Community Voices
Carol Rose, PHN Supervisor at Beaufort County Health Department tells how Patagonia Health is an easy-to-use system that gives them their own data source to provide their specific evidence base to drive their practice.
We are extremely proud of our customer relationships and work hard to ensure that our users are satisfied with our products and service. Read EHR testimonials below to see what our customers have to say about us.
Brantley Hancock, Department Systems Specialist, Washoe County Health District Washoe County Health Department
“Patagonia Health’s migration process was far less painful than any of us at Washoe County thought it would have been. We were used to years of struggling to pull data out of our previous EHR for even day to day reporting. Instead, over the course 4 to 5 sessions, I was able to work with Patagonia Health developers and pinpoint all the various types of data that could be feasibly migrated between the old and new systems. Once we had all of the necessary SQL Queries written, 2 weeks before our go live I just simply ran the pre-written queries and uploaded the data. The day of the official data migration took me a total of 2 hours to complete everything. Over the weekend Patagonia Health handled all of the uploading into their system and Monday morning all of our data was ready to go in our new Patagonia Health EHR.”
Steve Kutz, Division Director, Community and Clinical Health Services Washoe County Health Department
“I just wanted to tell you how wonderful it’s been having your implementation team here to train our staff. They have all been amazing, and we have and are, learning so much from them. They’ve been thorough, patient and professional with our staff. I know this will set us up well for going live in little less than a month now, which we’re very excited about. Thanks for a great experience to date – we love it!”
Mary Perez, Public Health Director Montgomery County Health Department
“It is very easy to endorse a product and service that has proven itself to be one of excellence.”
Tommy Jarrell, Public Health Director Richmond County Health Department
“We’ve been able to take advantage of newly identified billing opportunities and receive a considerable increase in revenue payments, thanks to the expertise among the staff at Patagonia Health.”
William Hill, Jr. Health Director Nash County Health Department
“We like the Patagonia Health apps approach which makes it easy for our staff to use the new EHR. Patagonia Health has built-in features that help us navigate the complexities of Meaningful Use requirements which will help us with attestation. As we had invested a lot in the old EHR system, there was a hesitation to switch to a new EHR. However, our transition to Patagonia Health has been rather smooth and we are already seeing great improvements in our operations”
Patricia Artis, RN, Nursing Director Nash County Health Department
“Our previous system had separate software for billing processes and we had a separate system altogether for clinical charting. Clinical charting was cumbersome and very clunky. The key highlights with Patagonia Health are that it is an all-in-one system, and all inclusive- no more duplicate entry, and no piece-mealing it all together.”
Darrell Stanford C0-founder and Director of Finance Turning Point Family CARE
“Patagonia Health has been very scalable to the growth of our facility. It has allowed us to bill all of the insurance companies directly that we were previously having lots of barriers to, and we had to log into different portals for each insurance company. Now we set things up in Patagonia Health in the very beginning and then they’re able to bill directly to all of the insurance parties and the money comes in as little as three days and that has been a huge benefit. Basically it has increased our collections by about 15% in the first quarter using Patagonia Health, so from an accounts receivables standpoint Patagonia Health has been a huge asset to the agency and has definitely improved our overall cash flow.”
Diane S. Bauguess, BS RN, CD/TB/STD/Rabies Program Coordinator, Wilkes County Health Department
Diane talks about why the mental struggles to convert to an EHR are well worth it. Here is her story.
I started in the health department in 1983 in home health and then the home health agency went to the hospital. So I stayed with a hospital based agency doing home health until I returned to Public health in 2012. Read full testimonial
Dr Bianca Rosso MD, Family Practice
“We are so fortunate to have discovered Patagonia Health when we did. We just saw the Patagonia Health Meaningful Use webinar and it is well explained. We have now successfully done three years of Meaningful Use and going on to fourth year. Looking forward to using all the technology including patient portal.”
Helene Edwards, Health Director, Hoke County Health Department
“The Practice Management Training went well. The clerical employees are very happy and wearing big smiles!”
