Everything you need to know about NextGen Office, including features, benefits, user reviews, pricing, alternatives and more.

Hi there, and welcome to SelectHub’s ultimate NextGen Office review.

We’re here to give you a detailed tour and our honest, unbiased opinions about NextGen Office.

If you’re more of a binge watcher than a bookworm, good news! We’ve also recorded a 10-part video series. Check out the first video in the NextGen Office series below.

Since you’re already here, you know that NextGen is a leader in electronic health records (EHR) and practice management software. Now you’re doing your homework and trying to figure out if it’s right for your practice and how it stacks up against the competition. Let’s go.

Table of Contents

• What Does NextGen Office Do?
• In-depth Review
  • Who Is NextGen Office Best Suited For?
  • Who Is NextGen Office NOT Suited For?
  • Key Features
  • Features Not Supported
  • NextGen Office Pricing
  • NextGen Office Alternatives
  • NextGen Office User Reviews
• Final Thoughts
• About the Author

What Does NextGen Office Do?

NextGen Office is a cloud-based EHR and practice management platform for healthcare providers. Unlike its counterpart, NextGen Enterprise, NextGen Office is designed specifically for small to medium-sized medical practices. It offers features that streamline clinical workflows and improve overall practice efficiency.

NextGen Office is a leading EHR and Practice Management platform for small and medium-size practices

NextGen Office aims to improve the quality of patient care and enhance a practice’s productivity by offering a comprehensive EHR and practice management solution.

A few benefits of using NextGen Office are the following.

• Streamlined Workflows: With customizable EHR templates and specialty-specific content, NextGen Office simplifies clinical documentation and optimizes practice workflows, saving time and increasing efficiency.
• Enhanced Patient Engagement: The patient portal allows patients to access their health records, communicate with healthcare providers, schedule appointments and pay bills online, leading to better patient engagement and satisfaction.
• Improved Revenue Cycle Management: NextGen Office’s features help manage appointments, billing and insurance claims, resulting in more efficient revenue cycle management and increased profitability.
• E-Prescribing: Electronic prescription functionality reduces errors associated with handwritten prescriptions and streamlines the process, improving patient safety and quality of care.
• Interoperability: The software’s ability to integrate with other healthcare systems facilitates the exchange of patient information and improves care coordination among providers, labs, radiology centers, hospitals and more.
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: NextGen Office offers reporting tools that help your practice track performance, identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions.

Many competing EHR and practice management platforms — some of which we’ll compare in the Alternatives section below — boast similar benefits; however, there are several differences you should be aware of before making a final decision. Bells and whistles like real-time eligibility, chart creation, appointment check-ins, drug history import and practice performance reports are just some of the differentiators you’ll want to consider.

With that primer out of the way, let’s get into the deep dive.

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In-Depth NextGen Office Review

As a product that’s been around for over 20 years, NextGen Office is certainly popular — but popularity doesn’t always make for a perfect fit. Next up, we cover who NextGen Office is best suited for, who it’s not suited for, top features, alternatives, user feedback and our analyst review.

Who Is NextGen Office Best Suited For?

NextGen Office is best suited for small to medium-sized medical practices. This includes practices with up to 10 providers across a variety of specialties, including primary care, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, podiatry and more.

NextGen Office is also suited for medical billing companies of all sizes.

Many of its most satisfied customers are “mom and pop” medical practices (picture places where the front-office staff are literally family). These small and mid-size practices tend to choose NextGen Office because of its ease of use and the level of automation it provides. Many of them don’t have time to check benefits on every patient, pull reports or do a thousand other manual tasks. The platform helps them improve efficiency, which may translate into requiring fewer staff.

Additionally, NextGen Office’s cloud-based architecture allows for easy access and flexibility, making it attractive for practices requiring remote access to patient records and practice management tools. It’s particularly beneficial for healthcare providers who prioritize seamless interoperability with other healthcare systems, labs and radiology centers to ensure effective communication and care coordination.

Practices that choose NextGen Office are particularly keen on the following benefits.

