The SeriousMD team visited Davao doctors as well as doctors in Cebu & doctors in Dumaguete recently. We noticed the same questions were being asked over and over again.

We know a lot of you reading this won’t even want to interact with us and would prefer to read things on your own, so we decided to make this into a blog post. A lot of these are in the SeriousMD Help Center but answers will be detailed further for this blog post.

If you like this format, be sure to share this post to your fellow doctors. It would let us know that we should create more content like this. So, let’s get to it.

The following were just some of the most common questions that were asked by the doctors.

How Do I Get Started with SeriousMD?

Simple, you sign up, allot time and just try it.

Without signing up, you won’t have an account and without an account you can’t try it.

You also need to allot time to actually try it. It really doesn’t take too much time though, because you’ll see a + button, that means you’re going to add something and if you are in the “Queue” then that means you’re going to add somebody on the queue. It’s really that simple if you give it a try. Hundreds of doctors used SeriousMD back then when we were starting out, with no documentation, no help center, no FAQ, no blog posts. You have access to those, videos and more today. There’s no excuse.

If they can do it, you can.

Here are 7 tips directly from doctors using SeriousMD and here is a brief guide on how to get started step by step.

Will You Hold Our Data Hostage?

Of course not. It’s your data.

You have an export button in SeriousMD. You can also export your notes one by one if you want to. If you choose to cancel your subscription, your account is downgraded to the Basic plan, which is free. Data will still be accessible to you there as well.

For us, it used to be impossible not to laugh at this notion because we can’t believe people can do this… but this is indeed serious and we have heard this story multiple times and we HAVE seen this happen recently.

The most recent one specifically is with a doctor in St. Luke’s BGC transferring over to SeriousMD. She used a software recommended there, but now they can’t even export her data after several requests. The name of the software starts with C, so I suggest that you just switch now before it’s too late.

Personally, I’m worried when things like this happen. It’s hard enough to convince doctors to use digital records and when they hear stories like this, it shines a negative light on every software out there, not just us.

Can I Import My Data from Another Provider?

You definitely can import your database from another software or vendor. We’ve imported a variety of databases already, from Practice Fusion, to Dr Chrono, local vendors, even outdated apps from iPhones, even those coming from Excel or Google Sheets.

If there’s a way to export your data from your provider, then we’ll make it work. We also have a built-in import tool if you just want to import your patient list.

Why is SeriousMD Not Free?

I outlined everything in this article as to why SeriousMD is not free but in short:

Operating SeriousMD has costs. That’s why it can’t be completely free to use.

Now, if somebody else offers you a free EMR, where do you think they’d get the money to pay the costs?

You probably have some guesses and I can tell you now that it’s not worth it.

Why is SeriousMD a Subscription?

Allow me to be straight up and to the point.

Actually, we should ask “why not” because it’s really simple.

How much is the “one-time fee” that you paid for on your last software that’s constantly used in business and is updated consistently with off shore backups and other stuff that cost money for the developers and providers?

ZERO because nobody’s doing that. They’d be shooting themselves in the foot because they’d quickly lose money and close down.

Those that do sell you the software for a 1 time fee will make you fork over hundreds of thousands of Pesos upfront and there will be no updates. You will be paying them extra for those updates/big fixes and extra for other features, that excludes the maintenance contract and the transportation costs. You’ll also be doing backups on your own.

In the tech world, we’re known as a SaaS, which stands for Software as a Service. You’re basically paying for the service and that ultimately leads to peace of mind while being affordable.

Then, if you consider your ROI, then it’s a no-brainer to use SeriousMD.

Can the Subscription be Sponsored by Another Company?

Yes. Just let them know about it, make sure the person gets approval (if he is not the decision maker) and let the contact person know that we’ll be getting in touch with them.

Once done, let us know about your sponsorship intent and let us know the company name, contact person’s name,  & mobile number.

We love to keep things simple so if it takes a long time, you’ll know who’s holding it up because it’s not going to be us.

Will SeriousMD work on My Mac?

