CareCloud Medical Software Review

The best medical software platforms include comprehensive tools for patient charting, electronic prescribing and lab orders, scheduling and intake, telehealth and plenty of tools to improve medical billing. CareCloud offers a workflow that is so well-designed, virtually any practice can use it. We selected CareCloud as our pick for the medical software with the best workflow because of its user experience and logical arrangement of features. Both factors make navigating the system simple for every member of your healthcare organization.

CareCloud Editor's Score: 84/100

Why CareCloud Is Best for Workflow

When investigating the best medical software with a streamlined workflow, we found the CareCloud dashboard easy to navigate, offering users access to both electronic medical record (EMR) tools and medical practice management software (PMS) features. The architecture accommodates individual users' preferences to prevent disruptions to your team's workflow. All the tabs you need to access are at the top of your screen. With one click, you can get to billing, scheduling, charts or wherever else you need to go.

We were most impressed with how these tabs combine with a navigational order that resembles how registration and checkout have typically worked in the front office. We liked that there is never a need to navigate between multiple windows and that the software moves seamlessly from one phase of the encounter to the next. For an administrator, the system offers a clear overview of all operations.

The platform's processes were designed to mimic common workflows in the medical world. However, CareCloud is also highly customizable, allowing healthcare organizations to adapt the platform to their unique needs.

Key takeaway: CareCloud's platform is designed to boost your front-office and patient-encounter workflows, so your staff can efficiently check patients in and out.

What We Like About CareCloud

• CareCloud is highly customizable to suit your desired workflow.
• The intuitive interface makes the software easy to navigate, even for users with minimal training.

What We Don't Like About CareCloud

• Although CareCloud has competitive monthly rates, the setup and implementation fees are higher than those of other providers we reviewed. 
• The vendor generally requires practices to sign long-term contracts, though some exceptions may be negotiated.

Usability

CareCloud's patient experience suite, Breeze, is designed to be user-friendly for both practitioners and patients. In our tests, we found the medical software interface to be straightforward and self-explanatory.

The dashboard is built from tabs on the top of the screen. One click is all it takes to get to critical portals, such as scheduling, billing and patient data. Navigation resembles the patient-encounter steps you'd normally move through, starting with registration and ending with checkout.

On the practice management side, CareCloud allows for extensive customization so you can shape its structure to meet your office's needs. The EMR system is just as flexible, and the company's service team offers EMR training. In speaking with CareCloud representatives, we learned that setup typically takes 90 days. Learn more about setup and implementation below.

CareCloud's Features

Here are CareCloud's key features and the workflow advantages they foster.

Appointment Scheduling

One of the scheduling features we liked most was CareCloud's color-coded and filterable calendar, which is sortable by appointment status and type. This was an easy way to streamline an individual user's workflow. You can choose a daily, weekly or monthly view and filter based on elements such as location or provider. 

In the appointment status view, each status gets its own color. Upcoming appointments are light blue and change to light green when patients check in. After checkout, the color changes to dark blue if the patient's billing is pending, or dark green if the appointment has already been billed. Canceled appointments stand out in red. These color-coding features are among the most extensive we found in the medical software products we reviewed.

Did you know?: CareCloud's color-coding appointment scheduling tools are among the most comprehensive of the medical software we examined.

A list view shows the patient's name; the appointment date, time and location; the provider; the appointment type and status; and the patient's insurance eligibility if your front-office staff has verified it.

CareCloud makes insurance verification easy with individual and batch tools and additional color-coding capabilities. A green check means eligible, a red X means ineligible and a yellow exclamation mark indicates outstanding insurance issues.

Source: CareCloud

Billing and Claims

CareCloud's billing platform is integrated with its EMR system for rapid clinical data collection. This makes it speedy and simple to post charges and create claims. After a clinical note is signed, billing staff can verify the codes that CareCloud generates and add any other necessary codes. CareCloud includes a library of ICD-10, CPT, and E&M codes.

You'll also see encounters and bills labeled clearly in the CareCloud platform as unbilled, saved or posted for payer submission. CareCloud displays a complete list of patient checkouts in the unfulfilled encounters menu alongside the patient's information. This information includes the patient's name, appointment type, date, provider, location, insurance and remaining encounter value. With this information, you'll know which unfulfilled encounters to prioritize.

