first and foremost, only do the work that's necessary, that way, you avoid redundant data entry.
i use office ally with amazing charts; when the bills for the day are completed, by signing the charts, i use the pull bills by date function to export a billing file in office ally format, and save it in an appropriate folder; i rename it because office ally has a problem with the name if it's not short enough. also be aware that occasionally amazing charts will pull bills for a particular date but call the billing file a different date. check and make sure every time you pull bills. i create a billing file for every date there are bills. in other words, don't create a billing file for more than one date, unless you clearly indicate it in the name.
i typically name my billing files by date and add what it is, eg a billing file from today would be named 05032008 OA UPLOAD. then i go to the office ally website, and upload the billing file. because the interface between office ally and amazing charts is not perfect, the claims typically come into claim fix in office ally after anywhere from 24-48 hrs, where they can be edited to repair them, and then off they go! if there are any non-billable codes, or other problems, they will come back into claim fix, where any additional adjustments can be made. if any claims with errors do get to payers, they'll be returned to you, and then you can see what the problem was, and how to prevent it in the future.
in my office, i do not download the office ally reports because that's not where i keep track of what is most important to me for the continuing survival of my business. once again, EOB information is entered and saved on the patient's account tab for the indicated date of service in amazing charts.
that way, when i pull a collections report in amazing charts for any given time period, i know what's what, and where the problems are. then, if i need to look something up in office ally, i can search for that specific item. otherwise, i am not aware of the need to download reports from office ally, as long as i review the reports in amazing charts, and do so on a monthly basis, and follow up on any missing payments.
on a related note, i have no need for complicated accounting software, either as part of practice management within or outside of amazing charts; i use quicken home & business, and i download all my bank transactions electronically into the accounts i've set up in it.
that way, i have a complete personal and business accounting for tax purposes, and i keep non-amazing charts stuff out of amazing charts, and all amazing charts stuff within amazing charts.
make sense?
hope that's helpful.
LL
ps-- remember, just because a report can be done doesn't mean it should be.
no financial attachment to amazing charts, office ally or quicken.
