Error 1: AC6.5 really is eating my time on this. Usually, my MA gives vaccinations. I'm a pediatrician, so there are many vaccinations. My MA gives the vaccinations, then forwards the chart to me to be signed and billed. The software automatically adds the immunization administration codes 90471 or 90472 for each vaccine. THIS HAS NOT BEEN RIGHT SINCE JANUARY 1 2011. For the last 3 years, these codes have not been correct for any patient under 18 (80% of my practice, 98% of my immunizations). We use codes 90460 and 90461, and it's not as simple as first and next shot--we have to know the components of each shot. So I get the forwarded chart then have to delete these incorrect codes, which no insurer in the USA will pay because they are flat wrong, and have to put in and calculate the correct codes. This has been wrong for years, and everybody knows about it. Well, except for.... Thanks AC [yes, sarcasm].
Error 2: AC6.5 has the bizzare and incorrect idea that it's a time-save if, when my assistant enters an immunization given then forwards a chart to me, the administration code is 90471. So a parent or one of my patients who's 18 or older comes in and want a Flumist nasal spray flu vaccine. The only correct code, the one that will get paid, is 90473.
I did NOT sign up to be a beta tester for 6.5. AC called me, de novo, and made an appointment to install 6.5 in my office. I allowed it, and after four hours for 3 computers, it was done. I regret it for this error alone. Advice: don't do it. They obviously have not done some basic things and are unaware of these key issues.
Are you really going to try and convince me that you give a damn about pediatrics? Can there be any coherent excuse for a major update like 6.5 still defaulting to head circumferences in inches (never used anywhere) or requiring decimal pounds for body weight (never heard of this, either: is my ideal body weight really 182.625 pounds?)? If I was able to write a little bit of code for my office on Google spreadsheets that makes pounds and ounces into decimal pounds, why could it not be done in AC? By the way, I had to do this for the benefit of AC. How much do they pay me for this coding work? And AC, please don't try to convince me that this isn't an issue for anyone else. It's a waste of my time and the time of any other FP or Pediatric office that sees babies and young children, where their health and safety and the standard of care is absolutely measured in ounces. So don't try to convince me you care about pediatric medical care, that you are adapting you software for pediatrics, or that you'd like me to speak to another physician thinking about AC. The cost/benefit investment analysis is slipping in the wrong direction.