We liked that after claims are submitted and your charges are posted, CareCloud designates all unfulfilled encounters as saved. From your saved claims portal, your billing team can view real-time status updates. Your staff can also see provider information, as well as the final encounter value and ICD-10, E&M, and CPT codes.

Another useful feature is CareCloud's CollectiveIQ rules engine, which scrubs all claims and flags errors that could result in payer rejection or denial. This database is updated regularly with new errors that lead to rejections and denials from clearinghouses and payers nationwide. 

You can also manage denied claims in CareCloud's billing portal. Alongside these claims, you'll see reports flagging the most frequent reasons for denial. If you also sign up for CareCloud's RCM services, you'll see medical billers' real-time progress within this same hub.

Source: CareCloud

Charting and Notetaking

In CareCloud's charting tool, lists of upcoming appointments and checked-in patients offer an overview of the day's schedule. You'll see which exam rooms patients are located in and a list of completed appointments. We especially appreciated that we could drag and drop to move patients between lists, which we consider a must-have feature for medical software.

Viewing a patient's full chart is as easy as double-clicking their name. We like that CareCloud creates a running list of recently opened patient charts for rapid access, allowing users to easily toggle between charts for recent visits. CareCloud makes reviewing multiple charts at once easy with a series of tabs at the top of the screen. This is perfect for comparing recent charges with notes from the patient encounter without cluttering the display. 

In the CareCloud charting portal, an Exam Notes tool lets you use custom or preset templates to streamline your notetaking. In CareCloud's Breeze suite, your notes will automatically populate with a patient's medical history and current information. You can type or use hotkeys or voice-to-text (via M*Modal or Dragon integrations) to take notes while maintaining focus on the patient.

CareCloud's charts offer a unique wand feature that auto-indicates a patient's information as normal and healthy. You can also click a list entry and color it red to mark it as abnormal. When patients describe their symptoms, you can cross-reference the red text on your chart to determine potential causes. We found these tools to be effective methods for improving provider decision-making through readily available information and recommendations.

Source: CareCloud

E-Prescribing and Labs

CareCloud allows you to create reusable order sets so you can easily convey your patients' testing needs to your staff and third-party practices. The CareCloud eRx suite also provides real-time intelligence at the point of care so you don't prescribe medications that could interact dangerously.

Tip: E-prescribing is an important tool for nearly every medical practice. Need consultative help in securing access to e-prescribing features? Check out our review of athenahealth's medical software to learn about some particularly great consulting services.

Patient Experience

Compared with other medical software providers, CareCloud's patient experience offerings stand out. Many of its software features that might typically be targeted at practices are instead geared toward patients.

For example, CareCloud's custom workflows are structured around a seamless patient experience, starting with pre-visit updates and reminders via the patient portal. For practices with the Breeze add-on, patients can use on-location Clover-powered check-in and checkout kiosks, which reduces work for the front office. Contactless payment options are also available. [See our Clover review to learn more about the vendor and its products.]

Certain patient or practitioner actions after an appointment will automatically trigger reminders to schedule future appointments so you never miss an opportunity to keep patients on the calendar. CareCloud also includes secure messaging tools to streamline communications with your patients. The platform goes beyond messaging to include loyalty campaigns designed to keep your patients coming back if they have future medical concerns.

Much of CareCloud's patient experience prowess comes from its dynamic patient portal. There, patients can check in and pay well before their appointment. You and your patients can easily communicate before appointments in this portal as well. The CareCloud patient portal also lets patients request, reschedule and set up reminders for upcoming appointments. As they do so, they can easily update their demographic and insurance information, which your staff must approve.

Source: CareCloud

Patient Payment

CareCloud couples its comprehensive patient experience suite with unique payment tools. Although some of these features can be found in other medical software, most of CareCloud's strongest patient payment tools are unique. 

One of the most notable features is the ability for patients to build their own payment plans. This way, they can make partial payments if they can't immediately afford the full cost of your services. Chances are, this feature means you'll wait less time to get paid.

When it's time to pay, patients can choose from standard credit cards, health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). CareCloud is the only medical software company we reviewed that makes HSA and FSA payments this easy. 

