These guys are gizmo hip.
That’s what struck me as a real high point for Credible Wireless when I recently saw their product. That and cloud-based technology. The product looks good. Whereas almost all of the other products I’ve seen this year have user interfaces that lean a bit toward the “1990’s look”, Credible looks current. It’s not surprising. Since they’re an internet based company, their focus for the past decade or so has been to look and act like they’re on the cutting edge of technology.
A number of years ago, I was into computer games. Graphics development had just made some leaps and bounds, so the games were beginning to have a more real sense about the people and houses and roads and weather and other elements of life. Hardware technology had just made a couple huge leaps forward, and it seemed computers were improving overnight. From that foundation, I came to expect a lot out of software and hardware. These days, all that technology is deployed on the web for a bundle of industries, and products like Wii are setting the stage for the new world of the EHR. All the companies I’ve reviewed this year seem to be moving in the right direction, and I think Credible is somewhere near the head of the pack.
They’re proud of their ability to work on the SmartPhone, the iPad, and probably any other gizmo out there that’s internet-happy, and a lot of professionals like that. Consumers will appreciate another interesting factor that emerges from this sort of software manufacturing foundation. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) I’ve seen deployed on these sorts of technology just haven’t delivered enough real estate to do the job…the screens are too small. A well thought out screen goes a long way toward making them usable, and for consumers that means their professional can take notes or fill out assessments very quickly and efficiently. Nobody likes to wait on somebody who’s texting their girlfriend, and I think it’s the same thing when a professional’s filling out a form on the SmartPhone.
On the surface, the billing system looks good. Since I’ve been around billing systems for a long time, I walked away with questions that a facility might not ask. I plan to see the system in person soon and get some hands-on time with the software; I’ll have a better handle on whether the billing system has a reasonably sensible setup time and process and whether some key problems that occasionally come up with software have been addressed. I can’t imagine my concerns will cause them problems, but I gotta ask the questions. What I do know is that they can bill insurance electronically and have a “scrubber” that helps get a clean claim to the insurance company. This avoids denials to pay a consumer’s insurance claim…insurance companies are picky and it’s better to be ahead of the game in this regard.
I’m a big fan of screen design tools…I want to be able to make a form like an assessment or special type of progress note do exactly what I want it to do without paying a software company to write code. Credible EHR comes with just such a tool, and that will be another thing I will be looking into soon. I assume it works like a number of similar tools on the market, so it should be pretty straightforward. I have a couple of concerns I need cleared up about the technical capabilities, so it should be a fun time. I’m optimistic.
Reporting is always a concern for professionals…How many consumers are we helping? Are we helping folks with the right services? Are we getting paid for what we do? Are we able to pay our bills? These and hundreds of other questions can be answered by reports in an EHR. From what I saw, the reporting system in Credible’s EHR is good. It’s based on some standard technology and for a techie with medium skills writing reports with some value should not be a problem.
Credible’s a small company (around 140 customers and “choosing to grow slow” is what they say), so I wonder why more people aren’t buying the system. If you’re a professional working at a facility that’s purchasing an EHR, that’s a concern to address with Credible early in your selection process.
Still, after all is said and done, Credible’s probably worth a look in most parts of the country.
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