Get Paid Faster with Automated Late Fees

Why is it that doctor bills always seem to get ignored?

When it comes time for patients to pay their bills, the doctor always seems to be the last one to get paid.

It's time to start thinking like credit card companies and begin adding late fees to your patient bills.

KIP Deluxe Version 11 makes this happen - automatically.

KIP automatically inserts late fees, which get payments from patients super fast. Users tell us that patients call as soon as they get the bill, and will agree to send the payment ASAP if you agree to write-off the late fee.

(Credit card companies will also agree to write off late fees, as long as you don't do it more than once or twice a year).

It works amazingly well - and you get to decide how much the late fee will be and how many ignored bills have to be mailed before they appear. The sooner you start adding the late fees, the sooner you will get paid.

So, start thinking like the credit card companies, and see how fast you get paid.

Use Automated Letters as an EMR Template

Printing automated letters has always been a powerful feature of KIP Deluxe. You have the ability to print a single document or letter, or a group of letters (all with data merged in, if desired) with a single click.

Here are some examples of how to use KIP automated letters:

1. You frequently do a specific routine procedure that requires a consent form, and post-op instructions. With a single click, the consent form is printed with the patient's name, the date and time of the procedure, along with the post-op instructions.

2. You have a patient who is having an elective procedure at the hospital. With a single click, you can generate:

a. Pre-op orders

b. Pre-op instructions for the patient

c. Post-op instructions

d. A courtesy letter to the primary care physician

3. You frequently provide a specific item or service which requires a "Letter of Medical Necessity" which your staff can generate with a single click.

KIP also allows you to store each document you generate automatically as a EMR note entry.

Use automated letters as an EMR template

Now, printing automated letters in KIP has a new trick - the ability to preview and edit the document before printing.

This works amazingly well for entering chart notes. You can set up a template for a complete exam, quickly modify or add the values specific to that patient, and it's saved as a EMR note.

And the template remains unchanged for the next time you use it.

You can set up as many automated letters as you want, and mix and match them together any way you want.

That means, if your post-op instructions are the same for a few types of procedures, you just select it as one of the items that should print when you choose that automated letter group.

You enter automated letters by simply typing into the KIP word processor. If you have letters already written, you can just copy and paste them into KIP.

Click on the letter you want and ..... it prints! It's as easy as that.

Use your imagination on how KIP Automated Letters can work for you and let us know. We will be glad to share your ideas with everyone else.

PECOS Searches are now Totally Automated

If you take Medicare, you already know (or should know) about PECOS.

PECOS is the Medicare "Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System." Medicare is requiring all doctors to be enrolled in the PECOS system.

How do you do this?

Simply by making any kind of change to your Medicare status - such as, an address change, or enrolling in electronic payment. Medicare requires that with any kind of change to your Medicare status, you also enroll in the PECOS system.

OK, so now that you have already enrolled into PECOS, everything is OK, right? Well, not exactly.

If you dispense items (such as Durable Medical Equipment (DME) or any other item that requires referring authorization), the authorizing physician also needs to be enrolled in PECOS or your claim will be denied.

For example, a podiatrist believes the patient requires diabetic shoes. He gets authorization from the doctor who monitors the patient's diabetes and subsequently dispenses the shoes prior to billing Medicare - only to find out, later on, the payment was denied. Why? Because the authorizing doctor is not enrolled in PECOS.

The podiatrist is in the PECOS system and does everything by the book, and still the claim is denied.

This is what will happen beginning January 1, 2011 (as of right now, Medicare is just issuing warnings).

What a pain. It's up to the rendering provider (the podiatrist, in this case) to make sure the referring provider (the PCP) is enrolled in the PECOS system. And how is that done? Well, you have to go online and search for the PCP in the PECOS database - and lately, who has time for that?

Well, KIP has changed all that.

Beginning with KIP Deluxe version 11.2, if you see a green check mark next to the referring provider's name, everything is A-OK.

See a red "X" and, instantly, you know this doctor is not PECOS enrolled.

That's it. Nothing else to do.

