Elation EMR Reviews

“Frustrating user experience and UX issues”

Pros

search feature is smart and implemented really well and I appreciate the free integrations with laboratory systems that let me import lab results as structured data instead of receiving them as scanned images of faxed pages.

Cons

I'm also a programmer who works on web design and UI/UX, so the user experience here really rubs me the wrong way. The UX is poor, frankly it sucks, although I'll admit that's true of most EMRs I've tried. For a variety of reasons, these companies seem not to give a damn about the physician's user experience and things that are taken for granted in other areas of tech are absent here: accessibility (a11y), consistent typographic rhythm and sensible type size/line width for readability, adequate text contrast and thoughtful material-design-like interfaces are basically foreign concepts in the medical software space. There's no proper mobile web version either, they only recently tossed an iPhone app into the App Store, as if it's still 2011. On the web you get the desktop site verbatim which forces me to constantly pinch and zoom because nobody bothered to write media queries in the CSS and that wastes time and feels sloppy.

“Easy setup and helpful support”

Pros

I found the setup and migration easy. The sales team and support staff have been very helpful and the system meets most of our medical charting needs.

Cons

The patient portal isn't very family-friendly, when parents have several kids I end up having to set up and remember separate email addresses and logins for each child which is a hassle. There are also small improvements I'd like to see, such as being able to include Handouts directly in visit note templates or attach files when replying to Passport messages. These aren't huge missing features but without them my staff has to perform extra steps and spend more time charting than we'd prefer.

“Quick patient access on one screen”

Pros

I'm able to easily connect with other physicians and pull up all of a patient's details on one screen and having fewer clicks makes my work go much faster.

Cons

Okay so.... I'd really appreciate it if some of the extra features they promised when I picked this EHR were actually in development, I was told they were building a camera app for taking clinical photos but after using the system I still haven't seen any sign of that feature.

“easy day-to-day use”

Pros

Setup and day-to-day use are easy which makes it ideal for a cost-conscious physician. Our team converted it for general surgery and I've been using it for three years now. Each week our billing company logs in and "harvests" the charges automatically. The chart-check features simplify followup tasks. Templates are flexible and compliance is uncomplicated, especially when you use the vendor's assistance. Frankly, watching other offices collapse or sell to a local foundation after pouring a million into oversized systems makes me appreciate this product all the more.

Cons

I can't remove tags that are no longer relevant which is annoying. Also, there's no place to put a brief introductory note, say, the phonetic pronunciation of a patient's last name, at the top, it has to live in the tags and remains there indefinitely. Because we function primarily as a referral practice instead of primary care, I'd like the referring clinician to appear nearer the top of the chart. It would also be useful to custom-name our report headers. Still, these shortcomings are relatively small when weighed against the overall value for the money.

“Poor customer support experience”

Pros

system keeps patient records simple, especially with the template notes, everything feels well organized. Setup was easy and the price was reasonable. It connects smoothly with our lab and pharmacy systems and I haven't had any trouble with prescribing. We like the patient portal and only enabled it for outgoing messages.

Cons

Customer support has been basically nonexistent for us, they rarely pick up calls or respond to emails and surprisingly there isn't even a voicemail system set up. They pushed Practice Suites as a billing partner, raving that 'they'll handle all your billing needs,' but that recommendation wrecked my revenue cycle. On top of that, they promised an OB flow sheet when we signed up nearly three years ago and it still hasn't materialized. I'm honestly very disappointed.

“Smooth and stress-free data migration”

Pros

One of the things I really appreciate is how willing you are to assist small practices in moving their records out of whatever software nightmare they're stuck in and into this platform, honestly, you do it better than anyone else. Migrating data is easily the most stressful and tough aspect of purchasing an EMR, yet most vendors act like you're committed to their system forever, no matter how difficult it is to use. To me this company represents genuine disruption of an outdated, underperforming industry, something that has been overdue for decades. Finally someone has built an EMR that focuses on patient care, not only billing. You've achieved that and keep refining the product. I have deep respect for what you've built and continue to evolve.

Cons

There still isn't a recall system or a lab interface with Quest or LabCorp which I miss. I do understand these features are on the roadmap. I'm confident that when they are implemented they'll be integrated into the product in that same elegant, effortless way but I really hope you can roll them out soon.

“User-friendly and cloud-based tool”

Pros

software is very user-friendly and that it's cloud-based is a big plus. The staff supporting this tool have been extremely helpful and I think the pricing is quite reasonable.

Cons

It would be great if the practice management features and reports were more detailed and extensive, I would rely on them more.

“Integrated billing and scheduling”

Pros

As a provider, I've found this product to be very user-friendly and the workflow operates smoothly, it combines billing and scheduling into a single program which I really appreciate.

Cons

My only real issues have been with Surescripts and those problems seem to be unrelated to this EMR tool.

“Clear and simple interface”

Pros

I appreciate the uncluttered, easy interface, it's simple to navigate, simple to use and the charts are presented cleanly and clearly.

Cons

We need customizable chart views, especially the order of sections like medications, past medical history, problem list and social history. Being able to rearrange those sections to match our workflow would be really helpful, right now I spend extra time scrolling to find things in the order I prefer. It would also be helpful to edit the physical exam section headers (for example Gen, eyes, resp, cvs) because some labels are wrong or confusing, I've noticed MSS and NS appear where more standard labels should be. Another frustration is faxing prescriptions for controlled substances, I want the option to fax them without the footer that reads 'electronically signed by,' which can cause problems. Customizing the automated appointment reminder message for each physician, including their phone number, is something we desperately need. As a three-physician practice with three different numbers, being forced to display only one number in reminders is misleading for patients. We were told the system had strong experience with Quest labs, yet there were no pre-populated Quest lab codes, so everything had to be entered manually. Finally, there's no way to delete tags or user-entered lab orders when mistakes happen. We should be allowed to remove erroneous entries ourselves instead of relying on support.

“Reliable and easy-to-learn EMR”

Pros

Really simple and easy to pick up and operate. Our clinic has relied on this EMR for the last 5 years and I've been very pleased with it. Getting it set up was quick and simple and the support was outstanding. I put together a seven-minute screen capture tutorial for my team and they were ready to go within minutes. Some doctors jumped in without any special training. My recommendation was that they book two patients per half-day using the system on day one while keeping the rest on paper. Many returned saying, "That was so simple, I managed to see all my patients in the system." Customer service has remained excellent. As the company expanded, the help has felt a bit less immediate and personal than it used to be but response times are still prompt and helpful. We've only experienced a couple of brief outages over five years, never lasting more than about ten minutes. There are missing capabilities compared with some larger platforms. For example, there's no health maintenance reminders or tracking, nor can you template recurring tasks. Even so, this is a great platform and genuinely enjoyable to use. I strongly recommend this EMR for a small to mid-sized practice searching for an easy-to-learn, easy-to-use solution.

Cons

Development of new features slowed recently after growth. It feels like the burden of meaningful-use rules and other mandates has hindered new feature development, preventing updates from arriving as quickly as I had expected.