Dr. Chris Szwagiel, Health Director, Franklin County Health Dept.
“The EHR selection process was simple as far as we were concerned. The thing that was most frustrating about our existing system was that it could not produce accurate data. And in the 20 years that I’ve been a health director I’ve never seen anything designed specifically for public health. Too often, there is a wide gap between what the salespeople promise and what the software can actually do. We began hearing rumblings about Patagonia Health and had the team visit us for a demo. After that, we were convinced.”
Trisha Tann
Health Information/Billing Mgr.
Halifax County Health Dept.
“I was very impressed with the Management Dashboard; it was amazing. I think it will be a tremendous asset to whomever gets to use it here in Halifax. Thanks for the opportunity to see it in action.”
Sandy Shumate,
Clinic Supervisor,
Appalachian District
Health Department
“The issue that we all had was looking for charts. Looking for that one test result you need, or that one office note. When you have Patagonia, you have the information with, at the most, two clicks. With Patagonia, we have also been able to cut down patient contact with one extra person. Instead of receptionist to MOA to nurse to provider, we’ve been able to cut out that MOA. And that’s cut out probably 15 to 20 minutes of patient wait time.”
“Patagonia is extremely user-friendly. The training and support are outstanding. My problems have always been taken care of within the hour. I could not ask for better support. I could not say one bad word about anyone with Patagonia. The training and support are priceless.”
Bengie Hair,
Management Support Director,
Moore County
Health Department
“One of the most valuable aspects of working with Patagonia Health has been their flexibility and willingness to be a partner with a local public health department. Secondly, Patagonia Health has demonstrated a willingness to facilitate regional meetings that allow each entity to share their needs, experiences and ideas for a stronger EHR product.”
Elizabeth Hunter,
Billing Manager
Behavioral Health Agency
“Patagonia is very user-friendly, easy to use, and saves us lots of time. All our staff members are very impressed with Patagonia; even our staff members who are technologically challenged enjoy using this system and talk about how easy it is to use. The trainers are very knowledgeable and helpful. Patagonia provides the tools necessary to manage our client’s charts from start to finish from scheduling all the way through the billing system. With this EMR we can easily access any client, know when they came for an appointment, who they saw and how much the insurance company has paid. It is perfect for our business!”
Ann Absher,
Health Director,
Wilkes County Health
Department
“Patagonia is Meaningful Use compliant. We’ve been able to take advantage of the federal incentive money to help pay for our system, and also upgrade some of our system components. Patagonia is user-friendly because it is app and widget-based. Affordability and ease-of-use are the two main reasons that we like the Patagonia system. I feel that Patagonia will help us to move to a more effective healthcare system in the future and will allow us to decrease costs to adequately care for the patient and provide better outcomes.”
Dr. Larry Dashow,
Physician
General Surgery
“After a short learning curve, it is very simplistic to use. It certainly aids in the care of all patients. It makes you acquire information that is important for the care of your patients. It makes being in compliance extremely easy for the Meaningful Use criteria. The IT people are also very accessible and make changes are that are needed to work within your specific practice. I was easily able to attain the goals needed for Meaningful Use criteria within 4 months of going live since the system allows you to see what you are doing correctly and what needs to be changed. Overall a wonderful system and a great addition to any practice.”
