Support
Home > Support > Upgrade Information > VersaForm Change Log

VersaForm Change Log

Changes in Releases 3.141

An error was fixed that prevented lab entry from the keyboard. Changing scheduled appointment times is again permitted.

Changes in Releases 3.140

New Features

Recurring Appointments

You will now be able to make recurring appointments. VersaForm will walk you through the process of defining the criteria, choosing the dates and making the appointments.

New Report

The new Unpaid Charges report shows you the status of unpaid charges based on the patients' current insurances. The report groups charges as:

  • 1 - There is no primary insurance
  • 2 - Primary insurance is not queued
  • 3 - Primary insurance is queued
  • 4 - Primary insurance is SENT
  • 5a - Primary insurance is completed
  • 5b - Secondary insurance is not queued
  • 5c - Secondary insurance is queued
  • 5d - Secondary insurance is SENT
  • 5e - Secondary insurance is completed
  • 6 - Other (the insurance is pended or, when you look at the Payment, Adjustment and Insurance Details window, there is no Status listed.)

New Versions

  • We now have a Trial Version of VersaForm that includes a pre-populated database. It can easily be converted to a non-trial database.
  • We now have a Student Version of VersaForm.

Schedule and Encounter Description Editing

It is now easy to add, remove and edit Encounter Descriptions. (This was added in version 3.139 but was not documented.)

VF Phone Home

You can now have VersaForm automatically send copies of error messages to VersaForm Tech Support.

Changes

Claims

  • Some payers do not want the Federal Tax ID sent with facility information in electronic claims. We removed the warning message that appeared about a facility missing its EIN when creating an electronic claim. The warning was also removed from the Facility Setup. This is so you can simply leave the EIN out when payers don't want it.
  • In electronic claims, we have corrected the abbreviations for drug unit of measure in Loop 2410.
  • On the CMS1500 claim form, we changed the way Block 19 is picked up from the Miscellaneous Tab. 40 characters now go onto each line of Block 19, and the same for print-to-file 1500s. If you use print-to-file and need Block 19, let your claims processor know about this change.

General

  • VersaForm is now deleting many of the temporary files it needs to generate.
  • In the Vitals display, the Vitals will always be in order, even when some are blank.
  • In Letters, patient labels have a larger left margin and the name on the label is printed in 9 point type as "First Middle Last" instead of "Last, First Middle".

Labs

  • VersaForm now accepts lab data from 9 different labs, including Cytocheck.
  • We added a Print button to the Lab Panel Patient Comments, Lab Panel Patient Instructions and Lab Test Patient Comments windows.
  • All data in the results comments is now shown in the Data Panel for ... window and in printouts.
  • Lab processing now ignores parentheses surrounding the reference range. If VersaForm cannot figure out how to translate the reference range (it is supposed to be 'number - number') then the low_normal and high_normal fields will be null.

Ledger

  • Adjustments, transfers, refunds, etc. are now all included in the history of a credit on the ledger. You get to this Credit for ... window by right clicking on a credit line.
  • During the process of transferring credits:
    • If you cancel at any time after choosing whom to transfer to, VersaForm will return the credit to the original chart.
    • The ledger being transferred TO will refresh automatically if it is open.
  • In the Adjustment for ... window, VersaForm no longer assumes that the adjustment is an insurance adjustment.
  • An EOB with no credits at all is now included in multi-patient payments.
  • The handling of Multi-Patient EOB credits and deposit slips has changed. When a Multi-Patient EOB is started:
    • If no credits are assigned to patients, the credit appears on the deposit slip.
    • If all or part of the credit is assigned to patients, it appears on the deposit slip.
    • If the credit is assigned to patients but not fully applied to payments, it appears on the deposit slip.
    • If the credit is transferred to a different patient, the full amount of the Multi-Patient EOB credit is on the deposit slip PLUS the transferred amount is there as well.
  • VersaForm now warns the user against reversing a credit that came from a Multi-Patient EOB.
  • VersaForm now prevents reversing a credit unless all of the payments have been reversed.

Notes

  • In the header of a Note, VersaForm now displays dates in short form, m/d/yy, so the entire date is visible.
  • The select_dropdown_values window is larger.
  • Windows for choosing dropdowns and templates are now resizable.
  • VersaForm now allows paragraph format of dropdown choices without commas separating chosen values.
  • VersaForm now allows duplicate values in a dropdown.
  • Current vitals are correctly formatted.
  • After a dropdown, if a comma appears after a period, colon, or semicolon, it is removed.

Reports

In the Deposit Slip, the payments are again correctly grouped by type.

Scheduler

  • There are now blanks around the "/" between Comments and Description to make it easier to read.
  • The Scheduler can now correctly display 5-digit patient ID numbers.
  • A bi-monthly Event problem was fixed.
  • You can force appointments on Holidays.
  • The free time search now tests for Holidays.
  • Holidays are grayed out in the Schedule window.
  • All schedule times may be entered by typing them in directly. The minutes must be divisible by 5.
  • The Visit Type is now included in the schedule print out from the Print button in the Schedule window.
  • The Appointment List report now shows the Resource and allows sorting on it.
  • An overbooking problem was fixed. (It used to use the Schedule Increment rather than the appointment Duration.)
  • We added a Today button to the Schedule window to put the calendar back to today and refresh today's data.
  • We added a Refresh button to the Schedule window that refreshes data for the currently selected date.

