When deciding on the right systems for your clinic, many physical therapy practice owners come down to a decision between two great choices. In this article, we compare In Touch EMR’s integrated scheduling, documentation, and billing suite with OptimisPT Physical Therapy documentation software and OptimisPT Physical Therapy scheduling software.
Compliance, Security, and Federal Regulatory Standards
When deciding on EMR technology, security and compliance is the name of the game. While OptimisPT physical therapy software uses high-quality security protocols and takes standard back-ups for data protection, In Touch EMR has the most secure server management and data backup procedures on the market. In Touch EMR is also the first and currently only vendor in the rehabilitation space to be on the certified Health IT Product List, which is a division of the Federal office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (a part of the Department of Health and Human Services).
In Touch EMR’s compliance and security protocols are vastly superior to other rehabilitation EMR/EHR software providers currently on the market, and in the event of an audit you’re going to want that kind of safety and security on your side.
To learn more about the Office of the National Coordinator, click here.
If you’d like to get more technical, click here to view the testing requirements and specs for ONC Certification and Health IT product listing.
Winner: In Touch EMR for superior compliance and security. Bonus to In Touch EMR for also being their own PQRS registry, which makes life a little easier for everyone.
The Creator Factor
For many practice owners, knowing that the higher-ups of a company they do business with understand the industry from a provider’s perspective is key. Here’s how In Touch EMR and OptimisPT measure up.
In Touch EMR was founded by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT. He and is wife are both physical therapists. Nitin serves as the company’s CEO and is actively involved in daily operations.
OptimisPT was developed by OptimisCorp, a for-profit company that owns several clinics. OptimisCorp itself is owned by physical therapists.
Winner: We have to call this one a tie – both companies get a five star rating here for being ultimately therapist owned.
Pricing
With the pleasantries out of the way, let’s discuss another crucial factor also at the heart of the decision making process: money.
OptimisPT pricing for web-based physical therapy EMR software is dependent upon a base price plus volume of visits. For $200 monthly, you get 235 checked in and documented visits. Beyond the purchased 235 visits, you pay $0.85 per additional visit with scaling based on volume. The main situation in which we imagine this is advantageous is if you have a very high number of providers, most or all of whom have schedules that may change from high to extremely low and back again. This set up may find you with a financial advantage in bursts, but can become confusing from a fiscal perspective and also doesn’t look to include any add-ons or bells and whistles.
In Touch EMR’s pricing is $49 per month per provider with price breaks based on volume (simply put: bringing on a higher number of providers at once will get you a better deal). This also includes extra features such as marketing integration, email appointment reminders, and faxing directly through the system. The structure is simple, inexpensive, and makes it easy to anticipate your bill.
Winner: In Touch EMR – less expensive and easier to understand.
Flexibility, Integration, and Support
OptimisPT and In Touch EMR both perform at the head of the class when it comes to flexibility with your bill. Both allow for increases and decreases according to clinical need, however OptimisPT’s methods may lead to higher bills than anticipated due to volume.
On the documentation and development side of things, In Touch EMR takes the lead as their documentation platform is intuitive and template based, only mandating that Medicare-required questions be answered and allowing users to decide what questions are applicable to their patient-base. Creation of custom templates for notes leads to faster documentation and a streamlined internal process. When it’s easier to document, providers are more likely to finalize notes quickly and clinics get paid faster. Additionally, In Touch EMR seeks out user requests for new features and add-ons and has an in house team of developers to carry them out.
For Integration, In Touch EMR and OptimisPT both integrate scheduling, billing, and documentation. In Touch EMR also boasts an outsourced billing service, In Touch Billing, for those clinics looking to have billing done by an outside source while continuing to work with a company they trust.
In Touch EMR gets the victory in the Support area as they not only have live chat, email, and phone support, but also designate an Account Manager to each clinic who is the direct contact in charge of the clinic’s support and overall satisfaction. It’s an interesting and unique approach to handling customer service that gives clinics a “go-to” support representative that gets to know them and their clinical needs.
Winner: In Touch EMR. While OptimisPT Physical Therapy Software offers flex-billing and integration, In Touch EMR has a both of these plus a superior support structure, customizable documentation, and actively looks to user feedback for new features and enhancements.
Final Results
When comparing OptimisPT Physical Therapy Software and In Touch EMR side by side, it’s hard to come up with anything bad to say about either product. Both are affordable products created by people who understand the world of physical therapy.
In the end, In Touch EMR comes away victorious as their security and compliance measures are unbeatable, their pricing works out to be easier and cheaper in almost every scenario, their support lends itself to one-on-one relationships between clinic and software vendor, and their flexibility in documentation and development gives clinicians every tool needed to document quickly while remaining compliant.
