Greenway Health – Intergy EMR Review

• Greenway Health offers a highly customizable EMR/PMS system that can be tailored to suit individual user preferences and remember custom configurations.
• Greenway Health is relatively expensive, ranging from $799 to $941 per provider, per month.
• Greenway Health includes implementation and training costs in its subscription price, reducing upfront costs.
• This review is for healthcare organizations considering implementing Greenway Health's medical software, Intergy.

After conducting research and analysis of practice management software, we recommend Greenway Health Intergy as the best customizable EMR/PMS system. Intergy is our pick because of its flexible architecture and the many options it gives users. Most tasks in Intergy can be completed in multiple ways, allowing individual users to navigate the software in whatever way is most comfortable to them. Moreover, many elements of the software can be customized during implementation, guaranteeing your practice has access to all the tools you need to offer quality healthcare.

Editor's note: Are you looking for medical practice management software that can help your office run more efficiently? Fill out the form below for more information from our vendor partners.

Pricing

Intergy comes as an integrated practice management and electronic medical records (EMR) system. There is no option to purchase a stand-alone practice management application from Greenway Health. We received a quote for a base rate of $799 per provider, per month. In addition to the integrated system, Greenway Health includes access to its mobile application and HIPAA-compliant patient portal, which features a built-in secure messenger, in the base price.

There are other fees on top of the base price. Greenway Health operates its own clearinghouse service, which costs $93 per provider, per month. This is a different pricing structure from other integrated clearinghouses, which typically charge a fee for each claim they process. The company also quoted us a monthly fee of $49 per provider for e-prescribing and lab integrations.

The total costs for this software are higher than average for the integrated medical software programs we reviewed. However, Greenway Health does not charge for implementation and training, which means the overall startup price is relatively competitive for a powerful practice management and EMR system.

Key takeaway: Greenway Health is our most expensive best pick, but with that price tag come significant flexibility and a strong slate of features.

Ease of Use

When you first launch Intergy, a relatively outdated-looking interface appears. Looks aren't everything, though, and as you use the software, you realize that it is easy to navigate and rather flexible. The learning curve is steeper than others but not staggering, given the level of customization available to your practice. Comparable systems with comprehensive features and flexible architecture can be very difficult to use at first. Your staff should be able to adapt quickly to Intergy.

Navigating the software's major features is as simple as clicking through a series of tabs: Patient Information, Scheduling Tools, Task Management, Clinical Tools, Referrals, Financial Tools, Communications and Reports. When you click on each tab, a series of icons appears. These icons represent the individual tools housed under each category. The tools available and the appearance of the user interface can be customized to each user's role in the practice, so Intergy might look a little different for everyone on your staff, depending on their permissions.

Your staff will likely need some training and time to learn the ins and outs of Intergy, but it shouldn't significantly disrupt your practice's operations. Once everyone is up to speed with Intergy, it could save your medical practice a great deal of time.

Key takeaway: The flexibility of Intergy intrinsically means a significant learning curve. However, training is included in the subscription cost to get your team up to speed.

EMR Features

Intergy packs a lot of features and timesaving tools into one system. It can take time to learn the finer points of the software and how to use all the tools to your advantage; however, Intergy offers users multiple avenues to achieve the same goal. Here's more about Intergy's key EMR features.

Calendar

The scheduling tool includes a calendar that looks similar to a typical spreadsheet. Appointment times are listed on the left side of the spreadsheet, while the columns across the top can be customized to show specific providers, locations, exam rooms or other options. The calendar can display morning, afternoon, or full-day agendas, as well as weekly views for single providers or monthly overviews of the practice's appointments. The calendar is color-coded to help staff organize appointments by type or patient.

You can set an appointment by clicking on an open time slot and adding a patient's information. Existing patients are searchable in the system, and you can create a new patient account simply by filling out a pop-up box. You can fill in the type of appointment, select the appointment type, add notes and select an exam room.

Another way of setting appointments is through Intergy's advanced search feature. Using this method, an employee can select specific parameters to schedule an appointment. For example, if a patient can only come in on Friday evenings, you can use the advanced search tool to find the next available Friday evening slot. 

