These patients are certain to be impressed by the quality of care and advanced treatments available, but a reliable and efficient online booking process is one part of the journey that’s been missing.

We’re putting that right, inspired by the technology that transformed the travel sector.

Believe it or not, booking a holiday used to be a stressful business. Agents, phone calls and long waits to confirm your reservation. The game-changer proved to be a Global Distribution System (GDS), a central hub which enabled different service providers to exchange information about services and availability in real time. This brought order to the chaos and dramatically improved the booking experience for everyone who could go online and make their own travel arrangements.

We wanted the same for private healthcare, while ensuring everyone could be confident in the high levels of data security that we build into all our products. ICE – our integrated channel exchange – is the GDS uniting the sector to deliver real-time online appointment booking. Put simply, ICE allows anyone offering healthcare services to share them with anyone who wants to search for them. It works like this:

Access: Everyone who wants to use ICE can do so through our flexible Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) based on the internationally recognised FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) messaging standards. This enables different booking sites to connect to multiple diaries through just a single interface.

Book: Information about services and appointment availability is shared in real time with the booking websites so users can use their preferred site to search for an available slot, using a range of search criteria such as specialty, location, time and service type. Bookings can be made 24/7.

Sync: Once the appointment is booked, the diary owner’s software synchronises the information removing the possibility of double-bookings.

Why sign up?

ICE brings compelling benefits whether you’re a practitioner, practice or clinic, hospital or insurer.  At a time when more people are considering private healthcare, it makes sense to have a central booking solution that’s smooth, convenient, efficient and secure. ICE makes this a reality – fantastic for patients who want access to great care and excellent news for the long-term prospects of our sector.

It was our technology, data and expertise that enabled us to start this booking revolution. Is it time for you to join us? 

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To find out how ICE, our online appointment booking solution, can transform your booking process, contact our Business Development team.

The post Appointment booking flows more smoothly over ICE appeared first on Healthcode.

Healthcode’s reply: Use the Advanced Bill draft invoice feature in ePractice to create and update your service charges as you go. This’ll ensure the final version is accurate and complete when you’re ready to send it.

Quick guide to creating a draft invoice

• Select the patient from your patient list, click Create Bill and then click Advanced Bill.
• Complete the invoice with what you’ve carried out on the patient so far.  
• When you reach the final stage, click Save as Draft. The status of three blank boxes against the invoice on the patient’s Account tab means it hasn’t been sent yet.
• It’ll also be listed on the Tasks and Reminders section on your Status page, so you can easily return to it and update. Click Save as draft each time to save your changes.
• When you’re ready to send, click Save and send to submit to the insurer using  the Clearing Service or send to the patient via patientzone.

Discover More

Find out how to create invoices and use other ePractice features, sign up for our free online tutorials with the Healthcode Academy. The Academy’s team of Service Delivery Associates will guide you through our series of short personalised training sessions, using your own data to make the training as relevant as possible.

To learn more about invoicing using Advanced Bill see our guide in Help and Support. We also offer a 15-minute bite-size session with the Healthcode Academy  – click here to book.

To find out more about the invoicing features in ePractice contact the Business Development team.

The post Have you tried… creating a draft invoice? appeared first on Healthcode.

Healthcode’s reply: If you’re an ePractice Pro user, you can create a warning note within the patient’s profile to help you and your team stay on top of things. A yellow warning triangle will appear next to their name and on their profile prompting you to read it before doing anything else.

This feature also allows you to upload documents, such as the letter the patient sent you, your reminder letter or a clinical note.

Quick guide to adding a warning note

• Choose the patient from your patient list and then select the notes tab on their profile page
• Select Admin from the drop-down menu and then type your note in the box (maximum 2000 characters)
• Click the warning box – you can also click the pop-up box option if you want the warning to automatically display when the patient’s profile is opened
• Documents are uploaded by clicking Browse and selecting from your saved files; there’s no restriction on the file type or number of files you can add and you can increase the maximum file size to 2.5MB by contacting Customer Services on custserv@healthcode.co.uk
• Click Save Note
• Select and Delete Note when you no longer need it

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To find out more about the the warning note feature in ePractice contact our Business Development team.

