Home Forums Discussions Coding and Billing Medisoft V17 interface with Amazing Charts

Has anyone interfaced Medisoft V17 practice management system with Amazing charts? If so could you please let me know the pros and cons?
Are you using X-link or HL7 files to import and export?

Thanks so much
Ginger

We're a billing company and currently interface AC with Medisoft 17 and 15 using X-Link over a VPN connection with some clients.

The biggest con I would say is that the interface doesn't have a database (which they have stated is a benefit). This pretty much means that if any bills attempt to come over from AC to Medisoft and it fails, you lose that bill and then need to do it manually. This can be HUGE for a bigger practice.

There are other small annoyances. Whenever demos from AC update a patient in Medisoft, blank fields think that there is something in there; this effects things like audit reports. Another is sometimes patients aren't found so it creates duplicates. Also, whenever X-Link pulls over bills and puts it into Medisoft, it doesn't copy some information over from previous cases. This can be important, as things like Allergy fields in Medisoft need to be updated manually from case to case.

All in all, it saves time but it can be an annoyance depending on how big a practice is or how this interface is setup. If it will just be local it would probably perform better versus a VPN.

The support for X-Link could be better. I have generally have to troubleshoot and solve issues myself, as the support can be expensive after the initial time is up. And there are no guarantees they just won't blame the VPN connection or Medisoft. Suggesting features/changes seems to be futile so far (they've even asked me if I would front development costs).

I would definitely prefer to get rid of X-Link as I hate using 3rd party tools, but in the end this is the best thing out there (that I have found, at least) if you wish to interface these two products.

we are using MS17 and AC 6.09; I will update you on how it goes next week when we go live

Hi Sam,
We currently run AC and Medisoft as two separate entities. We have been hand entering the data into the medisoft after the AC encounters.

I would love to send my data directly from AC to Medisoft, but didn't know that is possible, even with X-link. I thought it would only help move demographics.

Can you send batch files with x-link or does each encounter go as when you enter the cpts?

We have the interface and are in the process of purchasing x-link. (We thought the interface was x-link, LOL)

Vicki,

It handles bills (encounters), demographics, and appointments.

You can do batches or real-time, but "batches" are really only for importing previous data to get both systems up to date. For what you're looking for, you can pause or keep X-Link closed until you want to have the bills transfer over. That would give you your batch type feature. You can also set up timers for each.

For those of you who are adventurous and can find an Indy/Bert/JamesNT class person to do it for you, you can roll your own interface using SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition. This edition of SQL Server comes with SQL Server Integration Services, an ETL. Using this tool, you can move data from one to the other over the VPN automatically.

While this option gives total control to you, the user, in that you can fix your own bugs and make your own features (i.e. you can even make custom reports using SQL Server Reporting Services on what data came over), it is not for the feint of heart. SQL Server 2008 is $2,500 and change depending on user licensing. Further more, the Indy/Bert/JamesNT part was quite serious. Business Intelligence skills, such as using an ETL, are considered high end skills. If you decide to do this yourselves, be ready to read a few 800 page books (like I did) or be ready to pay some cash to a BI developer.

How do I know this works? Because I've done it a few times.

JamesNT