Homecare Homebase Reviews

“Does the job

Pros

Maintaining the database is fantastic when everything runs smoothly and I appreciate how well it performs but if even one teammate ignores the SOP managing it quickly becomes a total nightmare.

Cons

When it comes to training I feel it could be a lot more effective. Most of the material is just long prerecorded videos that fail to hold attention or really engage learners. Service interruptions aren't common and generally it's been manageable but I've run into multiple occasions where HCHB support seemed to throw up their hands, telling me things like 'must be a device issue' or advising 'uninstall/reinstall Citrix' instead of offering real help.

“Hard to use and creates extra work

Pros

Almost nothing about this tool appealed to me. When I switched over I came from a proprietary EMR that was basically a digital version of their paper forms saved as PDFs and before that I used Epic which complex but offered a lot of customization.

Cons

It was honestly awful. To me Homecare Homebase feels like I'm writing my notes in a Word file with little prompts slapped in rather than using a real clinical system. Almost nothing is organized, you can even delete those prompts if you want which makes me uneasy and in practice it often creates redundant work. I left a system that, while imperfect, was reasonably workable and ended up on a platform that repeatedly required me to enter the same information twice. It offered no meaningful support or efficiency and just made my workflow slower and more frustrating.

“A helpful system

Pros

Overall HCHB has really improved my day-to-day life working in healthcare. I'm especially impressed by the variety of ways I can upload documents as attachments and I like that I can store wound photos separately or keep my paper visit notes distinct for billing purposes. Faxing directly from HCHB is simple which saves me time. The Workflow feature keeps my tasks organized something I rely on when I'm juggling phone calls and other responsibilities. We've also collaborated with HCHB on custom projects and they've consistently been responsive and willing to build features tailored to how we need things to operate.

Cons

I've found the order tracking to be a bit difficult because every order I fax requires entering a date and a comment which eats up a lot of time in a busy office with a high volume of orders. When I'm handling multiple requests at once having to stamp each one individually slows me down. It would be really helpful if there were an option to apply a date and comment to a group of orders at once and fax them as a single batch with a select-all function. That kind of bulk action would organize our workflow and reduce repetitive data entry.

“solid partnership with room to improve

Pros

We've had a very positive experience since our organization switched from a smaller provider to HCHB. We expected that moving to such a large vendor might lessen the individualized focus because HCHB serves many clients but overall they still manage to provide the guidance we require to succeed with the platform and the implementation crew was outstanding. The software is highly capable, offers agency-specific customization and at the same time helps guarantee that we remain compliant with regulatory standards.

Cons

As a large organization we find it difficult to report small glitches or minor bugs and have them addressed. For example there might be a single inconsistent field that won't let you type or search while every other field does.. sooo getting that fixed is challenging because it isn't a major issue but it remains a real annoyance for someone using the system.

“extremely frustrating and poorly designed

Pros

Nothing positive here. I've wasted so much of my time on this. The training is absurd. Who on earth put together this disaster? Thanks HCHB for wrecking my career.

Cons

I find this doesn't follow how people actually take in information and it's maddening. So much time gets wasted redoing basic tasks while patients end up losing precious minutes. No one in our back office can get it to function. Meanwhile those of us out in the field have to depend on that same back office to upload visits.

“Looked promising but later turned into a disappointment

Pros

Being able to manage many different parts of home health care was helpful and I appreciated the billing features. Another plus was the freedom I had to select add-ons. I also knew that the parent company was founded before 2000 and that the company is located in Kentucky United States.

Cons

I've experienced consistently poor performance across the board, with frequent disruptive malfunctions. There are key features missing and the ones that do exist often lack quality so my time management, efficiency and caseload handling all take a hit. The workflow is rigidly fixed in place and the interface layout feels impractical, it's been changed repeatedly and comes with unnecessary restrictions. I raised complaints that were basically ignored and overall the support has been weak.

“missing modern features and efficiency

Pros

What I really appreciate is that it bundles a number of capabilities into a single piece of software. We rely on it mainly for managing medical records and handling scheduling and within those areas it sets up clear workflows so everyone understands their responsibilities and tasks. I also value that each report includes descriptions that spell out which fields can be filtered or selected so it's easier to find the exact data I need. On top of that reports can be exported into several formats which makes reviewing and sharing information much more convenient for our team.

Cons

That said the overall appearance of the software feels quite outdated to me. The interface comes across as glitchy and pixelated.. almost like something from the early Microsoft era and it doesn't meet modern visual expectations. Functionality is also weak in certain areas particularly with some reporting and data-update features. For example when I add clinicians to the clinical tab I'm forced to add them one at a time which is incredibly inefficient for my staff adding a 20-person care team turns into a 20-minute chore for each client. There are plenty of reports that deliver needed data but frustratingly there isn't a report that gives a list of all providers shown in the physician tab by client. I teamed up with my IT administrator to have that specific report created and even after six months it's still in progress. I don't understand why this can't be handled more efficiently, especially given the regulations and guidelines we must follow around identifying primary, secondary and tertiary providers. Overall there's a lot of room for updates and improvements.

