Re: billing, software, office ally

November 30, 2006

Larry,

I am using OfficeAlly with the homebrew EMR. They accept what

are called " print image " claim files. These are nothing more than

ASCII text files where the claim information is formatted roughly the

same position as a CMS 1500 form. Believe it or not, you could create

these in a Word Processor with a simple template if you so desired,

without an EMR at all. The advantage of the EMR is that it saves a

huge amount of work by having the business logic built in to fill out

the template automatically.

EZ claim can produce that print image format. Their computer has

software that " Maps " your print image file to look for the position of

various pieces of info. on a certain line and certain range of

character positions on the line. When you register, they have you send

some test claims, around 10 or so, in and once they have done that

" Mapping " process, you are set to go, as long as your software stays

the same. They format the data they read in from you print image

claims into the HIPAA required ANSI X12 837 format and forward it to a

larger clearinghouse for you that sends it on to the 3rd party payors.

They track the responses from the 3rd party payors and the large

clearinhouse for you and present them in web accessable user friendly

pages so you can track the status of the claims. These responses are

sent around in that HIPAA ANSI X12 format also, which some of the more

powerful EMR's can actually read back in on their own and display to

you. However with OfficeAlly, you just read the responses on their

website, rather than directly importing them into your EMR. You can

download and save the response files from their site in an ASCII text

format if you want. I eventually get the EOB in the mail.

Office Ally has a nice on-line form that allows you to correct certain

kinds of mistakes on-line and resubmit. I like that feature very

much. I use another similar service called MDOn-line. I like

MDOn-line's claim status tracking functions better than OfficeAlly,

but they do not have the On-line correctable form like OfficeAlly, so

with MDOn-line, I have to fix the mistake on my computer, generate a

new claim and re-submit with the next batch. What I would like is a

hybrid of the best features of MDOn-line and OfficeAlly.

Caldwell

Tulare, CA

> To Naureen, Gwen and anyone else who does their own

billing with EZ claim,

> I am seriously thinking of switching EMRs from Alteer to

Amazing Charts. I have seen Clemenson's set up and the use of

it with Updox is pretty amazing. The only thing that is holding me

back is my trepidation with the billing aspect of it. Right now with

Alteer, it is very simple to bill electronically with them. I am not

sure if it will be as simple with EZ claim. I am waiting to see how

does with his billing since he is switching over to doing it

himself.

>

> Do you bill electronically through Ez claim? What clearinghouse do

you use? Do you post your own EOBs? Does Amazing charts keep track

of all your claim status well ( can you easily tell how many claims

are still waiting to be paid).

> How much time do you spend on the billing aspect of your practice?

> Any advice would be appreciated.

>

> Re: decision about billing, software

>

> AAAAAAAAAARGH!

> Don't do it!

> I had them for 2 years and fired them in May 06. they didn't seem

to care about the little guy, saying that everyone is happy with them,

but I wasn't and I told them so. I was doing their work for them.

Followup on claims, calling ins companies for rejections. They made

annoying mistakes. I was never paid a secondary medicaid to medicare

claim in 2 years. Within 3 months of doing it myself, they were all paid.

> Now, I use ezclaim with their clearing house, getting paid more,

have less rejections and it doesn't take anymore time. It is really

easy to do it yourself and Debra at EZ Claim taught me everything I

needed to know to get started. And instead of paying hundreds per

month, I reduced my costs to $39 per month (low volume, less than 100

claims per month), not including the software which was about 500.

Within 3 weeks of starting up, which was very quick, I had most

billed claims paid, including those that I back billed. Some of the

claims were paid in 3 days. (Shocking but true! Saw pt on Mon, had

check in hand Thurs!)

> My only problem at this point, is I am still not getting my

medicare EOBs, but I am working on it. However, I am getting paid,

money shows up at my bank account. I know I didn't file the right

papers and Debra is really good at follow ing up on this.

>

> Search the list serve to see my past posts on MTBC.

> Naureen Mohamed MD

> No financial ties to anyone.

