SmartCare EHR Reviews

“Design issues”

Pros

The software has a polished, attractive look overall and the interface is visually appealing.

Cons

Visually, the software looks nice but a lot of the experience is frustrating. Customer support is not helpful at all and often comes across as if they are talking down to you instead of actually assisting. The reports are confusing and the monthly statement in particular is especially bad. Trying to set up monthly billing for the first of the month is a headache and even customer service does not seem able to get it working properly. The parent app also seems to be unavailable or malfunctioning much of the time. It is really frustrating that you cannot return to the same screen you were just on without having to scroll all the way back through the first page again. The ladybug feedback icon could be useful if anything actually came from it but instead you just get a generic email saying they will pass it along to the IT team, with no follow-up or confirmation that the issue was ever addressed. There is also no option in the sign-in/sign-out section to indicate whether a child is sick, on vacation or simply absent which feels like a major omission. On top of that, it is concerning that there does not seem to be any real backup system for records beyond being stored somewhere in the cloud. There should at least be some kind of local backup available.

“Integrated time saver”

Pros

Having everything integrated in one place really helps cut down on extra work and saves us a lot of time that would otherwise be spent redoing tasks.

Cons

The downside is that parent payments take about two days to process which ends up causing cash flow issues for us.

“Slow and missing features”

Pros

We moved over to it through Childcare Manager for a data transition and that part was helpful overall. That said, the data team didn't bring over all of our student information so some records were left out during the transfer.

Cons

Right now, the platform feels pretty bare-bones. Customer support is very limited and it's missing several important software features. It also loads slowly, has glitches in browsers other than Google Chrome and we've run into problems when trying to set up our financial deposits.

“Flexible access”

Pros

Being able to use the software from anywhere has been a big plus and the overall interface is very easy to work with.

Cons

A few helpful features are still missing at the moment although the company does seem to be actively developing them.

“Reporting options are a standout!”

Pros

There's a wide range of really useful reports available to run which has been one of the strongest parts of the software for me.

Cons

When the attendance kiosk isn't an option, entering attendance by hand takes a very long time. Moving between the payment, account, family and children sections also feels a bit awkward and tough.

“Fee management made easy”

Pros

Parents have no trouble using it and it works really well for managing childcare fees too.

Cons

It still needs a way to track actual classroom attendance rather than only sign-ins and the reporting should let us filter by agency-specific fields like funding source.

“helps us stay connected”

Pros

Really great program with plenty of ways to keep in touch with family.

Cons

There are just too many steps involved. Doing one simple thing often means clicking through a bunch of other sections before you finally get there.

“All-in-one saver”

Pros

Having everything in one place has been a huge help. I can message parents, send invoices, communicate with staff, build schedules and handle plenty of other day-to-day tasks without jumping between different programs. It's really convenient and saves me a lot of time.

Cons

One frustrating part is having to create separate notes for each task for every child. Because of that, parents end up getting multiple messages throughout the day since there isn't a way to log several updates for one child all at once.

“Quick learning curve”

Pros

Getting around the system has been very easy. Even without attending any of the training, I was able to jump in, locate what I needed and start using it without much trouble. Another big plus is having our money deposited directly into the bank which has been really helpful.

Cons

The software works really well but customer support has been the challenging part for me. At the beginning, it was hard to reach someone and even harder to get the answers we needed during setup. It felt like we were brushed off a little at a very important stage and while we were trying to get everything up and running, it seemed like we were left to figure things out on our own.

“Friendly but awkward”

Pros

One thing I can say is the customer support team is genuinely friendly. They do not always have the answer right away but they are consistently willing to look into things and check whether a feature can be added or made available.

Cons

Compared with the program we used before, this one is much less user-friendly. I end up spending more time in accounts than I should especially when our clients are the ones paying through the app. Even when I handled the billing myself, I still spent less time dealing with accounts than I do now.

“Packed with features”

Pros

There's a lot to appreciate about this software because it comes with a wide range of features and offers a ton of capability. The more information you put into it, the more useful and functional it becomes.

Cons

Feature that's been a bit challenging is working out how to print reports from it.

“Billing and reporting”

Pros

Signing users in and out works well and the billing section is very useful. The reports area is also great and the timeline feature helps keep everything organized.

