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Business Software: Its Role in Your Office
By Miki Fairley Billing and practice management software and
associated services are continuously evolving in an attempt to lift
some of the administrative load off busy O&P practices.
Providers ask themselves questions such as, Should I outsource
billing? or What should I consider when choosing billing and
practice management software? These short answers from experts in
the field may help map out your next move.
Buying software and implementing are two different
projects--how do I get the most from my software?
"While there are several software systems on the market that
process claims, purchasing hardware and software to perform this
function is only half the battle," says Annette Dolza, customer
liaison for Complete Professional Office Services,
Fenton, Michigan, providers of Virtual Office' services. "The new
computer system must be implemented, office staff trained, and
operations converted."
What should I look for when choosing to outsource my
billing?
A "virtual office" integrates claims billing, electronic
processing, and bookkeeping, Dolza explains. "Virtual Office staff
are highly trained specialists who remain abreast of new and
changing insurance regulations, HIPAA compliance, and patient
privacy issues," she says, pointing out that the Virtual Office
keeps computer systems updated, submits claims electronically,
follows up on submitted claims, and integrates payments into the
bookkeeping records. "Virtual Offices represent the potential for
cost savings, improved office efficiency, maximized cash flow, and
minimized practice risks," she adds.
"Billing is a profession just like O&P," says Patrick "Pat"
Shannon, CHBME, CEO of Cashflow Billing Solutions
Inc., Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, a billing service that
focuses on the O&P industry. Shannon points out that there is
an association--the Healthcare Billing & Management Association
(HBMA)-- that regulates, credentials, and certifies professional
billers, and which has educational requirements, including
continuing education. He urges companies who are considering
outsourcing their billing to look for the CHBME (Certified
Healthcare Billing & Management Executive) credential awarded
by HBMA.
A professional certified billing service will have a working
compliance plan in place and will be able to provide a summary of
its plan, Shannon adds. "It will be able to provide you a
certificate of HIPAA training and appropriate Business Associate
agreements to protect your company under the HIPAA Privacy
Regulations."
In deciding on a billing software or billing service, O&P
firms "should look for a company which has a strong and secure
background with a proven track record" states Lisa Lake-Salmon,
executive vice president of Acc-Q-Data Inc., Boca
Raton, Florida. Take the time to contact current users of systems
or services in which you are interested. Ask what they like and
what they have had challenges with. Ms. Lake-Salmon notes that
Acc-Q-Data has been serving the O&P industry nationwide for
over a decade and time is one good litmus test of quality of
services. "Our team of highly trained professionals provides back
office services, including billing, collections, and practice
management," says Lake-Salmon. She adds "Acc-Q-Data's AMS software
also offers cutting-edge technology and exceeds HIPAA compliancy
mandates."
What are some key issues to evaluate when
considering a billing software package?
Although the list of issues to be considered when purchasing a
billing software for your practice is long, a few of the key issues
are: HIPAA compliance, integrated appointment scheduling with
patient demographic and billing data, consideration of how
accounting information is reported (i.e. is this integrated in the
software or exported to a separate accounting package), report
capabilities, integration of collection processes, and multiple
office stability and functionality. Other issues certainly should
be addressed when approaching such an important decision for a
practice.
Terry Long, president, Futura International
Inc., Clearwater, Florida, states, "With HIPAA compliance
and capabilities like PHI control, appointment scheduling,
electronic and paper claims submission, wireless capabilities, and
complete patient chart tools, Futura software is designed to
streamline office operations, as well as separate and secure
patient data." Futura's O.P.S. (Orthotic Prosthetic Software)
is specific to the O&P market and its H.O.M.E. (Home Office
Management Expert) product is specific to the DME market, says
Long.
Long adds that Futura provides potential customers with a "grace
period" in which they can use the software, thus enabling its
entire office staff to evaluate their needs as well as how Futura
fulfills those needs.
Medflex software is O&P-specific, notes John Mason,
president, Medflex Corporation, Lafayette,
Indiana. The software includes automatic patient follow-up based on
L-Codes; variable O&P charge tickets based on visit type;
assignment of technician, modifier, and practitioner to a job;
multiple methods of job costing and job tracing; and special hooks
in the scheduling to manage offsite clinics.
"The best way for practitioners to evaluate software is to get a
complete demonstration interactively given over the Internet, so
that all their questions can be answered," says Mason. "They should
also check with people who run the software they are interested
in."
According to Mason, practitioners should ask: "How can your
software allow me to market better, deal with my patients more
effectively, improve my collections and lower my write-offs, and
lower my accounting bills? How can your software help me manage my
HMO contracts in terms of measurement, tracking, and quoting, and
help me manage the productivity of my staff? How does the software
expand as offices are added? How does it run using the Internet for
multiple offices?"
Billing Software: Exciting Future Ahead
Some exciting developments are on the horizon for
billing software and services.
AMS software, designed by Acc-Q-Data, allows
providers complete control, security, and access to their customer
data from any device that supports a web browser, according to Lisa
Lake-Salmon. AMS can be configured as an Internet and/or an
office-based application, she notes. Online benefits verification
is the latest addition to AMS.
"AMS is developing exciting new innovations such as encrypted
e-mail, smartcard biometric authentication, and portability to PDAs
and cellular devices," says Lake-Salmon.
Futura is planning several innovations,
including opening a training center in July, expanding the
sophistication of its PDA interfaces, and providing a tight
integration with both QuickBooks and Crystal Reports, according to
President Terry Long. Futura will be offering a choice of SQL
Server, Oracle 9, or DB/2. "We are very committed to expanding the
sophistication of our PDA interfaces as well as improving our
standard product line, and our brand new, specially designed
training center will offer our clients the chance to come to our
offices for a preview of all of our products and services. We will
also be offering workshops such as QuickBooks, Crystal Reports, DBA
(database administration) and more."
"When we first started with the industry, we saw networking
switch from Corvus to Novell and now to Microsoft," says
Medflex President John Mason. "Technology keeps
advancing and changing. We have added more features to our software
that would not have been possible in the past. For instance,
MedFlex has had full document scanning for years. Down the road, it
will be possible to attach movies right in the patient's database.
Currently movie captures are huge and can fill even a large server.
Later this will be easy to do as drives increase 100-fold in
capacity in the next five years. This movie aspect is about the
only thing that is not contained in a MedFlex virtual chart
currently."
Mason also sees future expansion in the use of tablet PCs: "PDAs
are actually pretty limited devices for eliminating the paper in
the workflow. Tablet PCs, however, have the capacity and
intelligence to allow for paperless charge tickets and wireless
interaction with the database in real time. We will be using that
technology in future versions of MedFlex."
MedFlex is currently in the process of being completely switched
over to a SQL-based product, says Mason. This will allow for
different programming tools to interact with the core data in the
MedFlex database and allow for implementation of web-based patient
scheduling, in which patients can make tentative appointments
themselves, instead of calling the practitioner's office.
"Cell phone-based Internet capabilities and the ability to use
your single cell phone account on multiple cell-enabled devices
will allow for later tablet PCs to be live on the Internet anywhere
at any time," Mason adds. "This will allow for real-time scheduling
to interact with the central database or any other MedFlex
function."--Miki Fairley
Watch for future updates on billing and practice management
software and services. 
Table Of Contents - June 2003
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