CareCloud has been around since 2009, and was designed as a cloud-first electronic medical record (EMR) application running on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
All interaction with the CareCloud system (which begins at $628 per month for the practice management and EMR modules) takes place in the browser and requires Adobe Flash to be enabled for everything to work properly.
While some of the patient information gathering can be done on an Apple iPad or iPhone, the primary platform for running this app is a laptop or desktop machine.
Like all of the other products in this review roundup of EMR managers, also called electronic health record (EHR) software, CareCloud doesn't charge for storage of patient records.
The software has been certified by all of the security and information standards, including the most recent Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) as have all of the other products in this roundup.
A MIPS function from the main menu provides a numerical score for each physician based on the prescribed evaluation factors.
Good workflow is all about entering information quickly and efficiently and CareCloud excels in this area.
It provides a large number of practice templates targeted at specific types of providers, making it easy for health care professionals to modify the templates to fit their needs.
Individual forms make good use of drop-down boxes and also support voice and pen input.
CareCloud also include widgets to help access items such as labs, notes, orders, and vitals quickly.
Compared with our Editors' Choice WRS Health, CareCloud presents data in a more visually appealing manner, letting the user move seamlessly between the EMR and practice management apps.
However, WRS Health has a competitive edge over CareCloud in its integration of data input options and the ability to customize the chart in real time at the point of care.
We gave CareCloud a rating of 3.5 out of 5, placing it behind both DrChrono and WRS Health.
The differences are minimal, with the biggest being the audit logging that both DrChrono and WRS Health provide.
Pricing
CareCloud offers its products in a modular fashion starting with basic practice management.
That module is called "Central" and costs $349 per provider per month.
The next level up is a combination of Central and the Charts module, which cost $279 additional per provider per month (or $628 combined per month).
As tested, CareCloud was more expensive than the other products in our review roundup, including DrChrono and WRS Health.
You must purchase the practice-management module to get Charts.
This combined module also includes the patient portal and mobile app called "CareCloud Companion." CareCloud offers a full-service version that includes billing and is priced as a percentage of practice collections; it can vary from 3 to 7 percent of billings depending on the number of providers.
Health Care Provider
For health care providers, CareCloud offers plenty of efficiency.
The patient list is where the provider pulls up a patient's chart.
It's easy to flip between both clinical and financial pages with a quick tab click.
CareCloud has laid out all pages in organized boxes with color coding.
While you'll find a large amount of data on the pages, the color coding makes it easy to sort through.
From the charting app, the provider can quickly review pertinent data before seeing the patient.
The company has organized the charts on the desktop by columns for Upcoming, In Progress, and Completed.
Clicking a chart opens it up for data entry during the patient encounter.
One feature that really stood out here was the use of patient notes, similar to paper sticky notes, to identify patient concerns.
When opening one of the demo charts, a patient note immediately popped up displaying the note, "The patient is very nervous about seeing the provider and has many questions." This gives the provider a heads-up to better connect with the patient from the onset.
The chart itself is easily navigated.
The user can move backward and forward among the different sections of the chart by using tabbed sections across the top as well as categorized in a sidebar.
Provider-preferred functions abound; they include searching for a patient pharmacy, printing patient-specific forms directly from the chart, previewing charted information in a "real" format, and viewing images and procedural notes.
It also lets you input codes and assists with billing at the end of the visit.
Once a note is made and all of the boxes are checked, you can sign the chart off and click "Release to Billing."
Data input is done through a variety of methods including voice input.
However, CareCloud does not support pen tech in its standard clinical module at this time, unlike DrChrono and WRS Health.
Practice Manager
Upon log-in, colorful graphs immediately show business performance, pertinent information regarding patients and appointments, details about prescribing practice, and a list of tasks for the day.
Each of these dashboard elements can be arranged according to priority or preference as deemed relevant to the individual user.
The daily calendar shows appointments by time, patient name, nature of visit, and status.
Colors help to visually identify the status of the different columns to highlight the nature of visit and current status.
CareCloud uses the concept of order sets to group steps of actions to take based on an assessment.
