alteer

[Guest guest]

I am jumping back in because I, too, use GroupOne. I heard about Alteer from Gordon, but my whole set up is with GroupOne. The verdict is still out on Alteer because of some issues in setting our templates up and just general adjustments. However, GroupOne is truly my lifeline. Because of their support along with the billing they do for us, we are satisfied with Alteer (they require Alteer for thair billing clients). Everything I have ever read says never outsource your billing. In most cases that makes sense because you lose control. However, with Alteer and GroupOne, I am so glad we did. I did not feel qualified to supervise a biller initially or to bill myself with no medical background. My spouse, who is the FP, wants to see his patients. Its bad enough he has to code, even though Alteer/GroupOne comes with code correct. He still has to select the right ones. When they do the billing, they have certified coders reviewing what you do. With Alteer, you can check every time they work a claim. It is in there. I had intended to only let them bill for the first year while we worked the kinks out of the practice and while I learned billing, but I am so far so pleased with what they do I will let them continue and focus on other quality issues in the office. If you do choose to use Alteer and bill in house it is a great system If you do it like Gordon, it's great. Also, I know that if you need to supervise someone else, you can at least track what is being done. I have heard of many horror stories of EOB's shoved in a drawer or better yet actual checks not processed. GroupOne has also helped me run the reports to track the business. As a public defender and a poor Salvadoran who became a doctor, we had intended to save the world. As a very wise Dentist once told me, you need to have a good, solid business in order to have the freedom to do the good work that you wish to do. I am starting to digest that.

aenorjsawyer@... wrote:

Greetings - I have been a little shy about jumping into the conversations of this great group as I am an Orthopedist and not a Primary Care Doc. However, after a great conversation with Gordon, I was invited into this amazing network. I have just left a 12 surgeon group and am hanging out my own little shingle... in the Oakland, Ca area. I am jumping in to the conversation now as I am an Alteer user. I did an 8 month due diligence process and then helped direct the implementation of Alteer in the large group I was formerly in and I will also be setting it up with my solo practice. I am doing it this time, not directly through Alteer, but linked to a billing service that uses Alteer. They are called Group One and they have a percent of collections based fee which can be set up to include your Alteer lease so that you dot have a huge initial outlay. If you decide not to outsource your billing and still want to work with Alteer, it is worth talking to them as they have recently offered "subscription" models to small size groups that cant afford the initial 15 grand for the license,etc. I think it is an excellent package of scheduling, AR, practice management and EMR. The actual clinical note section is being greatly improved upon this year. They are also very responsive to users (us) input and have very accessible tech support. It is Windows based and very intuitive so a quick learning curve. The AR portion is so good that our large group brought billing in house soon after Alteer was implemented. I am too chicken to take on all of the business tasks at once in my first year out....so I will likely outsource billing until I get my feet on the ground and then take it in house. The great thing is that by using Group One, it will all be in my Alteer system and so there will be no need for a big conversion etc. In addition, even though the billing will be outsourced, I will be able to watch or check on every bit of it from my lap top, as it will all be visible through Alteer. I am not on a retainer for Alteer or Group One, but have had experience with them and definitely am a fan. If I can answer any questions please let me know. Now...in return.... let me know when you would like to do some research on the treatment of Osteoporosis in the small group primary care model....that is my area of research and I am developing a post fragility fracture algorithm so that these patients get plugged in to OP care when indicated. Thank you for all of your insights and I hope I give back in some way to this inspired group. It has been a real morale booster for me to read your enthusiastic and empowered remarks as I am going through this and Goliath scenario. I guess it is really Debbie and Goliath, as I am a female orthopod. So, in the words of Helen Keller...."Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all!" Best wishes, Aenor Sawyer

[Guest guest]

How much does groupone charge for their services?