Cons

Some parts of the system still feel limited. The query options for certain tasks could offer more flexibility.

“Parent payment tool”

Pros

It has been really useful for collecting payments.

Cons

The reporting side is missing important details and it can be difficult to locate the specific reports you need.

“Reporting and payment limitations”

Pros

Signing children in and out happens in real time which is really useful and it's a big plus that parents can access everything through an app on their phones.

Cons

At the same time, there are quite a few things we need the system to handle that it currently can't. For instance, we'd like to view every transaction on an account in one place instead of having to download separate statements. The reports aren't very user friendly, manual charges can't be entered by child and parents aren't able to make partial payments. The app also needs to work from a single device because carrying around two devices just feels unnecessary.

“Reporting gaps”

Pros

Running payments is pretty convenient and the kiosk feature is a nice part of the system.

Cons

On the downside, fixing accounting errors by voiding them is much harder than it should be. The deposit reporting is also confusing especially when trying to track exactly what each customer paid. Another missing piece is scheduling for each child. If a child attends school three days a week, there should be a way to record which specific days and what hours they are there but that option does not seem to exist. Overall, the software does not feel user friendly. It would also make much more sense for teachers to have their own app for documenting students but instead they have to log into the full website every single time. We have not even started using timelines with teachers yet because we are still trying to figure out the administrative side of the platform.

“Accessible support”

Pros

Getting around the platform is very easy and having quick access to so many features makes day-to-day use really convenient. It also helps a lot that customer service is available and responds to questions within a reasonable amount of time.

Cons

A few parts of the design could still be improved but the good thing is they keep updating and refining the software on a regular basis to make it better over time.

“Connected through app”

Pros

One thing that really works well is the Parent App since parents can quickly get the information they need. The Timeline makes communication fast and having billing details available there is also very helpful.

Cons

There are just far too many clicks to complete something that used to be handled on a single page in our previous system.

“Modern but incomplete”

Pros

The check-in/check-out tablet used by parents and staff has a very modern appearance. The ladybug feature gives us a way to capture screenshots of issues for tech support which is helpful. The overall layout looks cleaner and more up to date and frequent updates have been improving functionality over time.

Cons

There are still quite a few childcare-specific needs that ChildCare Manager handled better and this system feels sluggish in comparison. For instance, with live files versus archived files, if I need to review a past child's record, I have to unarchive them first just to bring them back up. The accounting side also does not allow corrections which is worrying because the "credits" we had to enter to fix problems may create issues later at tax time. Parents also cannot view the notes attached to accounting entries so when extra charges show up, like for field trips that are billed separately, they have no way of knowing what the charge is for because the note is hidden from them. In ChildCare Manager, the reports section included a short description of what each report contained. Here, it only shows the report title so we have to run and download reports just to find out they are not the ones we needed. We also still do not have a private place to document employee discipline that staff cannot access. In CCM, we had a page for tracking those issues privately. During testing, we also found that if a staff member downloads the it Kiosk app, they can clock themselves in remotely. We had employees delete the app but there is still concern about that. The ladybugs are useful but responses do not always come quickly and when an issue is fixed, we are not given a ticket number to reference if follow-up is needed.

“Family details hub”

Pros

Having all our family information right at hand has been really helpful. I can add anything I want included and access it whenever I need it. There are also lots of report options which is a big plus as long as the information has been entered accurately.

Cons

One frustration is that when a family is added to the system, they are not automatically sent an invitation to use the app for payments. On top of that, there is a fee every time a parent makes a payment which is a tough thing to justify to parents at a small center like ours.

“Helpful but attendance issues”

Pros

Being able to pull up students by class is something I really appreciate. From a director's perspective, it also helps a lot that I can search for individual children quickly. The option to sort children in several different ways is a nice feature as well.

Cons

Check-in and check-out process for children takes far too long. There are multiple steps for each child just to check them into the center and then multiple steps all over again to check them out. The software also runs slowly especially on a tablet so the full process can take more than a minute per child. Teachers simply do not have that kind of time to spend on attendance. Because of this, our center still relies on paper rolls. It would be much better if there were a way to check in an entire class at once.