Users can modify order sets to fit a provider's preferences and save them for reuse.
These order sets show up on the patient chart under the "Assessment & Plan" grouping.
All information needed to make prescription orders or additional procedures requiring referral are available to the clinical staff for further processing.
CareCloud offers automatic coding depending on how providers set up their order sets.
Some order sets automatically provide the necessary codes depending on what physicians order in the Charts module.
Catching and correcting errors as early as possible is key to data quality.
When reviewing patient entries, the app identifies exactly what in the chart needs correcting.
Clicking one of the errors listed opens the chart to that specific field, making it easy to correct the error.
It appears seamless and efficient from the user's perspective; you don't have to log out and log back in, do a patient search, or switch to a different app.
In addition to the dashboard on log-in that gives a graphic view of specific data points, a robust analytics section gives you a list of reports that incorporate both financial and clinical data points.
These reports are laid out so that they are easily identified and retrieved.
One of the reports is an audit log.
In CareCloud, accessing this report is how practice managers can run chart audits of which users have accessed the chart.
An Elegantly Designed EHR App
CareCloud offers an efficient app with a modular design.
It lets practices with different needs find a perfect fit and still have an elegantly technical product.
Unlike other EMR apps that may require the purchase of an entire platform for accounting as well as practice and patient management to achieve full integration and functionality, CareCloud lets practices start small, with only the apps they need and can afford, and without sacrificing relevant special features.
Pros
Easy-to-use charting with helpful templates and drop-down selections.
Versatile data entry to include pen and voice.
Built-in modifiable order sets.
Robust analysis reports.
Real-time graphic display of data points.
Modular platforms that allow "buildup." Visual design and color coding for simple sorting of data.
Integration of clinical and billing in one chart.
View More
Cons
Requires Adobe Flash for all features to work.
Pricier than the other packages in our roundup.
Full functionality requires practice management module.
The Bottom Line
CareCloud is versatile, visually appealing, and easy to navigate.
It is designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of practices, letting customers design their own electronic medical record (EMR).
CareCloud has been around since 2009, and was designed as a cloud-first electronic medical record (EMR) application running on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
All interaction with the CareCloud system (which begins at $628 per month for the practice management and EMR modules) takes place in the browser and requires Adobe Flash to be enabled for everything to work properly.
While some of the patient information gathering can be done on an Apple iPad or iPhone, the primary platform for running this app is a laptop or desktop machine.
Like all of the other products in this review roundup of EMR managers, also called electronic health record (EHR) software, CareCloud doesn't charge for storage of patient records.
The software has been certified by all of the security and information standards, including the most recent Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) as have all of the other products in this roundup.
A MIPS function from the main menu provides a numerical score for each physician based on the prescribed evaluation factors.
Good workflow is all about entering information quickly and efficiently and CareCloud excels in this area.
It provides a large number of practice templates targeted at specific types of providers, making it easy for health care professionals to modify the templates to fit their needs.
Individual forms make good use of drop-down boxes and also support voice and pen input.
CareCloud also include widgets to help access items such as labs, notes, orders, and vitals quickly.
Compared with our Editors' Choice WRS Health, CareCloud presents data in a more visually appealing manner, letting the user move seamlessly between the EMR and practice management apps.
However, WRS Health has a competitive edge over CareCloud in its integration of data input options and the ability to customize the chart in real time at the point of care.
We gave CareCloud a rating of 3.5 out of 5, placing it behind both DrChrono and WRS Health.
The differences are minimal, with the biggest being the audit logging that both DrChrono and WRS Health provide.
Pricing
CareCloud offers its products in a modular fashion starting with basic practice management.
That module is called "Central" and costs $349 per provider per month.
The next level up is a combination of Central and the Charts module, which cost $279 additional per provider per month (or $628 combined per month).
As tested, CareCloud was more expensive than the other products in our review roundup, including DrChrono and WRS Health.
You must purchase the practice-management module to get Charts.
This combined module also includes the patient portal and mobile app called "CareCloud Companion." CareCloud offers a full-service version that includes billing and is priced as a percentage of practice collections; it can vary from 3 to 7 percent of billings depending on the number of providers.