>

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

> Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

>

November 30, 2006

thanks for the info, alex. i can generate a hcfa claim form from amazing charts, so if i can use that with office ally, then i would have a completely free billing system. i will undoubtedly be testing that in the next week. i think the important lesson here is simple-- i had a big fear of coding and billing initially. i got over the fear of coding, and it turns out to be pretty simple, for the most part. i had a big fear of billing, and now again it turns out to be pretty simple, for the most part. both of these things, billing and coding, are turning out to be the another case of "MD stands for make dough off this person". yes, it's true, one's time may be "better" spent seeing patients, but it seems to me that since low overhead means each one of us is the captain of our respective ships, we had better know how to do each job on the ship, and at least

keep a close supervising eye on how the ship runs. appropriate payment, which implies appropriate billing and coding, is a big part of patient satisfaction. it has to be done right. unfortunately, the concept of doing things consistently correctly seems to have been lost long ago by many. how the business runs is our responsibility, and it must be done consistently correctly. i've found out it's not enough to be a "good" doctor, and leave the billing to someone else. once i fix this, i can move on to the next problem. oh, no, you mean there's more? LL Caldwell wrote: Larry,I am using OfficeAlly with the homebrew EMR. They accept whatare called "print image" claim files. These are nothing more than ASCII text files where the claim information is formatted roughly thesame position as a CMS 1500 form. Believe it or not, you could createthese in a Word Processor with a simple template if you so desired,without an EMR at all. The advantage of the EMR is that it saves ahuge amount of work by having the business logic built in to fill outthe template automatically.EZ claim can produce that print image format. Their computer hassoftware that "Maps" your print image file to look for the position ofvarious pieces of info. on a certain line and certain range ofcharacter positions on the line. When you

register, they have you sendsome test claims, around 10 or so, in and once they have done that"Mapping" process, you are set to go, as long as your software staysthe same. They format the data they read in from you print imageclaims into the HIPAA required ANSI X12 837 format and forward it to alarger clearinghouse for you that sends it on to the 3rd party payors.They track the responses from the 3rd party payors and the largeclearinhouse for you and present them in web accessable user friendlypages so you can track the status of the claims. These responses aresent around in that HIPAA ANSI X12 format also, which some of the morepowerful EMR's can actually read back in on their own and display toyou. However with OfficeAlly, you just read the responses on theirwebsite, rather than directly importing them into your EMR. You candownload and save the response files from their site in an ASCII textformat if you want. I

eventually get the EOB in the mail. Office Ally has a nice on-line form that allows you to correct certainkinds of mistakes on-line and resubmit. I like that feature verymuch. I use another similar service called MDOn-line. I likeMDOn-line's claim status tracking functions better than OfficeAlly,but they do not have the On-line correctable form like OfficeAlly, sowith MDOn-line, I have to fix the mistake on my computer, generate anew claim and re-submit with the next batch. What I would like is ahybrid of the best features of MDOn-line and OfficeAlly. CaldwellTulare, CA> To Naureen, Gwen and anyone else who does their ownbilling with EZ claim,> I am seriously thinking of switching EMRs from Alteer toAmazing

Charts. I have seen Clemenson's set up and the use ofit with Updox is pretty amazing. The only thing that is holding meback is my trepidation with the billing aspect of it. Right now withAlteer, it is very simple to bill electronically with them. I am notsure if it will be as simple with EZ claim. I am waiting to see how does with his billing since he is switching over to doing ithimself.> > Do you bill electronically through Ez claim? What clearinghouse doyou use? Do you post your own EOBs? Does Amazing charts keep trackof all your claim status well ( can you easily tell how many claimsare still waiting to be paid).> How much time do you spend on the billing aspect of your practice?> Any advice would be appreciated.> > > Re: decision about billing, software> > > AAAAAAAAAARGH!> Don't do it!> I had them for 2 years and fired them in May 06. they didn't seemto care about the little guy, saying that everyone is happy with them,but I wasn't and I told them so. I was doing their work for them.Followup on claims, calling ins companies for rejections. They madeannoying mistakes. I was never paid a secondary medicaid to medicareclaim in 2 years. Within 3 months of doing it myself, they were all paid.> Now, I use ezclaim with their clearing house, getting paid more,have less rejections and it doesn't take anymore time. It is reallyeasy to do it yourself and Debra at EZ Claim taught me everything Ineeded to know to get started.

And instead of paying hundreds permonth, I reduced my costs to $39 per month (low volume, less than 100claims per month), not including the software which was about 500.Within 3 weeks of starting up, which was very quick, I had mostbilled claims paid, including those that I back billed. Some of theclaims were paid in 3 days. (Shocking but true! Saw pt on Mon, hadcheck in hand Thurs!)> My only problem at this point, is I am still not getting mymedicare EOBs, but I am working on it. However, I am getting paid,money shows up at my bank account. I know I didn't file the rightpapers and Debra is really good at follow ing up on this. > > Search the list serve to see my past posts on MTBC.> Naureen Mohamed MD> No financial ties to anyone.> > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------> Access over 1 million

songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.>

Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.