Do you see a green check mark? Then, everything is OK.

See a red "X - oops, not in PECOS.

No searching. No going online. Nothing to click. Nothing to do at all. Once the PECOS update is installed into KIP, it's all 100% automatic.

Now, you can be reassured that your claim will go through, and eliminate denials because the referring doctor is not enrolled in the PECOS system.

KIP is Optimized for Remote Access

Imagine having two or more offices, but still having all your data centralized.

With KIP, you can have all your data in one place, with your remote office (or offices) using multiple computers to access that data. That means data in your main office (such as billing records and EMR notes) can be accessed remotely from your second office. And data from your remote office can be entered remotely to your main location.

Finally, you can save duplication of services by using a centralized location to handle patient billing and patient recalls. There is no longer a need to have separate billing staff in both locations. And, no longer a need to have people moving back and forth between two locations.

Want to see how the other office is doing at any time during the day? Just bring up the Day Sheet for that office. You can see all the charges entered, all the payments - even who showed up for their appointments and who did not.

KIP is able to move this data back and forth so efficiently, that there is no longer a need to purchase a server computer and server software for the second office, either - which is a major savings for those with multiple offices.

And, access is not limited to just the second or third office. Doctors can access their data from home just as though they were at the office. They can see totals, graphs, appointments - even enter chart notes and print reports - all from home.

KIP gives you all this power for less cost than many systems charge for their basic software package alone - and now, you can use this power to save even more.

Electronic Statements Make Patient Billing a Breeze

KIP Deluxe version 11.1 is now compatible with MD Online's patient billing features.

Instead of the tedious task of printing patient statements, folding the statements, stuffing the bills into envelopes, and mailing the bills - you can now generate a patient bills file and upload this file to MD Online. MD Online then takes care of the rest.

And, when your patients receive a professionally generated bill, they will be more likely to pay your bill promptly.

Generating 50, 100, or 500 patient statements can be done in a matter of minutes, and you still have all the features available when you mail the bills yourself - including adding a message on a patient bill, and reviewing the bills before processing the batch.

If you are thinking about adding a new staff member to keep up with the work load, you may find that automating your billing will eliminate that need to hire another person.

Compare your labor costs to have your staff process your patient statements, and your material costs for paper, toner, envelopes, and stamps, and you may find that using Electronically Generated Patient Statements with MD Online saves you both time and money.

If you are not currently using MD Online as your electronic claims clearinghouse, visit their web site by clicking here. Their electronic claims rejection reports are very easy to understand, and their support is so good, that we now recommend them as our preferred clearinghouse.

New Day Sheet Report Sorts Out Insurance Payments

The Day Sheet is a report of all transactions for the day. It is an extremely powerful report which is able to show totals for any time period.

The Day Sheet can show totals for:

Billing Providers

Treatment Providers

Charges

Payments

- Subdivided by Checks, Cash, Credit Cards, and Electronic Payments

Adjustments

The Day Sheet is also capable of viewing these totals for any date range, so if you wanted to see:

1) what money Dr. Jones billed and took in last week, last month, or even last year, or

2) what amount did you receive in American Express payments last month

the Day Sheet is where you would get the answer.

The Day Sheet is also capable of limiting the data to a single billing provider, treatment provider, treatment location or insurance carrier.

However, now the Day Sheet is capable of showing you subtotals for any date range by insurance carrier (also subtotaled by Billing Provider and Treatment Provider).

There may be several circumstances where this might be helpful.

1) Let's say you have entered your transactions for the day, and find that your Day Sheet for today does not match your deposit.

Previously, you might have to go through your payments entered one by one and make sure they were entered correctly.

Now, but sorting the Day Sheet by insurance carrier, all you need do is make sure each insurance check matches the total for that carrier on the Day Sheet. The one that doesn't match is the one with the error.

2) At the end of each year, each insurance carrier sends you a 1099 (or similar income summary for the year). Just print out (or preview in PDF format) a summary of the Day Sheet for last year and compare the totals.