Re: re: Alteer

I am jumping back in because I, too, use GroupOne. I heard about Alteer from Gordon, but my whole set up is with GroupOne. The verdict is still out on Alteer because of some issues in setting our templates up and just general adjustments. However, GroupOne is truly my lifeline. Because of their support along with the billing they do for us, we are satisfied with Alteer (they require Alteer for thair billing clients). Everything I have ever read says never outsource your billing. In most cases that makes sense because you lose control. However, with Alteer and GroupOne, I am so glad we did. I did not feel qualified to supervise a biller initially or to bill myself with no medical background. My spouse, who is the FP, wants to see his patients. Its bad enough he has to code, even though Alteer/GroupOne comes with code correct. He still has to select the right ones. When they do the billing, th! ey have certified coders reviewing what you do. With Alteer, you can check every time they work a claim. It is in there. I had intended to only let them bill for the first year while we worked the kinks out of the practice and while I learned billing, but I am so far so pleased with what they do I will let them continue and focus on other quality issues in the office. If you do choose to use Alteer and bill in house it is a great system If you do it like Gordon, it's great. Also, I know that if you need to supervise someone else, you can at least track what is being done. I have heard of many horror stories of EOB's shoved in a drawer or better yet actual checks not processed. GroupOne has also helped me run the reports to track the business. As a public defender and a poor Salvadoran who became a doctor, we had intended to save the world. As a very wise Dentist once told me, you need to h! ave a good, solid business in order to have the freedom to do the good work that you wish to do. I am starting to digest that. aenorjsawyer@... wrote: Greetings - I have been a little shy about jumping into the conversations of this great group as I am an Orthopedist and not a Primary Care Doc. However, after a great conversation with Gordon, I was invited into this amazing network. I have just left a 12 surgeon group and am hanging out my own little shingle... in the Oakland, Ca area. I am jumping in to the conversation now as I am an Alteer user. I did an 8 month due diligence process and then helped direct the implementation of Alteer in the large group I was formerly in and I will also be setting it up with my solo practice. I am doing it this time, not directly through Alteer, but linked to a billing service that uses Alteer. They are called Group One and they have a percent of col! lections based fee which can be set up to include your Alteer lease so that you dot have a huge initial outlay. If you decide not to outsource your billing and still want to work with Alteer, it is worth talking to them as they have recently offered "subscription" models to small size groups that cant afford the initial 15 grand for the license,etc. I think it is an excellent package of scheduling, AR, practice management and EMR. The actual clinical note section is being greatly improved upon this year. They are also very responsive to users (us) input and have very accessible tech support. It is Windows based and very intuitive so a quick learning curve. The AR portion is so good that our large group brought billing in house soon after Alteer was implemented. I am too chicken to take on all of the business tasks at once in! my first year out....so I will likely outsource billing until I get m y feet on the ground and then take it in house. The great thing is that by using Group One, it will all be in my Alteer system and so there will be no need for a big conversion etc. In addition, even though the billing will be outsourced, I will be able to watch or check on every bit of it from my lap top, as it will all be visible through Alteer. I am not on a retainer for Alteer or Group One, but have had experience with them and definitely am a fan. If I can answer any questions please let me know. Now...in return.... let me know when you would like to do some research on the treatment of Osteoporosis in the small group primary care model....that is my area of research and I am developing a post fragility fracture algorithm so that these patients get plugged in to OP care when indicated. Thank you for all of your insights and I hope I give back in som! e way to this inspired group. It has been a real morale booster for me to read your enthusiastic and empowered remarks as I am going through this and Goliath scenario. I guess it is really Debbie and Goliath, as I am a female orthopod. So, in the words of Helen Keller...."Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all!" Best wishes, Aenor Sawyer

[Guest guest]

Their fees depend on how you structure it and what services you use. Carey Gates would be able to explain it to you. She is at 1-. We got the software and some consulting regarding compliance and we are billing clients so I am sure the structure varies. I checked references for each area before contracting with them.

leeclan wrote:

How much does groupone charge for their services?