November 30, 2006

Larry,

Yeah, I studied how EZClaim works when I started working on billingfor the homebrew EMR back in 2002. That's how I found out the print image claim format it produces was just an ASCII .txt file. I decided I could write my own computer program that would do the same thing. Thank you EZclaim! I remember my elation when I sent in my first claims via my own homebrewed EMR and got my first check back in 2003! I can only equate it with the day I got married, the birth of my children, the first time I soloed an airplane, or maybe the first time I ...... - well I better not mention that one. I knew I was ***FREE AT LAST***, after all those years of working in somebody else's organization, like working for a clinic, or joining a practice with older established doctors, like I had done before, and having to play by supposedly more knowlegable people's rules. I knew I was finally in control of my own destiny, at least as much as I could hope to be in today's world. It really changed my life. Before, I dreamed of retirement, but now I don't want to retire because then I couldn't come in every day and play with the computer (and try to help a few patients along the way) :-).

EZclaim can also produce the ANSI X12 837 format, which is actually also another fairly simple ASCII text file that you can open in any .txt editor such as Wordpad, however the formatting of the X12 ANSI 837 is considerably more complicated and harder for people to read, particularly when you batch several claims in the same transmission. The HIPAA compliant ANSI X12 837 format is designed more to be easier for computers produce and then to be read in on another computer, and therfore not easy for us human beings to read or edit. However, the print image file looks like the same layout as the familiar CMS 1500 file and IS therefore easy for us humans to read, and you can even edit simple mistakes in a simple text editor, such as Wordpad, and resend the file. You might wonder why they actually still allow the older print image format to continue to be used, since HIPAA actually requires electronic healthcare transactions to be in the ANSI X12 HIPAA format. I guess they are making somewhat of an exception for the step from our offices to OfficeAlly or MDOn-line, since many of us still have old legacy billing software that does not know about HIPAA. Or at least that seemingly non-HIPAA compliant step in the claim transmission process from our office to OfficeAlly or MDOn-line in the print image format has not been made into an issue or challenged by anybody at this point (please don't bring it up at any meetings with government beaurocrats present, or they might take it upon themselves to make it an issue).

By the way, did you know that Medicare Intermediaries are required to GIVE you HIPAA compliant billing software that is compatable with submission of claims direct Medicare for FREE???? As far as I know this rule is still in effect. You won't see it advertised anywhere. It's buried deep in the fine print of the Medicare legislation, and the intermediaries don't want spend money advertising it to you, holding your hand or training you etc., so you will never see them send you an offering to get the software. You have to learn about it and contact thim on your own. See http://www.medicarenhic.com/edi/download/freesoftware_0905.htm I have a copy of this program from a company called Stratford that the Medicare Northern California Intermediary NHIC gives out. Each region's Medicare Intermediary can apparantly decide what software to give out. I've seen other programs on other region's Medicare Intermediary websites. Stratford is fairly similar to EZClaim, but is derived from an older DOS program that was upgraded to run on Windows XP. It can produce the HIPAA ANSI 837 format which you do have to use if you want to send your claims DIRECTLY from your billing program to the Medicare intermediary. Interestingly, this type of direct transmission from your office to the Medicare intermediary is done with a modem direct over the phone line to their modems, rather than going over the Internet. When you dial in, they have this older software that is like the old pre-internet "Bulletin Board" programs that you would dial into and then could browse around. Similar to the old "Compuserve". You also get your replies from them that way. You should also be able to do this with EZClaim, but you have to use the ANSI X12 837 format rather than the older print image format. The advantage of sending your Medicare claims directly to the Medicare Intermediary instead of going through OfficeAlly is that it is completely FREE. Whereas if you go through OfficeAlly or MDOn-line, they charge you in the neighborhood of 33 cents a claim. I'm still sending my Medicare claims through MDOn-line and paying the 33 cents, because my program has not been tested yet to Mediare's satisfaction with the ANSI X12 837 HIPAA format, although I'm working on that. But it won't really save me much money, since I only average about $75 - $90 a month to MDOn-line and I would still have to pay their base monthly fee because I would still need to use them for non-Medicare electronic claims to other 3rd party payors. Hope this info is helpful.