Setup

  • Submitter Setup: removed the unused Import button.
  • When a facility is being entered, we don't check for the EIN, but we do check for the NPI.
  • We check for NPIs when entering Providers, Referrings and Submitters as well.

Changes in Releases 3.139

New Features

New Reports

  • Patient Future Appointments.
  • Patient Previous Names.
  • Patient Previous Addresses.

Labs

  • Lab panels can now have instructions for the patient that can be printed.
  • Lab panels can now have a prompt that shows up for the operator. You can use this to remind the operator to check for certain patient problems, etc.
  • Labs (a specific lab panel for one patient on a single date) can now include comments from the patient.
  • Labs (a specific lab panel for one patient on a single date) can now have personalized patient instructions.
  • Lab tests (a specific test for a specific lab panel for one patient on a single date) can now have test comments.
  • If lab data is modified, we now show the user who made modification.
  • Show and allow update of lab test's LOINC code.

Demographics

  • All patient prior addresses and prior names are now kept.
  • A field has been added for the patient's spouse's cell phone.
  • We have added specific address records for the patient's Father and the patient's Mother.

Changes

Security

  • A High Security Level was added.
  • A new type of User, the Security Administrator, was added.
  • For the most part, if the Security Administrator chooses Standard Security, VersaForm works as before.
  • Passwords are now encrypted using an advanced hashing algorithm.
  • If you forget your password, a System Administrator must reset your account by assigning you a new password.
  • The login screen now contains options for remembering the User and Password. Use of this feature is controlled by a Security Administrator. Multi-Doc systems do not get this feature.
  • Be aware that, if you choose High Security, it is possible to loose access to your database such that only VersaForm tech support can regain access and only over an Internet connection.

See "Security" below for more about the new Security Level.

General

A warning message is shown if a User is running with a Windows logon that does not permit local file changes.

835s

  • Fixed a problem where out-of-balance files ended up on the Payments and Credits report instead of the Exception report. This problem occurs sometimes on secondary insurance payments where the 835 contains the amount of the charge instead of the amount of the payment.
  • Changed 835 insert into adjustments table to set service date to today instead of the transaction date.
  • Updated the 835 codes.
  • The 835 Reconciliation report now shows provider adjustments (adjustments charged to the provider like late filing penalties). Because these adjustments are not linked to a claim, they show only on the reconciliation report.
  • 835 file processing changes
  • If you are not connected to the proper database, VersaForm does not move the file to the error directory and does not put anything in the electronic claim tables.
  • VersaForm now ignores the 835 BPR14 missing segment error.

Labs

  • Labs processing now ignores parentheses surrounding the reference range. If the code can not figure out how to translate the reference range (expecting 'number - number') then the low_normal and high_normal fields will be null.
  • Round trip labs are ready for first installation.
  • VersaForm now allows users to change lab_panels: panel_name, active, prompt and patient_instructions.
  • Labs for a patient can now be filtered and displayed by order date, due date, reviewed date, panels, tests, facilities, test state, abnormal tests, and electronic labs.

Reports

  • Fixed a problem that occurred when the user selected a report with no data.
  • Fixed the Appointment List report to check for cancellations so they don't appear.
  • Changed the audit report to display longer descriptions.

Scheduler

Fixed a problem that prevented scheduling an appointment without selecting a patient.

Appointment Reminders

  • If the schedule time is changed and the patient already has a reminder call for that day, do not add a reminder call.
  • If an appointment to be deleted has an appointment reminder and there is another appointment for this patient on this day then, after deleting, add an appointment reminder for the other appointment. If more than one appointment is left for the same day call about the first one only.

Security

  • A new level of security was added. The VersaForm system may now be either "Standard" or "High" security.
  • Passwords are now encrypted and multiple passwords are kept to be able to enforce re-use rules.
  • Only the User who enters a password can know what that password is.
  • The login screen was changed to allow passwords to be entered in mixed case.
  • Password changes now show in the Audit report.
  • Changed the Access Control Tab to allow entry and update of the new security parameters.
  • Added a menu item, Change My Password, under Utilities.
  • DBA Authority is now called System Administrator Authority.
  • The first user added to a new install is now given both Security Administrator and System Administrator authorities.

User Authorities

  • There are now two special authorities that can be granted to a User.
  • You cannot grant a User Authority to another User unless you already have the authority being granted.
  • The User Authorities are:
    • System Administrator
      • A System Administrator is allowed to view and change critical system settings such as setting the options for VersaForm backups.
      • In addition, a System Administrator is granted all permissions (see the Controlling What Users can See and Modify section below) for viewing and changing all patient and practice data.
    • Security Administrator
      • A Security Administrator is allowed to view and change system settings relating to logins, passwords, and system security levels. Only a Security Administrator is allowed to change another User's password.
      • A Security Administrator is not automatically granted all user permissions.
      • The same User can be both a System Administrator and a Security Administrator. The built-in User DBA is both a System and Security administrator and these authorities cannot be removed from this User.

