As we can all guess, CMS has issued a delay for the the compliance deadline for its "PECOS enrollment policy" until January 1, 2011.  Under the policy, physicians who have not updated their Medicare enrollment information during the previous five years will be required to complete another enrollment application or risk denial of Medicare payments for services rendered because they are not currently enrolled in Medicare's web-based "PECOS" enrollment database.  This change gives physicians an additional 9 months to comply by reenrolling in the Medicare program.   Here's the place to go to enroll:  PECOS  and to check if you are already enrolled click here:  Enrollment.   You will need your original NPI login; both User Name and Password.  If you have lost them, there is a phone number on the link to retrieve it. 

      Check out our new website at:  www.billingbuddies.net.

 

Happy Billing and Charting,

Bonnie J. Flom; Author of Mastering Medisoft

Ph: 888-322-2455 or 763-546-2455

 

Here's a link to the prompt pay laws by state.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http://www.billinganswer.com/Files/PromptPayState.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEovmAyi7-13iEIX7c_DYhs_dkFPw

This will help with your follow-up endeavors.

Want more good information?  Join our Google Group at Medisoft and Medical Billing User Group.

Happy Billing and Charting,
Bonnie J. Flom, Author of Mastering Medisoft
Phone:  763-546-2455 or 888-322-2455

  Our Winter Newsletter is hot off the press.  Here's some of the information contained within:

1)  Version 16 of Medisoft

2)  Get Your Share of the Incentive Money

3)  Clinic in a Cloud

4)  It's Simple

5)  Billing Buddies Partners

6)  Billing Service

7)  New Book?

8)  Food for Thought

9)  ICD-10 Codes

 

     Next week I will be emailing you from the annual Medisoft Summit in Atlanta, Georgia.  The purpose of the email will be to let you know the latest and greatest features of V16.  If you are still on V12 or V14, you will want to upgrade now to get the most for your money on trade-in value.  Here is a link to print your Order Form.

    Many providers have not heard of PECOS.  PECOS is the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System on the Internet that allows provider and Medicare to maintain enrollments.  Both rendering and referring providers need to be enrolled by April 5, 2010 in order for claims to be processed.  This means that payment can be held on rendering providers if the referring provider has not completed their enrollment. 

Now you have all started researching the final rules proposed for EHR.  We know that we are in the 60 day commenting period and the final rules will be published at the conclusion of that.  What should you do in the meantime?  You need to do your research and make a decision.  Here's some guidelines to help you compare software programs. 

1) Certification - Whether it is called ARRA certification or CCHIT certification or whatever, does the product intend/guarantee they will be compliant so another EHR will not have to be adopted down the line.

2) Does the product have templates for your specialty?  We don't want to reinvent the wheel.

3) Does the product coordinate with your practice management system (PMS)?  This will save hours of duplicate entry with patients and appointments as well as sending charge information back to the PMS ensuring the claim form matches the medical records.

4) Pricing - need I say more.

5) Annual Fees - What are maintenance fees going to cost you?

 

    Next, you need to view some demos of various software to see ease of use.  Bar none, we feel the software to meet your needs the best is SpringCharts.  Click on Free Demo to sign up.  The demos are both general and specialty specific.  Click on the one most suitable for you.

 

Happy Charting and Billing,

Bonnie J. Flom; Author of Mastering Medisoft

Ph: 888-322-2455 or 763-546-2455

Billing Buddies

The majority of what I write in has been centered around EHR.     Between EHR, ICD-10 and the ANSI 5010 format, Medisoft has become neglected.  So, what can I say about Medisoft?  Here's the scoop. We will be going to the annual Medisoft VAR Summit on January 25 - 28, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.  While there, Medisoft will release information on version 16 such as; new features, pricing and availability.  We will report back to you ASAP from the conference. 

    So why update Medisoft?  The vast changes in healthcare regulations and technology are the reasons to stay up to date.  You don't want to be left behind.  This week (and most weeks) I received a call from a clinic in Texas that had version 11 (the first version to be NPI and CMS-1500 compatible).  Their computer crashed and version 11 was written prior to the Vista technology being released.  They had to upgrade in order to function in today's technology.

    Speaking of upgrades...what's the cheapest way to upgrade?  Many of you have figured out it is one version at a time.  Let's look at an example.  User A has Version 12(V12) Advanced and upgraded to V14 Advanced it would cost $289.  Then, for User A to go from V14 to V15 Advanced, would cost another $289.    User B waits until V15 has been released to upgrade V12 Advanced, the cost would be $869.   User A saves $291 plus takes advantage of the new features sooner. 

    One more reason to upgrade, you always want to be on a supported version.  While Billing Buddies will do everything possible to help you with your issues; if we need support, Medisoft won't assist us either if you don't have a supported version.  Ready to upgrade?  Fax the Order Form to us.  Remember, installation is included in the purchase of your software.  After all, we are your Billing Buddies.

 
Happy Charting and Billing,
Bonnie J. Flom; Author of Mastering Medisoft
Ph: 888-322-2455 or 763-546-2455
Billing Buddies

     This year, I was delighted when the AMBA (American Medical Billing Association) asked me to be a presenter at their annual 2009 convention in Las Vegas.  I thought others might want to view the Power Point I used to present.  Page 4 is particularly helpful.

The Daily Basics of Medical Billing

     Need help with medical billing?  Give us a call.  We can link directly to your computer and assist you.

Happy Charting and Billing,
Bonnie J. Flom; Author of Mastering Medisoft
Ph: 888.322.2455 or 763.546.2455

     Tis the season to send cards and gifts to those we are grateful.  Medisoft is especially helpful in by printing labels for referring doctors, current patients, and referral sources.  This was one of the big features in version 15 (Advanced and Net Pro). 
     How do you use it?  Clinic on "Reports" at the top of Medisoft, and "Medisoft Reports" from the drop down list.  Once this box is opened, notice there are many grouping of reports in the yellow folders on the left.   Select the "Focus on Marketing and Promotion" folder on the left.  All the available reports will be displayed for you in the right.  Enjoy!
     Are you a Basic user of Medisoft?  A custom report can be created under "Reports" and "Design Custom Reports and Bill".   We can created a patient label report by date created for you for $99.  Just call us at 888.322.2455.