CaldwellTulare, CA> > To Naureen, Gwen and anyone else who does their own> billing with EZ claim,> > I am seriously thinking of switching EMRs from Alteer to> Amazing Charts. I have seen Clemenson's set up and the use of> it with Updox is pretty amazing. The only thing that is holding me> back is my trepidation with the billing aspect of it. Right now with> Alteer, it is very simple to bill electronically with them. I am not> sure if it will be as simple with EZ claim. I am waiting to see how> does with his billing since he is switching over to doing it> himself.> > > > Do you bill electronically through Ez claim? What clearinghouse do> you use? Do you post your own EOBs? Does Amazing charts keep track> of all your claim status well ( can you easily tell how many claims> are still waiting to be paid).> > How much time do you spend on the billing aspect of your practice?> > Any advice would be appreciated.> > > > > > Re: decision about billing, software> > > > > > AAAAAAAAAARGH!> > Don't do it!> > I had them for 2 years and fired them in May 06. they didn't seem> to care about the little guy, saying that everyone is happy with them,> but I wasn't and I told them so. I was doing their work for them.> Followup on claims, calling ins companies for rejections. They made> annoying mistakes. I was never paid a secondary medicaid to medicare> claim in 2 years. Within 3 months of doing it myself, they were all paid.> > Now, I use ezclaim with their clearing house, getting paid more,> have less rejections and it doesn't take anymore time. It is really> easy to do it yourself and Debra at EZ Claim taught me everything I> needed to know to get started. And instead of paying hundreds per> month, I reduced my costs to $39 per month (low volume, less than 100> claims per month), not including the software which was about 500.> Within 3 weeks of starting up, which was very quick, I had most> billed claims paid, including those that I back billed. Some of the> claims were paid in 3 days. (Shocking but true! Saw pt on Mon, had> check in hand Thurs!)> > My only problem at this point, is I am still not getting my> medicare EOBs, but I am working on it. However, I am getting paid,> money shows up at my bank account. I know I didn't file the right> papers and Debra is really good at follow ing up on this. > > > > Search the list serve to see my past posts on MTBC.> > Naureen Mohamed MD> > No financial ties to anyone.> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------> > Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.> >> > > > > > > ---------------------------------> Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.>

November 30, 2006

OFFICE ALLY is GREAT! Been using them exclusively x 2 months. No problems.

It doe not interface with my " homemade " EMR but once I enter all the data it

stores it so ir

is very easy to use and YES FREEEEE!!

Pamela

Pamela Wible, MD

Family & Community Medicine, LLC

3575 st. #220

Eugene, OR 97405

roxywible@...

www.idealmedicalpractice.org

> To Naureen, Gwen and anyone else who does their own billing with

EZ claim,

> I am seriously thinking of switching EMRs from Alteer to Amazing

Charts. I have

seen Clemenson's set up and the use of it with Updox is pretty amazing.

The only

thing that is holding me back is my trepidation with the billing aspect of it.

Right now with

Alteer, it is very simple to bill electronically with them. I am not sure if it

will be as simple

with EZ claim. I am waiting to see how does with his billing since he is

switching

over to doing it himself.

>

> Do you bill electronically through Ez claim? What clearinghouse do you use?

Do you

post your own EOBs? Does Amazing charts keep track of all your claim status

well ( can

you easily tell how many claims are still waiting to be paid).

> How much time do you spend on the billing aspect of your practice?

> Any advice would be appreciated.

>

> Re: decision about billing, software

>

> AAAAAAAAAARGH!

> Don't do it!

> I had them for 2 years and fired them in May 06. they didn't seem to care

about the

little guy, saying that everyone is happy with them, but I wasn't and I told

them so. I was

doing their work for them. Followup on claims, calling ins companies for

rejections. They

made annoying mistakes. I was never paid a secondary medicaid to medicare claim

in 2

years. Within 3 months of doing it myself, they were all paid.

> Now, I use ezclaim with their clearing house, getting paid more, have less

rejections

and it doesn't take anymore time. It is really easy to do it yourself and Debra

at EZ Claim

taught me everything I needed to know to get started. And instead of paying

hundreds per

month, I reduced my costs to $39 per month (low volume, less than 100 claims per

month), not including the software which was about 500. Within 3 weeks of

starting up,

which was very quick, I had most billed claims paid, including those that I

back billed.

Some of the claims were paid in 3 days. (Shocking but true! Saw pt on Mon, had

check in

hand Thurs!)

> My only problem at this point, is I am still not getting my medicare EOBs,

but I am

working on it. However, I am getting paid, money shows up at my bank account.

I know I

didn't file the right papers and Debra is really good at follow ing up on this.

>

> Search the list serve to see my past posts on MTBC.

> Naureen Mohamed MD

> No financial ties to anyone.

>

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

> Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

>

November 30, 2006

Question, please...

