New Features - July 2011
   

In this issue ...
Welcome
Overview
Explanation
Welcome
 

Greetings to all our Azalea Health Innovations clients. Please review the new features below that have been added to both Azalea PM™ and Azalea LabHub™ this month. Should you need any additional training or have questions regarding these features, please do not hesitate to contact Ashley McGahee at 229-269-4660 or amcgahee@azaleahealth.com.
 
Overview
 

  1. Payer Responsibility column added to main Encounter Screen: You may now easily see who the next payer is from the main Encounters screen.
  2. "Return Check" adjustment code added to Patient Payment report: You will now see any returned check adjustments in the patient payment report.
    3.
  3. Period Close: You now have the ability to close a period, meaning that no payments can be posted before the specified date.
    4.
  4. New look to the Edit CPT Codes / Charges area of an Encounter: We have updated the look to the Edit CPT Codes / Charges area of the Encounter Definition screen.
  5. Suppressed patient statement list: There is a new report called Suppressed Patient Statement Report. The report lists all patients who have their patient statements suppressed in the patient demographics.
    6.
  6. Ability to add more than 4 DX to an encounter: You now have the ability to add more than four diagnosis codes to a single encounter.
    7.
  7. Suppress CPT option in encounter: A check box has been added to the "Edit CPT Codes / Charges" section of the encounter definition screen, allowing you to suppress that specific line item from appearing on the claim.
    8.
  8. "Make Billed" option added to the "Action" drop down box in the main Encounters Screen: You now have the ability to change a group of "Patient Bill" encounters from the status of "New" to "Billed" all at once.
    9.
  9. Ability to see a patient's recalls from the patient details screen: We have added another collapsible field in the patient details screen where you can now easily view all future recall dates for a patient.
  10. Ability to filter between different locations and providers when running the Recall List: You may now filter between different physicians and locations when running the recall list.
    11.
  11. Ability to switch users when the system times out: When the system times out for one user, a different user can now quickly log-in to Azalea now by clicking on the switch user button.
    12.
  12. Patient Demographic Summary Print-out: You can now print out a copy a patient's demographic information.
    13.
  13. Enhanced Encounter Notes: The encounter comments have been updated to display the date, time and user that entered the comment.
  14. Copy Encounter: You now have the ability to take an existing encounter and make a copy of it.
    15.
  15. "Verify Now" button has been added to more areas of Azalea PM™ You now have the ability to verify a patient's insurance from more areas within the system. You also have the ability to verify both Secondary and Tertiary Insurances as well.
  16. Billing Reports now in alphabetical order: The billing reports are now listed in alphabetical order.
    17.
  17. Ability to add both HCFA and UB-04 Claims to a single encounter: You now have the ability to send a HCFA claim and UB-04 claim from a single encounter.
 
Explanation
 
1. Payer Responsibility column added to main Encounter Screen

You now have the ability to quickly and easily see if the next payer is the Insurance Company, the Patient, or Mixed (which means there's both a patient balance and an insurance balance on the claim) from the main Encounters screen.

Note: If you need to see which Insurance Company is currently being billed, you can find out easily by looking in the Quick View screen.

 
2. "Return Check" adjustment code added to Patient Payment report

You will now see any returned check adjustments in the patient payment report. The transaction will appear as a negative item on the report and will subtract from the total balance.
 
3. Period Close

Located in under the Billing Reports tab in the main menu, is a sub menu labeled "Period Close", in which an administrator can set a cutoff date for which no payments can be posted before the "close period end date". This feature ensures a greater reporting accuracy as reports will never change since users are not able to back date once the period has been closed.

Note: If needed, a user with administrative permissions does have the ability to "re-open" the most recently closed period.

 
4. New look to the Edit CPT Codes / Charges area of an Encounter

When clicking on a CPT code or Charge code, you will notice that we have updated the "Edit CPT Codes / Charges" area of the Encounter Definition screen to look more streamlined and have more functionality than before.

 
5. Suppressed Patient Statement Report

You now have the ability to generate a report that lists all patients who have their patient statements suppressed in the patient demographics.

 
6. Ability to add more than 4 diagnosis codes to an encounter

You now have the ability to add more than four diagnosis codes to a single encounter. For example, if you add six diagnosis codes to an encounter, the encounter will split into two separate encounters, each with its own account number and print image file.

Note: The way in which the encounters will spit will depend on how the diagnosis pointers were set.

