Jeremy Weaver

Hello,

My name is Jeremy Weaver.  I am the Medical Programming Manager with Bradford-Scott.  I was hired in 1997 as the EDI programmer after graduating from Ball State University (Go Cards!).  In 2004 I took over as the Manager of the Medical Programming Department.

Working as the EDI Programmer for 7 years gave me a lot of experience making our Medical Software package work with different state requirements in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Michigan.   I know how frustrating it used to be keeping up with all of the payer specific changes to the electronic claim formats and in turn updating our electronic billing software to meet those needs.   With the HIPAA legislation things were supposed to get easier, right?  Well maybe things have become a little easier.  Due to HIPAA we have been able to establish a great working relationship with Emdeon Business Services to help maintain our Physician Billing Software. 

On a personal level, I am married and have three young kids that keep me from sleeping as much as I need to. 

If there is anything I can do to help, drop me a line.

• Objective:  Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically.
• Measurement:  At least 75% of all permissible prescriptions written by the eligible professional are transmitted electronically using a certified EHR technology.

One concern in implementing an Electronic Health Records system is the length of time it takes to get it up and running.   You don't have too look hard on the Internet to find examples where it took 6-12 months to get the implementation off of the ground.

Here are some tips when trying to determine the time frame towards a successful EMR/EHR implementation:

1. Talk to your EMR/EHR vendor about realistic expectations towards a 'Live Date'.  Then stick to those dates.  Canceling training sessions can throw off your live date.
2. Be prepared for the training sessions to get the most out of your training time.
3. Make sure your Physicians are committed to learning the product and that they can schedule time to be trained on the product.  Let's face it.  An EMR/EHR product is only as good as the Dr that is using it.  They need to commit to learning it.
4. If you are implementing both an EMR/EHR and an Integrated Practice Management System at the same time plan the best use of your time.  Have your Front Office and Billing Staff learning the PM, while your clinical staff begins setting up their EHR templates.  This way both parties can get up and live on the product without waiting on the other side.
5. Make sure your Physicians are committed to learning the product ... wait, did I say that already?  Well it is worth saying it again. The Physicians are busy but without them committing to learning the product your implementation could take months longer than necessary.
6. With a push to get your EMR/EHR system up and running in 2011 to prove your 'meaningful use', expect your software vendor to have a  line of physicians wanting to implement.  Get in line sooner than later! Don't delay or you could risk not being ready in time.
7. (and maybe the most important) Contact Bradford-Scott!  We can help you design a proper implementation schedule and get your staff up and running on Intergy EHR by Sage.

The Sage Summit 2009 is taking place in a few weeks in Atlanta.  All Sage customers can attend for a fee.  The Summit will have workshops to learn about software tips, new product development including new technologies and provide technical solutions.

On the healthcare side there will be information about Intergy EHR and Intergy Practice Management (along with many other products).  After looking though the agenda this will be a great place to learn about getting the best out of your Medical Charting Software or your Electronic Medical Record system.

They also plan on having technical support sessions where you can schedule time to sit down with a Sage Support Technician and work on a wide range of topics including your specific issues from Pediatrics EMR to something related only to Orthopedics.

It looks to be a great and valuable time.  If you'd like more information click here or go out and Google 'Sage Summit'.

Bradford-Scott is a proud Changel Partner with Sage.  To find out more about BSDC follow this link to our website.
 

• Intergy By Sage is a comprehensive practice management system that provides advanced scheduling, billing, and management tools that will help your practice run more smoothly and efficiently.
• Intergy EHR by Sage is a CCHIT Certified SM Electronic Health Record software that is designed to complement the clinical approach of your practice.

• Reduce no-shows by pre-confirming appointments
• Increase office efficiency by reminding patients to bring necessary paperwork and records
• Improve collections by reminding patients of their balances and co-pays
• Eliminate staff involvement in delivering appointment reminders and lab test results

One concern in implementing an Electronic Health Records system is the length of time it takes to get it up and running.   You don't have too look hard on the Internet to find examples where it took 6-12 months to get the implementation off of the ground.

Here are some tips when trying to determine the time frame towards a successful EHR implementation:

1. Talk to your EMR vendor about realistic expectations towards a 'Live Date'.  Then stick to those dates.  Canceling training sessions can throw off your live date.
2. Be prepared for the training sessions to get the most out of your training time.
3. Make sure your Physicians are committed to learning the product and that they can schedule time to be trained on the product.  Let's face it.  An EMR/EHR product is only as good as the Dr that is using it.  They need to commit to learning it.
4. If you are implementing both an EHR and an Integrated Practice Management System at the same time plan the best use of your time.  Have your Front Office and Billing Staff learning the PM, while your clinical staff begins setting up their EHR templates.  This way both parties can get up and live on the product without waiting on the other side.
5. Make sure your Physicians are committed to learning the product ... wait, did I say that already?  Well it is worth saying it again. The Physicians are busy but without them committing to learning the product your implementation could take months longer than necessary.
6. (and maybe the most important) Contact Bradford-Scott!  We can help you design a proper implementation schedule and get your staff up and running on Intergy EHR by Sage.

