Alternatives to Semble (formerly HeyDoc)

What is Semble?

Semble is a web-based electronic health record designed originally for private healthcare providers based in the UK. Semble was founded by former Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan investment bankers in 2016 originally selling under the name HeyDoc. Starting in private general practice, the platform has expanded and is now used in both primary and secondary care private care settings.

Semble certainly has virtues, including:

• An entirely web-based platform
• A single platform for clinical note recording and billing
• A broad range of private practice integrations

Should I use Semble for my private GP practice?

The Semble platform is a common one for GPs starting out their own private practice. It is easy to setup, easy to access and relatively low cost. However, we regularly speak with private practices that have outgrown Semble in one way or another and are looking for a more sophisticated solution.

So why do users come to use Hero and EMIS? There are many reasons (most of which are documented in our 50 reasons private GPs use EMIS articles here), but in particular GPs want to use EMIS for:

• Clinical safety - EMIS has inbuilt alerts that prompt clinicians based on entered data, preventing mistakes and overall improving clinical decision making
• SNOMED coding - EMIS codes data entry 'in the background'. Every note, document, request and medication is coded, and is surfaced in a summary and can be reported on
• Prescribing formulary - EMIS formulary is highly detailed, and offers prescribing alerts to prevent unsafe prescribing
• Clinical reporting - EMIS' reporting module is incredibly rich. It runs in the background, and let's users report on all manner of clinical data (e.g., diabetics on a specific drug who haven't been seen for the last 12 months)
• Partner ecosystem - A rich ecosystem of partner products including arrival terminals, blood pressure machines, document management etc.

When it comes to Hero and practice administration, practices appreciate:

• The detailed financial integration with Stripe, enabling coupons (discount codes), multiple payment methods, insurance billing etc.
• Configurable online booking for patient-led booking
• The Xero and Signature Rx integrations
• Integrated Membership management

Almost all GPs agree that EMIS offers a safer clinical solution for seeing patients, the critical thing to consider is 'do you want to migrate system in 2 years time when your business has grown?' or do you simply want to start out with a best in class tech solution? If you're ready to get going with EMIS and Hero, or if you want to migrate from Semble to EMIS, get in touch.