• All-in-One Solution: Healthcare providers love that NextGen Office offers an integrated solution, combining EHR, practice management, billing and patient portal functionalities in a single platform.
• Ease of Use: NextGen Office strives to make the product as intuitive as possible. You shouldn’t need IT staff or a whole tech department dedicated to managing it. When it comes to technical hurdles, the customer support team can help resolve challenges promptly, from setting up payer/clearinghouse connections to code set updates, fee schedule updates and more.
• Automation: Automated features save a lot of time, whether it’s on the clinical side (for example, checking insurance eligibility, ordering labs, running preset reports) or on the billing side (for example, following up with overdue payments, sending reminders).
• Customer Support: The dedicated customer support team is responsive and willing to assist with questions and issues any time. They’re there to get you up and running as fast as possible and trained across the board.
• Customization: Users appreciate the flexibility in customizing various aspects of the platform, such as templates, forms, and reports to better suit specific practice needs.
• Regular Updates: NextGen Office’s commitment to providing regular updates and enhancements is appreciated by users, as it demonstrates the company’s dedication to improving the platform’s functionality and staying current with industry standards. This goes from annual changes in MIPS requirements and automatically pulling 2-year drug history reports to real-time eligibility, chart creation and more.

Next up, let’s cover who NextGen Office is not suited for.

Who Is NextGen Office NOT Suited For?

As explained in the previous section, NextGen Office works well for small and medium-sized medical practices. Here are three scenarios in which NextGen Office may not be a perfect fit.

Larger, multi-specialty practices, clinics and healthcare organizations

NextGen Office is geared toward small and medium-sized medical practices. NextGen Healthcare’s other platform, NextGen Enterprise is designed for larger, multi-specialty practices, clinics and healthcare organizations. If your practice is larger than 10-20 providers (although there is no hard limit) or requires enterprise functionality, you’ll want to consider NextGen Enterprise.

Practices requiring unsupported integrations or features

Although NextGen Office boasts a long list of integrations — from eligibility checks with 3,000+ insurance companies to ordering labs directly through the likes of Labcorp and QUEST — there are certain systems it doesn’t connect with natively.

For example, if you use remote patient monitoring devices that aren’t integrated, you’ll have to enter data manually instead of having it sync automatically (alternately, you could create flowsheets and have patients enter the data into their patient portal). Most of these integrations shouldn’t be deal breakers, but since there is no open API, you won’t have the option to build your own integration even if you want to.

Organizations requiring self-hosted solutions

NextGen Office is a cloud-based solution and doesn’t provide self-hosting options. If you require on-premise solutions, you will not be able to use NextGen Office.

Compare NextGen Office to the Top Competitors

NextGen Office Features

NextGen Office has a lot of features packed into one product. Here are the top 10 differentiating capabilities that SelectHub found in its review.

Key Feature 1: Real-Time Eligibility

NextGen Office’s real-time eligibility allows healthcare providers to check eligibility with 3,000+ insurance companies directly. No more having to contract with third-parties. No more waiting on hold for 15 minutes every time. You’re able to get real-time eligibility results in just a few clicks.

Real-time eligibility chart creation allows practices to check eligibility with 3,000+ insurance companies.

Although not all insurance companies offer real-time data, you can be sure that if it’s available, NextGen has it set up, including integrations with the largest government payers such as Medicare and Medicaid and private payers such as Aetna and Blue Cross.

Key Feature 2: Appointment Check-in and Reminders

NextGen Office has a robust solution for appointment check-ins and reminders, enabling patients to complete intake paperwork and respond to custom questionnaires. This configurable feature caters to various medical specialties, from pain management groups requiring specific pain scales to podiatrists needing to collect information on shoe size, and more.

Appointment check-in and reminders allow patients to complete intake paperwork, respond to custom questionnaires, receive automated reminders and more.

Unlike other platforms, NextGen Office eliminates the need for manual transcription of patient responses — it doesn’t just generate PDFs that require further processing later on. Instead, all patient check-in data is formatted and inputted appropriately, streamlining the process.

Key Feature 3: Multiple People Can Work on the Same Encounter at the Same Time

One of the most-loved features of NextGen Office is the ability for multiple people to be able to work on the same encounter at the same time. Unlike other systems, which require a person to leave an encounter before someone else can work on it, NextGen Office allows for simultaneous workflows.

The only thing you can’t do is have multiple users work on the same module or page at the same time — for example., two users can’t document information into the medication list at the same time.

Key Feature 4: Touch, Type or Talk. You Decide.

NextGen Office allows providers to chart how they want across the “3 Ts” of charting (touch, type, talk). Its voice capture capabilities are particularly impressive. In many places you’ll see a microphone icon that allows you to dictate.

Take notes with dictation using NextGen Office.

