Medisoft Medical Billing Software - The Medicare NPI is here, Are you using it?
Written on 13 May 2008 by adminThe NPI is a unique identification number for covered health care providers. Covered health care providers and all health plans and health care clearinghouses will need to use the NPIs in the administrative and financial transactions adopted under HIPAA.
If you’re not yet sending claims with an NPI number, you need to begin doing so as soon as possible, the new drop dead date for converting to NPI usage is May 23, 2008. Although CMS has the authority to move that date up. The current time-line is part of CMS’ contingency plan that went into effect when it became clear that physicians could not meet the original NPI deadline, which was May 23, 2007.
If you are a health care provider who bills for services, you probably need an NPI. If you bill Medicare for services, you definitely need an NPI! Getting an NPI is easy, and free. If you delay applying for your NPI, you risk your cash flow and that of your health care partners as well.
Physicians should take advantage of regular CMS updates about the NPI and other Medicare-related issues by signing up to receive information via CMS’ e-mail mailing lists. Although the agency currently is updating its mailing list service, physicians can bookmark the e-mail list sign-up Web page and check back later to set up their subscriptions.
Here are some frequently asked questions about the NPI that will help answer most of your common questions.
Does NPI only affect Medicare and Medicaid providers and their claims?
No. All healthcare providers who send or receive standard electronic transactions need to obtain an NPI. Failure to obtain an NPI may be viewed as a violation of the good faith provisions of CMS’ contingency guidance.
What about NPI for those who file paper claims?
If a provider only bills claims on paper, providers need to be aware that some health plans, including Medicare, are requiring the use of NPI’s on paper transactions (such as paper insurance claims). In addition, if a provider refers patients to another provider who is filing claims electronically, that practitioner will need to obtain the referring provider’s NPI in order to process the electronic claim. In short, all healthcare providers are encouraged to apply for and share their NPI.
What does an NPI look like?
An NPI is a 10-digit number. All characters are numeric. The first digit is always a 1, 2, 3 or a 4. The first 9 characters are the identifier and the last character is a check digit. The check digit helps detect invalid NPI’s. For example, if a provider’s Tax ID is 123456789, he or she cannot start sending 1234567890 and expect it to be processed as an NPI.
What about insurance carriers?
Providers should contact their insurance carriers to find out what the carriers’ specific enrollment requirements are. Some carriers may take this information over the phone; some may require notification on letterhead or may have a form that needs to be filled out.
How do I get my NPI number?
If you don’t already have your NPI number, you can apply for an NPI number by calling the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) at 800-465-3203 or send an e-mail to customerservice@npienumerator.com.
I’ve heard about a May 23rd deadline but then I heard that it was moved. Which is correct?
CMS (the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) announced a contingency plan on April 2, 2007. It was determined that the percentage of providers outputting NPI information was too low. Providers and payers now have additional time to comply (through 05/23/2008), as long as they are making a “good faith effort”. This means that providers who were outputting both an NPI and a legacy Medicare ID should continue doing so. Providers who have obtained an NPI, but haven’t been using it, should do so now as long as the payer and clearinghouse have been previously notified.
Medisoft Medical Billing Software - The brand new Version 14 Training Manuals have been released!
Written on 10 May 2008 by admin
The brand new Medisoft Billing Software Version 14 Training Manuals have been released!!
Just when you thought you had everything figured out! Medisoft has released new training manuals for Medisoft Medical Billing Software Version 14.
With over 300 pages of thorough content these new manuals have a great user-friendly style with over 300 illustrations. These manuals are a great resource for your clients and for your training.
These new Medisoft billing Software version 14 manuals provide easy to flip to sections using colored tabs. Each tab details the Table of Contents for each section along with comprehensive Terminology and index sections.
We recommend you pick these manuals up as soon as possible to ensure you have the most up to date information for Medisoft Medical Billing Softwaree Version 14.
I found a great location to purchase these manuals at MedisoftVideoTraining.com. Make sure you check them out.
We didn’t even know about these manuals until we read about them on the Medtech Medical Forums.
If you have a chance we recommend you check out these forums in addition to our web-site for additional up to-date developments of the Medisoft Medical Billing Software.
Medisoft Medical Billing (Off-Site Data Backup Solution)
Written on 10 May 2008 by admin
Your Medisoft Medical Billing Software’s data is important! It is crucial that you have an off-site data backup solution for your Medisoft billing software data.
Most medical practices typically have a Medisoft Medical Billing server that has redundant hard drives so in the event of a hard drive failure you will not lose your precious Medisoft data. But what happens in the event of theft, or perhaps, a building flood or fire? In these unfortunate events, if all your Medisoft Medical Billing data is located on a centralized server with no off-site backup there is a strong chance all your data will be lost!
An off-site back up solution keeps your Medisoft Medical Billing software data safe from the mentioned catastrophes.
That is why it crucial for you to have the off-site backup solution for your Medisoft Medical Billing software data.
What is so great about an off-site backup for my Medisoft Billing software Data?
1. Set-it and Forget it. Once you have implemented an off-site backup, it will automatically backup your files nightly and then e-mail you status reports of each backup it performs. You can rest easy knowing you backup is working correctly.
2. No need for CD’s or removable hard drives. Typical on-site backup solutions require that you load a cd or plug in a removable hard drive into your computer to conduct the backup. With an off-site backup solution there is no need for this. During an off-site backup, all files are transferred via the internet to another location.
How does an Off-Site Data Backup work?
Basically there are 2 parts of an off-site backup system.
1. A backup program is used to backup specific files or directories on your Medisoft Medical Billing software server. This backup program sends these files via the internet to a remote computer running a FTP server (File-Transfer-Program).
2. A FTP server (File-Transfer-Program) is used to receive the files from the backup program running on the Medisoft Billing Software server.
The Medisoft billing software data backup solution works by backing up the files you have selected for backup incrementally. This means that on a daily basis the backup program will only backup the files that have changed during the day. This has greater efficiency as it reduces the size of the backup and allows you to fit more daily backups on a single hard drive.
The backup program will backup the files that have been monitored and send them via internet to your remote FTP server. The remote FTP server will be configured on a Web-Hosting account such as GoDaddy, BlueHost, HostGator or a home computer that remains on 24/7.
An off-site data backup solution is a crucial safeguard you need to have in place to ensure your Medisoft medical billing software data is safe.
This article was just a summary of how the technology works. If you are interested in implementing this solution for your Medical practice, feel free to send us an e-mail via our contact page and one of our technicians will gladly help you with the details.
Medisoft Medical Billing software, how can it help my business?
Written on 9 May 2008 by admin
Medisoft Medical Billing software is a comprehensive software suite designed to heighten productivity, office efficiency, and improve cash flow.
If your old practice management or records system is being overrun by healthcare’s rapid changes and growing complexity, Medisoft Medical Billing software is your solution.
This web-site is aimed at bring you the latest developments in the Medisoft Medical Billing software.
We will discuss and guide you through the latest changes in the growing complexity of healthcare claims, and share with you valuable information to enable you use the Medisoft Medical Billing software suite to its greatest potential.
It is more than just a billing system.
The Medisoft Medical Billing software suite has a large range of functions that may be overwhelming when trying to understand how best to use these to your advantage.
This web-site will answer many of the common questions associated with medical billing and claims. We aim to make you a more productive user of the Medisoft Medical billing software.
Take some time, stay with us awhile, and enjoy our web-site.
Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about the Medisoft Medical Billing software. One of our experienced technicians will answer you within 24hours.