3) Maybe you are considering no longer participating in an insurance plan. By checking your totals for previous years, you can calculate how that might impact your practice.

So, remember, the Day Sheet is actually a transaction log of any date range you choose, with many options to show this data in a variety of formats. Most times, when you are looking for totals, the Day Sheet has the answer.

Transmitting Claims just got a little easier

It's wasn't that difficult to transmit claims electronically, but now it just got a little easier.

When you go to transmit claims electronically, the default selection is now to transmit unbilled claims. But let's say you have a claim that you have to edit and resubmit. Now, when you go to edit a claim, there is a new button called OK & SEND. Clicking this button marks the claim as unbilled, so now, when you go to submit unbilled claims, this claim will be included. Also, the date range adjusts automatically to make sure it includes this unbilled claim.

You never have to remember which claim it was you have to resubmit. KIP remembers it for you. Not only does this make sending claims electronically easier, it makes sure claims no longer get overlooked.

Export Appointments to iCal

Sometimes it makes sense to take your schedule with you, and the easiest way just might be using iCal and your iPhone.

New, in KIP version 11, is an Export to iCal button (found when you go to Print Appointments under the Print menu).

Select the schedules you wish to take with you, and then, instead of printing them, click the Export to iCal button. This instantly creates a file on your computer called iCal_Export. Move all your selected appointments into iCal by dragging iCal_Export file on top of the iCal application icon.

Then, simply sync your iPhone with your computer to take your schedule with you.

You can post your calendars on the Internet (using your MobileMe iDisk or a private WebDAV server) so family and colleagues can view them using iCal. If you publish your calendar on your MobileMe iDisk, you and other people can also view your calendars using a web browser (You need to have a MobileMe subscription to publish to iDisk).

Make sure that if you choose to publish your calendar, that privacy is always protected. If you are putting information on your calendar that is considered private, you should ensure that whatever method you choose to publish your calendar is secure.

Minimum Amount for Patient Bills

Ever wonder what it costs to send out a bill to a patient?

Yes, there are the obvious costs like the printing of the bill, the envelope and return envelope, and the postage to send out the bill - but there are also costs related to the labor to generate the bill, stuff the envelope, mail the bill, and answer patient inquiries about a bill.

There comes a point where the bill is small enough that it doesn't even pay to send it out, so KIP allows you to set a minimum amount to bill a patient.

To access this feature, go to File > Preferences > Billing Preferences and set the minimum amount to bill a patient. The default amount is $0.00. So, for example, if you set it to $3.00, patients will not get a bill below $3.00.

This way you can set your own preset amount as to minimum bill that you wish to generate.

KIP Version 11 and Snow Leopard are Now Friends

KIP Deluxe version 11 and Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) are made to work well together.

All KIP Version 11 users receive a free upgrade to our Snow Leopard compatible version.

Make sure you upgrade to our latest version of KIP to ensure compatibility prior to installing or upgrading to Snow Leopard.

Updates for Anesthesiology Billing

KIP Deluxe version 11 now includes the following updates for Anesthesiology which may apply to other specialties as well.

1) Provisions for more than one treatment provider per claim.

Some anesthesia claims require that multiple treatment providers be billed on one claim to be paid.

The example given concerned Blue Cross Blue Shield and a patient in labor who receives a spinal in the labor room by one anesthesiologist and then undergoes a C-section in the OR by another anesthesiologist on the same day. These charges are required to be billed on the same claim (either electronically or on paper).

As you can see in the line item image below, each line item can now have a unique provider. To reach this area, click the double triangles to the left of the word Diagnosis when editing an invoice.

Editing the provider on a CPT line in handled with a single click. No typing is needed.

2) Anesthesia minutes and units

Anesthesia billing requires both minutes and units on the claim. KIP always allowed both the minutes and units on the claim, however, KIP now calculates the units automatically once the anesthesia minutes are entered.

A Mac G4 Client with KIP v11

It seemed such a shame that migrating to KIP version 11 Multiuser would force us to upgrade any Mac G4 computers currently in use with KIP version 10.3, so we decided to test one out.