System Security Levels

The Security level is selected in the Access Control window. The two levels of System Security are:

  • Standard
    1. The password rules have no effect and passwords may be of any length, contain any characters, etc.
    2. Passwords are not case-sensitive.
    3. Reports are not restricted based on Administrator authorities.
    4. A System Administrator can prevent users from using the Remember my User Name and Password for the login screen.
    5. If a User login fails, the system will provide specific information about what caused the failure, such as bad User name or incorrect Password.
    6. Three login attempts are permitted using an incorrect password and then the system will exit but the User is not suspended and can try again by restarting VersaForm.

    • When the system is set to Standard security:

  • High
    1. Only a Security Administrator can:
      • Use the Access Control and Users Tabs in the Setup window.
      • Make a User inactive.
      • Grant Security Administrator authority to another User.
      • Use the Audit and the Security User List reports.
      • Change the password rules.
      • Allow users to use the Remember my User Name and Password for the login screen.
    2. The password rules become effective.
    3. Passwords are case-sensitive.
    4. You may be required to use a complex password. A complex password contains at least one upper and one lower case letter, one number and one special character.
    5. Consecutive attempts to login using the wrong password will cause a User to be suspended. The number of attempts is set by a Security Administrator.
    6. A suspended User can only be reset by a Security Administrator by assigning a new password to the User.
    7. You may be prevented from reusing passwords.
    8. The system will not provide information on the cause of login failures.

    • When the system is set to high security:

Controlling User Login

  • Every VersaForm User must have a password. Passwords are kept in the VersaForm database and are encrypted using an advanced hashing algorithm. Only the User who enters a password can know what the password is. If you forget your password, a System Administrator must reset your account by assigning you a new password.
  • Using the Access Control Tab, a Security Administrator can set the password rules for your system including:
    1. Permitting or disallowing use of the Remember my user name and password for the login screen.
    2. Setting the System to the Standard or High Security Level.
    3. Setting the minimum length of a password.
    4. Forcing all users to change passwords on a periodic basis.
    5. Making passwords case-sensitive.
    6. Requiring you to use a complex password. A complex password contains at least one upper and lower case letter, a number and a special character.
    7. Preventing you from reusing passwords.
    8. Setting the maximum number of login failures caused by supplying an incorrect password to allow before suspending a User.
  • The Change Password dialog will show you the current requirements when you are entering a password.
  • The login screen contains options for remembering the User name and Password. Use of this feature is controlled by a Security Administrator. Multi-Doc systems do not get this feature.

Med Interactions and ERx

Patient handouts now available in 19 languages

Changes in Release 3.138

An error that prevented schedules from printing has been fixed. This occurred only in the earliest 3.137 versions; systems downloaded on or after 10/10 do not have the error.

An error in reading automatically downloaded lab results has been fixed.

Changes in Releases 3.136 and 3.137

New Features

Free Trials

We have added 30 day free trials of the ledger, for those who are just using the electronic medical records part of VersaForm, and of electronic remittance advice processing, for those who are already doing their billing with VersaForm.

We have also added a free trial of the Scheduler that has no time limit, but does limit the functionality.

Ledger 30 Day Free Trial

The free trial will let you experiment with the ledger. One of the best features is, if you enter a charge from the Encounter tab, or from within a Note, the charge will automatically appear on the ledger, ready to be billed to insurance.

The first time you use a free ledger function you will see a message explaining that you can try the ledger free for 30 days. When the number of days left is getting low, you will be reminded that the free trial is running out. Once the Ledger Free Trial has expired, no more ledger functions can be used until you buy the feature and install the new key.

Note:

  1. The ledger Print button, Print This Ledger will still work after the trial period has expired.
  2. Creating or printing claims are not part of the 30 day free trial period. The menu items for printing claims are disabled.

ERA Processing 30 Day Free Trial

If you request Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) from your payer or clearinghouse, you can automatically post claims to your patient ledgers. It can save you much of the time you now spend posting EOBs, and make it easier, too. Because it may take some time to get this started, your 30 free days won't start until you begin using the feature. When the number of days left gets low, you will be reminded that the free trial is running out.

Scheduler Free Trial

Up to two appointments per day are allowed, with no time limit. You can set up as many resources to be scheduled as you need--they can be people, rooms, machines, or whatever. However, the Find a Time , Search and Print buttons are disabled during the trial.

Labs Test Low/High by Age

You are now able to enter low and high values for labs based on age.

If a lab test does not have low/high value(s) by age, or the patient age is unknown, or the patient's current age is not covered by the values in the Low/High table, VersaForm will use the low and high values from the Datum/Test Setup window.

Statement Report

Statements Printed has been added to the reports.

Vista

VersaForm may be installed in Windows Vista.

Changes

Scheduler and Patient Calls

  • Resource event start and stop times show in the weekly schedule.
  • Patient Calls can be made to the home, work or cell phone numbers.
  • VersaForm logs the message results from Patient Calls.
  • If you choose to, VersaForm can now cancel appointments that should be cancelled as a result of a Patient Call. The Schedule Reconciliation Report will show that the patient call resulted in the automatic deletion of the appointment.
  • You can now specify whether Patient Calls default to Yes or No.

Desktop

  • The Completed and Read columns can now be set from the list in Messages/Reminders.
  • Unsigned Encounters can be signed, Images can be marked as reviewed, and Notes can now marked as signed and/or reviewed from the Physician's Dashboard.