Does using Office Ally, which looks really great by the way, still require the

use of a program that generates a HCFA form, or is that part of Office Ally. In

other words, do I still need to get a new HCFA software program for my computer,

in light of the new forms coming out in 2007, or does Office Ally allow that

capability through their service?

And Pam, since you have opted out, does Office Ally work for all your

superbilling? If so, then: awesome!

Charlie Vargas

lin, NC

No snow yet. Wish it would--lots.

Date: 2006/11/30 Thu AM 12:18:15 CST

To:

Subject: Re: billing, software, office ally

OFFICE ALLY is GREAT! Been using them exclusively x 2 months. No problems.

It doe not interface with my " homemade " EMR but once I enter all the data it

stores it so ir

is very easy to use and YES FREEEEE!!

Pamela

Pamela Wible, MD

Family & Community Medicine, LLC

3575 st. #220

Eugene, OR 97405

roxywible@...

www.idealmedicalpractice.org

> To Naureen, Gwen and anyone else who does their own billing with

EZ claim,

> I am seriously thinking of switching EMRs from Alteer to Amazing

Charts. I have

seen Clemenson's set up and the use of it with Updox is pretty amazing.

The only

thing that is holding me back is my trepidation with the billing aspect of it.

Right now with

Alteer, it is very simple to bill electronically with them. I am not sure if it

will be as simple

with EZ claim. I am waiting to see how does with his billing since he is

switching

over to doing it himself.

>

> Do you bill electronically through Ez claim? What clearinghouse do you use?

Do you

post your own EOBs? Does Amazing charts keep track of all your claim status

well ( can

you easily tell how many claims are still waiting to be paid).

> How much time do you spend on the billing aspect of your practice?

> Any advice would be appreciated.

>

> Re: decision about billing, software

>

> AAAAAAAAAARGH!

> Don't do it!

> I had them for 2 years and fired them in May 06. they didn't seem to care

about the

little guy, saying that everyone is happy with them, but I wasn't and I told

them so. I was

doing their work for them. Followup on claims, calling ins companies for

rejections. They

made annoying mistakes. I was never paid a secondary medicaid to medicare claim

in 2

years. Within 3 months of doing it myself, they were all paid.

> Now, I use ezclaim with their clearing house, getting paid more, have less

rejections

and it doesn't take anymore time. It is really easy to do it yourself and Debra

at EZ Claim

taught me everything I needed to know to get started. And instead of paying

hundreds per

month, I reduced my costs to $39 per month (low volume, less than 100 claims per

month), not including the software which was about 500. Within 3 weeks of

starting up,

which was very quick, I had most billed claims paid, including those that I

back billed.

Some of the claims were paid in 3 days. (Shocking but true! Saw pt on Mon, had

check in

hand Thurs!)

> My only problem at this point, is I am still not getting my medicare EOBs,

but I am

working on it. However, I am getting paid, money shows up at my bank account.

I know I

didn't file the right papers and Debra is really good at follow ing up on this.

>

> Search the list serve to see my past posts on MTBC.

> Naureen Mohamed MD

> No financial ties to anyone.

>

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

> Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

>

November 30, 2006

Charlie,

I believe I am correct in stating that OfficeAlly requires that you

have a program that can at least generate a print image (text) based,

or a HIPAA compliant ANSI X12 837, or the older NSF claim format that

predated HIPAA. In this case you at least need a program like:

1. EZClaim which is the simplest and cheapest commercial one I've seen.

2. Or you could try my homebrewed EMR if you were more adventurous,

like Kathy Broman and Becky in Mason City Iowa.

3. The other option is to get the FREE software that Medicare is

required to GIVE to you for generating and submitting electronic

claims to them. This free Medicare software should also work with

OfficeAlly or MDON-line for non-Medicare claims as all 3rd party

payors use the same claim electronic formats as Medicare.

(Unfortunately, that does not mean they use the same code numbers for

certain procedures like flu shots etc.)

Other options I am somewhat familiar with are:

1. MDOn-line http://www.mdon-line.com has the above type of set up

where you generate the claims with your own claim generating software

, plus they have a program called " WinLink " which is where they give

you some claim generating software you run on your computer and it

generates the claims to send to them over a dial up modem

(non-internet) connection. I have not used that option.

2. MDOn-line also has a sort of ASP like set up where you basically

fill out claim forms on-line on their web site, so all the data is

stored on their computers. I have not used that option with MDOn-line

as my system stores all the billing info. on my end.

3. Zirmed is another company mentioned by others on the list that has

similar options to MDOn-line and can accept claim forms created by

EZClaim, or from the free Medicare Software. They also have an

Internet based ASP set up where the data all resides on their system.