Many practices appreciate the flexibility these charting options offer their teams.

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Key Feature 5: Color-Coded Results for Easy Visibility

NextGen Office makes it easy to scan charts and pick out abnormal test results. The system highlights negative or normal results in green vs. positive or abnormal results in red.

NextGen Office makes it easy to see abnormal test results by flagging them in red.

By highlighting abnormal results in red, important information stands out a mile away and doesn’t take long to find.

Key Feature 6: Unlimited Picture Storage

With NextGen Office, providers are able to attach unlimited pictures in a patient’s chart and up to 10 per encounter. This helps providers manage medical images and visual documentation.

Healthcare providers are able to capture images, either by using integrated devices or importing existing files, and store them within the patient’s chart, enabling efficient tracking of medical conditions. NextGen Office also supports annotation and comparison of images, allowing for more accurate diagnoses and better-informed treatment decisions.

Key Feature 7: Two-Year Drug History Import

NextGen Office’s drug history import feature enables healthcare providers to automatically import a patient’s medication history from over the previous two years, including pharmacies, insurance claims and prescriptions.

This is valuable for two reasons. First, you don’t have to rely on a patient remembering what medications they’ve been prescribed. Second, if a patient is being prescribed highly regulated medications such as narcotics, it helps ensure compliance with regulations and coordinate care across providers, contributing to improved patient outcomes and well-being.

Key Feature 8: Prescriptions and Labs Made Easy

With its back-end connection through Cover My Meds, NextGen Office is able to indicate if prior authorization is required and can automatically fill out the necessary information. When it comes to labs, the Big Two — Labcorp and QUEST — are also integrated, which means structured lab reports will show up easily with abnormal results automatically flagged. Even better, providers can chart these results in flow sheets and track data points over time.

Back-end connection through Cover My Meds can indicate if prior authorization is required and can automatically fill out the necessary information.

Key Feature 9: Flexible Billing

NextGen Office offers a highly adaptable billing system that is integrated across the platform. No more needing to log into a separate clearinghouse to manage claims. The platform is flexible with fee schedules, making it easier to work with different insurance providers and contracts. In fact, medical billing companies of all sizes can use NextGen Office to support the back office needs of medical practices.

In addition to flexibility, here are the key benefits of NextGen Office’s billing.

• Access to Clinical Notes: Billers can access clinical summaries directly within the billing area. In most platforms, they have to leave their claim and go to the EHR to look for clinical summaries, but here they can view the summary right within billing.
• Prepopulated Amounts: Based on predefined rules, NextGen Office can automatically populate appropriate billing amounts, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing the risk of errors as long as the system is set up correctly in the first place.
• Patient Portal: The NextGen Office Patient Portal allows patients to log in and pay their bills directly, offering a convenient and secure method for settling outstanding balances. This feature not only improves patient satisfaction but also accelerates the payment collection process for your practice. Some practices have seen increases in patient payment collections just by having this portal available.

  Additionally, the platform can send automated reminder messages to patients with overdue balances, and these messages can run on a schedule or be built around minimums with standardized messages.

Key Feature 10: Robust Reporting Made Easy

When it comes to reporting, NextGen Office offers one of the most comprehensive and customizable systems available today. The platform has numerous reporting benefits that help practices stay on top of their performance and meet regulatory requirements.

Here are some key benefits of NextGen Office’s reporting capabilities.

• Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Reporting: NextGen Office is consistently one of the first systems to be in compliance with annual changes in MIPS requirements. This is crucial for practices as they navigate the ever-evolving regulatory landscape, ensuring they remain compliant and eligible for incentive payments.
• Comprehensive Practice Performance Reports, Dashboards, and Charts: NextGen Office offers extensive practice performance reports, which can be customized and automatically delivered to healthcare providers on a regular basis. These reports are not only available out-of-the-box, but can also be tailored specifically for your practice, providing valuable insights into various aspects of your operations. You can also customize dashboards and charts to your heart’s content.
• Flexible Report Building: Custom reports make it easy to reformat and view data in different ways based on specific criteria, such as location, payer types and more.
• Popular Report Types: NextGen Office offers a wide range of report types, with Practice Performance being the most popular. Other popular report types include Provider Month-End Performance, Payer Performance and Location-based reports. These reports enable you to make data-driven decisions for your practice.

