop directly in front of me...great cause he can pull up info instantly and has learned to look at patient between typing after physical exam done---same for our field staff.

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Our agency uses Cerner RoadNotes and it is terrible! The opposite of user friendly/intuitive. Crashes frequently, etc. Bad, bad juju.

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Working for a large agency, Mgmt chose McKesson 8 yrs ago for our EMR as had both doccumentation, billing + finance features along with product support.

Does your agency use PDA's or laptops? My agency is switching to Mckesson and we are going from laptops to PDA's. Any advice?

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Telemetry, Home Health..

I have Igea, and its an easy software but very limited on reporting as well as efficiency and the issues with antivirus are a big problem. I have been using it for two years and I am ready to shoot myself because I have to depend on google docs to caclcuate most of the impportant thing. I am looking for new software and I have done research but have not decided yet, so far I am debating between Allegheny HHC 3000 and Careanyway. Software is based on needs of the company and always ask for references. Igea is not that cheap, when you start adding users your cost go out of control.

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