I have no experience with Zirmed, but it has been mentioned on the

list several times, and the users seem happy with it.

Caldwell MD

Tulare, CA

> > To Naureen, Gwen and anyone else who does their own

billing with EZ claim,

> > I am seriously thinking of switching EMRs from Alteer to

Amazing Charts. I have

> seen Clemenson's set up and the use of it with Updox is pretty

amazing. The only

> thing that is holding me back is my trepidation with the billing

aspect of it. Right now with

> Alteer, it is very simple to bill electronically with them. I am

not sure if it will be as simple

> with EZ claim. I am waiting to see how does with his billing

since he is switching

> over to doing it himself.

> >

> > Do you bill electronically through Ez claim? What clearinghouse

do you use? Do you

> post your own EOBs? Does Amazing charts keep track of all your

claim status well ( can

> you easily tell how many claims are still waiting to be paid).

> > How much time do you spend on the billing aspect of your practice?

> > Any advice would be appreciated.

> >

> > Re: decision about billing, software

> >

> > AAAAAAAAAARGH!

> > Don't do it!

> > I had them for 2 years and fired them in May 06. they didn't

seem to care about the

> little guy, saying that everyone is happy with them, but I wasn't

and I told them so. I was

> doing their work for them. Followup on claims, calling ins companies

for rejections. They

> made annoying mistakes. I was never paid a secondary medicaid to

medicare claim in 2

> years. Within 3 months of doing it myself, they were all paid.

> > Now, I use ezclaim with their clearing house, getting paid more,

have less rejections

> and it doesn't take anymore time. It is really easy to do it

yourself and Debra at EZ Claim

> taught me everything I needed to know to get started. And instead of

paying hundreds per

> month, I reduced my costs to $39 per month (low volume, less than

100 claims per

> month), not including the software which was about 500. Within 3

weeks of starting up,

> which was very quick, I had most billed claims paid, including

those that I back billed.

> Some of the claims were paid in 3 days. (Shocking but true! Saw pt

on Mon, had check in

> hand Thurs!)

> > My only problem at this point, is I am still not getting my

medicare EOBs, but I am

> working on it. However, I am getting paid, money shows up at my

bank account. I know I

> didn't file the right papers and Debra is really good at follow ing

up on this.

> >

> > Search the list serve to see my past posts on MTBC.

> > Naureen Mohamed MD

> > No financial ties to anyone.

> >

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

> > Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

> >

>

December 1, 2006

I'm also looking into going electronic from paper, uisine EZClaim currently.

I checked out the prices for clearinghouse submission from a few sources:

EZClaim $100 for setup, about $64 month for 150 cliaims/month, and $100 fee

per year (have to buy Print Image Module from EZCLaim($95 also)

EClaims set up about $190, then about $44 for 150 claims/month, not sure

about yearly fees, I think I also have to buy the print image module. (this

is the clearinghouse that EZClaims uses.Offic Office Ally- not available in

RI for medicare and medicaid and Blue Cross! too bad!

Zirmed $500 for setup, the $100 per month (I think that is for their

minimum 200 claims per month

WEBMD similarly expensive (I was told by another office though I did not

call)

I may go directly with eclaims. Is anyone using them? I was wondering how

their support is.

Lynn

>

>Reply-To:

>To:

>Subject: Re: billing, software, office ally

>Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 05:52:37 -0000

>

>Larry,

>

>Yeah, I studied how EZClaim works when I started working on billing

>for the homebrew EMR back in 2002. That's how I found out the print

>image claim format it produces was just an ASCII .txt file. I decided

>I could write my own computer program that would do the same thing.

>Thank you EZclaim! I remember my elation when I sent in my first claims

>via my own homebrewed EMR and got my first check back in 2003! I can

>only equate it with the day I got married, the birth of my children, the

>first time I soloed an airplane, or maybe the first time I ...... - well

>I better not mention that one. I knew I was ***FREE AT LAST***, after

>all those years of working in somebody else's organization, like working

>for a clinic, or joining a practice with older established doctors, like

>I had done before, and having to play by supposedly more knowlegable

>people's rules. I knew I was finally in control of my own destiny, at

>least as much as I could hope to be in today's world. It really changed

>my life. Before, I dreamed of retirement, but now I don't want to retire

>because then I couldn't come in every day and play with the computer

>(and try to help a few patients along the way) :-).