“Rigid system that doesn't listen to users

Pros

Honestly I think this system is terrible. We moved from a messy but at least flexible platform to one that's equally buggy yet rigid and it just wastes time. The interface does look nice though. The website is forcing me to type more here so consider this a necessary rant...... I genuinely can't think of any other positives to share.

Cons

From my experience this product is basically unusable. First it's an absolute mess, I find it extremely hard to operate. Secondly both I and other staff constantly run into issues where very simple features are overly complicated. Third, the platform is inflexible, it forces you into workflows and options that have nothing to do with the patients I'm trying to care for. Fourth, even after several years working with the system, my colleagues and I still struggle to navigate both point-of-care and back-office modules. Fifth, it's Android-only which makes the hardware side a headache, we've been stuck with low-end Android tablets because the developers refuse to build an Apple version. Sixth, from my managerial standpoint there is endless repetition everywhere in the system, it wastes an enormous amount of time. Seventh, the modules don't sync well so I have to duplicate chart entries repeatedly which is a massive time drain. Finally, when we request changes, Homecare Homebase rarely responds or acts on feedback so it feels like they don't care about making the product better.

“helpful reports but workload distribution lacking

Pros

I really appreciate the reports and the calendar-based scheduling, they make tracking tasks simple. Also I'm impressed by how quickly I can enter and referee prompts which saves me time during busy sessions.

Cons

I'd like the workflow to be able to filter assignments to specific people so that tasks aren't unevenly distributed. Right now I see some individuals overloaded while the same items sit across multiple people's queues and that frustrates me.

“Gets in the way of patient care

Pros

There's almost nothing about this platform that I like. I find it glitchy, invasive, poorly designed, complex, really hard to learn and use.

Cons

I find the point-of-care documentation intrusive and disruptive to care and it alters how I provide treatment since I've had to adapt my therapy sessions to fit the software flow. Sometimes there's a back button, sometimes a cancel, sometimes an enter key. They're placed differently across screens which wrecks muscle memory and forces me to glance down at the display for much of a session prompting complaints from patients and interrupting the humanity in a therapy session. It's also difficult to locate information from prior visits to determine what actions were taken in a session and to follow up as needed.

“too many clicks

Pros

I can pull up a deaths report in real time for any clinical team whenever I need it and I'm also able to print mailing labels precisely on cue.

Cons

One issue I've run into is that bereavement letters can't be filtered to show only those patients who have mailing addresses which makes outreach clumsy. Also, when I complete a risk assessment it overwrites the existing care plan so I'm forced to recreate the care plan rather than just update it. The workflow console doesn't integrate with the alerts system which causes missed communications and scheduling visits takes far too many clicks. There are multiple places to book visits and I've lost appointments when they weren't assigned to a clinician.

“Simple for hospice work, limited integrations

Pros

For Home Health agencies and Hospices it's quite simple to use. I approve orders through it and it literally takes me three clicks/steps. It only took a short amount of time for me to learn how to navigate the system. Colleagues I've spoken with report similar experiences. I would imagine training expenses are low. Tracking referrals is very easy.

Cons

The software doesn't interface smoothly with Epic and I find that pretty unfortunate. Since Epic is the dominant system used by hospitals and large health systems, this creates an inconvenient workflow for nurses who end up charting in both platforms. I often wish the system would notify me when orders arrive in my in-basket for signature because instead I have to remember to log in at least once a week. Unlike Epic and some other solutions, there's no mobile app for this product so I miss push alerts on my phone telling me about messages or orders. It feels like to be competitive, Home Health (HH) should develop a phone app that can send those alerts. Another annoyance is that I have to answer too many questions at times and repeating information has to be entered manually which eats up time. That extra typing eats into the time I can spend with patients and makes daily workflows less efficient.

“Useful for scheduling, confusing on mobile

Pros

I find it really simple to clock in and out for shifts and to check my schedule. It helps me stay organized at work and makes it easy to communicate with coworkers.

Cons

On my phone I often find the layout confusing to navigate and I still haven't fully worked out everything it can do.

“great for bereavement tracking

Pros

I've found this app indispensable for remembering when to reach out to family and other loved ones. It also logs the dates for sending letters and gives me timely prompts when it's time to make phone calls.

Cons

When I use the calendar to map out calls I'd like it to display national and religious holidays so I don't accidentally schedule on those upcoming dates.

“not friendly for all roles

Pros

In my experience Homecare Homebase isn't the simplest EMR I've used while providing home-based hospice care though it does try to simplify tasks. For example it provides prepopulated response options you can select, keeps track of mileage between patients and includes reasonably useful IDG tools to support coordination.

Cons

I wish Homecare Homebase were more organized for roles like social workers and chaplains because it seems heavily geared toward nursing workflows. When I document a new patient visit it often takes a long time particularly when I have to work through all of the separate new-patient flows.