Did you know?: CareCloud is the only medical software we found that streamlines patient payments through HSAs and FSAs. HSAs are typically part of high-deductible health plans.

Before patients pay, they can view a detailed statement that breaks down their current charges. Emailed receipts follow payments, which automatically post to your PMS. 

Given its vast array of patient payment tools, CareCloud asserts that your patient collection rate will be 5% to 10% higher than with other software platforms. CareCloud also estimates you'll earn 10% to 20% more revenue per patient encounter.

Reporting and Practice Analytics

As with most of the medical software platforms we reviewed, CareCloud is equipped with comprehensive practice management and data tools. The platform's financial intelligence spans your entire operation, and you'll see this data in simple reports of your clinical performance. You'll also benefit from predictive analytics that include actionable big data.

The CareCloud analytics and reporting suite includes a customizable dashboard for your data. You can also enable and block report access for specific team members. CareCloud's easily accessible, data-heavy reports are available on both desktop and mobile devices. These reports help you determine all of the factors, both positive and negative, behind your practice's performance. You'll also be able to locate bottlenecks in your collections and billing cycle and solve these problems to bolster performance.

You can filter any reports you generate in CareCloud by payer, provider or staff member, and view them in daily, weekly and monthly formats. Set these customizable reports to generate on a regular schedule and export as PDF, XLS or CSV files.

Retail and E-Commerce

CareCloud is the only medical software we reviewed that includes tools to push your practice beyond standard medical care and into retail and e-commerce. While this capability isn't necessary for all practices, those looking for additional revenue streams may find it helpful.

Through CareCloud, you can set up a web store and manage your inventory, offer sales and discounts, and provide customers with real-time shipping updates. If customers don't complete their purchases before leaving your e-commerce site, you can send them reminders to recover their abandoned carts.

Revenue Cycle Management

CareCloud's RCM suite, CareCloud Concierge, is quite extensive. It stands out especially for its large number of features. CareCloud Concierge fully integrates with almost any EMR or PMS. An account management team will measure your growth with thorough analytics and reporting, and when you contact them, you can expect prompt responses. Beyond data, the account management team will ensure your practice remains in line with the most recent and pressing healthcare industry changes. 

Your account management team will include experts in billing, collection and remittance. These professionals will seek to optimize your payment cycle, and others will post payments, work denials and issue patient statements. Additional billing services include medical claim submission, payer follow-up and negotiations, superbill charge entry, operative report coding, and claim error resolution.

As CareCloud Concierge manages your revenue cycle, it will keep your practice in line with the most recent Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and ICD-10 regulatory changes. CareCloud Concierge can also assist you in receiving Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) quarterly reattestations, and government, commercial payer and managed care plans.

CareCloud Concierge maintains the above services will increase your collections by at least 7% while cutting your costs, as well as lower the number of days in accounts receivable by 33%.

Telehealth

CareCloud's HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform is included for all practices that use CareCloud and integrates completely with your EMR and PMS. You'll receive onboarding and training support for a seamless start.

The CareCloud telehealth suite includes all the tools you might expect from remote appointment software, including easy appointment starting, clear video and secure connections. Patients can use CareCloud's mobile app to view their appointments, and booking and rescheduling are easy. You can set up automated email and text patient reminders to lessen your administrative burdens.

CareCloud's Cost

CareCloud's prices depend on whether you opt into only its PMS, known as CareCloud Central, or both the EMR (CareCloud Charts) and the PMS. As of 2021, CareCloud's PMS cost $349 per provider per month, which is more affordable than several competitors. For both EMR and PMS, it costs $628 per provider per month. 2022 prices were not available, and it should be noted that – like many products and services in 2022 – CareCloud may have become more expensive. Regardless, in most cases, your plan will tether you to a three-year contract, which may not be ideal for certain practices, though some one-year contracts are available.

You can also opt into Breeze, CareCloud's patient engagement suite, for digital patient check-in, point-of-sale payment and appointment reminders for an extra $199 per provider per month (as of 2021). For RCM, CareCloud charges 3% to 7% of your collections, which is lower than several competitors' rates.

Despite the competitive monthly rates, CareCloud has high setup fees. We've detailed CareCloud's setup process and costs below.

