Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Version 8 --- Practice management

I was at the ACUC in Boston in September and John Squire in his company update said that on October 30th Version 8 with an integrated practice management module would be released.

The 30th has come and gone.... Given the history of AC and PM, I'm not holding my breath, but has anyone heard anything? Was there any talk about it at ACUC in Chicago last month?

The PM was presented in Chicago as well.

It is scheduled to be released sometime this month, but I believe they will be going slowly to ramp up. In addition to the software, there is training and setup with the clearinghouse that can take some time.

It is based on MedFx, but has several improvements. It looks good from what I have seen.

If you are interested, it may be worth calling AC and find out a time frame. My understanding is that they want to start with smaller practices first to get training system running smoothly.

It is front and center on AC homepage. http://amazingcharts.com/pm/medical-practice-management-software/sign-up/

"Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find!" :-)

Does anyone really think that $249/month/provider is a reasonable price??
I get Office Ally for free. Not fully integrated but...

I believe that price is above the first-year cost of AC for a single provider (which includes Tech Support for that year).

The problem is really that everyone wants to suck an annuity stream out of the limited number of $$s in a physician's pocket and becomes a big cause of the supposedly looming shortage of PCPs. well, who really wants to go to school for all those demanding years, and then be told to work in a demanding environment with zero tolerance for errors and you either take a vow of poverty or contract to be compensated on a piece-work basis. Oh, and all risk is yours personally, not the employer's which is demanding that you see that patient in only 5 minutes.

I would tell my children to go into something else.

How about 8 without PM module ?

I am very disappointed in the announcement. I saw it on Facebook earlier this week. We simply cannot afford this. We are already struggling to stay in business. I guess I'm crazy to keep trying. I have sent them a message but have not heard back. I said that being very rural makes a cloud solution not very practical and that we cannot afford $249/ mo. I have started looking elsewhere. It appears that AC has direct link with multiple practice management solutions. Does anyone have any experience with TotalMD?
Nancy

Part of the issue is I don't think the price structuring is fair. If you are solo, it is $3,000 annually, but two doctors and three FNPs, and it is $15,000. Something where the more providers, the less the cost per provider, such as:

One to two providers: $3,000 per
Three to five providers: $2,500 per
Six to ten providers: $2,000 per

or just make it per practice so that eventually, it is $7,500 per practice per year regardless of the number of providers. I didn't spend much time on the figures.

or even $2,000 for one provider
$3,500 for two providers
$5,000 for three to five providers
$7,500 for six or more providers

But, the way it is now, more doctors just makes it unaffordable.

One doctor is unaffordable. I would say the concept is dead in the water.

Yep. One doctor is unaffordable.

Koby,

As John Squire said at ACUC and the press release states PM is an add-on module to AC. It's optional.

John

I agree one doctor is unaffordable.

And, my post was confusing. I just wonder if it should just be one price per practice.

I currently use Medisoft with Gateway for electronic billing. Over the last four years we have spent an average of $75 per month for Medisoft support on a per incident basis. Gateway costs us $100 per month. As I understand it the AC-PM has more features than Medisoft but that's something I want to investigate further. As a solo doc $249/m is not much different from what I'm spending now. So at least for me, v8 with PM is worth exploring. I'm actually more concerned about whether the software is solid and whether support will be good than I am about the cost.

I have to second John's comment above. I signed up with MedFx with the understanding that it would roll into AC when the time came. The price is the same.

Most clearinghouse fees are anything from $50-100/month and then there are additional fees for software maintenance. This is WAY less than 5-9% most billing systems charge, but then again, you are doing the work.

Yes, I would have liked something half this price, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

V8 does not have to use the PM module. That will be optional.

Great discussion going on here! I am glad that you are all aware of the new AC Practice Management solution. As stated above, you can get V8 as just a normal upgrade, without PM. PM is an add on module. If you do decide to implement AC Practice Management you will receive a dedicated Implementation Specialist to help get your practice up and running smoothly.

Many comparable PM solutions in the marketplace cost more than the $249 per month per provider that AC is charging. AC is committed to continuing to offer affordable solutions to our clients. Many integrated PM solutions in the market cost between $300 to $500 per month per provider!

If you want to learn more about AC Practice Management, I encourage you to visit our website, which gives more detail about the features and functions: Amazing Charts Practice Management

Just hope V8 is better (faster interface, better eRx, etc) for a non-MU doc like me.
If PM could be truly automatically bidirectional ie charges scrubbed and sent to clearinghouse, downloaded patient statements directly populate into the patient billing record, secondary billing statements automatically generated would consider.