Intergy supports batch insurance eligibility checks for patients with appointments, making it quick and easy to make sure all patients are covered by valid insurance. Eligibility checks can also be performed individually at the time an appointment is set, when a patient is checked in, or at any other time before or during their visit.

Clinical Notes

The clinical side of the software offers some compelling benefits for physicians and healthcare providers. Within each patient record, a physician can view the reason for the appointment as well as the patient's complete medical history, including information from their previous visits, their active medications and their recent lab results.

On the left side of the record are tabs that allow providers to access the various tools they need to complete a clinical note during an exam. On the top right of the page, there is a "sticky note" that allows providers to take notes without adding them to the clinical note; these serve as quick reference notes for staff. Active medications and recent lab results can be pulled up directly through the patient's record as well. 

Under the Note tab, providers can fill out information in a text box or use customizable templates. Templates can be tied to a specific type of appointment for quick access. Doctors' notes can be filled out via typing, clickable hotkeys or voice dictation. The clickable hotkeys are timesavers because they allow providers to quickly check off symptom abnormalities, which automatically convert into a narrative form on the final note. Intergy offers a complete ICD-10 coding library for quick access to diagnostic codes. 

One unique feature Intergy offers is a split-screen view. Providers can pull the clinical note to one side, for example, and review a patient's previous test results without navigating away from the page.

E-Prescribing and Labs

New prescriptions can be written and lab tests ordered under the Orders and Charges tab at the top of the patient record.

Within the patient's record, physicians can review all active and past medications. Providers can easily authorize refill prescriptions or add new ones. It's also possible to select certain commonly prescribed medications for specific diagnoses so that, in the future, the software will suggest this medication when a patient is diagnosed with that condition. Intergy flags potential allergic reactions to and negative interactions between medications.

For labs, a similar workflow applies: The software recommends common tests based on the diagnoses, which can be ordered directly through the software. Results of those tests are delivered electronically.

Custom Routines

Intergy offers several custom routines that you can set to run in tandem with your normal practice operations. For example, if you collect patient copays at check-in, you can access the actions and events tools to set up an automated sequence. The software then automatically checks patient insurance eligibility at check-in and prompts staff to collect their copay.

Intergy's automated settings and flexible architecture make it a useful EMR for any healthcare provider seeking a software solution that can be molded to their unique workflow. Every user can navigate the software in different ways, making it easier for all staff to learn and adapt to the new system after implementation.

Key takeaway: Greenway Health's comprehensive EMR software brings a unique "custom routines" tool to the table. This allows practices to customize the system to their workflow, including at the individual user level.

Medical Practice Management Features

Intergy has all of the tools we looked for in practice management software. Most of these tools are accessible in multiple ways, allowing your staff to explore and use the methods that work best for them. Most of the tools can also be customized, which Greenway Health will assist you with during implementation and training. Here is more about Intergy's practice management features.

Patient Registration

Registering a new patient is easy in Intergy. A pop-up appears with a series of fields (which you can customize to suit your practice) to fill out. You can set some fields as required so that the process can't continue without answers to those questions. You can also flag any fields that are relevant to MIPS/MACRA to improve your score for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement penalties.

Intergy's "quick register" option allows a staff member to register a new patient without all the required information when the patient needs to be seen quickly. Intergy flags the patient as having incomplete information, and a staff member can complete the required fields at a later date. You can also use an existing patient's information to quickly register their family members.

Under the Patient Information tab, you can see a patient's clinical and financial data. You can restrict access by setting custom permissions for users. On the left side of the screen, you can select a patient's personal, financial, or clinical data, and see upcoming appointments and previous encounters. You can also review their active medications, any attached images in their file, secure messages and clinical charts from past visits. You can cycle through all of this information without ever leaving the patient information window.

Appointment Scheduling

The scheduling tool features a spreadsheet-style calendar with columns along the top that can be sorted by provider, location, or other custom elements that you set up during implementation. 

The calendar uses custom rules that you have set, which can be activated or deactivated on an individual user basis. These rules govern aspects like available time slots, visit lengths and available types of appointments. Each of these rules can be mapped to specific providers or locations. The calendar can also be configured to display appointments in a daily or weekly view for multiple providers and locations, or a monthly view across the entire practice. The scheduling tab includes other tools as well, such as patient registration, appointment check-in and an insurance eligibility verification check. All these features can be accessed through a dropdown menu at the top of the window. 

