Home > Release Notes > 7.0 Release Notes > 7.0.0 Update Release Notes
7.0.0 Update Release Notes
Updates and Enhancements
NetPracticePM Updates
System Conventions:
- Menu display is controlled by user code. If you expand or contract menu functions it will remember how you left the screen and display it that same way when you access the menu again.
- Changing Databases - To change databases, click on the database name in the top right corner. This can be performed from the Home screen or any menu screen. The option for database change in the File menu has been removed.
- Search - The Search desktop tool has been removed from the desktop and replaced with a magnifying glass icon, which has been inserted next to each searchable Table in NetPracticePM.
- Ticket number has been changed to Superbill number system wide.
- Printer icons have been added to pages in the lower right corner allowing you to print the current screen.
- Sortable Column Headers - Whenever NetPracticePM displays a page that contains columns of data (i.e. Patient Look-up, Table searches, Transaction History Review, etc.), the data displayed can be re-sorted by clicking of any of the Column Headers.
- Patient Look-Up Screen - New functions have been added in the Action Column allowing you to display patients from Today's Schedule and every patient account Accessed Today. Both of these functions only display the registered patients.
- Patient Look-Up Screen - The Account Number field has been enhanced to automatically search for a registered Phone Number if you enter 7 digits, the Date of Birth if you enter 8 digits, and a Social Security Number if you enter 9 digits.
User Desktop:
- Icons for New Session, Home, Lock and Logout are in the top right corner of the screen. The Home icon only displays if you are on a sub menu besides the Home page.
- All menu options have been moved to the upper left side of the screen.
- All the Desktop Tools have been moved to the lower left side of the screen in the Tools Column.
- Tasks and Support are new functions. Support requires a permanent Internet connection.
- Session Information - To display the session information, slide your mouse over NetPracticePM 7.0 in the upper left hand corner and click.
- Desktop Configuration - The Desktop can be modified to display any four of the following functions: Calendar, Cue Cards, Schedule, Task List, Inbox, and the Rollodex. To access the desktop configuration click on the Configuration icon in the upper right corner of any quadrant. You can select the order the functions will be displayed and whether you want the Announcements displayed.
- Announcements - On Call notes are displayed for all doctors in addition to manually entered announcements.
- Help - One of the main enhancements of NetPracticePM version 7.0.0 is the completion of the On-line Help system. Help can be accessed from every function and page within NetPracticePM by clicking Help in the Tools Column. Since detailed instructions for every function are now available in the On-line Help system, the Release Notes Packet for each NetPracticePM update will be distributed in summary format only, effective immediately.
Billing:
- Automatic Balance Write-Off - This function allows you to write-off both Insurance and Patient Balances that are under a specific dollar amount and older than the date specified.
- Create Service Charges - Now allows you to create for All or Select Billing Groups.
- Send Statements to CGM - Can now view accounts from a Summary List. The Patient Balance is now displayed in the far right column instead of the Whole Account Balance. A Doctor column has also been added to the Summary List. When first accessing this function after creating a statement file, a warning message has been added to let you know if the statement file contains zero balance statements to prevent errors.
- Print Transmission File (Billing, Insurance Billing Functions, Electronic Claims) - A Medigap column has been added, which indicates if the patient's account contains a Medigap carrier or not.
Collections:
- Collection Menu Functions - All the menu functions have been re-ordered to follow the actual collection process.
- Work Accounts - This function has enhanced and now allows you to only view patient accounts for a specific Doctor, Location, or Billing Group, if desired. You can select the patient account you want to edit or view, directly from the Summary list. A Worked Status column has also been added to the Summary list.
- Print a Letter (Collections, Work Accounts) - This function allows you to Print a Letter while in the Work Accounts function.
- Mark as Worked (Collections, Work Accounts) - This function allows you to indicate the account has been Worked.
Managed Care:
- Cue Cards - These functions have been completed for use in NetPracticePM and are functional now.
- Print Outstanding Referrals (Managed Care Menu, Referral Tracking Menu) - The patient's address is now included on the report.
Patient:
- Patient Registration - For Family Billing systems - A guarantor look-up screen has been added to help search for patients.
- Patient Name and Address - An E-mail Address and Cell Phone field have been added.
- Patient Name and Address - A Patient Class field has also been added to allow additional sorting and tracking capabilities (i.e. drug studies). Codes can be set up in Tables, Patient Class, Maintain.
- Billing Information - The Ring Bell prompt has been changed to Alert User, which ties into the new DMS Alerts record.
- Patient Review - Action items now display in the upper left side in the Action Column.
- Patient Summary Screen (Patient, Review Patient Information, Summary and Patient, Change Patient Data, Summary) - The Printer icon has been removed temporarily. A new Print function should be available in version 7.1 update.
- Letters (Patient, Review Patient Information, Letters and Patient, Change Patient Data, Letters) - The new Letters function in the Action Column allows you to print any DMS letter for the patient.
- Transaction History Review (Patient, Review Patient Information, History) - A new Insurance w/Doctor view is available.
- Transaction History Review (Patient, Review Patient Information, History) - If you click on a procedure code to review it in detail, then hover your mouse over the diagnosis code, the description for the code will be displayed.
- Transaction History Review (Patient, Review Patient Information, History) - If DMS Collection letters are utilized; an Image icon will be displayed in the far right Img column. Clicking on the icon will display the actual letter sent to the patient.
