Many of you have asked for a training class. You got it! Starting September 17th we have a 12 week intensive training going through October 29th. There will be six, 2-hour training sessions and a book is included. Here are some of the topics covered:
To sign up, print and fax back page 4 of our Fall Newsletter. Our Fall Newsletter is hot off the press and can be view at www.billingbuddies.com.
I keep hearing from long time Medisoft clients that they miss the Medisoft DOS program. I'm from the DOS days too and miss the sweet simplistic program. I can even tell you the date the DOS program was no longer support; December 1, 2000. At the time, we had about 30 clinics we were billing for on DOS and I felt to be a responsible business owner, I needed to move everyone to a "supported" version of Medisoft. Plus, Joey Borane, the head of Medisoft at the time kept telling us not to get "left behind". I wasn't quite convinced of it at the time, but in retrospect, I can't imagine the hurdles to come with the new Windows Operating System and health care changes; HIPAA EDI, HIPAA privacy, HIPAA security, NPI, new claim form, ANSI- 5010 and ICD-10. Uhggg!
Why do software companies (and hardware) keep upgrading? Short answer: to keep up with technology and health care changes. And, you really don't need Medisoft or SpringCharts; they are really just "tools" no different than a hammer to a carpenter. Really, just different name brands to get your job done. But, why would you want to buy Medisoft and SpringCharts; longevity, pricing and functionality. What does that mean? Well, look at other programs and compare the price and how long they have been in existence. Then, take a look at the program and see how well it works.
Plus, remember, that any program (like a hammer) will have a learning curve. Throw me on top of a roof with a hammer and ask me to do a roofing job. How long would it take for me to be proficient? (Don’t ask my husband…he’ll say never!)
Version 16 of Medisoft was a very clean program. It had many health care and technology changes in it. It will work with the new 64 bit OS of Vista and Windows 7 and it has the first big step of changing the PINS tables for the new ANSI 5010 EDI format that prepares us for the ICD-10. These big changes are happening in all software programs. (Hopefully…or they will be OOB – out of business!)
We adopted the use of SpringCharts first of all because it fit our client base. It is the least expensive certified EHR program on the market; by cost less than half….including the annual support fees; a “must have” by all EHR programs. Plus, it syncs with Medisoft and they have great flexibility for changing templates on the fly and been around over 10 years. And, in August, for the first time, they are offering 20% off on the heels of the Final Rules being released on July 13, 2010.
Finally, keep in mind that with all software, change is a must because of the changes in our industry. But, compare pricing, functionality and longevity.
Bonnie J. Flom, CMRS
Author of Mastering Medisoft
President of Minnesota AMBA Chapter
Billing Buddies
8459 10th Ave N
Golden Valley, MN 55427
Phone: 763-546-2455 Fax: 866-506-9681

Medisoft really has a big job to do to prepare for the ANSI 5010 format that is preparing for the ICD-10 format. This HUGE change is going to happen sooner in the future that NPI and CMS-1500 was in the past. So, V16 started the first of the big changes to come and the claim form was the first area to show a big change. If you use the claim form that Medisoft has programmed, CMS-1500 and preview a few of your claims, you will see they have already done the work to remap the fields. Using this, you have choose between three options; 1) You can use the Medisoft form and line it up if needed through Design Custom Reports, 2) You can take your custom report that is already lined up and change the fields that are error to match the newly created CMS-1500 form or 3) You can schedule support time and have it take care of by one of our Billing Buddies. Or, a fourth option would be to scrap the whole paper claim idea and go to electronic claims. Billing Buddies can help with that as well. It hasn't been released yet, but I suspect that electronic claims may be the required format for ICD-10 codes. If not, here comes yet another claim form!
Happy Billing and Charting!
Bonnie J. Flom, CMRS
Phone: 888-322-2455
Billing Buddies
Today Governor Pawlenty declared for the State of Minnesota to be Medical Biller’s Day.
Click here to see the signed copy of Governor Pawlenty’s Proclamation: http://www.billinganswer.com/Files/MBD.PDF
Click here to see the Press Release: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/governor-tim-pawlenty-issues-proclamation,1220181.shtml
Today is the day to acknowledge all of your hard working medical billers. If you live in another state, please Google and see if your Governor has done the same.
Best Regards,
Bonnie J. Flom, CMRS
Author of Mastering Medisoft
Medical Billing and Electronic Records Professional
Phone: (888) 322-2455 or (763) 546-2455
Fax: (866) 506-9681
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
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
1) Version 16 of Medisoft2) Get Your Share of the Incentive Money3) Clinic in a Cloud4) It's Simple5) Billing Buddies Partners6) Billing Service7) New Book?8) Food for Thought9) ICD-10 Codes