Our first test was an eMac running a 1.42 GHz G4 processor loaded with 512 MB of RAM and Mac OS 10.4.11, and here are the results.

Awesome!

The G4 ran flawlessly. In fact, and we are not sure why, this G4 seemed just as fast as our 1.8 GHz iMac G5 running the same OS loaded with 2 GB RAM.

And the surprising thing was that the 512 MB of RAM did not seem to affect performance at all.

Granted, we did not test every routine in KIP, but whatever we did run, ran well.

So, we are modifying our hardware requirements to include G4 Macs.

For sure, you will need a minimum of Mac OS 10.4.11 and 512 MB of RAM. Earlier versions of Mac OS 10.4 definitely do not work.

You can try slower G4 Macs and test whether the performance is acceptable to you or not. Obviously, expect a 700 MHz G4 to run half the speed of the 1.42 GHz G4 we tested.

But the good news is, the G4 is OK with KIP version 11.

KIP Updates

KIP has been up and running now for a few days in our beta location. All is going smoothly and in our excitement, we have been adding a few new features while testing things out. We didn't want to get too involved so early in it's release, but we just couldn't help ourselves when the test site had a few requests.

Our first request was:

Improve tracking of unpaid claims

...so we super-charged the Tickler file.

The Tickler file shows a list of all unpaid claims. You should be logging all calls on unpaid claims via the Tickler file. Now, there is a major reason to do so.

When you click on a claim, you will instantly see a list of all calls (or "actions") made to get this claim paid ... how many times it was printed, electronically submitted, or called upon.

The list can be sorted on any column, shortened to all claims older than a specific date, and searched.

You can also find "neglected claims" - all claims with no "action" taken within a specified period of time.

This will greatly reduce the chances that a claim will "slip through your fingers."

The second request was:

Have KIP calculate the Adjustment on a claim

The problem was, that certain insurance carriers post the payment and the balance but not the adjustment. The office would have to calculate the adjustment before entering it.

Now, when you enter a payment, you can enter the amount paid and the balance and let KIP calculate the adjustment for you.

I know it's a simple request, but sometimes, when you do something a lot, it's nicer when it's made just a little bit easier.

Make the Passwords easier to change

To change a password using earlier versions of KIP, you had to enter the original password and then a new screen would appear where you would enter the new password. This was a little confusing, so we moved it all to the password entry screen. Just click on the user and then the CHANGE PASSWORD button. This has proven to be much easier now.

Have an idea?

If you have an idea to make KIP better, let us know. It's input from our users that make KIP better.

KIP Version 11 - Day One

As of right now, our first location is up and running successfully. There are a few minor idiosyncrasies we are ironing out, but KIP is making it through day one just fine.

We are using an Intel Mac mini server with two Intel iMac clients and one G5 iMac client. The Intel iMacs are lightning fast (think Emeril - BAM!) and the G5 seems to be hanging in there just fine, but noticeably slower.

We will give it a few weeks, just to make sure - but this transition went extremely well.

It seems this version takes full advantage of the Intel processor, so keep that in mind when you consider any hardware purchase or upgrade.

Upgrading to KIP Deluxe v11 - FAQs

We are quite excited, installing our newest version using the new 4D platform.

The initial comments are - It's fast!!!

Here are some FAQs that our current users are having about upgrading.


Will I have to upgrade my computer?

That depends.

All Windows users should be fine with their current hardware.

If you are running at least a Pentium III with at least Windows XP (and who isn't), you won't need to change a thing. Just make sure you have at least 1 GB of RAM installed.

If you are a Mac user, and plan on using the KIP Deluxe Single User version, you have to be running at least a PowerPC G4, with Mac OS 10.4.11.

If you plan on using KIP Deluxe Multiuser edition, your server needs to be an Intel Mac running at least Mac OS 10.4.11. The client computers must be at least a PowerPC G4 running a minimum of Mac OS 10.4.11.


Can I use a Windows client computer with a Mac server? Or a Mac client computer with my Windows server?