CareCloud Setup

New CareCloud customers can contact the company's professional services team for training. Representatives told us that its customers typically need 90 days to fully implement their health system. However, you'll likely pay a steep fee for setup assistance.

If you need to migrate data from another EMR platform to CareCloud, the process comes with a price tag of up to $5,000. This high fee remains unchanged from previous years, but CareCloud has lowered its implementation fees, which start at $1,000 for medical software. However, even this price could be cost-prohibitive for smaller practices on a budget. 

Key takeaway: CareCloud's setup typically costs thousands of dollars upfront, which may be too expensive for smaller, budget-conscious practices.

For RCM, CareCloud setup starts at $1,000 per provider. The exact price may depend on several variables, including specialty and monthly claims volume. In general, CareCloud's prices may quickly push smaller or lower-volume practices past their limits. (If your practice falls into this category, see our review of Kareo and our athenahealth review for other medical billing software options; neither of these companies charges extra fees for setup.)

CareCloud's implementation fees fall into three tiers – Essentials, Enhanced and Enterprise – as detailed below.

Essentials

Essentials is CareCloud's $1,000 setup plan, which includes standard, off-the-shelf software configuration. It excludes customization, templates and data importing services, though it does include an introductory call. You'll also be enrolled in electronic data interchange. In addition, CareCloud will develop your interfaces with pharmacies and labs. 

Notably, the Essentials setup plan lacks direct training. However, it does come with access to CareCloud University, which is full of self-guided training materials. It also includes a check-in with your account manager five days after you start implementation. 

Enhanced

For the Enhanced setup, CareCloud charges a percentage of your collections; the exact percentage depends on your claim volume and value. With the Enhanced plan, you get several customization features as you set up your system. CareCloud also provides some guidance and training while overseeing your data importation. 

Enterprise

Enterprise is CareCloud's highest setup tier. You'll need to request a custom quote to find out how much you'd pay for the package, but what you'll get is a fully hands-on, customizable approach to your setup, as well as thorough training. 

CareCloud's Customer Service

After you set up your CareCloud medical software and complete your initial training, the company's customer support team will remain accessible via phone, live chat or help desk ticket. In our interactions with CareCloud's customer service, we found that all of our questions were answered thoroughly and courteously. CareCloud's support team was often proactive about answering our emails and phone calls.

CareCloud's Drawbacks

• High setup fees: Although CareCloud's monthly fees are competitive, its upfront setup costs are among the highest we found in our research. Other vendors may charge more per month for their services, but setup typically costs little or nothing. Newly opened medical practices or lower-volume offices may prefer these rival medical software providers over Carecloud.
• Long-term contracts: Most CareCloud clients must sign three-year contracts, which may be too binding for some practices. Although one-year contracts are sometimes available, even these may prove too limiting. Other providers often offer month-to-month contracts.

Methodology

We spent hours researching medical software, including participating in software demonstrations, phone interviews and customer service calls, as well as doing an analysis of customer service reviews available online, like those listed on the Better Business Bureau's website. 

When seeking the best medical software for workflow, we evaluated how providers' setups streamlined or blocked typical practice workflows. Compared with what we found among competitors, such as in our review of DrChrono and our AdvancedMD review, we determined CareCloud is the top option for workflow because of its smooth user experience, logical arrangement of features and competitive monthly rates.

CareCloud FAQs

What is CareCloud?

CareCloud is a company that provides medical software, such as electronic medical record (EMR) and medical practice management software (PMS), to healthcare practices. It also offers tools for practices looking to add e-commerce to their offerings. Additionally, you can outsource your medical billing to CareCloud through its revenue cycle management (RCM) services.

How much does CareCloud cost?

CareCloud's PMS may cost $349 per provider per month; this pricing is competitive. Combined PMS and EMR with CareCloud could cost $628 per provider per month.

How many patients visit doctors who use CareCloud?

Over 4.5 million patients visit doctors who use CareCloud for their EMR and PMS.

Bottom Line

We recommend CareCloud for ...

• High-volume medical practices that need a straightforward workflow.
• Practices in need of a hands-on consultative approach.

We don't recommend CareCloud for ...

• New or low-volume practices.
• Practices that can't afford high setup fees or don't want long-term contracts.