Intellect™
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN ADDING A SECOND CLINIC
(05/14/2012)
Things to Consider when
Combining Multiple, Unrelated Providers in One Clinic
Please be aware that the billing method must NOT be changed without checking with PCS support or training as it can have a huge affect on a clinic's billing. And, the Organization Name should NOT be added without first testing to see how it affects the clinic's billing. This is of course dependent on the clinic's set up, but usually if the Billing Method is changed without thinking it all the way through and set up changes are also made, claims are rejected.
It is suggested that everything be tested in the Clinic 99 test clinic before making a decision, and definitely before making any changes in the real clinic. Questions? Please call PCS support or training.
These areas of the program MUST be considered before combining multiple, unrelated providers in a common clinic:
In Intellect, different Statement Groups may be set up per provider in the Utility --►Provider screen. However, there are some limitations and things to consider when making this decision.
If a patient sees two doctors in the same clinic and the clinic wants two separate statements, each provider can be assigned a different Statement Group, with these limitations:
• the same statement type needs to be used for providers within the same clinic
• there cannot be different logos and letterhead on the statements because the program pulls the provider name, address, etc. from the Provider screen.
When there are multiple providers in the clinic and two are in the same group, another item to consider is when the program prints the statements for the two providers in one group, it can only print the name of one of the providers. The Provider screen can be programmed to print the Organization Name on the statement if the two providers share a group name BUT the Organization Name is also used in billing claims when the clinic is set up to bill by Provider (this is a set up option in the Utility --►Set Up --►Parameter screen, or can be set up per Category). The Organization Name is used for both Electronic and Paper billing; see the affect of the Organization Name by printing a paper claim and looking in box 33. Do NOT change the Billing Method without first discussing the change with a Prime Clinical trainer or support agent as it can disastrously affect your billing.
Offices who have already posted charges and want to set up Statement Groups should contact Prime Clinical Support. PCS needs to run an SQL to update the existing charges to the correct Statement Group before statements are printed.
Offices who have separate providers in the same clinic and want the Follow Up letters to print separately need to go to the Utility --►Category screen and set the <Follow Up Method> field to 'Doctor.' Otherwise, all charges with the selected criteria print on one Follow Up letter.
Offices who print Follow Up Letters by Doctor should NOT print the Non-Itemized letters as those print only the balance and not detail charge information. The balance is pulled from a table which does not have the provider code. Therefore, if the <Follow Up Method> field is set up to be equal to 'Doctor' on the Utility --► Category screen, it prints a Non-Itemized letter for each provider but has the total balance due - not just the balance for each separate provider on that provider's letter. If this is a little confusing, do not worry, the bottom line is for offices to NOT print Non-Itemized letters if they are already printing Follow Up Letters by Doctor.
Most (not all) reports can be printed by Provider; one exception is the Aging Report. Instead of using the Aging Report, use the report named Balance which is basically the same as the Aging Report only it prints a separate report per provider. PCS suggests sample reports be printed from an existing clinic or from Test Clinic 99 to determine if the needed reports are available to be printed per provider.
The Ledger --► Collection Report option can be used for collections either by office staff or by a collection service. The report has the ability to select outstanding balances based on the Billing Provider (not the provider of service) making it useful even if providers are combined in a common clinic.
The option Ledger --► Create Collection also has the ability to select based on the Billing Provider (not the provider of service). This option is an on-screen collection module and can track which accounts have been worked and which remain unworked.
Aging versus Balance Reports: As mentioned above, the Aging Report cannot be printed per provider, though the Balance Report may.
Appointment Groups limit which scheduler has access to view whose schedules. This limitation does not apply to printing Superbills, Registration forms, and Appointment Schedules/lists.