Setup

  • There is now a vertical scroll bar if you have more providers than will show on one screen.
  • VersaForm will not allow more than your maximum number of active providers.
  • You can select only active facilities.
  • There is an Active column displayed in Insurance Plans.
  • You can copy the address from one insurance plan to another.

Ledger

  • You can now reverse transactions with reversed payments and adjustments, and reverse payments that have previously been reversed.
  • The ditto marks now look back to the last charge so intervening payments do not interfere with their use.
  • VersaForm now bases the time calculation for the Use Previous popup on the date entered, not the service date.
  • Explosions now recognize Needs CLIA in the component CPT® codes.
  • Fixed a problem with the previous charge's amount being repeated when the user declines to enter the charge amount on a CPT® code that does not have an associated charge amount.
  • Takes Qty into account when calculating the Copay Amt, if it is a percentage.
  • You can select only active facilities for the Service Facility on the Problem/Facility Tab of the charge.
  • The Hospital Admit and Hospital Discharge dates have been moved to the Problem/Facility Tab of the charge.
  • Removed the Emergency checkbox--it was duplicated by the Emergency Related checkbox above it in the Problem/Facility Tab of the charge.
  • If you don't enter a diagnosis code on a charge, and there is one on the previous line, it will be included in the diagnosis code warning message, and you can just click to choose it.

Statements and Superbills

  • VersaForm is becoming more proactive in avoiding running into the database size limit for those using the free MSDE SQL server. As the 2 GB size limit approaches VersaForm will remove recent statement images and eventually will stop archiving statement images at all.
  • If the statement doesn't show charges over a certain age, print a balance forward line when it is needed to make the statement balance.
  • The charges on Superbills are now sorted by service date, in ascending order.

Claims

  • Added printing of item 22, Medicaid Resubmission Code and the original reference number.
  • Print as a job, so the program won't ask for the printer on each claim.
  • UB04 format changes, and print the doctor's name, NPIs and Qualifiers for attending and referring providers.
  • Prevent force-to-paper causing other patients' electronic claims going to paper.
  • VersaForm is becoming more proactive in avoiding running into the database size limit for those using the free MSDE SQL server. As the 2 GB size limit approaches VersaForm will remove recent images for completed claims and eventually will stop archiving claim images at all.
  • If a facility's NPI is required but missing, emit the facility in electronic claims anyway, because some nursing facilities have no NPI.

Payments and 835s

  • Fixed the "penny error" which was caused by unrounded results.
  • When processing 835s in a Multi-Doc situation, VersaForm no longer automatically switches to the proper database. VersaForm will tell you to log into the proper database before processing the file.
  • It is no longer necessary to set up an Electronic Claims Processor just for 835s.
  • VersaForm prevents you from making an error by specifying an existing file for the log file and/or the error file for 835 processing.
  • The 835 payments and exceptions report has been modified to show claim adjustments and payments adjustments more fully. There is only room to show a maximum of three claim adjustments in the report. So, if there are more than three claim adjustments, a footnote tells the total number of adjustments and total amount for those adjustments.
  • All payment adjustments will be shown.

EMR

  • Permit saving or overwriting a template from the Notes window. Thus you don't have to go to Setup to modify a template.
  • Fixed a problem with searching notes when using an OLE-DB database connection, as with SQL Server 2005..
  • Now limits scheduled drugs to classcode 4 or 5.
  • You can now fax prescriptions for scheduled drugs.

Electronic Labs

  • Lab Panel IDs are truncated to the first 15 characters and Lab Panel Names are truncated to 30 characters.
  • Lab results need to be put into an open encounter. Instead of simply using the first open encounter, VersaForm asks the user which open encounter, if any, should receive the lab results and what to do if there are no open encounters.

Registration

  • Added Birthplace to the Demographics Tab.
  • Fixed the age calculation error when the patient's Date Of Birth was a leap day.
  • Do not default the signature fields in the Billing Info Tab.
  • In the Insurance Tab, if the Subscriber is not the patient, you can now click on the Copy Address from Patient button to fill in the Subscriber Address.

General

  • In order to add new features, VersaForm has an expanded Program ID and Program Key. Your old ID and Key will continue to work but any keys you receive in the future will be in the new format.
  • Added a Register button for unregistered, Basic Edition users.
  • Add NPI to provider information acquired during the first login.
  • Set the default license value to 20 active workstations.
  • Add an active station check, to check the number of active workstations.

Reports

  • Made the totals in the Aged Accounts Receivable as of a date and Aged A/R by Insurance Plan large enough to hold any expected value.
  • Improved the A/R "as of" reports so they give the same results as the production reports. For instance, the A/R report as of 1/1/2006 will give the same totals as the production report from 1/1/1900 to 1/1/2006.
  • Added a column to show the carrier number in Claims not Returned.

Changes in Release 3.135

  • A problem that prevented schedules printing was fixed.

Changes in Release 3.134

New Features

Windows Vista

  • VersaForm may be installed in Windows Vista as a client (but not as a single-user system or as a server). Consult Technical Support before installing. Full release for Vista will be announced.
  • Vista clients may access either SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2000 databases.