The post Have you tried… creating a warning note in ePractice? appeared first on Healthcode.

While few practitioners have experience of running a business, the most successful are those who draw on the time management skills they learned early in their professional career. By identifying ways to work smarter and making the most of the latest practice management technology, they’ve been able to ‘steal back’ time to focus on patients and develop their practice.

Every practice has time-consuming tasks that could be managed more effectively, often by making better use of technology. Here are five of the most common admin ‘bottlenecks’ to address:

• Correspondence – Medical secretaries can spend their time typing, printing and dispatching letters to keep patients and their GPs informed about appointments, investigations and treatments. Streamline the process by using letter templates for common subjects which can be completed with the relevant patient details. Our ePractice Lite and Pro software also allows you to select and batch print multiple documents at a time.
• Patient insurance cover – Practices regularly need to call hospitals or insurers to confirm a patient’s insurance details, but this can be a time-consuming – and sometimes a frustrating – exercise. Our online membership enquiry feature enables you to instantly check patients’ policy numbers and address details against the insurers’ database.
• Invoicing – Electronic invoicing and clearing can save you money by eliminating printing, postage and manpower costs. Creating and submitting invoices to insurers – via our encrypted, secure service – takes a fraction of the time, improves accuracy and ensures the invoice is validated against the relevant insurer criteria – so it’s ready for processing and payment. This secure platform eliminates the risk of data breaches possible when sending invoices by post or email, plus you have the additional reassurance of knowing the invoice has been received by the insurer.
• Payment tracking – When payments arrive, every practice needs a system to record exactly what invoices are being paid and identify shortfalls. This can be time-consuming with a manual system and in some cases, practices have been obliged to write-off outstanding debts because payments have not been reconciled against the correct invoice. Our payment tracking tools will help you save time and money.
• Financial reports – Without access to accurate information it’s impossible to steer your business effectively. However, manual bookkeeping and accounting systems require expertise and time to prepare even basic reports such as an aged debtor analysis. Your practice management system should provide a range of real-time financial reports, so you can measure your performance, analyse your strengths and weaknesses and make informed decisions.

Discover more

Find out how ePractice Lite and Pro can help streamline your processes and avoid a bottleneck of admin tasks with the Healthcode Academy’s team of Service Delivery Associates. They’ll guide you using your own data to make the training as relevant as possible.

Discover what else you can do in ePractice by checking out our comprehensive  Help and Support articles.

To find out more about this or any other feature of ePractice Lite or Pro contact our Business Development team.

The post Working smarter with technology appeared first on Healthcode.

By validating each invoice in line with the criteria set by each insurer, we ensure they’re ready for processing and payment on receipt. More efficient all round. But sometimes invoices fail the process and need submitting again. When this happens during your invoicing run, it’s important to know exactly what’s gone wrong, how to correct it and hopefully prevent it recurring.

Our Premium level Financial Management Solutions for hospitals include the clever Failed Bills Management Tools to help you identify and fix issues in failed invoices, from one-off inaccuracies to persistent coding errors. By increasing accuracy and efficiency, you’ll quickly see improvements in your invoicing success rate. In fact, when we reviewed monthly failed invoice volumes over a twelve-month period, we found those on the Premium package had 42% fewer recurring failed invoices compared with those using the Standard package.

Our Premium package includes:

• Failed Bills Management Workflow which shows, at a glance, how many invoices have failed, categorised by reason. You don’t have to spend time opening and reviewing each invoice.  
• The ability to apply bulk fixes when an issue has affected multiple invoices and reprocess these at the same time.
• Filters to aid quick analysis. For example, you can focus on invoices to a particular insurer or zero in on failed charge lines within an invoice.
• Colour coded invoice categories – create and assign a colour to different invoice categories for better visibility and manage work flow.
• Failure Analysis Reports are available to increase visibility and manageability of the error handling process. This will help you to correct any issue within your patient administration system and resubmit the invoice.