Yes. You can use a Windows XP or Vista server computer mixed with Mac or Windows clients.

You can also use a Mac OS server mixed with both Mac or Windows clients.

Just make sure the client computers meet the minimum requirements of the KIP Single User Version. Of course, the server computer must meet the minimum requirements of the server computer outlined above.


What if I start out with a Windows server computer and later decide that I want to switch to a Mac server (or vice versa)?

You will need to order new licenses to move to the other operating system - otherwise, no big deal.


What if I start out with KIP Deluxe Single User on the Mac and later decide that I want to switch to a PC (or vice versa)?

Again, you will need to order new licenses to move to the other operating system - otherwise, no big deal.


What if I start out with KIP Deluxe Single User on the Mac and later decide that I want to switch to the multiuser version for the PC (or vice versa)?

Again, you will need to order new licenses to move to the other operating system - otherwise, no big deal.


How hard is it to upgrade from KIP Deluxe 10.3 to KIP Deluxe 11?

Actually, this is quite easy. The transition is amazingly smooth. I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised.


How hard is it to upgrade from earlier versions of KIP Deluxe to KIP Deluxe 11?

We take care of all of this for you. We will migrate your data and install it on your system for you, so that everything goes smoothly.


Will we need training with the new system?

KIP Deluxe version 11 will be familiar right from the start. You should be up and running within minutes. If you are currently using KIP Deluxe, you will be ready to go as soon as it's installed.


What features are in this new version?

We have been improving and adding new features constantly. Most of these features make KIP work smarter and better, and require little to no training at all.

You will find new reports along with new ways to enter, sort and find data.

New electronic claim formats are working behind the scenes for you as well.

But what's most exciting is what is yet to come. Expect exciting new changes as future versions are released.


When will this new version be available for me?

Very soon. We would like to give this program a good testing in our first location. Once everything has been up and running for a few weeks, we will begin to install the versions in locations which have pre-ordered.

Most everyone will be able to upgrade within the next few weeks.

Our new release

We reported the invoice entry bug to 4D and they were not able to reproduce it, which means it had something to do with the import from the old version. Fortunately, it was something we could program around, and that seems to have worked well. A couple of last minute touches, and we will move it to our first testing facility.

It's not fun programming around something that used to work, but what can you do.

There were some new interface options included with this new version which we incorporated into KIP. It doesn't change anything, but it looks a whole lot nicer.

We are ordering the rest of the 4D components this week and should be able to install everything next week in the first beta facility, if all goes well.

4D v11.3 SQL Hotfix 2 Released

It was just a few days ago when 4D v11.3 Hotfix 2 was released with another myriad of issues addressed. So far, the crashes experienced with the previous version have been addressed, and things seem to be running smoothly. There does appear to be one annoying bug which remains. It does not appear to corrupt any data but does make data entry on invoices difficult.

As of right now, I believe this issue is annoying enough to prevent the installation in any live situation. Once the issues related to 4D itself have been addressed, we can then begin to install the new version in more and more locations.

I am most interested to see how well this version works when logging in via the internet. 4D version 2003 has been working well over the internet, however, speed was an issue when entering transactions. Version 11 is supposed to be much faster in this regard. Time will tell.

I will keep you informed as to how this initial rollout goes.

4D v11 SQL (version 11.3) - Not ready for primetime

So, here we are, moving everything to the latest and greatest version of 4D (version 11.3), and things are behaving a little erratically. Some sudden crashes. Some unexplained behavior. Some compatibility problems.

So, now there is a version 11.3 hotfix with more than 60 bugs addressed.

I'm not sure just how stable this newest version of 4D actually is, and if we will be able to use this new "hotfixed" version in the mission critical world of healthcare just yet. Time will tell.

Even so, most of KIP has been converted to this new version, and we plan to start using it in one of our beta facilities in the next few weeks. Hopefully, the majority of the crashes, bugs, and oddities have been addressed - but you never know.

It has been exciting, seeing just what this new version is capable of, and the deeper we get into it, the more ideas we get as to how to make KIP better.