SQL Server 2005:

  • New VersaForm systems may now be installed using SQL Server 2005. This includes both standard and "multi-doc" systems.

Changes

Claims

  • You can print the UB04 claim form instead of the UB92, with dates in Setup / Preferences controlling which of the two is used.

  • The National Plan Id was added to the Insurance Plan Setup

  • On the CMS1500 08/05, we print a space between qualifier and number in 33b, but only for medicare.

  • On the CMS1500 08/05, we always print the rendering physician ID in item 24j when the insurance is medicare--whether or not it is a group practice--as per the instructions.

  • Numerous changes were made in the print-to-file format of the CMS1500 form.

Scheduler and schedule related items:

  • You can now schedule an appointment at the same time as a cancelled appointment.

  • Added 45 and 20 minute schedule increments.

  • The appointment edit window shows the user who created the appointment in

  • When making a schedule entry, the window displays previous no-shows for selected patient.

  • The schedule resource list is now sorted alphabetically.

  • Schedule start time now begins with the resource start time.

  • A warning is displayed if patient already has an appointment scheduled within five days of the new appointment.

  • The next appointment is shown in patient chart title bar.

  • A future appointments list for a patient is shown in the demographics tab.

  • When creating an appointment, patient phone number can be modified. This is used primarily by users of the Appointment Reminder feature.

ERA 835 processing:

  • Improved ERA processing for crossover claims to correctly identify the secondary insurance.

Appointment Reminder Calls

  • New reports for appointment reminders that list results by resource.

  • Modified Appointment Reminders so the correct call status is returned.

Other

  • In summary medication lists, we now avoid showing duplications of re-prescribed meds.

  • With DBA authority, you can reverse the signing of an encounter.

  • The ICD9 code choice window shows active codes only.

  • The chart memo is now operational. It is not included when the entire chart is printed.

Changes in Release 3.133

New Features

TeleMinder

An interface to the TeleMinder automatic appointment reminder service has been added. TeleMinder reminds patients of their appointment time and date, clinic location, physician, and any other information you specify. It will leave messages on answering machines, and accept appointment confirmations.

Automated appointment reminders result in decreased "no shows”, a more productive staff, and healthier - happier patients.

Chart Memo

A Chart Memo has been added to the Patient Chart. This provides a note for the physician to use for notes and reminders relating to the patient, but not specific to an encounter. The memo field could be used for recording information such as:

  • an unusual goal for monitoring a particular therapy
  • a reminder that this is a problem patient or a patient that is noncompliant
  • a plan for an upcoming office visit, and for the lab to be done when the patient comes in
  • a reminder to discuss a specific issue at the patient's next office visit
  • other similar miscellaneous items
  • The Chart Memo is opened by a button at the top of the chart. It does not appear on the ledger.

Changes

SQL Server 2005 is now supported for single practices. Multi-doc availability will be announced.

The VersaForm client runs under Windows Vista, but as of this release testing is incomplete. We recommend delaying implementation of Vista until our testing has been completed. If a VersaForm database is to be installed under Vista, SQL Server 2005 should be used. Please consult VersaForm before beginning a Vista installation.

Notes and images may now be entered without opening an encounter. This feature must be enabled by a choice in the Setup/Preferences dialog, since it would allow entry of information without a corresponding encounter.

Claims

The new CMS1500 08/05 form is supported for paper claims, and provides for use of the NPI (National Provider Identifier). Dates that control NPI and legacy identifier usage are in Setup/Preferences and Setup/Insurance Plan. The dates are set to use the new form; to continue using the old form, you must change the date for using CMS1500 08/05. More information is here.

Note: CMS has delayed the deadline when the new form is required! See the CMS Bulletin.

An option has been added to the Insurance Plan Setup to use the patient number in box 26 of CMS1500 08/05 instead of the claim number.

A patient's insurance plan information now includes the insurance plan's patient ID as well as the subscriber ID.

Electronic claims may now be submitted through the Emdeon/WebMD service.

A search function has been added to the window that views an electronic claim transaction set, making it easy to find a particular patient's claim.

Desktop

Dashboard encounter list and labs lists are limited to valid entries. Previously all entries were shown.

In the Messages window, the Print button will now print just the messages that are displayed, instead of all messages.

Medications

When prescribing a drug electronically, if a drug is no longer valid a search will be initiated automatically.

Electronic prescriptions can be resent with a single click. This is useful if, for example, a prescription failed to be sent because the pharmacy FAX machine was busy for a long period or the Pharmacy simply cannot find the prescription.

This change uses the pharmacy FAX number in your VersaForm data base rather than the FAX number in the NewCrop database. This allows you to quickly correct or update a pharmacy FAX number for your electronic prescriptions.

Patients may now have as many pharmacies as desired. Previously the maximum was 2.

Reports

The printed patient chart has been improved--each encounter is on a new page, only current meds are printed, and CPT®s are not printed.

A Patient Info Verification report has been added, to be used when asking patients to verify their current address, meds, etc.

There are 2 new reports for collections: Collection Follow Up and Collection Activity.

The name of the Activity Report by Provider has been changed to Charges and Payments by Provider (svc date), and the name of the Production Report by Provider has been changed to Charges and Payments by Provider (entry date). The purpose of the name change is to avoid the impression that these reports are similar to the other Activity and Production reports. Because these reports include refunds and other adjustments, they show different totals than those other reports.