Want to know more?

To find out how our tools can help you submit fully validated invoices to the insurers efficiently and improve your cash flow, contact our Business Development team.

The post Our invoicing tools point the way to success appeared first on Healthcode.

Healthcode’s reply: No, you don’t as invoice auto-population enables practitioners (who are recognised as controlling specialists) to generate an invoice with the correct patient and episode fields completed, including the patient’s GP, insurer, membership number and the diagnosis and procedure codes used by the hospital. Anaesthetists and radiologists can also use this feature for episodes where they provided care and are linked to the controlling specialist.
All you need to do is add your own fee which you can do with one click if you use our pricing matrix feature. 
This feature is only available to ePractice Lite or Pro users.

Quick guide

• Check your status page for a list of all the patients where invoices have been sent by the hospital showing you as “controlling specialist” (surgeons only).
• Anaesthetists and radiologists will need to enter the patient’s last name, date of birth, treatment date and hospital in the search box.
• Select the patient you want to invoice.
• Check details from the hospital invoice, including patient, GP, primary diagnosis and procedure.
• Complete the fields for service dates and fee.
• Click Service type and select an option from the dropdown menu.
• Complete invoice by clicking save and send.

Discover More

If you’re interested in finding out more about ePractice Lite or Pro why not book a demo with our Business Development team.

Learn more about invoice auto-population and other time-saving ePractice features by signing up for our free online tutorials with the Healthcode Academy. The Academy’s Service Delivery Associates will guide you through our series of short, personalised training sessions, using your own data to make the training as relevant as possible.

We offer a one-hour billing module – Electronic billing & collection | Module 2 – that takes you through everything to do with invoicing. For those who just want to focus on invoice auto-population, we offer a bite-size option – you’ll need module 2A.

The post Have you tried…invoice auto population? appeared first on Healthcode.

Healthcode’s reply: The Pricing Matrix enables you to record your fees for treatments and services, including differentiating for different payors and treatment locations. Once your medical secretary has entered the necessary details on an invoice, they can find the correct fee with just one click.

Quick guide

• Select Guideline Pricing under the Accounting tab in ePractice.
• Click Manage Payors to see your selected payors which already lists self-pay patients.
• Use the Payor Type drop-down menu to select from other payor types eg embassies, solicitors, insurers. Click on ‘insurer’ to bring up a list of insurers. Then select those who recognise you and click + to add them to your selected payors list.
• Click Manage Services and enter the code or description to search the list. Keep searching and adding services and then click save to return to the pricing matrix where they will all be listed.
• Click on each service and add/edit to enter a fee by type of payor and treatment site. Then click save and repeat.
• Once your Pricing Matrix is complete, click the calculator icon when raising an invoice to automatically insert the correct fee for that procedure and payor type.

Discover More

Learn more about the Pricing Matrix and other time-saving ePractice features by signing up for our free online tutorials with the Healthcode Academy. The Academy’s Service Delivery Associates will guide you through our series of short personalised training sessions, using your own data to make the training as relevant as possible.

We offer a 30-minute billing module – Electronic billing & collection | Module 1 – that takes you through everything, including the Pricing Matrix. For those who just want to focus on creating your Pricing Matrix we offer a 15- minute bite-size option​ – you’ll need module 1C.

The post Have you tried… Setting up your Pricing Matrix? appeared first on Healthcode.

Healthcode’s reply: Instead of paper invoices, you can use Healthcode’s secure online payments via patientzone service to charge patients for self-funded care and insurer shortfalls. It is a cost-effective way to implement online patient invoicing and payment. There is no need to worry about card processing appliances or arranging merchant accounts and patientzone charges only 2.5% per invoice + VAT per paid invoice*. Patients will appreciate the security, convenience and the reassurance of payment confirmation. ePractice Lite and Pro users can also create and send shortfall letters, details of debt reallocations and payment reminders and credit notes if the original invoice was sent through patientzone*.

