Migrate from Eclinicalworks to Spruce Health.
2 documentation-derived translation patterns — what carries over and what to watch for. Cited to the Feature Parity Map; the audit tells you whether the move is worth it.
Spruce and eClinicalWorks both run secure patient-practice messaging without phone tag. A practice already on eClinicalWorks can retire the standalone Spruce contract and move messaging into the EHR's own front door: have patients message through the eClinicalWorks Patient Portal and the healow app instead of the Spruce app, and triage inbound messages on the staff's schedule inside eClinicalWorks. Because the portal is 'tightly linked to the EMR', messages are linked to the patient's record so a reply or a refill request becomes part of the chart used for documentation, orders, and billing - rather than a standalone Spruce thread to copy back. Keep eClinicalWorks as the system of record; cut Spruce.
- Warning: Patient adoption is the switch cost: patients who used the Spruce app must be enrolled and active on the eClinicalWorks Patient Portal / healow - migrate the practice's Spruce patient/contact list into portal enrollment before cancelling.
- Warning: Export and archive open Spruce conversation history before the contract ends; Spruce threads live outside the EMR and will not import into the eClinicalWorks portal inbox.
- Warning: Rebuild Spruce's saved templates, scheduled messages, and auto-replies inside eClinicalWorks/healow messaging - the equivalents are not a 1:1 carryover.
- Warning: Spruce also bundles SMS texting, e-fax, and a phone system; the eClinicalWorks portal/healow only replaces the patient-messaging slice, so re-home (or intentionally drop) those other channels before cancelling.
Spruce and eClinicalWorks both run live HIPAA-compliant video visits the patient joins from a link with no app-store download. A practice already on eClinicalWorks can retire Spruce's standalone telemedicine and run the visit inside the EHR: use healow TeleVisits, where the provider sends a text or email link and the patient joins from iPhone, Android, or browser with no download or login required. Run inside eClinicalWorks, the visit writes to the same encounter/chart used for orders, coding, and billing - and the provider can push pre-visit questionnaires, collect vitals, screen-share labs/imaging, and document the Progress Note in one place - versus Spruce's video, which leaves nothing in the chart. Keep eClinicalWorks as the system of record; cut Spruce.
- Warning: healow TeleVisits can also be used alongside another EHR, so confirm you are cancelling the standalone Spruce telemedicine and pointing the workflow at the eClinicalWorks-documented TeleVisit, not just swapping one standalone video tool for another.
- Warning: Confirm healow TeleVisits is provisioned in your eClinicalWorks/healow patient-engagement suite before cancelling Spruce.
- Warning: Spruce sends pre-visit clinical questionnaires with the visit; rebuild those as healow TeleVisits pre-visit questionnaires so the screening still reaches the encounter.
- Warning: Both tools are link-to-join with no patient download, so this is largely a workflow/provisioning switch - but still validate that staff initiate the TeleVisit from eClinicalWorks (or eClinicalMobile) rather than the retired Spruce app.