Home Forums Discussions Feedback and Recommendations Entering CPT and ICD9 codes

I really like the fact the name of the cpt code comes up when you move your cursor over it. I do have some other wishes about the superbill, icd9s, and cpts.

We do several clia waived tests in our office. To allow my nurse to enter all the cpts we do a manual superbill.

Wish list:
I wish that you could go to the superbill from the note, enter charges, save them and go back to the note without finalizing the note
I would love the manual page (and th regular billing page to be more flexible.
I would like to directly enter cpt code
I would like to be able to edit the cpt codes on either page
I would like the database to consistently remember the prices I put it for each cpt.
I would like to be able to directly entering the appropriate icd9 code for the cpts.

If there are some work arounds, please let me know. Thanks.

Sometime ago I woke up with the idea of a "code engine," which would allow people to select a group of frequently used codes, and add to that list. I also thougt about having them create "code sets." for example in cardiology there are certain codes that are more often than not used as a group.

The code engine would be locally installed, but the codes would be downloaded from the web..:)

Improving the ICD9 diagnostic code entry has always been at the top of my wish list for an enhancement.

I think this is going to be one of my talks at the User Conference (one of my topics got bumped).

I think I'm going to talk about the traffic jams in Amazing Charts -- the places where lightning documentation drops to a snail's pace.

The ICD-9 Search is #1.

Brian,
Excellent idea. May I please give you some food for thought as well as I hope Jon and his team see these and think about them. As we see it here at Village Medical, so many of the things that happen in AC are forced to go thru the doctor herself, and she becomes the main bottleneck as we staff wait for her to send us the Rx's, letters and all the rest.

Like in a paper office what we need is a way for the staff create the basic template of the letter, the refill or what have you, so as long as the doc is OK with it, then all she has to do, is sign her name at the bottom. Or in a real paper enviornment she would send it back with corrections on it for the typist, were as in AC allowing her to simply change a few words or templates here and there because it has not be "saved" yet until the doc signs off on it, it might be able to work that way.

So let's say a patient calls looking for a refill, the MA takes the message and creates the basic Rx in AC, So then the doc gets this prepared Rx along with a message in her in box, she likes it checks off on it, she wants to change the dose, the quantity or the number of refills she can do that too. If she cares to she can flush the whole idea, and send a relpy to the correct staff member (perhaps not the one who sent it either, choice would be nice here too, via drop down to forward or reply I guess) that she wants the patient to come in for a visit first, or a note with orders to stop taking it, here is an Rx for something else. I think you can see where I am going here.

AC requires the doc herself to start and create almost all the paperwork herself that must have her name or signature on it, as opposed to allowing the staff to take some of the initial creation of this work off her hands to assist her, so she can spend more time, being the doctor. This was a suggestion I put up a long time ago, heard one or two things that it was going to be looked into and then it just never seemed to go anywhere. I think even Jon thought is was worth looking at and trying to do something with at one point.

But to sum it up in a nutshell, we still see our doctore herself as one of the largest bottlenecks here at our office. Anything that can be done that would allow us staff members to assist her with all of this would be very helpful and apperciated.... Including getting rid of the midplaced entery of notes and orders when one has a different chart open when one tries to simply handle a quick clerical chore. I think it is one of the things that has Nancy not attending to some of these "knock 'em out now and be done with them" type items too. Thanks much...

Paul

Paul that is an important insight. I like the way you outlined the problem and possible solutions. there might be some hybrid workarounds we can use for the short term. Maybe some paper. Maybe a word document forwarded that can be cut and paste. I am sitting here, knowing I will be here all day tomorrow as we had some server issues, (fancy new one, almost works right!) and I am way behind this week. 215 inbox a new personal best!

DocM,
Like I said I ran this by Jon a long time ago. Like not too long after we got hooked in and started haunting this place. I used to really like being a beta and helping to design this great little product that we use some much each and every day.

Anyway, what Jon and I sort of came to understand was that while logged in as myself, a support staff person not a provider, but even other providers should be able to send these things back and forth. The idea was to enable the system to allow all users to create but not sign off on things, when combined with a new ablity to then forward what one creates sort of via the present inter-office email system, preferably with notes attached, or perhaps like real emails the email is what you see first but one can attach all sorts of things like documents or pics and other files, send these things back and forth around the office. When used in the inter-office email function we also have the drop downs with every staff user in the system so docs can even send back and forth among themselves too. But as the Rx ends up in provider 1's box, now she can sign off on it and make it an Rx with her name on it, and saved in the proper part of AC and in the chart. Better still, it is still an email with an attachment right, so now that provider can send it back on to any staff person of their choice.

So Nancy likes and signs off on a letter that I created that should have her name on it instead of mine, she can reply it back to me, so I can then print it, fax it, or address and stamp an envelope to get it out the door. Let me do the dirty work that I can do, she shouldn't be handling these kinds of tasks, that is what staff is for. I can't see patients and generate revenue, only she can do that, but I can certainly fax things, address and stamp envelopes and all this other stuff.

I personally set up my own account in AC as a full provider because I wanted to be able to mess with stuff in our false patients and others so I could take good care of AC properly, can't fix what I can't see or play with. But at the same time if by accident I created something in a patients chart, I wanted it to be seen as a mistake by the practice manager and not a real note, Rx or what have you by the doc. At some point creating full access accounts that can do almost anything but are seen as non-medical staff like myself, tech support, practice manager would make a lot of sense. But I added a title in the set-up so if I was to create an Rx by accident it does actually print with my name and the title below says, Practice Manager, so no DEA agent should ever get upset with it. It is obviously a false Rx and no Pharmacist in the right mind should even fill it.

Was fun thought, I sent a test fax to one of our local chain supermarket pharmacy, where I know some of the staff and I shop myself. I sent them an Rx for Viagara for our false patient James Bond. I can't remember if I sent it logged in as Nancy or not so her numbers would show, but they were almost fooled for a few moments. Then I called them and ask to speak with one of the ladies I know to ask her how it looked and was it acceptable to them. She and her staff got a real hoot out of it, they were passing it around laugh at the thought of James Bond needing such a thing, "Is this for real, is this really the guys name??" Anyway gotta run, have a great night y'all.

Paul

Love the idea of the code engine. I use Chris Endres a lot. Has been a lifesaver.