The Payments by Payment Type report now excludes EOB payments from sum of patient payments.

In reports, filters now operate on computed columns, expanding their usefulness.

Other

On the Select a Patient Chart Dialog, the Advanced Search function has been changed--it now searches for the data item entered in the Find field, in the Data field indicated by the Advanced Search choice. The Claim Number has been added to the list of fields that can be searched for. A particular benefit of this change is that it enables searching by claim number when entering payments in the Multi-patient payment window.

A suffix field has been added to referring physician information.

When entering a charge through the encounter dialog, the encounter date is use for the service date instead of current date.

When a charge is reversed, associated diagnoses are removed.

When printing statements, if an interest rate is not found, 0 is used, and the statement is still produced.

The Labs dialog will now ask whether to mark the lab completed if data has been entered.

Changes in Release 3.132

  • Added ability to import patient pictures in JPG or BMP format without using additional software.
  • Added Surescripts logo to electronic Rx pages.
  • In Scheduler, fixed error in Cancel button.
  • Restored visibility to the title of a note, so it can be changed.
  • In Messages, fixed error in Reply button.

Changes in Release 3.131

  • Corrected printing of Units on paper claims that exceeded the space available because it printed 2 decimal places.
  • Does not attempt to include taxpayer ID on an electronic claim when it is missing from the provider information.
  • When NPI is use, does not send Legacy ID on an electronic claim if that ID has already been sent as the taxpayer ID.
  • Changes to the Patient Form Kit and Appointment Form Kit were withdrawn to avoid impacting user-modified form kits.

Changes in Release 3.129

New Features

Physician’s Dashboard

The Physicians Dashboard gathers on one screen information about the clinician's daily work:

  • It shows Unsigned Encounters, Images not Reviewed, Labs not Reviewed, Notes not Signed or Not Reviewed, Appointments (today) and Messages and Reminders.
  • Double-clicking on any item goes directly to the relevant patient chart.

eRx--Electronic Prescriptions--is in Beta

  • This new feature, which is now ready for Beta Testing, allows you to send electronic prescriptions to a pharmacy. You must have a high-speed Internet connection available to each VersaForm station to use this facility. Prescriptions are sent either via FAX or directly (using secure transmission protocols) to the pharmacy's computers, depending on the capabilities of the pharmacy. This feature includes adding over 31,000 medications for you to choose from and provides access to over 30,000 pharmacies in the United States who accept either FAX or direct prescriptions.

    To support this feature, pharmacies may be selected and assigned to patients when you add a medication to a patient's chart. If you prefer, you can select and add pharmacies from the Setup/Facilities screen and assign pharmacies to patients using the Registration tab on the patient chart.

    If you are interested in becoming a Beta Tester for this feature, contact VersaForm at 800-678-1111.

Medication and Allergy Interactions

  • This feature now includes drug handouts for the patient and drug monographs for the physician.

Special copay window for the front desk

  • A new button on the Scheduler Appointment window opens a special window that permits acceptance and posting of a copay with only 3 clicks!

“Claim As” feature for incident-to billing

  • Enables billing for Physicians' Assistants and Nurse Practitioners to be made under the name of a physician, as for Medicare "incident-to" rules.

“Claim As Rendering” feature

  • Allows you to say whether the Primary Provider's or the Rendering Provider's information is used as the billing provider.

NPI--National Provider Identifier

  • Enter NPIs for providers, billing providers, referring providers, supervising providers, rendering providers, purchased service providers and facilities.
  • Added NPI Dates to insurance plans, so the use of the NPI can begin at different times for different insurance plans if required.

Secondary Billing

  • Payer adjustments (the ones on the EOB) from the primary payer must now be reported on the secondary claim, if the secondary claim is electronic. Medicare is among the payers that require this. The information is gathered automatically if you have the ERA feature, and you can enter it manually from a paper EOB if not. There is a new button, EOBA(djustments) on the payment window to use this feature.

Other Changes

Reports

  • Double clicking on patient lines in a report now takes you to the patient’s chart.
  • Collection follow-up and collection activity reports have been added.
  • The use of Filters has been expanded to cover a larger range of column types.

Scheduler

  • Remembers the last used scheduler resource.
  • You can now add appointments while in Week view.
  • Allows printing of multi-resource schedule and week schedule.
  • You can no longer remove appointments from the Scheduler—instead, we cancel them. This keeps them in the database for later analysis.

Letters

  • An error that prevented Collection letters from printing has been fixed.
  • New fields were added to the Patient Form Kit and Appointment Form Kit. The Appointment Form Kit can now be printed after the appointment time.

Ledger

  • Quantity on a charge does not have to be a whole number any more.
  • Now you can change a payment type in the payment window for an existing credit.
  • The supervising provider can now come either from the providers or from the referring physicians.
  • Added the Claim As feature. (See above)
  • Added Claim As Rendering feature. (See above).

Chart

  • When opening a chart, you can just key in the patient # and hit Enter.
  • Unsaved notes can be printed.
  • You can set a default encounter type for an appointment.
  • Notes now have signers and reviewers (both optional) as well as authors. Users can now sign notes, and can review notes and images and HIPAA documents.
  • The subscriber’s birth date is now checked to make sure it is not a future date.
  • A separate note can be added to a medication, to be used for dispensing or administration instructions. It is printed on the prescription when a prescription is printed from the medication edit window.

