Practice Fusion Blog

Practice Fusion EHR Updates: New Prescription Library, Patient List Filters and Document Tools

Practice Fusion is constantly working to improve your experience and save you time. Based on our user feedback we have made the following improvements to our EHR today.

New Prescription Library
A more robust listing of commonly used medications and the ability to add custom medications.

• NDC-based list of medications from the FDA
• Medication list is constantly updated with the latest information
• Easy search function lets you filter by route and strength
  
• Improved display of patient information and drug allergy information
• Simple tools for adding a custom medication

Patient List Filtering
Filter quickly through your most commonly accessed patient records or extend your search to your complete patient list. Watch a tutorial explaining the new search system.

• Fast and intuitive access to the patients you've recently seen and are planning to see
• Improved search tools to help you locate patients from large lists
• Consistent search format across the system

Improved Document Tools
One-screen function for uploading, viewing, downloading and signing documents.

• Doctors and RN's can sign documents in the same flow as adding them to a chart

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Ready to try the new features? Login to your Practice Fusion account now. Not yet using the Practice Fusion EHR? Sign-up for a free training.

The Practice Fusion Help Center

This week we are excited to announce the release of the Practice Fusion Help Center, a brand new feature whose purpose is to provide an easy way to access context sensitive help.

How do I access the Help Center?

When you log into Practice Fusion you will notice a new vertical button on the right hand side of the application. It is orange and labeled ‘Help Center’. Clicking on it will launch the Help Center for the section you are currently looking at.

Note: main components are numbered in the screen shot, please read on to find out more about each one.

Feature Highlights:

1. Choose a topic or section you would like to explore, FAQ's for that section will appear on the screen.
2. Video tutorials are listed for your chosen topic (#2 above). Clicking on a tutorial will launch a new internet browser tab or window. The video should begin playing automatically.
3. All feedback and questions can now be directed to Practice Fusion Support through the Help Center. Simply bring up the Help Center and click ‘Send us Feedback’. 
4. Last but not least, users can now sign up for training through the Help Center. Simply click ‘Schedule a Training’ and choose a date and time that works for you.

Note:  if you have a pop-up blocker running, it may appear that clicking on a video does nothing. Please add PracticeFusion.com to your accepted pop-up list to avoid this problem.

The videos come complete with sound, so please make sure you have headphones handy, or speakers plugged in.

Thanks!

Practice Fusion Support Team

New features released!

Here's a summary of the new features we released yesterday:

A new and improved help center.  We'll go into more detail in our next post.  It's the yellow button on each screen:

Now you can toggle back and forth from US to the Metric system in charts:

We've simplified the process of starting a new Patient Note:

and then...

We've added a new mechanism for searching patients and locating duplicates:

Lastly, when you log in, we've added a feature to help keep you informed about any site downtime for maintenance.

We hope you enjoy the new features.  As always your feedback is welcome and very important to the continued evolution of Practice Fusion.

Thanks,

The Practice Fusion Support Team

People are talking and they're saying...

We've been busy improving our software and word is getting around.  A big THANK YOU to everyone who has provided us with feedback lately.  Word on the street is:

Your service is outstanding -
Dr. Askew 5/13/2009

I love your product- the recent updates are awesome. 
Dr. Wolff 5/12/2009

You guys have some really great ideas. I like the intuitive nature and almost endless customization I can make.  You guys rock!  
Dr. Saunders 5/5/2009

I am really excited about Practice Fusion.  I think you guys have a really exciting, innovative product.  Our practice's second physician (out of four) has just started using PF, and she thinks it's a great idea that is working for her.  We'll be getting our exam rooms wired soon as well as faster computers, which will allow us to better utilize PF's potential.
Dr. Sukachevin 4/29/09

I've been using various EHR's for 15 years, from Cerner to Amazing Charts. Your web based application can compete with products that I've spent 1000's of dollars on. The superiority of web based EHR's can't be underestimated (assuming the necessary security and privacy measures are in place) for small physician groups; besides the ability to easily and safely share pertinent patient data at the point of contact, it eliminates the need to have separate servers, back up systems, installation of application updates, and significantly reduces the need for IT support. As a self professed "early adapter" I would caution physicians exploring ANY EHR system to have patience with the software/applications. All products require a certain time investment and learning curve in the beginning; think about only using it for a couple of patients a day as you and your staff get familiar with the program, and to allow you to develop your personalized templates to fit your style. The initial entering of patients data and template customization is time intensive, but the real efficiency is seen on return visits when the patients medical data is all entered and can be accessed simply with clicks of templates. Practice Fusion is where all EHR's should be headed.
Dr. Wolff 4/8/2009

You guys are really first class!  Many thanks!
Dr. Waisbren 3/29/2009

By the way, my office is thrilled with your product in our beginning stages of "checking it out".
Dr. Clawson 3/10/2009

You guys are " da bomb"!!!!! thanks.
Dr. Beckner 3/6/2009

Thanks for listening and working on this, very user friendly so far and easy to set up.
Dr. McCallum 3/4/2009

Practice Fusion illustrates the advantage of a SaaS-based EHR

Practice Fusion just released a collection of 25+ enhancements to its EHR. Many of these enhancements were part of the roadmap towards adding the features needed to allow physicians to make use of an EHR that provides “meaningful use” and thus become eligible for ARRA stimulus moneys. Many other of these enhancements were in response to feature requests from the user community – 67 different users had made feature requests that were addressed in this release. A few points deserve to be underscored here:

 

1). There are several major feature-sets that are being developed concurrently which are part of the pathway towards becoming a “certified EHR” (the definition of which is evolving – more on that subject in a later blog post). However, Practice Fusion also continues to collect input and suggestions from the user community. This not only makes product-development responsive and organic, but also helps create an EHR that is more-and-more usable. EHRs need to be excellent products that enhance (not hinder) in-office workflows – we have championed the criteria for selection of an EHR as “Usability, Interoperability, Affordability.” This sort of user-driven enhancement process allows Practice Fusion to evolve into the kind of tool that maximizes usability, based on “in the field” experience.

 

2). Practice Fusion is able make product improvements and upgrades that benefit everyone, all-at-once, by virtue of being a web-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) product. It does not require new downloads or upgrades in order to implement. Upgrades do not involve additional costs, or the need for on-site consultants. The whole issue (often a nightmare) of “version control” – i.e., making sure everyone is using the same, newest version of a product – is not an issue with a web-based product. The kind of seamless feature-set enhancement deployed this week illustrates the intrinsic superiority of a SaaS-based product over something locally installed.

 

Robert Rowley, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Practice Fusion, Inc.

On Twitter: #practicefusion

New features released

Hello Practice Fusion User community! 

We've updated the system to create one unified and flexible way to manage your patients' diagnoses and medications and we have also changed the printing functions, giving you more flexible and customizable options.  So far the feedback on these two significant changes have been very positive.  Let us know what you think. 

We've also added two new training videos to show you how these work:

Direct management of a patients diagnosis list

Direct management of a patients medication list

There are many other smaller features that we have added and fixed based on your feedback.  If you see something that you have a question or concern about please don't hesitate to contact us at support@practicefusion.com