SeriousMD works with all devices that pass security standards. For your Mac, you can use the latest Chrome, Firefox or Safari browser to load SeriousMD. If you are on an older Mac with an outdated Safari browser, just download the latest Chrome and use it there. In 2019, you’ll be able to use SeriousMD on your Mac.

I Had a Bad Experience with My Previous Provider, Can I Try SeriousMD First?

It’s free to sign up and create an account with SeriousMD. We also have a 30 Day trial for the Pro plan and you can decide to upgrade or let it downgrade to the Basic (Free) plan after 30 days. You have more than enough time in 30 days to see why SeriousMD can help you in your practice and you can continue to use it if you weren’t able to use it fully in the first 30 days.

We have a lot of users that jumped over to SeriousMD from different providers and I can definitely say that I’ve heard all sorts of stories already. Nothing will surprise me anymore.

Just talk to us, we won’t have any clue about what’s bothering you if you don’t let us know. There’s a chat button at the lower right of this screen, you can start by saying Hi!

I Encountered a Bug. Will You Offer Support?

We’ve been offering support since we started. You can check our changelogs on the App Store, it’s literally weekly or bi-weekly. It’s so long now that Apple doesn’t even show you the earlier years of updates. You can see our major updates here on the blog and you can also check our Whats New section.

We also send our newsletters for required updates (for major releases) and we send in-app messages when there are smaller patches. We also have a private doctors only community (click here) where bugs can be reported and you can also get sneak previews of what’s coming next.

I’m an Old School Doctor in the Province. I Can’t Do This.

Age is just a number. I just got off a Viber video call (my first time to use it) with a doctor that has been practicing for over 23 years and 1 day later, she’s using it.

We also have a 70 year old doctor in the province that uses SeriousMD day in and day out. She adopts the latest features on DAY 1 of release.

If you see the need, you will give it time and once you get into it, it’s super easy to forget about how you used to do things.

I Don’t Have Time to Shop for Hardware. Can You Help Me?

We built SeriousMD to work on almost any secure device, so you can basically use what you already have in the clinic, or devices lying around the house. We always suggest going this route as not everybody wants to spend more, especially when starting out.

But sometimes, you just have to get that latest device, right?

So, yes, we can definitely help. Just reach out to us if you need help and we’ll help match the hardware for you.

Why Should It Be Web Based? Why Can’t You Just Install It In My Business Location?

1 word. Costs.

Outside the obvious hardware costs that will be needed to run the system, deploying on a single location will entail more costs for maintenance, backup processes, updates and service, etc.

We can definitely deploy SeriousMD on the premises of your business. Just don’t expect it to be anywhere near the consumer pricing plan. Let us know and we’ll create a quote just for you.

Can You Integrate With the Hospital’s Labs and Pharmacy?

We definitely can. The question is, will the hospital or the vendor that you have want to?

We’re always open to partnerships that will help the doctor do their work faster & better as that will help a lot of patients in need. Integrating is one of those things that we’d definitely want to explore with all hospitals and we’re actually already doing it now with a handful of hospitals at this point of 2018.

Let us know about your intent and the decision makers that can be contacted to get this started.

Are There Forms for My Specialty?

You have more than enough templates already inside the SeriousMD app but you can create your own templates on-the-fly and you can even save images, doodle on them and label them. But if there’s really a form that you must have, then just drop us a message with a picture of the form, then we’ll have that created for you.

To see an example: If you are logged in to SeriousMD, we have a custom forms library in the Settings area that you can pick from and start using right now.

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If you enjoyed this post format, be sure to let us know in the Private Group and by sharing this post to your peers.

We want to help you get started and make the transition as easy as possible for you so just dive right in and sign up. Give it a really good try or give it 30 minutes a day for the next 5 days just to explore the app by yourself. If you need a bit of guidance, just talk to us. We can schedule a call, a visit, an online demo, a recorded demo and so on.

What you need and what you’re looking for is already here, but getting started begins with you. Click here.