If it works like MedFx, which it is based upon, and I have every reason to believe it will, it will be semi-birectional. Charges go through, you have to scrub and they go to clearing house.

Reports come back and you can rebill from there. I believe patient balances come back (have not implemented that yet) but cannot verify the last point.

One thing that is NOT bidirectional is the scheduler which will go from MedFx to AC but not the other way around. The scheduler in MedFx is MUCH more robust than AC, however.

Just showing my programming ignorance but you'd think it should be as easy as, you finish a note, create the charge push send and the computer does the rest, money put into bank. Hey I can dream on a Friday

I would be nervous about its not having any bugs. You can't afford no cash flow for a week. Given the issues AC can have, what if the management system went down. We certainly get Medware for a very low cost.

koby, you have to have the right codes, send out bills, scrub claims that don't go through, insure that every claim is paid. Takes a lot more work than that. Else I am paying my biller 20 hours a week to do nothing.

The work is it takes a lot of tedious programming and then decision trees to deal with the crap/errors ex. you pick a dx code is it an approved code if not how corrected, then you pick a charge does the dx code support the charge if not how corrected ? with an automatic loop giving suggested corrections for user to pick from or error message requiring human input/correction.
With A.I. don't you think your note could be evaluated as it is being written and suggested dx and charge codes be suggested that are pre-scrubbed so you just click on the most appropriate send it, and then the money goes right into your bank.
By the way I am paying a billing company 8% of collections to do this for me now.

Amazing Charts Practice Management is fully integrated with out EHR. AC is committed to providing affordable solutions to our provider. The pricing of $249.00 per billing provider is comparable to our competitors. Once thing to consider when considering ACPM and reviewing the price keep in mind that it does include unlimited electronic transaction with the clearing house. This means that you have unlimited eligibility, claims, and electronic remittances as well as no additional fees for implementation, data migration of your past system, and no additional support cost for PM.

If you want to learn more about AC Practice Management, I encourage you to visit our website, which gives more detail about the features and functions: Amazing Charts Practice Management

Laurie
Product Manager, Amazing Charts Practice Management

The price is reasonable IF it works smoothly and is bug free. My concern: 1st year of complex software products are rarely smooth and bug free. Therefore the cost is often lower to compensate. Nothing quite compensates for wasted time and frustration.

We'll be watching closely and kudos to the early adopters. Please post often. Early adopters have leverge with AC to make things right by posting and establishing the product reputation. AC shoud remember how they succeeded - keep it smiple and deliver good value.

With icd-10 and more # of diagnosis codes per claim, integrated PM has more potential advantages. Unified schedule and automatic batch eligibility checking would be great. I imagine running a morning report and knowing which patients insurance status, copay and deductable.

That doesn't trump basic function and freedom from frustration. The good thing about montly rate is we can leave and buy a PM system, use another cloud system if dissatisfied.

At least there's no Meaningless Use criteria for PM (yet). Well maybe icd 11 counts. So once they get it right it should stay that way (maybe?)

Larry
Solo IM

What Larry said. Billing software HAS to be bug free.

It really isn't a new product. MedFx has been around a while and a number of people have used it for some time. Yes, AC has made some changes to the program, but the bulk of the program appears to be very much like MedFx. Can there be bugs? Perhaps, but not likely to be significant since it is a tested product. It will remain to be seen how well it works.

BTW, it is $50 less than MedFx.

Wendell, can you expound on that? I will never understand AC. I am on the CAB with you. There have been two or three comments by the PM upper management team, both dealing strictly with cost. And, here I had no idea that this was an actual application that AC is buying/leasing/using in some capacity.

Here I am thinking it was built from scratch by AC, and using it would be like using an alpha program.

What is another example of a product made by a company that was then used by another company in a partnership? Or does that make sense.

I should admit I have not read much on it on the website.

My understanding is that it is MedFx software which is licensed by AC to be integrated into AC for those that want it. I admit that I currently pay about 125-150 per month for use of Medisoft but I have to buy expensive upgrades almost every year so it is probably a wash. People think it is very expensive but unfortunately most clearing houses charge a high monthly fee and it is difficult to compare a PM program to free services such as Office Ally as they are different business models. If you like what you use then don't change but 249 per month is unfortunately not a bad price.

I have office ally. Excellent! Zero cost.

If Office Ally works for you then great - Not sure if it has all the same features - for some the single entry of billing information and seamless sending of bills, eligibility checking and the ability to look up balances, etc within AC will be worth it.

