Practice Fusion Reviews

Pros

The software has been easy to use, and until now, most of my questions were answered promptly.

Cons

Since introducing the subscription model, this company has changed a lot. I have two locations with two separate instances of PF for historical reasons. Since we have one doctor at both locations, I would like to combine them into one. I have already signed up for the subscription at our main location. However, it is almost impossible to get someone from Technical Support to talk to. I am an IT person myself and am convinced that my problem will be solved within five minutes if only I could talk to the right person. The customer rep that called to collect my subscription has a phone number that just hangs up when called, and she NEVER responds to emails. This is not the customer service I am used to in the USA, even third-world countries have better customer service.

Pros

Our billing company recommended this product to several of our offices needing EHR but couldn't invest thousands of dollars. It was a great option at the free level. Now it's a paid subscription, still reasonably priced but needs some enhancements to compete.

Cons

Getting help was complicated, and getting enhancements implemented was also complicated. We had several clients ultimately abandon it when it became paid because they could get more features with other platforms.

Pros

It used to be free and was easy to start learning. The company's logo was "Practice Fusion is Free and Always Will Be for Users." The company was sold, and now physicians are leaving in droves.

Cons

The price and lack of functionality in linking with labs and imaging centers are issues. It cannot be used in medical fields such as surgical centers where sterile fields are required because the EHR repeatedly logs out and requires users to log back in with cell phone code entry. Aside from cell phone-mediated bacteria transmission, staff/personal cell phone use becomes a secondary problematic issue due to the EHR platform requiring employees to frequently get them out.

Pros

It was free and easy to use the limited features available. Recently bought out by Allscripts, and with their poor reputation, we're leaving.

Cons

To get full functionality, you need to add Updox for faxes, integrate with a lab, a clearinghouse, and a billing company to submit payments and send paper bills, etc. By the time you are done, you have a Frankenstein monster that costs about the same as any other EHR. You have to log in to each of these vendors separately. Heading back to paper charts forever!

Pros

This software is easy to teach to new and existing employees alike. New features are rare but seem to be easy to implement. It used to be free, which was a real pro, but the cost is not outrageous now. We hope that with the per-provider cost, there will be some feature upgrades that will make it more of a time-saver.

Cons

The cell phone two-step login seemed like a great idea until I watched my employees waste time, potentially violate HIPAA/privacy policies because of the cameras on every phone, and because they have to re-sterilize after using their phones to log back in. You cannot bill insurance companies directly, which is a con if you have a dedicated billing person capable of billing for less than what you pay the clearinghouse (Gateway). Lastly, the customer service is pretty bad. I hope this improves after paying for the service, with a commitment to resolving issues and responding to feature requests. CRM is lacking as there is no electronic appointment confirmation in the scheduling, so my staff still has to make appointment confirmation calls. Most software has this built-in or allows a third party to integrate. Practice Fusion does neither.

Pros

It was free and straightforward to use. It was a very basic and simple EHR for a startup or small practice. The best features were that it was cloud-based, had an online scheduler, email reminders, and recently added pinned notes.

Cons

It's not customizable, and there's poor response time for IT issues. Sometimes issues never get resolved. You can't modify online booking time slots, and new patients default to 30-minute slots, though we need an hour. This causes overbooking issues. I can't print multiple medical records or super bills at once, only individually, which is very time-consuming. You can't search patients by phone number, and appointment reminders don't sync with Google calendars, causing time confusion for patients.

Pros

Practice Fusion is a great teaching tool for students interested in understanding cloud services and EHR workflows.

Cons

Practice Fusion is free but sells user data on the backend. I do not necessarily agree with that policy and hope it will change someday.

Pros

Even with the paid subscription, it is cheaper than most EMRs. It will be nice to prescribe controlled substances online with the new system.

Cons

Be aware that one subscription includes one physician and three staff they call secondaries. Any staff not listed as secondary cannot sign scanned documents into the chart. This means if you have four staff members needing to sign charts, you have to purchase another entire subscription. They need an option to buy more secondary licenses by themselves.

Pros

Another basic system that is relatively easy to use and will get the job done. The system is web-based on a stable platform and low-cost to the consumer.

Cons

The system appears to lack in various areas and is likely best suited for specific kinds of behavioral health programs.

Pros

I liked the simplistic design, customizable templates, and integrated calendar that our answering service could use for scheduling. It used to be free.

