EMR Review: Ingage Patient (Patient Portal only)
By Dr. Terra Caudill
Updated: May 2014
Summary Review:
Company: Ingage Patient
Pros:
• No setup fee
• Clear pricing on website
• No contract required
• Mobile compatible without App
• Online patient self-pay
• Good customer service
Cons:
• Extremely high merchant processor fees
• No free trial
• Require live demo
• No practice branding
• Your website must use their name
Price: $100/mo
Setup Fee: none
Website: IngagePatient.com
Editor’s Questions:
General:
Q: Do you cater to cash-only physician practices?
A: Yes, we can do both insurance and cash-only practices.
Q: What makes your product different from all the other EMR/PM systems on the market?
A: We are not an EMR/PM system, we are a patient engagement platform. Our system can be used as a standalone to manage your entire practice or integrated with an existing EMR/PM system (given that the system will allow it). Because of our modular capabilities, we can ease into your workflow seamlessly. We don’t compare ourselves to EMR/PM systems – instead, we bridge the gap between practice and their patients.
Patient Portal:
Q: Available as true white label, with no URL directs away from my website? Fees?
A: No. We specifically designed it this way to allow patients to manage multiple healthcare providers from multiple practices, not just one. Your practice information will be available and visible to your patients, but their portal will have the IngagePatient branding.
Q: Can the patient request appointment times from my calendar?
A: Yes. You may choose to use our scheduler or a different scheduler. If you use a different scheduler, patients can still choose from available times that you post on the portal.
Q: Offer Waiting List function?
A: We do have a function that allows patients to place themselves into a virtual waiting line after they enter their information and complete a registration. We send the patient notifications of where they are in the line and approximately how much longer their wait time will be until they can be seen.
Q: Offer appointment reminders via email/text?
A: Yes. We offer appointment reminders via email, text and voice.
Q: Can the patient choose which types of alerts they want to opt into/out of?
A: Yes. We give this preference control to the patient. They can set these preferences in their PHR (personal health record account) and their preferences for appointment reminders will override any that you may set on default for all your patients.
Q: Can the patient enter their own allergies and current medications?
A: Yes.
Q: Offer customizable forms and document upload capability?
A: Yes.
Q: Message/ticket system for question exchange?
A: We offer secure messaging that works just like email, except it sits on our platform. When patients message you, you will receive an external notification (via email or text) letting you know that you’ve received a new secure message.
Q: Offer legal consent forms with e-signature capability?
A: We have HIPAA and Privacy Notice forms and we require patients to electronically sign these forms. We also give the option for you to include your own HIPAA Privacy Notices and Financial Responsibilities forms if you choose.
Q: Offer live video, text, email or fax functions?
A: No.
Practice Management (PM):
Q: Can patients self-pay online via credit card in their patient portal?
A: Yes.
Q: If so, which merchant processor do you use, and what are their fees?
A: We accept most credit and debit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover. The fees are 2.9% per plus $1.30 per transaction (this percentage can decrease with increased numbers of transactions). We understand these fees may seem high but this offers the conveniences to you as a provider to be able to view the status of each of your invoices to patients (whether they’ve been opened, viewed, or paid) and the convenience for your patients to be able to pay online or from their mobile device. You have the choice of passing the $1.30 fee off to your patients as a convenience fee.
Q: Are the patients provided with an invoice with CPT codes?
A: Yes, patients can be provided with an invoice as well as an electronic copy of their billing statement. We don’t have a field specifically for CPT codes but the codes can be added to the invoice.
Q: Can I export my invoices into Quicken?
A: In development, expect to roll it out Summer 2014.
System:
Q: Is it cloud based and mobile-responsive?
A: Yes, our entire system is cloud based and both patients and providers can utilize the system on any device (mobile, tablet, laptop, etc) that has internet capability. We have a mobile app in both iOS and Android platforms.
Q: What format is used to export patient information into another system?
A: PDF, CCR, CCD and CSV.
Q: How often is my information backed up/How many servers do you have?
A: Information is backed up nightly, with certain information more frequently. We run multiple servers in two different geographical sites to ensure that a disaster at one location does not disrupt our service.
Q: What support will I have/extra fees?
A: All support is included in your monthly subscription.
Pricing:
Q: What is your monthly fee?
A: $100/mo per provider.
Q: What is your initial setup/implementation fee?
A: There is no setup fee. The first custom registration form is free and additional forms are $100 each.
Q: Do you require a contract/how long?
A: No. We offer a month-to-month subscription model.
Q: What is the cost of adding additional physicians at a later date?
A: Each additional physician will incur an additional $100/mo.
Q: Are there any other fees for any other services/functions that I have not asked about?
A: No.
Summary:
Q: Are there any other important features of your system that I haven’t asked about?
A: Referrals: we have a referral feature that allows providers to electronically refer their patients to you and for you to refer your patients to other providers. Rx Renewals: patients can electronically send in a request to you for a prescription renewal. Care coordination: outside of reminders for appointments, you can send alerts and reminders to your patients if you’ve set them on a care plan (i.e. reminders to take their medication at varying frequencies or to do regular tasks pertaining to their care plan). Patients have the ability to respond and you can monitor their responses.