>

>EZclaim can also produce the ANSI X12 837 format, which is actually also

>another fairly simple ASCII text file that you can open in any .txt

>editor such as Wordpad, however the formatting of the X12 ANSI 837 is

>considerably more complicated and harder for people to read,

>particularly when you batch several claims in the same transmission. The

>HIPAA compliant ANSI X12 837 format is designed more to be easier for

>computers produce and then to be read in on another computer, and

>therfore not easy for us human beings to read or edit. However, the

>print image file looks like the same layout as the familiar CMS 1500

>file and IS therefore easy for us humans to read, and you can even edit

>simple mistakes in a simple text editor, such as Wordpad, and resend

>the file. You might wonder why they actually still allow the older

>print image format to continue to be used, since HIPAA actually requires

>electronic healthcare transactions to be in the ANSI X12 HIPAA format.

>I guess they are making somewhat of an exception for the step from our

>offices to OfficeAlly or MDOn-line, since many of us still have old

>legacy billing software that does not know about HIPAA. Or at least

>that seemingly non-HIPAA compliant step in the claim transmission

>process from our office to OfficeAlly or MDOn-line in the print image

>format has not been made into an issue or challenged by anybody at this

>point (please don't bring it up at any meetings with government

>beaurocrats present, or they might take it upon themselves to make it an

>issue).

>

>By the way, did you know that Medicare Intermediaries are required to

>GIVE you HIPAA compliant billing software that is compatable with

>submission of claims direct Medicare for FREE???? As far as I know

>this rule is still in effect. You won't see it advertised anywhere.

>It's buried deep in the fine print of the Medicare legislation, and the

>intermediaries don't want spend money advertising it to you, holding

>your hand or training you etc., so you will never see them send you an

>offering to get the software. You have to learn about it and contact

>thim on your own. See

>http://www.medicarenhic.com/edi/download/freesoftware_0905.htm

><http://www.medicarenhic.com/edi/download/freesoftware_0905.htm> I

>have a copy of this program from a company called Stratford that the

>Medicare Northern California Intermediary NHIC gives out. Each region's

>Medicare Intermediary can apparantly decide what software to give out.

>I've seen other programs on other region's Medicare Intermediary

>websites. Stratford is fairly similar to EZClaim, but is derived

>from an older DOS program that was upgraded to run on Windows XP. It

>can produce the HIPAA ANSI 837 format which you do have to use if you

>want to send your claims DIRECTLY from your billing program to the

>Medicare intermediary. Interestingly, this type of direct transmission

>from your office to the Medicare intermediary is done with a modem

>direct over the phone line to their modems, rather than going over the

>Internet. When you dial in, they have this older software that is like

>the old pre-internet " Bulletin Board " programs that you would dial into

>and then could browse around. Similar to the old " Compuserve " . You also

>get your replies from them that way. You should also be able to do this

>with EZClaim, but you have to use the ANSI X12 837 format rather than

>the older print image format. The advantage of sending your Medicare

>claims directly to the Medicare Intermediary instead of going through

>OfficeAlly is that it is completely FREE. Whereas if you go through

>OfficeAlly or MDOn-line, they charge you in the neighborhood of 33 cents

>a claim. I'm still sending my Medicare claims through MDOn-line and

>paying the 33 cents, because my program has not been tested yet to

>Mediare's satisfaction with the ANSI X12 837 HIPAA format, although I'm

>working on that. But it won't really save me much money, since I only

>average about $75 - $90 a month to MDOn-line and I would still have to

>pay their base monthly fee because I would still need to use them for

>non-Medicare electronic claims to other 3rd party payors. Hope this

>info is helpful.

>

> Caldwell

>Tulare, CA

>

> > > To Naureen, Gwen and anyone else who does their own

> > billing with EZ claim,

> > > I am seriously thinking of switching EMRs from Alteer to

> > Amazing Charts. I have seen Clemenson's set up and the use of

> > it with Updox is pretty amazing. The only thing that is holding me

> > back is my trepidation with the billing aspect of it. Right now with

> > Alteer, it is very simple to bill electronically with them. I am not

> > sure if it will be as simple with EZ claim. I am waiting to see how

> > does with his billing since he is switching over to doing it

> > himself.

> > >

> > > Do you bill electronically through Ez claim? What clearinghouse do

> > you use? Do you post your own EOBs? Does Amazing charts keep track

> > of all your claim status well ( can you easily tell how many claims

> > are still waiting to be paid).

> > > How much time do you spend on the billing aspect of your practice?

> > > Any advice would be appreciated.

> > >

> > > Re: decision about billing, software

> > >

> > > AAAAAAAAAARGH!

> > > Don't do it!