But for now, we will have to go slowly until the stability of 4D v11 has proven itself.

Brother MFC-9840CDW Multifunction Printer

Looking for a space saver for your office? You may want to consider the Brother MFC-9840CDW Multifunction Printer.

This multifunction color laser printer replaces your copy machine, fax machine, scanner, and printer all in one nice little package.

With so many devices crowding your office today, this one makes a lot of sense.

Here are some cool things about it:

Faxing

It has a sheet feeder which can read any number of pages (quickly, I might add), store them in memory and then fax them. So if you need to fax a ten page document and then file it, you put the pages in the sheet feeder, it scans them in a few seconds, and then you take the pages and file them while the fax machine does the rest.

Oh, and don't you hate faxing forms that are printed on both sides? This machine can read both sides of the paper and then fax the whole document.

And if someone else is waiting to use the fax, they can fax their document right after you. No waiting for yours to finish.

Of course, it does all the normal fax things like store numbers in an easy display.

Copying

Let's say you need to make copies of some forms. Just put them all into the sheet feeder and tell it how many copies of each. Want them collated? Just hit the SORT button.

You can even copy them two sided if you want to save paper.

Like copying the old fashioned way? It has a lid that lifts up so it works just like a traditional copy machine.

Scanning

You can scan documents directly into your computer or connect a USB thumb drive (the connector is right on the front) and it will scan it to the drive.

Network

This printer connects to your network via ethernet port or wirelessly, so any computer in your office can print or fax directly to it.

That's the cool part - faxing right from your desktop. You print a document just like you normally would, except in the print dialog box tell it to fax, put in the number, and it gets faxed. Just like that.

Mac users can store fax numbers in the Address Book program that comes free with your Mac. Windows users may have a similar option, but I am not sure.

The price is right

It's a color laser printer, a network fax, a copy machine, and a scanner all for around $600 (at newegg.com or provantage.com).

Call up your local business equipment store and ask what a copy machine sells for these days and you will know why this is amazing.

So, what's not to like?

Well, for one thing, place an order for some High Yield Toner Cartridges and you are out a few hundred bucks.

On Amazon right now, the High Yield Black Cartridge (good for about 5,000 pages) costs about $65 and the High Yield Yellow, Cyan, and Magenta cartridges sell for about $92 each. That adds up to about $341 (plus shipping).

Of course, if you print mostly black, you won't be replacing the color cartridges as often, but if you need a new color cartridge, you can't print anything until you put it in, so you have to keep the color ones on hand just in case.

Then, after 17,000 pages, you will need a new Drum Unit for $199.

After 20,000 pages - a new Waste Toner Box for $25.00.

And after 50,000 pages - a new Belt Unit for $130.00.

These are all a cinch to install, and remember, you won't need a service contract for $150 a year because replacing all these parts yourself saves you from this unit needing service.

I did check to see if a service person was in my area (just in case), and there was one in my town, so if I do need it serviced, I have that option - but I would guess that it would be quite rare if you ever did (since so many parts are user replaceable).

What else?

The staff occassionally complains that the scan lamp takes a minute or so to warm up sometimes during periods of inactivity.

The Bottom Line

This is a great multifunction printer. It scans, faxes, and copies very, very well. It is reliable, extremely easy to use, and a space saver.

The cost of the consumables makes this MFP (multi function printer) not optimal for an office that does high volumes (20,000 copies a month), but for the small to medium sized office, this is a steal.

Electronic Medical Records in KIP Deluxe

For years, KIP has had a medical record system that works quite well.

Many users use it in the following manner:

Dictate chart notes using a voice dictation program such as MacSpeech or iListen (or Dragon Naturally Speaking on the Windows side). Then have the staff copy and paste the notes into EMR NOTES.

Using custom voice commands, you can dictate large amounts of text with a single phrase.

For example:

say "NEW PATIENT"

it types:

"This patient presents to the office as a new patient. The medical history ...... (and so on, and so on .....)"

Then chart notes are all stored within the program and can be accessed electronically and can be reprinted or faxed from the computer as needed.