NextGen Office’s reporting capabilities are impressive, providing practices with the tools they need to maintain compliance and optimize operations. With its flexible report building features, NextGen Office is an ideal solution for practices seeking to harness the power of data analytics for improved decision-making.

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Features Not Supported

The following are features that SelectHub found to be missing or still in development with NextGen Office.

• Open API: Practices using certain devices (for example, remote monitoring equipment that isn’t natively supported by NextGen Office) may be disappointed to learn that there is no open API, which means it isn’t possible to build custom integrations.
• Some Vendor-Specific APIs: NextGen Office is well connected, supporting HL7 connections, CCDA data fees, and FHIR APIs. On the flip side, it doesn’t support custom integrations that use other types of integration options — for example, vendor-specific APIs such as Phressia or Midmark.
• Advanced Telehealth Features: Although NextGen Office does offer telehealth capabilities, some competitors have more advanced or specialized telehealth features, such as remote patient monitoring, screen sharing, and integrations with wearables. What’s great about NextGen Office’s telehealth module, however, is that it comes included out of the box, while most others charge additional fees for it.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning: Some competitors like Athenahealth and Allscripts offer more advanced AI and machine learning capabilities, which can help automate processes, predict patient outcomes, and optimize workflows.
• Robust Mobile Application: NextGen Office does offer a mobile application, but some competitors have more feature-rich or user-friendly mobile apps that better cater to the needs of providers and staff on-the-go.

It is important to note that features and limitations of NextGen Office can vary depending on the individual practice’s requirements. It is crucial for practices to thoroughly evaluate different platforms and choose the one that best aligns with their needs and objectives.

Compare NextGen Office to the Top Competitors

NextGen Office Pricing: How Much Does It Cost?

NextGen Office offers a subscription-based pricing model for their healthcare solutions. Pricing depends on the size of your practice, the number of providers, and the specific modules or features you require.

NextGen Office’s pricing structure includes the following components.

• Subscription Fees: NextGen Office charges monthly or annual subscription fees, which cover the use of the software and its features, such as EHR, practice management, and billing. These fees are based on the number of providers or users in your practice.
• Implementation and Training Fees: Depending on the scope of your implementation, there might be one-time fees for setting up the software, migrating data from your previous system, and providing training for your staff.
• Add-on Modules: NextGen Office offers optional modules, which may come at an additional cost. The pricing for these add-ons may vary depending on the specific features or services you need.
• Integration, Support and Maintenance Fees: While basic customer support is included in subscription fees, you may need to pay extra for premium support, such as extended support hours and dedicated account management. Integration implementations and maintenance fees (for example., HL7) are also extra.

It’s important to note that NextGen Office’s pricing can change over time and may differ based on your unique requirements or any promotions they are offering. To get an accurate quote for your practice, it’s best to get a demo from NextGen directly and consult with their sales team to discuss your needs and receive a customized pricing plan.

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NextGen Office Alternatives: How Do They Stack Up?

Googling “NextGen Office alternatives” will lead you down a rabbit hole of EHR tools and practice management solutions.

Capterra claims NextGen Office top alternatives are eClinicalWorks, SammyEHR, and AMS Ultra Charts. SoftwareAdvice lists RXNT, DrChrono, Kareo, Elation Health and PatientNow. GetApp says InSync, Pabau, Jane, SimplePractice and CharmHealth.

While NextGen Office alternatives include a lot of the logos listed above, the most accurate would be the likes of athenahealth, eClinicalWorks and AdvancedMD.

In reviewing why organizations chose NextGen alternatives, some reasons are the following.

• Integration With Niche Third-Party Software: NextGen Office may not support integrations with certain niche third-party applications or specialized software that some practices require.
• Advanced AI and Machine Learning Capabilities: Some organizations may be seeking more advanced AI features to optimize workflows and enhance decision-making. That said, there are a number of practices using NextGen Office that have implemented RPA automation within the platform successfully.
• Robust Telehealth Features: Although NextGen Office does provide telehealth functionality, organizations seeking more advanced telehealth features might opt for alternatives like eClinicalWorks, athenahealth, or DrChrono.
• Pricing and Subscription Models: NextGen Office’s pricing structure may not be as flexible as some of its competitors, particularly for smaller practices or those with unique billing requirements.
• Customer Support and Training: Some organizations may prioritize comprehensive customer support and extensive training resources, which might be perceived as more responsive or thorough with competitors like athenahealth or eClinicalWorks.
• Robust Mobile Applications: If organizations place a strong emphasis on mobile app features and usability, they might prefer competitors with more feature-rich or user-friendly mobile apps, such as Epic Systems (Haiku and Canto), Cerner Corporation (PowerChart Touch), or DrChrono.

