Don't forget to nominate OscarHost!

Nominate "OscarHost" for Oscar Service Provider "OSP" of the year for the annual OSCAR awards happening at the BC Oscar User Group Conference May 7-8 !

Vote here: http://goo.gl/forms/rNL1ICGWbo 

… because our support is top notch!

Success with Online Booking

Since launching MyHealthAccess.ca in November 2014 we are regularly asked by our users what are some strategies that they can use that will allow them to have the most success with an online booking program. Below are a number of different strategies to get patients to sign-up on their own which are a) easy to do b) high impact c) provide continuous booking stimulation to patients.

1. CHANGE YOUR PHONE MESSAGE
Of all the things you can do to get your online patient booking program jump-started the most important  and effective thing you can do is change your phone message to tell patients to go to MyHealthAccess.ca to book appointments. Patients are currently calling in to book many appointments and putting MyHealthAccess right in the middle of their normal booking path is the biggest thing you can do to change their behavior. A sample message could go something like this:

"Thank you for calling 123 clinic. If you would like to book an appointment with one of our doctors please hang-up and go to www.MyHealthAccess.ca. To continue and speak with a receptionist please press 0."

For an even  greater reponse change your on-hold message to go something like this:

"All of our staff are currently unavailable. If you would like to book an appointment at your leisure please hang up and connect with us online at www.MyHealthAccess.ca"

2. PUT YOUR BUTTON ON YOUR WEBSITE
On your MyHealthAccess clinic dashboard is a small html code snippet that will put a book online button on your website which will direct users to a sign-up/login page that is branded for your specific clinic. This will make it easy for any of your more tech-savvy patients to find your online booking information and get started.

3. TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS FOR ALL APPOINTMENTS
We recently released a great new feature for MyHealthAccess which will allow automated appointment notifications for all patients in your EMR. This means that patients will get emails from MyHealthAccess before all of their appointments which will contain information on their appointment so they show up on time as well as information about how to connect with your clinic online. This provides an on-going stimulus for your patients to begin using the web to streamline their communications with your clinic.

If you have any tactics that have worked well for you in your practice please let us know! 

OSCAR-CON 2015 details and our WestCoast Midwives client profile | OscarHost blog

OSCAR-CON 2015 is here! And so is our newest client profile on WestCoast Midwives. Find out more about who, what, when, and where below!

OSCAR-CON 2015

That time of year is here again! Are you ready for OSCAR-CON 2015?

The annual BC OSCAR User Group and OCUS Meeting will be held in Vancouver onMay 8th and 9th this year. This event will be a full two-day user conference that will cover OSCAR-related updates, discussions about new features in OSCAR, workshops, and more. The Paetzold Auditorium on the first floor of the Jim Pattison Pavilion South at Vancouver General Hospital will be hosting the event.

Registration for the event is now open. For updates on the agenda and information on how to register, please check oscarcanada.org.

We hope to see you there!

Introducing WestCoast Midwives

WestCoast Midwives is a teaching practice that began in 2001 in Victoria, BC. The team focuses on providing quality, compassionate pregnancy care in a comfortable and homey environment.

Kim Millar Lewis started the practice after many years of experience around the world as a nurse in maternity units and a midwife. Since establishing WestCoast Midwives, the clinic has grown into a teaching site for the Island Medical Program and the Family Practice Residency Program. The practice often takes in midwifery students to work alongside the midwives and doulas.

WestCoast Midwives adopted the OSCAR EMR system in 2009. One of the staff's favourite things about using OSCAR is the fact that the clinic is 100% paper-free. Being able to access patient files any time, any where, and from any device is another benefit that Kim and the other midwives in the office greatly appreciate.

Eventually, the WestCoast Midwives hope their healthcare region will use more systems that can connect with EMRs like OSCAR so that reports and files can be sent directly to and from the office quickly. Kim also hopes that new features will be built to cater directly to midwives and their practices as some aspects differ greatly from those in a general practice setting.

While their practice is quite small, the ladies at WestCoast Midwives keep things fun. They have annual events and retreats that help them connect to one another and to their practice and they also host a yearly Garden Party for their clients and their children.

Thank you for your continued support, Kim and WestCoast Midwives!

Send automated appointment reminders right from OSCAR! | OscarHost blog

Would you like to send your patients automated email reminders for appointments through OSCAR? We can help your clinic save time, free up resources, and shift focus to more important tasks with a brand new MyHealthAccess feature that does just that!