> > > I had them for 2 years and fired them in May 06. they didn't seem

> > to care about the little guy, saying that everyone is happy with them,

> > but I wasn't and I told them so. I was doing their work for them.

> > Followup on claims, calling ins companies for rejections. They made

> > annoying mistakes. I was never paid a secondary medicaid to medicare

> > claim in 2 years. Within 3 months of doing it myself, they were all

>paid.

> > > Now, I use ezclaim with their clearing house, getting paid more,

> > have less rejections and it doesn't take anymore time. It is really

> > easy to do it yourself and Debra at EZ Claim taught me everything I

> > needed to know to get started. And instead of paying hundreds per

> > month, I reduced my costs to $39 per month (low volume, less than 100

> > claims per month), not including the software which was about 500.

> > Within 3 weeks of starting up, which was very quick, I had most

> > billed claims paid, including those that I back billed. Some of the

> > claims were paid in 3 days. (Shocking but true! Saw pt on Mon, had

> > check in hand Thurs!)

> > > My only problem at this point, is I am still not getting my

> > medicare EOBs, but I am working on it. However, I am getting paid,

> > money shows up at my bank account. I know I didn't file the right

> > papers and Debra is really good at follow ing up on this.

> > >

> > > Search the list serve to see my past posts on MTBC.

> > > Naureen Mohamed MD

> > > No financial ties to anyone.

> > >

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

> > > Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

> > >

> >

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

> > Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.

> >

>

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December 1, 2006

Hi Lynn,

I'm using eclaim and I like them a lot. I've had no problems and their support is fine but I rarely need it. Lynn please call me to discuss your billing unless it's now PERFECT! I really want you to ENJOY billing. I'm not kidding.

Gwen Hanson

(home)

(office)

(cell)

[Practiceimprovemen t1] Re: decision about billing, software> > >> > >> > > AAAAAAAAAARGH!> > > Don't do it!> > > I had them for 2 years and fired them in May 06. they didn't seem> > to care about the little guy, saying that everyone is happy with them,> > but I wasn't and I told them

so. I was doing their work for them.> > Followup on claims, calling ins companies for rejections. They made> > annoying mistakes. I was never paid a secondary medicaid to medicare> > claim in 2 years. Within 3 months of doing it myself, they were all>paid.> > > Now, I use ezclaim with their clearing house, getting paid more,> > have less rejections and it doesn't take anymore time. It is really> > easy to do it yourself and Debra at EZ Claim taught me everything I> > needed to know to get started. And instead of paying hundreds per> > month, I reduced my costs to $39 per month (low volume, less than 100> > claims per month), not including the software which was about 500.> > Within 3 weeks of starting up, which was very quick, I had most> > billed claims paid, including those that I back billed. Some of the> > claims were paid in 3 days.

(Shocking but true! Saw pt on Mon, had> > check in hand Thurs!)> > > My only problem at this point, is I am still not getting my> > medicare EOBs, but I am working on it. However, I am getting paid,> > money shows up at my bank account. I know I didn't file the right> > papers and Debra is really good at follow ing up on this.> > >> > > Search the list serve to see my past posts on MTBC.> > > Naureen Mohamed MD> > > No financial ties to anyone.> > > > > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > > ------------ --------- --------- ---> > > Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.> > >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > ------------ --------- ---------

---> > Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.> >>>____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _Talk now to your Hotmail contacts with Windows Live Messenger. http://clk.atdmt. com/MSN/go/ msnnkwme00200000 01msn/direct/ 01/?href= http://get. live.com/ messenger/ overview

Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

December 2, 2006

Did you look at ENS? They provide really great service with all the features people touted about Zirmed and they are $60 a month, $75 with electronic remittance advice. They didn't charge me for set up but the guys at my emr did that. This emr is also really good and they don't charge to do any of the changes or rewriting etc... its doctors partner.

December 3, 2006

thanks for all the clearing house advice, I will check out ENS on the web

also

Lynn

>From: mkcl6@...

>Reply-To:

>To:

>Subject: Re: Re: billing, software, office ally

>Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2006 08:14:01 EST

>

>Did you look at ENS? They provide really great service with all the

>features people touted about Zirmed and they are $60 a month, $75 with

>electronic

>remittance advice. They didn't charge me for set up but the guys at my emr

>did

>that. This emr is also really good and they don't charge to do any of the

>changes or rewriting etc... its doctors partner.

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December 11, 2006

As a third year FP resident I am still confused about billing. I

noticed that quite a few list members use Amazing Charts, Office Ally,

and/or EZClaim. I do like that setup in terms of pricing compared with

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