Health Care Provider
For health care providers, CareCloud offers plenty of efficiency.
The patient list is where the provider pulls up a patient's chart.
It's easy to flip between both clinical and financial pages with a quick tab click.
CareCloud has laid out all pages in organized boxes with color coding.
While you'll find a large amount of data on the pages, the color coding makes it easy to sort through.
From the charting app, the provider can quickly review pertinent data before seeing the patient.
The company has organized the charts on the desktop by columns for Upcoming, In Progress, and Completed.
Clicking a chart opens it up for data entry during the patient encounter.
One feature that really stood out here was the use of patient notes, similar to paper sticky notes, to identify patient concerns.
When opening one of the demo charts, a patient note immediately popped up displaying the note, "The patient is very nervous about seeing the provider and has many questions." This gives the provider a heads-up to better connect with the patient from the onset.
The chart itself is easily navigated.
The user can move backward and forward among the different sections of the chart by using tabbed sections across the top as well as categorized in a sidebar.
Provider-preferred functions abound; they include searching for a patient pharmacy, printing patient-specific forms directly from the chart, previewing charted information in a "real" format, and viewing images and procedural notes.
It also lets you input codes and assists with billing at the end of the visit.
Once a note is made and all of the boxes are checked, you can sign the chart off and click "Release to Billing."
Data input is done through a variety of methods including voice input.
However, CareCloud does not support pen tech in its standard clinical module at this time, unlike DrChrono and WRS Health.
Practice Manager
Upon log-in, colorful graphs immediately show business performance, pertinent information regarding patients and appointments, details about prescribing practice, and a list of tasks for the day.
Each of these dashboard elements can be arranged according to priority or preference as deemed relevant to the individual user.
The daily calendar shows appointments by time, patient name, nature of visit, and status.
Colors help to visually identify the status of the different columns to highlight the nature of visit and current status.
CareCloud uses the concept of order sets to group steps of actions to take based on an assessment.
Users can modify order sets to fit a provider's preferences and save them for reuse.
These order sets show up on the patient chart under the "Assessment & Plan" grouping.
All information needed to make prescription orders or additional procedures requiring referral are available to the clinical staff for further processing.
CareCloud offers automatic coding depending on how providers set up their order sets.
Some order sets automatically provide the necessary codes depending on what physicians order in the Charts module.
Catching and correcting errors as early as possible is key to data quality.
When reviewing patient entries, the app identifies exactly what in the chart needs correcting.
Clicking one of the errors listed opens the chart to that specific field, making it easy to correct the error.
It appears seamless and efficient from the user's perspective; you don't have to log out and log back in, do a patient search, or switch to a different app.
In addition to the dashboard on log-in that gives a graphic view of specific data points, a robust analytics section gives you a list of reports that incorporate both financial and clinical data points.
These reports are laid out so that they are easily identified and retrieved.
One of the reports is an audit log.
In CareCloud, accessing this report is how practice managers can run chart audits of which users have accessed the chart.
An Elegantly Designed EHR App
CareCloud offers an efficient app with a modular design.
It lets practices with different needs find a perfect fit and still have an elegantly technical product.
Unlike other EMR apps that may require the purchase of an entire platform for accounting as well as practice and patient management to achieve full integration and functionality, CareCloud lets practices start small, with only the apps they need and can afford, and without sacrificing relevant special features.
Pros
Easy-to-use charting with helpful templates and drop-down selections.
Versatile data entry to include pen and voice.
Built-in modifiable order sets.
Robust analysis reports.
Real-time graphic display of data points.
Modular platforms that allow "buildup." Visual design and color coding for simple sorting of data.
Integration of clinical and billing in one chart.
View More
Cons
Requires Adobe Flash for all features to work.
Pricier than the other packages in our roundup.
Full functionality requires practice management module.
The Bottom Line
CareCloud is versatile, visually appealing, and easy to navigate.
It is designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of practices, letting customers design their own electronic medical record (EMR).