Bert, as Steven said and you alluded, AC bought or rented MedFx's software. I switched to MedFx because I needed a new PM and with the understanding that AC was going in that direction.

What I have seen of AC's version is that they are very much the same program with a few tweaks to make it smoother.

MedFx is not the most intuitive program, but it is very comprehensive in it's services. With it being more tightly integrated, it will be better than now. Currently it does upload billing files. The scheduler on AC can be used but does not upload to the cloud. The cloud schedule will download to AC. Once you get used to it, it's not hard to use.

Just like Medisoft, it has some quirks, but you do not have to pay for upgrades.

At one time I tried office ally, but it was not connecting to IL Medicaid correctly and each blamed the other and nothing was being transmitted. Ultimately I needed another solution.

I do understand it works well for many people, just didn't work for me.

I think that one thing that is missing in this discussion may be a deal breaker for some. For years, users have argued the validity of a separate license for a PA working 1/2 day per week. AC has always stayed by the stance of charging for a second license based on they are billable, and there is no way of really knowing if they are working one day or three.

But, now would that not come up again? I mean to have a full time MD/DO provider being charged $249 per month on top of paying an additional $249 per month for a FNP who works five hours per week.

Also, while using the sales rule of 9's (just made that rule up) using the psychological advantage of pricing at $19.99 rather than $20.00, I am not sure that psychology is needed for savvy users who understand that 249 basically = 250. The same thing is used in annual support.

Why not just use $250 monthly?

Glad to see the great conversation. I thought I would add some information relating to the Amazing Charts Practice Management and Medfx relationship. Amazing Charts purchased the source code for the Medfx practice management system. We have taken that code and enhanced it in may ways such as the full integration of the EHR and PM. AC will continue to make modification and enhancements to the product to provide a great integrated Practice Management System.

Welcome Laurie

Laurie is the Product Manager at Amazing Charts for the PM. I mention that so you realize she can speak with some authority on the subject. Having met her at the Chicago ACUC, I can say she is well versed in the Amazing Charts PM system

Wendell,

I second what you say about Laurie, great resource and extremely knowledgeable!!!
She had a great presentation at the ACUC in Chicago.

So what are the details on integration? Sell us.

How about automatic eligibilty checking form the AC schedule?
Automatic claim generation from superbill with diagnoses?
Send bills to patients via updox portal instead of snail mail would save a fortune in stamps.
See balances and co pays on schedule or check in screen.
What other integrations are there?

It would be beneficial if Laurie and Courtney identified themselves as working for AC and their roles were in their signature. They could also use the same type of display names as other AC support, i.e. Courtney@AC and Laurie@AC.

Thank you for the kind comments and I will make sure I include my signature and title in my comments. I will also look into changing my name display. I thought I would respond to a few of the conversations that I have seen above.

We have release the integrated Practice Management system as of November 3, 2014. We are currently working with our Early Adopters. Any provider that would like to transition to Amazing Charts Practice Management (ACPM) can do so. We will be happy to get you started in the implementation process. Our implementation process takes on average 8 weeks. This is unlike the implementation process for an EHR. The implementation of a Practice Management system is handled differently due to the migration of data from your current system as well as clearing house enrollment, training, and testing. We will assign a designated Implementation Specialist to assist with your transition.

Just to answer a few of the questions above
How about automatic eligibility checking form the AC schedule?
LAH- Electronic eligibility can be run real-time or it can be scheduled and run at a given time of the day or evening
Automatic claim generation from superbill with diagnoses?
LAH - When a provider signs off on a chart in AC and elects the CPT and diagnosis codes they are automatically sent to Practice Management in almost real-time. At the point you are ready to select and generate claims the new services will be available for billing.
Send bills to patients via updox portal instead of snail mail would save a fortune in stamps.
LAH - We will be making enhancements to the product in the future to provide options for patient statements
See balances and co pays on schedule or check in screen.
LAH - This is a great recommendation and I can see why it would be beneficial. I will take this recommendation back and see what I can do about adding it into a future release.
What other integrations are there?
LAH - Somem of the other areas of importance that are integrated include patient demographic, insurance, account information, and schedule. I am also exploring other areas for the future that would be beneficial to integrate as well.

I really appreciate all of the great comments and I encourage you to send me any additional question, recommendations, or feedback. We want ACPM to be a great product for our providers and in doing so need to understand your needs and future wants for the products that will benefits you and your staff.

Thank you,
Laurie Hart, Product Manager Amazing Charts Practice Managemen
lhart@amazingcharts.com