Raina Gardner,
EMR Project Manager,
Critical Access
Behavioral Health Agency
“The training and support from Patagonia have been remarkable. The system is very user friendly and Patagonia’s customer service and willing to work with us to improve things with in the system and cater to our current flow of work. I also feel that Patagonia is competitive in regards to affordability. We have immediate access to the most current information and staff can access their client files from anywhere internet is available. We have been very pleased with our choice to work with Patagonia. Patagonia strives to cater to us in each and every of the clinical forms. We have found them to be right in line with all the current state forms, easy to use, easy to print and helpful in managing information. [expand title=”Read More…”]The pieces of the EMR system that link together make documentation more accurate and error free and easy for the clinician’s to use. The billing tool does cut down on time spent submitting claims. The auto posting is immediate and eliminates much time spent manually posting claims. Claims are flagged for errors before they are sent out which also eliminates denials and time spent tracking and fixing items with in a claim. The different tools built into the billing module are extensive and extremely informative and helpful. The reporting feature gives you access to up-to-date information. We hope to use this reporting feature to teach our managers how to better manage their staff and the services we provide by optimizing authorizations and enhancing client care.”[/expand]
Nina Williams,
Clinical Intake Coordinator,
Critical Access Behavioral
Health Agency
“What I like most about Patagonia Health Electronic Medical Record software is what I’ve learned most recently; the availability of one-on-one training and support. I find that Patagonia has the capability of handling an extensive amount of client information; information that is useable and necessary for determining diagnosis and providing person-centered intervention. It also helps to eliminate the guesswork when qualifying a consumer for service(s), because all the eligibility criteria are there. Most of all, having access to the Axis diagnoses in more than one location helps with quick referencing. My experience with Patagonia Health EMR in organizing clinical documentation is that everything is already there and organized in categories by tabs and sub-tabs. [expand title=”Read More…”]Now that I can conduct a CCA electronically, efforts to complete them in a timely manner are becoming more simplified and efficient. Because I am able to ask a question and click the answer(s) as we go, my Comprehensive Clinical Assessments are at approximately 90% completion by the time the consumer walks out the door; narratives and impressions have to be written. Later when I am providing individual care, I can easily locate the client by using the Search tool and gain immediate access to whatever medical information I need, without having to make a telephone call to medical records. Becoming familiar with the Patagonia CCA layout is key. As my familiarity increases, I find Patagonia to be a great tool to have at my disposal.”[/expand]
Bianca Rosso,
Physician,
Family Medicine
“It is very easy to use. It is designed to be used the way that doctors think the way they have been trained to organize information in the chart. It is constantly evolving and improving. It can be customized to be a thorough or brief as you want it to be. The training and support are superb. The program is brilliant. It has every component necessary for certified meaningful use. The staffs are accessible and reachable. They can be reached almost at anytime by fax, phone, email and instant feedback. They are thorough and thoughtful. They can get you certified immediately.”
Cindy Evans,
Central Billing Manager,
Appalachian District Health
Department
“Payment cycle turnaround is really amazing. In the past, you were lucky to get your payments back within three weeks to four weeks. Now it’s one, no longer than two. Patagonia’s reports are very easy-to-understand, efficient and they’re very trustworthy.”
Melissa Horton,
Case Manager and
Quality Improvement
Manager,
Behavioral Health Agency
“The system is very user friendly and very easily operated. The support services given when there is a problem or confusion is phenomenal. Patagonia staff is always willing to help and fix any issues as well as develop ways to make our system work more efficiently for our agency. Having an EMR for progress notes has helped make me more efficient with my case load and noting their progress. The notes are easy to use and very self explanatory. We transitioned from another EMR system and initially everyone was upset and unsure of the new program and rule changes. [expand title=”Read More…”]But later, I have received feedback from several case managers and they feel that Patagonia Health EMR is more efficient and user friendly. I have received a lot of positive feedback and everyone seems to be really enjoying the new system.”[/expand]
Brandi Poplin,
Clinical Services Director
Surry County Health &
Nutrition Center
“It’s helped make sure that medications are reconciled appropriately. It takes out some of the human error issues that you might have had when we were doing paper documentation.”
#MyEHRrocks
Brantley Hancock, Department Systems Specialist, Washoe County Health District
Steve Kutz, Division Director, Community and Clinical Health Services
Mary Perez, Public Health Director
Tommy Jarrell, Public Health Director
William Hill, Jr. Health Director
Diane S. Bauguess, BS RN, CD/TB/STD/Rabies Program Coordinator, Wilkes County Health Department
Dr Bianca Rosso MD, Family Practice
Helene Edwards, Health Director, Hoke County Health Department