Our practice is a two-location, five-physician operation with a strong focus on refractive surgery. Our combined patient volume is 150-200 visits daily. While we were ready for the patient care benefits that we knew we could gain through EHR much sooner - we did not make our final selection until 2010. Our physicians selected Medflow as this was a platform designed specifically to meet the need of ophthalmic care. We paid specific attention to the user friendliness as well as customization (or lack of over-customization that can really become the Achilles heel of any EHR) of the system, thinking ahead and hoping not to have to require professional IT support at every upgrade to make the system update across all templates. Medflow fits those characteristics. We instantly took to the wonderful, single screen exam as well as refractive module that is utilized the most by our refractive surgeons for pre-, intra- and post-operative care. One of the main deciding factors was imaging integration - we love having DICOM in place that allows for error-free application of digital images - such as OCTs, Visual Fields, Corneal Topographies - directly into the EHR. Many other EHR systems require third party devices to accomplish the same thing. Our doctors and technicians enjoy using Medflow in daily patient care, and electronic charting has become the second nature for them. It is important to mention that Medflow integrated seamlessly with our Allscripts PM system, as well as patient portal via Vision Connect (that bridges both EPM and EHR). Highly recommend considering Medflow for any practice of ophthalmology!

Our practice has 14 locations, a LASIK Suite, and a surgery center which is AAAHC accredited. We have a high volume of cataract practice and see approximately 350 patients a day in our rural clinical setting. We have been using Medflow EHR going on four years now. We were the first Ophthalmology practice in the country to meet meaningful use. I have found Medflow to be reactive and proactive to our needs, and the full screen exam very user friendly. We are on the newest version of Medflow. Implementation was a seamless event in our practice and was basically a celebration of all the hard work we put into it on the front end when we were getting the product ready for use. After a full week, we were back to seeing a full patient load. Many of the providers took themselves live prior to our actual go live date. They did that because it was easy for them to do so. We also use Medflow in the surgery center which has been an extremely nice tool for the staff. I have and would recommend Medflow of colleagues. I know that Medflow currently has the most providers who attested for meaningful use. That statement speaks volumes of what they have accomplished. We'd never go back to paper.

What is the future of this product?

Overall, the product has been good but customer support has gone downhill quite a bit over the last couple of years.

Pros

The program is fairly easy to use and easy to train your staff. Some customization is available to meet physician needs.

Cons

Updates don't always seem to keep up with the industry standards of other software programs similar in nature.

Good program/ Poor customer service

You can't reach a person when you call for support. You have to leave a message or email them and hope that you get a response

Pros

Software is very user friendly and easy to use

Cons

Lots of little issues and they update during business hours and slow the system down. Customer support is pretty bad

Good product but very poor support and service.

Pros

The EMR has all the information needed for complete exams as well as specialty exams. Interface is busy but once you get used to it, it is very easy to navigate.

Cons

Awful customer service and support. The last update that was issued on December 8th had an unknown interface change with our GE billing software. On January 5th, we still have not been able to submit claims due to MedFlow's error. GE never requested any changes to the billing interface. MedFlow seems nonchalant about this problem, a problem that has prevented us from submitting claims for over 3 weeks now!

Not worth the pain

Pros

The only pro is that it is ophthalmology specific. Hard to find specialty specific software this day in age.

Cons

A lot of bugs, a lot of security breaches, and customer support is terrible. Promises to fix or enhance are broken.

Has the essentials

Overall, satisfied with system, it just isn't perfect

Pros

Will fulfill most needs of practice Integration with EMR Straight forward, learning curve is not very difficult

Cons

Often has problems where remote desktop is unresponsive and may freeze Common problems with employees being unable to login or program crashes immediately Old fashioned layout, lot's of tabs - inability to see more from one view

I would not get Medflow. It has cost our practice loads of time & money. Support is lacking. The software is not ideal, and even with their "upgrades" there has been no improvements over the past 4-5 years. It has taken the joy out of practicing ophthalmology. We have a large practice and are considering the enormous task of switching companies.