CMS 1500

  • Block 26 is now filled with claim ID not patient ID. This will make it easier to credit the payment when certain EOBs are received electronically.
  • Workers Comp in California: the first 13 characters of the CPT® description go in Block 24d.

837

  • A site id has been added to loop 2010AA (REF G5) to enable use of the Emdeon clearinghouse.

Setup

  • To support electronic prescribing and electronic lab connections, you can no longer change facility types.

Other

  • The Desktop and Report windows now remember their size and location.
  • List-type columns now show an up or down arrow when sorted.
  • ICD9 codes are now the 2007 codes.
  • Files received by both the ERA and Lab Results functions are automatically moved to a separate "Processed" folder when the processing is complete. The folder is created if necessary.

Changes in Release 3.127

Medication Interaction Checking

  • Medication Interaction (drug-drug and drug-allergy) checking has now completed beta testing and is available to all users. It is provided by an Internet connection with NewCrop LLC, which enables VersaForm to access up-to-date databases of drug information, using information from industry leader FirstDataBank

  • At the end of the beta test the following changes were made:

    • An option to do NewCrop drug conversion for a single patient as a drug or allergy is added.

    • An option to skip NewCrop interaction check (a new button of add med and add allergy) is added.

    • NewCrop drug conversion now accounts for the fact that a current med may be being used by multiple patients and each could have a different dosage.

    • Fixed a bug when adding a NewCrop drug to frequent list. The drug was showing as a non-standard drug.

    • NewCrop physician registration is now handled automatically.

Downloading of Lab Results

  • Electronic labs that return no panel or test name are now shown as "no name provided".

  • Electronic lab patient addresses that do not use the "address2" field are now permitted.

  • Changed all messages to "Lab Results" from "HL7".

  • Fix the add patient function of the labs select patient function when a patient cannot be identified.

  • Increased display length of labs data report to prevent data clipping.

Electronic Remittance Advice Changes

  • We now show codes along with the descriptions in reports.
  • Additional remarks added to the reports.
  • Crossover claims processing modified to recognize and credit payments as secondary insurance.

Medication Edit and Prescriptions

  • We have added prescribing provider, note and date fields to the medication window. The prescribing provider can override the usual choice of physician's name on a prescription.
  • Print prescription uses whatever report has "Prescription" as the report name. The internal name is no longer hard-coded as “r_prescription_1”.
  • A prescription can now be printed from the medication edit window.
  • The medication name field in the medications and prescription display has been expanded to allow for longer medication names.

Notes and Templates

  • In a note, you can now specify the date and author.

  • There is now a Send_Message function for use in templates.

  • In the note window, there is now a Send Message button.

  • The dropdown list for number of prescription refills now has choices for 6, 12, and more refills.

  • The list of notes in the notes tab now shows the author of patient note.

  • We fixed a bug which allowed removal of the root template or topic in the list of note templates.

Ledger

  • On the ledger, a status column for the secondary insurance was added.

  • When listing the insurance carriers for printing a claim, we added carrier number to the insurance plan name to distinguish 2 coverages with the same insurance plan

  • The names of the accident information fields on a charge have been changed for clarification.

  • Added patient # to certain error messages when printing claims, to make it easier to find the error.

  • It is no longer an error when generating medicare secondary claim if there is no primary insurance. The relevant fields are simply left blank.

  • The Auth button in the ledger now works—it brings up the authorization list window.

Other

  • Word wrap in message edit window has been added to make it easier to enter and see the message.

  • In the messages list, the message text now scrolls vertically.

  • In release 3.125, the order of results in the lab order report and the lab results report had changed. The previous order is now restored.

  • Many of the data windows that provide a menu to choose from now allow the user to search on a partial word, rather than a single letter.

  • Most data windows that display a list of data items now have a right-click menu that allows you to print and save the contents.

  • The Remove function on the Add Charge Full window is now disabled, as it should have been.

  • The list of images now includes the date and is ordered by date, descending.

  • In the scheduler, the window now returns to the original line after removing or editing an appointment.

  • When viewing the messages list, you can now choose which messages are to be listed. In particular, you can see all the messages concerning a particular patient.

  • In the messages window, return to the original line after editing an message.

  • Fixed a bug that prevented printing of antepartum flowsheets.

  • Set focus to description when entering a new image. This saves clicking on the description field.

  • A problem name can now be edited until the encounter is signed.

  • Resized patient registration to make the new memo field completely visible.

  • The scheduler now checks for time conflicts on new appointments only.

  • Patient age is corrected in the Patient Form Kit.

  • In the lab panel selection menu, and on several other screens, you can type several letters of the word you are searching for. Thus, SMI will get pretty close to Smith. Backspace clears the last letter of the search. The letters that have been keyed appear in the bottom left corner of the screen.

  • A bug that caused occasional locking conflicts has been fixed.

  • In the scheduler, a button has been added to the appointment window that prints an encounter form using the Appointment Form Kit. You must set up the Appointment Form Kit with your own CPT® and ICD9 codes before this can be useful. Past appointments cannot be printed.