Re: re: Alteer

I am jumping back in because I, too, use GroupOne. I heard about Alteer from Gordon, but my whole set up is with GroupOne. The verdict is still out on Alteer because of some issues in setting our templates up and just general adjustments. However, GroupOne is truly my lifeline. Because of their support along with the billing they do for us, we are satisfied with Alteer (they require Alteer for thair billing clients). Everything I have ever read says never outsource your billing. In most cases that makes sense because you lose control. However, with Alteer and GroupOne, I am so glad we did. I did not feel qualified to supervise a biller initially or to bill myself with no medical background. My spouse, who is the FP, wants to see his patients. Its bad enough he has to code, even though Alteer/GroupOne comes with code correct. He still has to select the right ones. When they do the billing, th! ey have certified coders reviewing what you do. With Alteer, you can check every time they work a claim. It is in there. I had intended to only let them bill for the first year while we worked the kinks out of the practice and while I learned billing, but I am so far so pleased with what they do I will let them continue and focus on other quality issues in the office. If you do choose to use Alteer and bill in house it is a great system If you do it like Gordon, it's great. Also, I know that if you need to supervise someone else, you can at least track what is being done. I have heard of many horror stories of EOB's shoved in a drawer or better yet actual checks not processed. GroupOne has also helped me run the reports to track the business. As a public defender and a poor Salvadoran who became a doctor, we had intended to save the world. As a very wise Dentist once told me, you need to h! ave a good, solid business in order to have the freedom to do the good work that you wish to do. I am starting to digest that. aenorjsawyer@... wrote: Greetings - I have been a little shy about jumping into the conversations of this great group as I am an Orthopedist and not a Primary Care Doc. However, after a great conversation with Gordon, I was invited into this amazing network. I have just left a 12 surgeon group and am hanging out my own little shingle... in the Oakland, Ca area. I am jumping in to the conversation now as I am an Alteer user. I did an 8 month due diligence process and then helped direct the implementation of Alteer in the large group I was formerly in and I will also be setting it up with my solo practice. I am doing it this time, not directly through Alteer, but linked to a billing service that uses Alteer. They are called Group One and they have a percent of col! lections based fee which can be set up to include your Alteer lease so that you dot have a huge initial outlay. If you decide not to outsource your billing and still want to work with Alteer, it is worth talking to them as they have recently offered "subscription" models to small size groups that cant afford the initial 15 grand for the license,etc. I think it is an excellent package of scheduling, AR, practice management and EMR. The actual clinical note section is being greatly improved upon this year. They are also very responsive to users (us) input and have very accessible tech support. It is Windows based and very intuitive so a quick learning curve. The AR portion is so good that our large group brought billing in house soon after Alteer was implemented. I am too chicken to take on all of the business tasks at once in! my first year out....so I will likely outsource billing until I get m y feet on the ground and then take it in house. The great thing is that by using Group One, it will all be in my Alteer system and so there will be no need for a big conversion etc. In addition, even though the billing will be outsourced, I will be able to watch or check on every bit of it from my lap top, as it will all be visible through Alteer. I am not on a retainer for Alteer or Group One, but have had experience with them and definitely am a fan. If I can answer any questions please let me know. Now...in return.... let me know when you would like to do some research on the treatment of Osteoporosis in the small group primary care model....that is my area of research and I am developing a post fragility fracture algorithm so that these patients get plugged in to OP care when indicated. Thank you for all of your insights and I hope I give back in som! e way to this inspired group. It has been a real morale booster for me to read your enthusiastic and empowered remarks as I am going through this and Goliath scenario. I guess it is really Debbie and Goliath, as I am a female orthopod. So, in the words of Helen Keller...."Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all!" Best wishes, Aenor Sawyer

[Guest guest]

This person may be lucky. What they told me is that there are three tiers of data. For ONLY $2500.00 I could get the basic data. This means names and demographic information. This would clearly not meet the standard for maintaining a medical record. The next two tiers had not yet been priced. These tiers include demographics and chart documents. The last tier would be the entire record including billing info. I asked regarding a ballpark as to price. I said $5000 up to $50000, please give me an idea. He said Yeah somewhere in there but I seriously doubt it will be $5000. I am not happy. They claim to support their customers, but if you bought through a VAR they will not acknowledge you as a customer. I am in need of a necessary update and they have already refused to give it to me because they say I am not their customer. Lawsuits are beginning already and not from me yet.Greg &

Amy Hinson wrote:

I understand that a high percentage of members of this list use Alteer. I am wondering if anyone has any new info regarding Alteer and its rumored demise. Has anyone changed software programs yet?The following is from another forum.Greg Hinson, MD----------------They have been given VC money to attempt to make their new business model profitable (They were not profitable in their current model). They are no longer selling licenses to Alteer nationwide, and are only selling them in CA in their new model, which is where they will do practice management, billing, and collections for the practice using Alteer, and get a % of collections as pay.They also stated that they will continue to support and develop the product, but admitted that their development would be solely focused on improving their new model

(IE, tuning up their billing and collections module). Very little if ANY improvements will be done to the EMR side of things. It is unknown how they will respond to support requests for any development.Finally, as far as conversion data. I have already requested data, and they say they are going to comply. We'll see how timely a manner they do it in. I dont expect Alteer to be around 9 months from now. I am only hoping that the software is purchased and continued by another company, or that they are purchased and integrated into another product, who offers a significant discount for current Alteer users.