• Patient Registration
• Document and Image Management
• Scheduling
• ePrescribe Prescription Writing

• Orders and Phone Tasking
• Automating Lab Orders
• Wireless Connectivity
• Drug Utilization Review

• What happens when the tapes aren't getting rotated?
• What happens when your tape isn't readable? 
• What happens when the person in charge of the System Backup is on vacation?
• What happens when a disaster strikes your office (such as a tornado or flood)?
• How often are you replacing your tapes?

And just when you thought it was gone .. HIPAA is back and better than ever! 

For those of us that lived through the Standard Transactions and Code Set updates to our medical office billing software back in 2003 that moved the industry's hodge-podge of EDI transactions to a standard format (ANSI 4010), we probably aren't to eager to relive it.

Well get ready ... because it is coming again.

In January CMS published 2 new final rules:

• The first is an update to the standard transactions formats with the transition to ANSI 5010.  This is long over due, and is scheduled for implementation by all covered entities by Jan 1, 2012. (Jan 1, 2013 for small health plans)
• The second rule is specific to the transition to ICD-10 codes.  Again, this has been talked about for a long time and now it seems like with the 5010 implementation this will be possible.  Implementation is scheduled for Oct 1, 2013 for all covered entities.

These rules are available at the Federal Register.

Bradford-Scott Data Corp has already started our preliminary research of the two new rules to determine what impact it will have on our physician billing software, what changes/updates we might have to make to our medical billing systems and more importantly how this will impact your cash flow.  In the coming months we will be working closely with our industry partners in both the practice management product development and clearinghouse areas to make sure these transitions will be as smooth as possible.

For more information about HIPAA and the new final rules, please visit the CMS website at

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/home/regsguidance.asp


For more information about Bradford-Scott's software solutions including:

• Practice Management Software
• Enterprise Medical Software
• EMR Electronic Medical Records

Please visit our website at http://www.bradfordscott.com/index.php
 

As we head into the July 4th Holiday weekend I know a concern for many medical offices is 'will I be able to get software and hardware support when my vendor is closed?'

Bradford-Scott Data has two types of support options for your Practice Management System and your Electronic Health Records systems.  Included in your software and hardware maintenance agreements is the unlimited use of our Support Desk.  You can log a call with our receptionist and our support team's goal is to return your call in under 29 minutes.  You can feel free to use the support desk as much as you wish and the number of calls you can log is unlimited!

And for those questions that might come up while we aren't in the office, we offer a second option for support with our After Hours Pager service.   Simply log a call into our v-mail system and a technician will return your call within 45 minutes.

So as a reminder, Bradford-Scott's Support for your medical office billing or EHR software is

• Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00 pm EST

• Monday - Friday 5:01pm -  8:29am EST
• Saturday, Sunday and all Holidays - 24 hours

Maybe it is because I like convenience, or maybe it is because I'm lazy, but I like things that are automatic.  As a kid I had a friend whose parents had a car with automatic windows.  Push a button and the window went up.  Push a button and the windows went down.    And I had to spend my adolescent days hand cranking my parent's car window up and down with a little knob.  Talk about jealous!

So as I got older and made my own choices in life I looked for things that were automatic.  That includes my car windows, my thermostat in my house, online bill pay and one of my favorites - direct deposit.  So when I had the question of 'How does Electronic Remittance posting work?' I was more than happy to talk about this automatic wonder.

An Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) is nothing more than an electronic EOB generated from the insurance company that your medical billing system can read from and write into your system (say it with me) automatically!

Typically you have to enroll your providers with payers to be able to send claims to them electronically.  Some payers like Medicare require that you do so.  While you are enrolling for electronic claims, be sure to enroll for ERAs.  Once this is complete the insurance company will send you an electronic posting file along with your electronic claims verification reports.  
With very minimal configuration from your Vendor you should be able to have your medical practice billing software automatically post that EOB information directly into your system with a push (or click) of a button. 

• Payment and adjustments will be written into your system ... automatically!
• Transfers to secondary insurances will take place ... automatically!
• Reports will be available to make sure that you are in balance 
• And if for some reason there is a payment that the system can't match to a charge, it will print out on an 'Exception Report' for you to manually look at.  There is no concern for something getting lost or a payment not getting posted.

A while back I helped a client start posting Indiana Medicare ERAs for the first time.  Her quote to me was, "That's it?  What used to take me hours to post payments manually took less than a minute!"

So if you are looking for a huge office time saver and possibly a way to reduce FTEs, consider posting Electronic Remittance into your Medical Billing System!

• An Introduction to Bradford-Scott Data Corporation
• A Hardware Site Inspection
• A Software Trainer visit to the office to learn the ins and outs of the practice
• A Data Conversion Conference call
• The Training Implementation Schedule including tentative 'Live Dates'