  • On secondary claims, add the allowed amount for charge into the claim level allowed amount. In some cases this was not done previously.

  • If there is no allowed amount on a non-medicare secondary claim, use the charge amount.

Changes in Release 3.125

Insurance Claims

  • A new field “Include Adjustments on Secondary Elec Clm” in the insurance plan controls whether adjustments are included in secondary electronic claims, and hence whether the CAS segment is included. This enables electronic secondary claims to be submitted to payers who require CAS (adjustments) segments.
  • In electronic claims, we removed Claim Adjudication Date; we do this at line level rather than at the claim level.
  • On secondary claims, primary payer ID must be present in order to include the amt paid. If the amt paid is not entered, we make it 0.
  • Added the quantity field to loop 2430 SVD segment in a secondary electronic claim.
  • When printing a paper claim to file, extended column 24K to 10 characters.
  • When entering auto-adjust codes for ERA processing, a new option allows setting them for all insurance plans at one time.
  • We now allow users to use the same Sender ID for claims (837s) in different databases for a multi-doc system. They are warned says that if they do this, they will not be able to process 835s (EOBs).
  • Fixed a problem that prevented the CAS segment from showing when viewing a transaction set

Ledger

  • On the ledger you can filter paid charges so you do not see them. When this filter is on, fully used adjustments and credits are hidden, too.
  • We show at the top of the ledger both the copay dollar amt and the percentage as coinsurance
  • A negative adjustment may not be entered on the ledger
  • You can now modify an adjustment on the ledger, if appropriate.
  • Reversals of charges, credits, and adjustments now automatically get the service date of the item reversed, not the current date. This improves the way they are shown in reports. The entry date is still the current date.

Reports and other printing

  • Prevent duplication in lab results report when the patient had multiple addresses.
  • Activity reports now select adjustments by service date in instead of by entry date.
  • The Labs Due report is now sorted by date, and the title has been improved.
  • Added address of the lab to a printed lab order
  • In a printed superbill, we moved patient billing address one inch to the right, to match window envelope.
  • Made activity and production summary reports inactive. The summaries can be produced by running the corresponding regular report and unchecking the "Show Details" box.
  • Fixed a problem that prevented choosing a numeric column for a report filter.
  • Fixed a problem that prevented changing prescription reports.
  • Added report: A/R by insurance as of a date This report can take a long while to run.
  • Removed patient's SSN from the standard prescription. A second version of the prescription still has it.

Miscellaneous

  • We now allow keystrokes in the date field in the vitals header.
  • Added date of death to demographics.
  • The provider’s NPI (National Provider Id) field can now be accessed.
  • Allow the user to cancel out of filename choice when exporting demographics.
  • Fixed problem that printed multiple lines in schedule when the patient had multiple addresses.
  • Changed maximum template symbol length from 70 to 100 to accommodate long drug names.
  • Added ability to import CPT® codes in the “AMA medium format”. Users can purchase CPT® codes and import them.
  • In labs, use current provider id instead of the provider associated with the current encounter.
  • In medications, use the current provider id instead of the provider associated with the current encounter.
  • Set link to current encounter when entering a charge (short method); long method already has it.
  • In the Image tab, we now allow import of PDF files, and support reading from file when the Kodak OCX component is not present. On Windows XP we now support reading multi-page images from a file or from a scanner, with special support for scanners with document feeders, providing they support WIA (Windows Image Acquisition).
  • In the Image tab, test for scanner software (dll, driver) available before trying to scan.
  • Allow user to erase copay fields in the CPT® setup.
  • Added day name to column heading of weekly schedule.
  • Fix formatting of date when used in a lab flowsheet--was yy/mm/dd, now m/d/yy.
  • In the antepartum record flowsheet, ask the user for a starting date if there is more than 1 identifiable pregnancy.
  • Fixed a problem that prevented importing insurance plans.
  • In the patient selection window, allow a patient id to be entered in the search field even if sort column is patient name.
  • Support CHDP as a form of superbill, as an extra cost option.
  • A Diabetes Management visit template, with appropriate meds and labs, has been added..
  • CPT® codes have been updated for 2006.
  • In the Patient Registration Billing tab, the release on file and patient signature fields now have default values for a new patient.
  • When adding an encounter, the complaint field now defaults to the visit type if it is not filled in
  • A patient memo field has been added to the registration window. It is shown it in the schedule window, where it can function as information for the scheduling person.
  • You can enter multiple authorizations for a patient for different insurance plans.
  • The release on file and patient signature fields in patient billing now default to the most usual values
  • Support has been added for the scanners with automatic feeders and notification when they are empty.
  • Prevent changing the patient name when editing an appointment.

Changes in Release 3.124

Image Support

  • Windows Imaging support (using Windows Image Acquisition – WIA) has been added. It supports scanning, and importing from cameras, and allows multi-page scans. However, multi-page scans are not compressed, and therefore will more rapidly increase the size of the database. WIA is available in Windows XP only, and requires a scanner that has WIA drivers. We have tested representative models from HP, Epson, and Canon, all of which worked well.

Import/Export

  • Patient demographics information can be exported for connection to laboratories (“bridges”). This is an optional feature.
  • Patient scheduling information can be exported for connection to other systems. This is an optional feature.