by Ben Dwyer HealthFusion, now called NextGen Office, is a company that offers MediTouch electronic health records and practice management software for doctors’ offices and other medical practices.
Founded by physicians, the company’s website boasts more than 33,000 satisfied users in the fields of podiatry, pediatrics, cardiology, family medicine, neurology, obstetrics, orthopedics, sports medicine, surgical centers, urgent care, and more.
As MediTouch the company has partnerships with major organizations in the medical field, including the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Osteopathic Association, and boasts awards like the Surescripts White Coat of Quality.
Note that both Health Fusion and MediTouch are now jointly called NextGen Office, but you may still see the other names. Let’s take a look at what the software can offer your practice and what others have to say about the system.
Medical Features
The NextGen Office program touts itself as an easy cloud-based solution for medical practices. The software handles everything from front office schedules to sending claims. You can offer telehealth appointments, manage your practice with convenient reports, and more.
The system is cloud-based and secure, meaning you can access it anywhere you have an internet connection, and helps you save time by not having to fax or print medical data. Below are some of the features of the system, which works with Apple iPads.
Integrated Patient Portal
You can give patients access to their medical records via a private, secure portal, allowing them to keep track of their health history, request medication refills, ask questions, and more. The company claims that EHR systems increase engagement when a patient portal is used, helping ensure patient satisfaction with their care plan and establishing rapport.
Medical Charting
The cloud-based system helps you save time by giving you the ability to chart from anywhere. In addition to preloaded templates specific to a variety of medical specialties, the interface is designed for user friendliness.
Surgery Plans
For surgery, the software offers pre and post-procedure care plans with quick access to patient information and pre-loaded templates specific to your specialty and needs. The interface is customizable, allowing you to document specific objectives or goals for diagnosis and treatment.
Meaningful Use Certified
MediTouch is Meaningful Use certified, as is the patient portal it includes. The program utilizes a Meaningful Use Report Card built-in, which can help you demonstrate meaningful use of an EHR system and in turn may help you avoid penalties from the government. The company claims there is almost no extra work required to meet Meaningful Use standards. You’ll simply need to register for the Meaningful Use program and follow the steps to enter your report card results into the website.
Related Article: Taking Credit Cards at a Medical Practice.
Costs
When it was MediTocuh, the company didn’t publish costs and NextGen Office doesn’t either. Reported pricing from users online suggest that the software costs between $300-$500 per month, depending on the number of providers. However, to get accurate cost information, you’ll need to get a quote from NextGen.
Payment Processing
For accepting payments, NextGen offers NextGen Pay, partnered with InstaMed. However, the company does not provide any details of pricing (neither the pricing model nor any rate or fee information.)
Integrated payment processing can streamline your billing system, but may also come at a higher cost since you have a limited choice of processors. If costs are important to you, be sure to compare pricing with other processing companies before making a decision.
Costs for Processing
Since NextGen offers its own integrated payment processing, they will have some control over the pricing for credit card processing. You’ll need to request a quote in order to get pricing for accepting credit cards with the integrated payment processing option.
Alternately, you can secure processing from another company, but you will not be able to integrate it directly with NextGen OFfice, and will need a separate credit card reader or machine. If you’d like to see costs for processing, use this free quote comparison tool.
Keep in mind that HIPAA regulations apply differently depending on the services offered by the credit card processor you work with. Check out HIPAA-Compliant Credit Card Processing for more info.
HealthFusion Reviews
As HealthFusion the company was not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, thought it did have a profile boasting an A+ rating. NextGen Office also is not accredited with the BBB and does not appear to have a current profile. (Other profiles with the name NextGen list a different address than the NextGen Office solution and are not necessarily related.)
As HealthFusion, there were 2 negative reviews for the company, claiming that the implementation team’s assistance was lacking, and that customer service seems to have gone downhill. However, positive reviews on Capterra indicated general satisfaction with the product.
On the HealthFusion Website
HealthFusion includes a section for MediTouch reviews on its website, which no longer exists on the NextGen site. Those reviews praised the system for being less expensive than competitors while offering a helpful customizable system. Some reviewers praised the remote access capabilities, while others like the ease of use and helpful staff.
At Capterra
1,200+ reviews are available on Capterra, giving the company an ultimate 4-star rating out of 5.
Reviewers praise the customization options, ease of use, low cost, quick setup, and free updated. Overall, most users find the software to be very user-friendly and able to be tailored to their specific practice and needs. Additionally, reviewers liked that the software is improved upon regularly.
Some users did mention minor drawbacks like an inability to handle hospital billing and not enough reporting capabilities.
Have you used HealthFusion’s MediTouch EHR system (now NexGen Office) at your practice? Let us know what you think in the comments section, below!