Because of its integration capabilities, MyHealthAccess can connect to any patient in OSCAR that has a valid email address saved to their patient demographic, regardless of whether or not that patient has a MyHealthAccess account set up. This feature provides you with two main benefits:

1 - it allows you to send more automated reminders with greater ease, saving time and effort for your office staff and,
2 - the reminder email encourages patients to book their appointments online, saving your staff phone time.

MyHealthAccess connects your clinic to your patients online, making booking management much easier for clinic staff. For a quick demonstration of all of the software's features and how it integrates seamlessly with OSCAR, please check out our demonstration video.



If you are interested in finding out more about how to turn this feature for your OscarHost account, please get in touch and we can get you started!

The Prescription Is OscarHost!

Even Bruce Dickinson, yes, THE Bruce Dickinson knows for top-notch support it has to be OscarHost.ca

New features for ClinicAid billing add-on and client profile | OscarHost blog

Spring is upon us and we hope you're enjoying the longer days as much as we are!

We've been using the extra light to update the ClinicAid billing software, a module that can easily integrate into your OSCAR instance. This update allows for automatic code associations to facilitate even faster billing.

We also have our first client profile, a brief introduction to one of our oldest OscarHost users, Amari Medical Clinic. More details about the BC billing updates and our brief interview with Dr. Sachit Shah from Amari Medical Clinic can be found below.

New features for ClinicAid billing add-on

One of the features we've been hard at work on is code associations for our ClinicAid-integrated OSCAR users. This new feature will allow ClinicAid users to create invoices that auto-fill multiple codes associated with one another. For example, when billing an injection, an association can be created for the code to automatically also bill for the office visit. Code associations are easily created within the interface and will allow users to save time when completing their billing through ClinicAid.

For BC ClinicAid users, we've also added age-based service codes that automatically fill the appropriate code based on the patient's age. Once the age association code is selected on an invoice, the billing software will complete the correct service code for that particular patient.

These new features make ClinicAid an even more user-friendly option for BC OSCAR users. If you'd like to see how our ClinicAid billing software can help you bill quicker and easier, please get in touch for a free demo.

Introducing Amari Medical Clinic

Amari Medical Clinic is one of our oldest clients here at OscarHost. The clinic is based in Surrey, BC and serves White Rock, Langley, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and other surrounding areas. Its focus is on family practice, but also offers chiropractic, massage therapy, and rehabilitation services.

The clinic has been making use of EMR since 1999 and became an OscarHost client in 2012. Staff at Amari are currently also using the MyHealthAccess application, integrated with their OscarHost instance, and already have over 1000 patient connections.

Dr. Shah is one of the physicians at Amari Medical Clinic and has worked in Surrey since 1997. Initially starting as a solo practitioner, he now works with over 10 physicians in multiple locations. When asked what he likes about OscarHost's services, this is what he had to say:

"We have had excellent service. We love Oscarhost. We are always pleased with their prompt attention."

Dr. Sachit Shah

One of the clinic staff's favourite features about using OscarHost combined with MyHealthAccess is the ease with which patients are able to make appointments.

Thank you for your continued support, Dr. Shah and Amari Medical Clinic!

We wish you a very bright and warm start to spring!

New OSCAR integrations released | The OscarHost blog

We're happy to announce a number of new integrations for our OscarHost users across the country! You will find information regarding our ClinicAid billing integration and lab integrations in Alberta below.

ClinicAid billing integration

As you may already know, we've built a billing system called ClinicAid that streamlines the billing process for medical professionals in Canada. The ClinicAid software can easily be fully integrated into the BC, Alberta, and Ontario versions of OSCAR that we host at your request.

If you're having trouble mastering OSCAR's billing system and are interested in trying out a different solution, please ask us for a demo of ClinicAid or view our demo video online. We're happy to walk you through the features in order to help make your billing process easier!

Alberta lab integration with OSCAR

Another integration that we've been working on is a lab integration for OSCAR in Alberta. If you or your colleagues are interested in getting your lab results directly into you OSCAR account, please contact us for more information.

We are excited to soon be launching an open-source and fully functional Oscar EMR alternative for physicians in Alberta which will include lab integrations and billing through ClinicAid!

New support link

You can now also easily access our support knowledge-base without needing to log into your OscarHost account. You will find a link directly under your login that will take you to the OscarHost support portal.


If you have any questions or feedback with regard to these new integrations, please don't hesitate to get in touch!