Timothy Kuo, MD
Lake Norman Oncology
Mooresville and Huntersville, North Carolina

"From beginning, it was clear to us that Altos was the most organized and provider-friendly EMR vendor we evaluated. OncoEMR clearly had the most intuitive workflow and easiest access to patient information. Other vendors claimed to have more features but their systems weren't intuitively laid out the way OncoEMR is.

The Altos support team is excellent. They were great at training both the physicians and the staff. They got everyone up and running quickly, and comfortable using OncoEMR.

Our go live was very easy because we put in the work to have everything ready on the first day—protocols were up and running, documents had been loaded, schedules were transferred over, and so forth. It was clear what needed to be done prior to implementing and we made sure that was all completed.

We planned on reducing our workflow to 80% of normal for the first two weeks but after the first week, we went back to a full schedule because everything was working. We also thought that we'd see a slowdown in our billing and revenue but in fact we didn't. There was virtually no interruption.

One of the great benefits is the web-based nature of OncoEMR and how easy it is to access OncoEMR. To be able to access everything from home, from the office, or wherever is tremendously helpful and enables better patient care. To be in the hospital and have all information right there is great. It has reduced the frustration of poor handwriting and confusing orders and has standardized the care we provide which we are pleased about.

We don't have a practice management system but as we begin talking to PMS vendors, we are finding that Altos has an excellent reputation and vendors indicate that it is no problem to integrate with OncoEMR.

We are hoping to be one of the first practices to submit attestation for meaningful use measures. We had the advantage of having OncoEMR in place before January 1 so our whole staff was very familiar with OncoEMR. For practices just beginning to use OncoEMR, I'd recommend using the system for a month or two before tackling meaningful use.

We remain pleased with our decision to go with OncoEMR. Our initial evaluation has been borne out—the system is easy to use and intuitive. It's hard to remember our practice before we had OncoEMR.

Timothy Kuo, MD
Lake Norman Oncology
Mooresville and Huntersville, North Carolina
_{March 3, 2011}

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Front Range Cancer Specialists
_{February 2011}

"We've been using OncoEMR™ since July 2010 and it's been a great benefit for our practice. While we were efficient before implementing OncoEMR, we are even more efficient now—no more looking for charts or waiting for dictation. Physician notes are completed immediately which translates into treatment beginning more quickly and billing being completed faster. Staff is able to spend more time in direct patient care.

"We knew that one of the secrets to our success would be to invest time upfront to prepare. The 10-week training program was excellent and the WebEx sessions are a terrific training tool. The training gave our staff time to really understand OncoEMR and see how it would impact our processes. This gave us time to practice using OncoEMR before we actually went live. We could see how our processes were going to have to adapt and also understand what could be adapted in OncoEMR to meet our work flow needs.

"Our trainer was fabulous but there are only so many questions that she could answer. Having a trainer for the clinical staff and another one for the non-clinical staff would have been ideal. In retrospect, we would have had two trainers on site when we went live, rather than just one.

"As you'd expect, some people adapted more easily than others. The non-clinical staff really liked OncoEMR from the beginning and learned to use it quickly. The nursing staff appreciates the documentation and how user friendly the system is. They like having the orders in the system and knowing that the physician has signed off. Some of the physicians took to it easily, while others had some trouble letting go of the old system. But in retrospect, the transition was relatively smooth.

"Altos Support is great. We appreciate that we can get our questions answered quickly and completely either through email or with a person on the phone. Typically, questions are answered in about an hour. This keeps our office running smoothly.

"We haven't surveyed patients to see if they've seen a difference with OncoEMR but they must see the difference when they call in for lab results and they get their answer much more quickly because all the information is right there for whoever answers the phone.

"We are using SeeYourChart™ with our patients. We decided to limit the clinical info that patients can see to just lab results and that's working well. We've used the marketing material Altos provides and have it in our offices. Rather than try to sign everyone up, we proactively reach out to patients who typically call us for labs and appointment reminders. It is easy to sign patients up on SeeYourChart."

April Christensen
Practice Manager
Front Range Cancer Specialists

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Dr. Govil's - Testimony

Our two physician practice adopted OncoEMR™ in 2007 and I can verify that we have increased our efficiency by 60%: we are seeing 60% more patients with the same staff, same space, and in the same amount of time.

We no longer have an office manager because there isn't a need for someone to make sure everything is being done-it's all right there in OncoEMR.

There's no more repeated data entry, searching for information, or charts. We've eliminated all of the mundane, expensive, and unrewarding tasks in our practice.

Patient care has improved with more standardized, agree upon procedures.

OncoEMR let's our staff shine. They keep coming up with new, more efficient ways to use OncoEMR. It makes them feel great and helps everyone. OncoEMR has made training new employees easy: we teach them to follow the flow of OncoEMR and they are fully functioning members of our staff much more quickly than in the past.

We are completely paperless except for patient consent forms. We've saved a lot on printers, ink, and paper.

My patients are easier to manage for referring physicians and specialist because they have access online to patient information. All that information is right at their fingertips, immediately. And talk about the physicians in the hospital! They are jealous when they see me charting everything online at the patient's bedside.

Patients and their families are empowered through their access to SeeYourChart.com. They can check labs, review their appointments, and generally keep on top of their treatment. Patients also see our practice as more professional and on top of their care because we always have everything at the tip of our fingers. They don't worry that anything is being overlooked or forgotten.

We just keep getting better, thanks to OncoEMR. Once we decide to change the way we operate, we make changes in OncoEMR and the improvement is immediately part of the flow of our practice. Adoption is instantaneous. We are serious about quality improvement and can actually make changes and document them easily with OncoEMR.

OncoEMR was our choice because it is the lightest on its feet. It has exactly what we need without extras that simply confuse the situation. And the service is excellent and exceptionally responsive, committed to problem solving and resolution.

Remember though, an EMR isn't going to make a poorly run practice run well. It is a tool. You have to have the right procedures in place and you have to be well prepared for implementation. It's hard work but it pays off many folds.

Mithi Govil, M.D., M.S.
New London Cancer Center

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