Awesome! New scheduling module and code associations videos

If you haven't gotten a chance to test out the two new ClinicAid features we posted about last week, now is the time!

Jordan's created two new tutorial videos that take you on a step-by-step tour of our brand new scheduling module and the code associations feature we released this past month.

Scheduling module tutorial

The Year In Review - Happy Holidays!

It was a big year for CloudPractice! 

Happy Holidays from CloudPractice!

Our billing software ClinicAid was launched into two new provinces; BC and Ontario with a great response from all of our new users. In BC, ClinicAid is directly integrated with MSP's Teleplan allowing physicians to validate patient PHN's in real time, check eligibility for yearly procedures, and submit claims directly to MSP, WCB, and ICBC.

Our Ontario launch has also been hugely successful as we have made it easier than ever to submit invoices to OHIP. Any physician using ClinicAid can submit directly to MCEDT with just their GoSecure details, so they will no longer have to deal with batching invoices, and time consuming uploads and downloads and reconciliations. We handle it all, automatically.

Complex care billing in Alberta guide

Are you a physician in Alberta treating patients with complex chronic conditions?

If this is you, you are able to make use of a specific health service code on their claims which will reimburse them for the development of a Comprehensive Annual Care Plan.

The 03.04J service code allows physicians to bill Alberta Health Services for the time and effort spent on creating a complex care plan in cooperation with the patient.

This code may be billed once a year by the physician that is primarily responsible for a patient's care, as long as the patient's chronic conditions meet specific requirements.

ClinicAid launches referring provider management feature!

Not finding the referring physician you're looking for in the ClinicAid list? You can now create your own referral providers with our new referral provider management feature!

How it works

Why documentation is important for Alberta's physicians | ClinicAid blog

The new Schedule of Medical Benefits that was released by the Alberta Medical Association and came into effect on April 1st, 2014 reiterated the importance of proper documentation for all patient encounters. It also added an extra rule that requires physicians to record the time spent providing time-based services for each day of service. This time log should be kept chronologically and be part of the physician's documentation of patient encounters.

Proper documentation is important for personal record keeping, but also for reviews conducted by the Alberta Health Program Monitoring and Compliance Unit. In order to keep sufficient documentation of patient encounters, try these tips:

1. Purchase a small notebook and writing tool (pen/pencil) that can easily fit in a pocket. You should keep this notebook with you at all times to quickly record and track phone calls and encounters, as well as log time spent performing time-based services.* 
2. Record how many times you are speaking with facility staff about a patient. These calls are often missed in charts and are overlooked.
3. Record every patient encounter in the patient's chart. Include the visits that have been billed on a cumulative time basis, callbacks, or multiple encounters on the same day. EMR systems can be particularly useful for these records, as well as keeping time logs for patients. 

*Some physicians might find a time management app most useful for keeping track of time-based services. Apps that can produce printable or downloadable records are especially useful.

Proper record-keeping will be useful for billing purposes, but are also extremely important for any audits or billing reviews that may occur. Documenting patient encounters accurately should become second nature to a physician in order to ensure all details are provided, while also making sure billing opportunities are not missed. Claims that are often missed are for phone calls with patients.

More tips on documentation methods and specific requirements for time logs can be found on the Alberta Medical Association's website.

Alberta Health cut-off dates for physician billing submissions | ClinicAid blog

Alberta Health medical billing functions on a weekly cycle. Cut-offs, processing, and payments are all done once a week, with payments being made for the previous week's claims.

Medical billing submissions can be made to Health Link Alberta (H-Link) using ClinicAid's medical billing software as invoices are created. Our software batches invoices that have been submitted and sends them off to Alberta Health once an hour. The general rules for submission cut-offs, processing, and payments for Alberta's physicians and medical professionals are as follows:

• Claims should be submitted before Thursday at 12:00 p.m. MST. Claims received after 12:00 p.m., but before the end of the business day are often also accepted.
• Claims submitted by the Thursday cut-off will be processed over the weekend and remittance files will be received by the following Sunday evening at the latest. Responses are usually received by Friday and are loaded into ClinicAid directly. Any invoices that have been rejected, underpaid, or paid at zero will be displayed in the "Invoices Requiring Action" section of the Dashboard and in the Manage Invoices section. These can then be edited or settled as necessary.
• Payment of approved claims is made during the following week, usually 7 days after the assessment of claims has been received.

  

New Changes to Alberta Health Schedule of Medical Benefits | ClinicAid Blog

As of April 1st, 2014, recent changes made to the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) Schedule of Medical Benefits will come into effect. These changes will affect some codes, facilities, and pricing rates with codes and facilities being removed or added and pricing amounts being changed.

We have updated ClinicAid with the applicable changes to make as many as possible automated within the software. A quick video walk-through of the changes to ClinicAid's medical billing software has also been created and can be found on our YouTube channel, along with other useful tutorials.

Code Changes

Some of the codes that have changed are as follows:
New Service Codes Available as of April 1st, 2014

• 03.05GA 
• 03.44A 
• 07.54B 
• 09.02D 
• 09.02E

These codes will only be found in the search results if the service date for the code is April 1st or later. Trying to bill for these codes for a service date prior to April 1st will result in an error as we've updated ClinicAid to ensure that the codes are billed accurately.

Service Codes No Longer Available as of April 1st, 2014

• 03.05NT
• 03.05ZF
• 03.05BT
• 03.05XT
• 03.05BP
• 03.05BU
• 03.05VQ

These codes will not be available after March 31st, 2014. Much like the new codes, ClinicAid will check the service date you are trying to bill for in order to ensure that you are billing accurately. If you are trying to use on of these codes for a service date after Mach 31st, you will receive an error when saving the bill.

Changed Fee Modifier

The COMX fee modifier for the 03.03D service code (Hospital visits) has been removed and replaced with the COINPT fee modifier. 

Pricing Changes

Some codes have had their rates adjusted. For example, code 03.03D's base value before April 1st was $33.82. As of April 1st, the new base value for this service code will be $40.58. Around 2500 service codes have been updated with new prices.

Facility Changes

A number of facilities have been removed while new ones have been added to the list of valid facility numbers. Again, these will be available depending on the service date when billing within ClinicAid. 

It is important to make note of these changes in order to ensure you are submitting your bills to AHCIP correctly. For more information and the full details behind the changes, as well as an exhaustive list of new codes, prices, and more, please visit the Alberta Medical Association's Billing Corner and view the PDF version of the new Schedule of Medical Benefits that comes into effect on April 1st, 2014.