To schedule a new appointment, you click on an open time slot under a given provider or use the advanced search feature. When you click an open time slot, a pop-up with custom fields appears. You can use this box to fill out relevant appointment information and run an individual insurance eligibility check. The advanced search feature allows you to set certain parameters, like specific days and times the patient is requesting; the system then searches for available appointments that fit the criteria. You can schedule a patient in the advanced search pop-up box when it returns your search results.

Billing

Greenway Health's billing module lets you run an insurance eligibility check if you did not verify it when the appointment was scheduled. This verification supplies you with the name of the payer, the patient's copay and deductible, and the payer's obligation for the encounter.

After a patient has seen a provider and their clinical note has been signed, charges appear in the "pending charges" list. Selecting a particular patient pulls up a summary of their charges, along with provider comments. The tool prepopulates encounter codes and ICD-10 diagnosis codes as well. Billers can then format the claim properly and prepare it for submission. A complete ICD-10 coding library in the software allows billers to edit the codes with a simple search.

Reporting

Intergy can provide more than 500 different reports for your practice. Reports can be run daily, weekly or monthly. You can also export them to Microsoft Excel for further customization.

Intergy includes a series of 10 "claim control" reports, which show key metrics related to your practice's billing operations. These metrics include billing activity, productivity over time, and the number of claims paid.

Greenway Health also offers a practice analytics tool, which expands the number of available reports. These reports are more advanced than the standard reports. They include the ability to review data by month, quarter or year; you can also switch to various graphical representations, like pie charts and bar graphs. Essentially every piece of data within Intergy is reportable. Reports can be set to automatically recur and are delivered directly to your inbox.

Key takeaway: Greenway Health offers all the key administrative tools necessary to streamline a practice's front- and back-office operations. Workflows are similarly flexible to the Intergy EMR.

Implementation and Training

Due to the level of customization available, Intergy has a longer implementation period than other software we evaluated. The implementation process ranges from 90 to 120 days.

When you sign up with Greenway Health, it assigns you a dedicated account manager. This person serves as a liaison between your medical practice and Greenway Health to coordinate implementation and training.

The implementation process begins with a kickoff call with your project manager and Greenway Health's implementation team. Members of your practice and Greenway's team will discuss your data migration needs if you are transitioning from a legacy system, plus any customizations you require. This step is necessary; it helps ensure that all of your existing data is transferred into the new system and is configured in a way that will be useful to your medical practice.

As you get closer to the go-live date, your practice's staff will attend training courses through Greenway Health's Virtual Interactive Academy (VIA). These courses are tailored to each staff member's specific role. Most courses last 90 minutes, and the attendees include staff members from other medical practices that are currently implementing Intergy.

During training, you can submit feedback to Greenway Health to make any necessary adjustments to the system before launch. Training typically lasts one month.

Three days before your go-live date, your account manager will visit your medical practice to ensure a smooth launch. They will also provide additional onsite instruction, making sure your team is familiar with and comfortable using the unique customizations developed for your practice. Additional onsite training is available before implementation, although this is an added cost beyond the subscription price of the software.

Key takeaway: Greenway Health includes the costs of implementation and training in its subscription price. The implementation and training period is extremely important for your staff to get the most out of the software's customizations and reduce the significant learning curve associated with Intergy.

Limitations

Because Intergy is so customizable, it inevitably has a higher learning curve than an out-of-the-box system. Its user interface is relatively uncluttered, although it is aesthetically dated. There are many ways to achieve a single task, which is convenient for some but could be overwhelming or confusing for new users.

Another concern is that Greenway's VIA training might not be sufficient for staff to learn the ins and outs of the software, especially if you are extensively customizing the program. Extra onsite training is available for an added cost, which might be worth it to ensure your staff is ready to use the system proficiently from day one. The more familiar your team is with Intergy before your go-live date, the less disruptive the switch will be. Given its flexible nature and array of tools, extra preparation is wise.

Editor's note: Are you looking for medical practice management software that can help your office run more efficiently? Fill out the form below for more information from our vendor partners.