Quick guide

• Click on Integration Services in the settings menu to register for patientzone as a single practitioner or multi-practitioner practice.
• Use the link from patientzone to log in and follow the steps to complete your account set-up.
• Set the invoice template you would like to use for patientzone in Integration Services.
• Create an invoice in Quick eBill or Advanced Bill, ensuring that you have a valid email address and mobile number for the payor.
• Save and send the invoice. Once registered, your ePractice settings will change so non-insurer invoices are automatically sent through patientzone.
• patientzone sends an email notification to the payor with a link so they can pay securely online.
• patientzone sends confirmation to you and the payor once the invoice is settled. Your invoices are automatically reconciled within 30 minutes of payment

* There is a charge of 10p + VAT for each reminder letter sent.

Discover More

Learn more about using patientzone to send a Quick eBill to patients and other time-saving ePractice features by visiting Healthcode’s Online Payments Help & Support page which has a range of informative articles from setting up all the way through to getting paid by patientzone.

If you’re interested in finding out more about ePractice Lite or Pro why not book a demo with our Business Development team.

The post Have you tried… online patient invoicing? appeared first on Healthcode.

So if you find that your year-end accounts show an unacceptably large total of unpaid bills, don’t just write them off. Instead, use it as an incentive to tighten your systems and procedures and improve your cash flow.

Good cash flow management is essential throughout the financial calendar year and encompasses three core principles.

Invoice promptly

The first of these should present no difficulty for Healthcode users. As we explained in our previous blog, by using our time-saving e-billing system, you can create and submit invoices to PMIs which meet industry best-practice standards and are ready for payment. This system also provides tools for you to raise paper invoices for self-funded patients.

Obtain timely and accurate financial information

To stay on top of the money owed to your practice, you should be able to see the outstanding amount at a glance and have access to financial reports which provide more detailed information. For example, an aged debt analysis report is a basic tool for credit control because it clearly shows how much each payer owes, segmented into aged bands (31 – 60 days, 61 – 90 days outstanding etc).

But the more sophisticated presentation of your financial information, the better informed your credit control will be. Subscribers to Healthcode’s ePractice Pro can produce a range of financial reports which have been developed specifically for private medical practice including:

• Outstanding invoices by payer – make it easy to see who needs to be chased for payment by showing all invoices with a current outstanding balance by payer type, including or excluding shortfalls.
• Payment summer report – clearly shows the payments received within a selected date range so you can keep track of what invoices have been paid and the payment method used.
• Earliest service and payment transaction summary – this comprehensive report provides an instant summary of activities, invoices and payments. It is particularly useful for practices that want to monitor their invoices by the date of service as you can quickly see what consultations or treatments took place within a particular date range, the patient’s name, a summary of the invoice, details of any payments which have been received and the balance still outstanding.

Within the Credit Control function of ePractice Pro, you can filter the outstanding balances data to see all debts within a certain band or payer type and drill down into each item for further details about the relevant invoice(s) or patient(s).

All financial reports can be exported to a PDF or Excel file format. Exporting them to Excel enables you to remove any personal identifiable information so they can be forwarded to your accountant.

Take control

If you know exactly what you are owed, the next stage is to implement a watertight system for monitoring and chasing payments. The best option is to break down your credit control into a series of traceable tasks such as creating and following-up invoices, posting transactions such as BACS and credit card payments, allocating payments and producing reminders, statements or shortfall letters.

Healthcode’s system enables you to assign and priorities tasks against each payer. You can then tackle them yourself or delegate responsibility to your practice manager.

The dashboard on ePractice Pro, presents a chart showing outstanding payments. Users can drill into details at a click to view and update tasks so that it is easy to monitor progress.

Cash flow is King

It’s a sobering fact that even profitable and well-respected practices can run into difficulties if they allow their cash flow position to deteriorate. In fact, poorly managed cash flow leaves companies unable to pay HMRC, their staff or their suppliers, making it the most common reason for business failure.

In the longer term, keeping tight control of cash flow will also help your practice finance itself through any unforeseen downturns or adverse changes in market conditions and ensure you are in a stronger bargaining position with lenders and suppliers.

The post Managing Your Money appeared first on Healthcode.