Home Forums Discussions Problems How do I bill for non-AC encounters?

Hi
I do my endoscopies at the hospital, so there's no note entry for them on AC. I would like to bill for it using AC so I can batch everything and send over to the billing company. The billing company called AC support and were told I could create an addendum on the patient record and attach a CPT to it. Is there any other way? One that I can delegate to the staff as opposed to entering addenda myself?
Thanks

When you dictate your procedure noteyou could send a copy to yourself and then save it to AC as an addendum, then code it.
I have templates on my tablet for the different procedures,I insert the particulars for that patient and save the document to a folder on my desktop and copy it into the hospital EMR and also copy it into AC as an addendum. Much less time consumong than dicating and proofreading the same-oh,same-oh to the transcriptionist.
I have a separate folder on my desktop with the procedure codes that I attach to the addendum so that it can be billed. It is very simple, much less time consumong than the old paper trail that we used to use. If your billing person is knowledgable they could read the note enter it as an addendum and then code it. ( I think they would have to sign in as you, however.)

Khaled,

I think I previously mentioned how I deal with endoscopies I do at the hospital. I am assuming you have endoscopy software in your endo suite. Our hospital uses Provation, and their IT folks put CutePDF on the Provation terminal. That way I can "print" the endoscopy report directly to a thumb drive, then import it to a patient chart back at the office. I use UpDox to send the patient a report summary and copy of the procedure note. (That way I don't have to wait around forever making sure the midazolam has worn off to discuss the findings in the typical routine or screening cases.) However, a staff member could do just the import if that is not your style. Then you can do either a chart note that just has a template entry saying "see endoscopy report this date" or an addendum using the same template, and generate a new superbill. That really takes only seconds of your time, and you have a digital copy of the procedure in full color if it is required.

Our office does a template note for all inpatient hospital encounters, referencing the hospital medical record system as the gold source for the encounter detail. A superbill is then generated from this.

Thanks all. That's about what AC has told my billing company. I was just trying to see if there's a way for an office staff to do the addendum and coding using their (limited access) account.

And, David, I did notice your prior note about exporting the PDF of the scopes. It's actualy a wonderful idea, and the endoscopy software at the hospital has an export function built in.
Thanks

Khaled,

FYI... I'm pretty new to AC myself. I did six procedures this morning, and using the process noted above it took about half an hour to import the scope notes, and send brief notes and copies of the report itself to the patients (most of which is the time to send the reports over the wire to UpDox.) The notes to the patient for most basic procedures are easy to template, and I'm getting very positive feedback from patients that they can get the whole report and note immediately after getting home. A bright assistant could likely handle all of the routine studies for you, but I kind of like doing it and I don't want to dump more on my staff yet.

Old version 3.7 allows nurses to create superbils with or w/o addendum. I am not sure about v5.

To create a superbill w/o addendum or note they should go to:
Account information -> Date of Service -> Create New superbill

Then they should select provider (you), enter CPT/ICD codes, and click on Save Changes. Superbill will be created with your name.

Khaled,
When I think of breaking down the process of handling an endo report, there are (at least) four components: creating the report, "filing" it in AC, sending copies to referring docs (and perhaps patients), and billing.
I do procedures at three places, and the process is a bit different for each. You have gotten suggestions here that illustrate some of these variations (e.g., dictation vs. templates for report generation).
Your specific question was about billing, and again, there are several options. First question I have is "who does the coding"? Assuming you do it, and that you want your staff to generate the bill, then you need to communicate that information to them. You can include it (cpt and icd9) at the end of the report. I like my reports (which are really being generated for the referring docs) to be as readable and free from "gibberish" as possible, so I don't put the codes there, but if it works for you, then go ahead. After I dictate (or type the report) I go into my schedule and type what I did into the comment section. That takes just a few seconds of my time. At the end of the day, your staff can do what Apricot describes to create the bill (they don't have to create an addendum).
Would that work?

Jon
Sorry I was away from the boards for a couple of weeks. Yes that would work very well. I wasn't aware that you could create a superbill manually without having to tie it to an addendum.
Thanks