Despite the list of alternatives, NextGen is a leader in EHR and practice management. There’s not a lot its platform can’t do. Even though some may feel it’s not as modern-looking as the likes of Kareo or athenahealth, it’s miles ahead of others in terms of automation, reporting and overall interoperability.

Unless there’s a very specific integration or capability your practice needs that it cannot support, you can’t go wrong with NextGen Office.

Want more? Our data-rich NextGen Office alternatives comparison has you covered.

Compare NextGen Office to the Top Competitors

NextGen Office Review: Themes From Users

There are many customer stories saying how NextGen Office has helped small and medium-size practices improve efficiency.

The following are five themes commonly mentioned in NextGen Office reviews.

• Comprehensive Solution: Users appreciate that NextGen Office offers an integrated solution, combining EHR, practice management, billing and patient portal functionalities in a single platform.
• User Interface and Navigation: Many users find NextGen Office to be intuitive and easy to navigate, which leads to streamlined workflows and improved efficiency.
• Customer Support: Many users commend the customer support team specifically, highlighting their responsiveness and willingness to assist with questions and issues. They’re there to get you up and running as fast as possible.
• Customization: Users appreciate the flexibility in customizing various aspects of the platform, such as templates, forms and reports to better suit specific practice needs.
• Regular Updates: NextGen Office’s commitment to providing regular updates and enhancements is appreciated by users, as it demonstrates the company’s dedication to improving the platform’s functionality and staying current with industry standards. This goes from annual changes in MIPS requirements to automatically pulling 2-year drug history reports to Real-Time Eligibility Chart Creation and more.

Conversely, here are some of the cons mentioned in NextGen Office user reviews.

• Learning Curve: Some users report that NextGen Office has a steep learning curve, especially for those new to EHR and practice management software, which can make initial adoption and training challenging — although this isn’t necessarily better with other EHR alternatives.
• Pricing: Some users find NextGen Office’s pricing to be on the higher side, especially for smaller practices with limited budgets or unique billing requirements.
• Performance and Technical Issues: A few users have reported occasional performance issues or technical glitches, such as slow load times, which can be disruptive. This is not a regular issue but worth asking about in the sales process.
• Mobile Application: Some users express dissatisfaction with NextGen Office’s mobile app, citing limited functionality or usability issues compared to the desktop version of the software.
• Cloud Deployment Only: NextGen Office does not provide self-hosting options. If you require on-premise solutions, you won’t be able to use NextGen Office.

Individual experiences with NextGen Office vary, and user reviews may not be representative of all users’ experiences. It’s essential for organizations considering NextGen Office to evaluate the platform based on their specific requirements, and to get a demo to better understand its capabilities and potential fit with their practice.

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Final Thoughts

NextGen Office stands out for making healthcare practices more efficient.

Picture a platform that integrates EHR, practice management, billing, patient portal functionalities and reporting all in one. Its intuitive interface feels like second nature for those used to EHR systems, and the customization options empower you to adapt it to your practice’s unique needs. Plus, their customer support team is ever-ready to help, like a trusty sidekick.

However, no superhero is without flaws. New users may face a learning curve akin to mastering a new skill, especially if they aren’t familiar with EHR tools, and integrating with certain third-party applications might be tricky. Additionally, the pricing may not be ideal for smaller practices, and the mobile experience might not be the star of the show when compared to competitors.

Ultimately, if a friend asked me, “Hey, I’m thinking about using NextGen Office, what do you think?” here’s what I would say…

NextGen Office is impressive. It blends robust functionality with user-friendliness, and it’s excellent at helping practices improve efficiency and automate areas like reporting, chart creation and labs to save you time and potentially reduce the amount of people you have to hire. It remains a reliable choice for those seeking an EHR and practice management solution. It’s worth seriously considering for all small and medium-size practices.

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About the Author

About Devon Hennig: Devon is SelectHub’s sultan of software selection. He most recently served as VP of Marketing for Docebo (Nasdaq: DCBO) and, prior to that, he was VP of Demand Generation at Vendasta, the leading provider of white-label products and services for global resellers. His passion is helping companies find the right solutions for their tech stack.