 
7. Suppress CPT option in encounter

A check box has been added to the "Edit CPT Codes / Charges" section of the encounter definition screen, allowing you to suppress that specific line item from appearing on the claim. This feature is nice for two purposes:

  1. For example, if 4 out of 5 CPT lines are paid and you only want to re-file the unpaid item, you could suppress the other 4 lines and only send the 5th CPT on the claim..
  2. During a closed period, a CPT correction often needs to be made (for example, CPT 99213 should have been 99203), you now have the ability to suppress the 99213, add the 99203 and just re-file the same claim while only sending it with the new CPT code instead of having to create a whole new encounter just to bill the 99203.


You will know once the CPT (or line item) has been suppressed as there will a strike through it, when viewing it in the encounter

 
8. "Make Billed" option added to the "Action" drop down box in the main Encounters Screen

The "Make Billed" option is now available in the "Action" drop down box which is located in the main Encounters screen. This feature was created in order to change a group of "Patient Bill" encounters from the status of "New" to "Billed" all at one time.

 
9. Ability to see a patient's recalls from the patient details screen

We have added another collapsible field in the patient details screen called Patient Recalls, where you can now easily view all of a patient's future recalls, including the date, reason, physician, location and any notes pertaining to the recall.

 
10. Ability to filter between different locations and providers when running the Recall List

You may now filter between different physicians and locations when running the recall list in order to easily view only those patient recalls pertaining a specific physician and/or location.

 
11. Ability to switch users when the system times out

If a user walks away from his/her computer and the system times out and logs the user out, should another person need to use the computer for a second, he/she can easily log-in by clicking on the switch user button instead of having to close Azalea down completely and re-type the web address and have to start the log-in process all over again under a different username and password.

 
12. Patient Demographic Summary Print out

You can now print out a copy a patient's demographic information and give it to patients to review and update when they arrive for their appointments. This feature is nice in order to ensure you always have the most up-to-date patient demographic information loaded in the system.

Note: You can print the demographics all at once from within the Scheduler by clicking on the "Print All Demographics" button located above the calendar. You can also print them one at a time from the appointment definition screen located within the Scheduler or from the Patient Details screen.
 
13. Enhanced Encounter Comments

The Encounter comments are now formatted to display the name of the person who entered the comment as well as the date and time that the comment was made. They are also now formatted to appear with the oldest on the bottom and the most recent on top.

Note: The comments are only editable by the users who entered them or a system Administrator. Therefore, ensuring that important information will remain on the encounter and that no notes get deleted or altered by other users who did not originally enter them.
 
14. Copy encounter feature:

You now have the ability to take an existing encounter and make a copy of it. The copy will have a new Encounter #, and the service date and CPT codes will be blank, but all other information from the original encounter will be copied over.

Example: Having the ability to copy an encounter saves time and accommodates a situation where a CPT code was billed incorrectly during and the corrected CPT needs to be added in place of the incorrect one during a closed period. You now can just copy the encounter and re-bill the claim with the correct CPT code instead of having to create an entire new encounter.

 
15. "Verify Now" button has been added to more areas of Azalea PM™

You now have the ability to verify a patient's insurance from more areas within the system, including the patient details screen, the scheduler, and now the Encounter Definition screen. You also have the ability to now verify Patients' Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Insurances.

 
16. Billing Reports now in alphabetical order

As you can see in the screen shot below the billing reports are now listed in alphabetical order.

 
17. Ability to add both HCFA and UB-04 Claims to a single encounter

You now have the ability to send a HCFA claim and UB-04 claim from a single encounter. Once the encounter has been created and the applicable CPTs have been made UB-04 CPTS, you can select which type of claim file you want to create. The claim file you select will determine which print image file is created first.

Example: If you create a single Encounter (Encounter # QBD23A31) consisting of both HCFA and UB-04 CPTs, and you select "Make 1500 EDI Claim File" first, only the HCFA print image file will be created, keeping original Encounter # of QBD23A31. Then, a separate UB-04 encounter will be automatically created with a new Encounter # of QBD23A32. The new UB-04 encounter will remain in the "Ready" status in order to be bill out next as a "UB-04 EDI Claim File".

 

Thank you!

Azalea Health Innovations, Inc.

 
 
 
 
Azalea Health Innovations, Inc. 
100 North Patterson Street 
Valdosta, GA 31601
Toll Free 877-777-7686 
Local 229-269-4620 
Toll Free Fax 866-683-8679
www.AzaleaHealth.com
info@azaleahealth.com