[Guest guest]

My understanding about Alteer is that they use a database that is very common (such as SQL) so that it could be transferred to another system if ever necessary. In my due diligence I always ask that as I once had a bad experience with a billing company who used some proprietary form of a database and I lost the electronic format of all of that data. For those who use their ASP version (i.e., don't have your database in house) I really believe they would provide you an electronic version of your data in a common database format. Aenor J. Sawyer, MD

[Guest guest]

I have to say that this whole thing is upsetting to say the least.

I've heard all the same rumors reported on the listserv.

Rhie (CMO Alteer) called me to say that they're going through a

transition of business model, with a focus on service aspects of practice

support, using Alteer as the vehicle. That they're going to

re-trench in California & drop all marketing outside the

state.

I asked what this meant for current users & he said " We have

contracts & we'll honor them of course. "

From Abby, this doesn't appear to extend to those with indirect

contracting.

I sent Dr. Rhie an email after hearing from Abby, but have no

response.

What worries me is the possibility that they'll collapse & I'll be

unable to access three years of records.

Worse case scenario: complete loss of data

Next worse: print it all out on paper

Next: painful, incomplete, expensive data transfer

and so on.

In the age of HIPAA, I don't see how they can hold the data hostage or

just drop it all (there are very specific requirements to keep electronic

data secure and accessible).

With the slow adoption of EMR in the medical community, Alteer's solution

could either accelerate adoption of put a stake through the heart of

those who would like to join the 21st century.

Gordon

At 03:34 PM 5/16/2004, you wrote:

There is definately some big

changes going on with Alteer. Gordon heard

that they are going thru a business model change , going to be some

type of

service company that does billings/collections ect. We do not know

yet how

this will affect all of us on their EMR. I'm getting worried about

this

news, alteer has not given us any specifics.

Lee

Re: Alteer

> I have done some internet searches and can not find any data to

> suggest a problem. Where are you getting your

information. If this

> product can not make it in the marketplace then none can. I

have

> used many.

> Brent

>

> > I understand that a high percentage of members of this list

use

> > Alteer. I am wondering if anyone has any new info regarding

Alteer

> > and its rumored demise. Has anyone changed software programs

yet?

> >

> > The following is from another forum.

> >

> > Greg Hinson, MD

> >

> >

> > ----------------

> > They have been given VC money to attempt to make their new

> business

> > model profitable (They were not profitable in their

current

> model).

> > They are no longer selling licenses to Alteer nationwide, and

are

> > only selling them in CA in their new model, which is where

they

> will

> > do practice management, billing, and collections for the

practice

> > using Alteer, and get a % of collections as pay.

> >

> > They also stated that they will continue to support and

develop

> the

> > product, but admitted that their development would be

solely

> focused

> > on improving their new model (IE, tuning up their billing

and

> > collections module). Very little if ANY improvements will be

done

> to

> > the EMR side of things. It is unknown how they will respond

to

> > support requests for any development.

> >

> > Finally, as far as conversion data. I have already requested

data,

> > and they say they are going to comply. We'll see how timely

a

> manner

> > they do it in.

> >

> > I dont expect Alteer to be around 9 months from now. I am

only

> > hoping that the software is purchased and continued by

another

> > company, or that they are purchased and integrated into

another

> > product, who offers a significant discount for current

Alteer

> users.

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

We recently got a letter from Group One which is our biller that

they are no longer a reseller of the Alteer product. Apparently

Alteer is bring all this back in house. Group One is still using

Alteer, they will no longer provide service for the Alteer product.

That has to come from Alteer. It looks like there is a lawsuit

regarding the reseller issue. Group One is turning over all the

service to Alteer. Hopefully other resellers will do the same. We

are fortunate that our service was always from Alteer.

Brent

[Guest guest]

Alteer has been working fine for me –

no problems

Bud Freeman, Kennebunk, Maine

Alteer

Is anybody else noticing " problems " with

alteer. Slow response, etc???.

jim in kc