Cons

Labs don't get attached to referrals, which is crucial for me as a nephrologist. When I create a remedy ticket, the representative talks in circles and takes a week to reply. One rep acknowledged this was a known issue. A year later, I contacted customer service for a full data extraction to migrate to another EHR and got the same runaround. Live chat was unresponsive, and the service phone line was useless. Direct messaging with other PF users is flawed since messages can't be recognized as consults or lab results. Outstanding lab or imaging orders, no-shows, and billing issues don't produce alerts. These factors make PF more like a glorified blog than a true EHR. Their attempts at clinical decision support are mostly for primary care. Annoying banners remind me of obvious things, which is distracting. The previous CEO's promise of "free forever" now seems unreliable, and I fear future cost or service changes as many clients are stuck with the difficulties of switching EHRs.

Pros

What I like most about this software is the navigation. Out of all the other EHR software, I quickly grasped the ease of use. I like how the schedule, charts, tasks, messages, etc., are laid out. It's a great EHR for first-time medical staff like receptionists and assistants.

Cons

No EHR software is perfect, but I honestly wish the search function for patients by previous encounters could be better.

Pros

Being cloud-based and intuitive, help on the phone was very good, which super surprised me. They helped me out and saved me money on MACRA and MIPS.

Cons

It costs a lot for faxing in and out, and it was very hard to use when I tried. Using one of the approved billing software options is also not cheap. I tried Collaborate, which was a lot of work, and I quit because it didn't seem to be going well.

Pros

It was formerly free and relatively simple to use. Now, it's not worth the monthly cost at all.

Cons

Practice Fusion sold out on its promise to always be free. After some investigation, I understood it was due to government legal issues costing millions. Having used many EHR/EMR systems in my 30-year practice, Allscripts is one of the worst companies to deal with. Horrible support is now evident with Fusion, creating a click-crazy environment. I'm uncertain about future changes with Fusion.

Pros

For a free EHR, it is functional. E-prescribing works great, although it takes forever to set up. Templates are decent and customizable.

Cons

No customer support, just forums. Poor integration with labs and imaging. Uploading documents is cumbersome. Poor integration with dictation. The superbill is cumbersome. Practice Fusion is just cumbersome overall, and they will start charging in June.

Pros

They will no longer be free. I've been trying to get the 30-day special to pay less, as they sent me a coupon to redeem. Thought I'd try for a year. Every time I click on the link, it shows a price higher than the coupon. I've called several times, but no one is ever available, and no one returns my calls. Instead, I get emails with directions that don't work. Worst company ever, don't pay for it. It was free, but now I have to pay, and it's not worth it. It was easy to e-prescribe, and the EMR wasn't helpful, but since it was free, I used it for prescribing. Now they want to charge, and I can't even get help setting that up.

Cons

It does not keep a current list of patients. If you haven't accessed the chart in three weeks, you have to search by date of birth. If you need customer support, forget it.

Pros

Allscripts needs to get their act together and realize that having a functioning EHR is critical to patient care.

Cons

You have to wait to talk to anyone from customer service. I sent a support ticket on Saturday and got an email on Tuesday saying someone would be in touch. I finally found a real phone number and spoke to a live person, only to be told someone would call me in 24 hours. I'm not holding my breath. Apparently, there is very high call volume, and I can guess why.

Pros

I like that it's web-based. Our providers are volunteers and aren't here every day, or even every week, so they can review lab results from home or wherever. It helps our efficiency tremendously. I also love that it's free for non-profits.

Cons

Getting Admin support was very difficult. There were long waits, sometimes hours or more than a day, to get live support.

Pros

The software is easy to navigate and has the basic features of an EMR. Being cloud-based, it was easily accessible from any internet-based PC. It was practice-specific in many ways, with certain shortfalls. The vaccine inventory was very good.

Cons

As a pediatrician, I need to record patient weight in pounds and ounces, which Practice Fusion doesn't allow. The basic templates can't be modified, and I have to be careful when composing notes (I don't encounter too many 2-month-old infants with teeth!) either to avoid picking certain elements or to go back and proofread the notes. Logging in from a new machine is a nuisance because you need to be verified with a security code.

Pros

This software was free for quite a while. It is very customizable in the documentation section but lacks many capabilities that other systems include.

Cons

The software cannot link to many popular billing systems.

Pros

I liked that it was free, had customizable templates (many had been customized by others), and was easy to use. I'm glad I'll have access to old records, but I'm certain they must offer that.

Cons

Why are not they telling us the cost of the new system? Having more than one EHR will be very difficult for the office.