- Images - Patient and Guarantor photographs, insurance cards and documents can be directly scanned into a patient's account using the Acquire Image function.
- Images - An Attach function has been added allowing users to Browse and attach pre-scanned images to a patient account. Images saved on a patient's account can only be changed from Patient, Change.
- Change Patient Data - The Review function has been changed to History and will take you directly to the patient's transaction history and the Summary function has been added which displays the patient account summary.
- DMS Alerts (Patient, Change Patient Data, DMS) - This DMS record allows you to specify which information to display whenever the Alerts window is displayed.
- Insurance Policy screen - A Coverage Last Verified On and User Name field have been added.
- Print Recall Cards/Letters - DMS letters can now be setup for each Recall Type and printed.
- PC Immunize Menu - The Copy File to Floppy menu function has been deleted from NetPracticePM.
Reports:
- Diagnosis Analysis and Procedure Analysis - All these reports have been modified and can now be ordered for a Range of Codes or Select All Codes.
- Statistical Reports - Every report that can be printed to Excel has had the report headers added back in.
- DMS Letter Processor - The Left and Right margins for documents have been expanded. Also, any documents created in Cache Text with hard-coded formatting will now display correctly in NetPracticePM.
- Print a Mass Mailing and Print a Letter or Document - These function have been moved here from the main DMS menus.
- Add or Change Labels (Reports, DMS Label Processor) - This function allows you to create many different types of labels that can be data-filled.
- Print DMS Labels (Reports, DMS Label Processor) - This function allows you to print DMS labels for an individual patient or using a List of Patients.
Schedule:
- Enter Patient Appointments - The font color for the text displayed in an appointment slot now toggles from black to white depending on the color selected for the Type of Visit code.
- Blocked Time (Schedule, Enter Patient Appointments) - The time for Blocked Time slots will display in red in the appointment times column.
- Enter Patient Appointments - NetPracticePM can display a larger quantity of Location and Group tabs at the bottom of the appointment schedule window.
- Scheduling Views - Additional Scheduling Views added to allow you to view the appointments for different Doctors or Locations, from directly within the schedule. Click on either Doctors or Locations in the Action Column to select the desired Scheduling View. You can also change the Scheduling View for individual doctors using the icons displayed directly underneath the doctor's name.
- Make Default View (Schedule, Enter Patient Appointments, Make Default View) - This new function in the Action Column allows you to select the Default View for each user code, that will be displayed upon accessing the Enter Appointments function.
- Inquiry (Schedule, Enter Patient Appointments, Inquiry) - Appointments have been switched to display the most recent appointment first.
- Inquiry - If you clicked on a specific appointment from the Inquiry screen, the Actions have been removed from the Action Column to prevent errors from occurring.
- Appointment Details screen (Schedule, Enter Patient Appointments) - The Appointment Details screen now displays the User Name and Date an appointment was Rescheduled or Deleted.
- Patient Check In/Out - This new function allows you to store Unposted payments from the schedule and track patients as they move through the office. It displays all the patients entered in today's schedule by default and options to change the Date and Location are provided in the Action Column. The list of appointments displayed can be sorted by any of the column headers by clicking on the header. You can also enter payments Received on account (walk-in payments) for patients that are not in today's schedule by clicking Select Patient in the Action Column. The Print Receipts function in the Action Column allows you to print receipts for any payments entered.
- Unposted Payment Journal (Scheduling, Scheduling Printing Menu) - This report will print a list of every Unposted Payment entered through the Patient Check In/Out function. The report is also available under Transactions, Transaction Journals and Reports, Transaction Journals.
- Check-In/Out Payment Journal (Scheduling, Scheduling Printing Menu) - This report provides an audit trail of every payment entered and voided using the Patient Check In/Out function. The report is also available under Transactions, Transaction Journals and Reports, Transaction Journals.
- Monthly Scheduling Edit screen (Scheduling, Doctor Schedule Maintenance, Edit Doctor Schedules) - The name of Template originally applied to a date will show on the Calendar view. The Copy Month function has been deleted from development and been replaced by the Copy Week function. You are able to Copy and Paste the schedule for an entire week using the icons to the left of each row in the Calendar.
- Detailed Scheduling Edit screen (Scheduling, Doctor Schedule Maintenance, Edit Doctor Schedules) - This screen has been reorganized. The Notes, On Call, and setting Max appointments functions have been moved below the Location header bar. Icons for Adding and Deleting Time, and Deleting Reserves have been added at the bottom of each Location's schedule. The Action Column now contains the editing functions along with Apply Template and Save as Template.
- Detailed Scheduling Edit screen - If there are appointments scheduled in any time slots, an icon will be displayed in the time slot along with the Type of Visit code for the appointment. The Type of Visit color will no longer display due to the large quantity of confusion caused by showing Reserve colors and Type of Visit colors in version 6.
- Type of Visit Table (Schedule, Scheduling Table Maintenance) - The Color Table has been expanded.
- New Patient Status/Location Code (Schedule, Scheduling Table Maintenance) - This new table allows you to set up the Status Codes used in the Patient Check In/Out function.
System:
- Model User Menus (System, User Management) - The check boxes have been changed to colored circles. Red indicates none of the menus below are selected, Yellow indicates some of the menus below are selected, and Green indicates all of the menus below are selected.
- Maintain User Groups (System, User Management) - This function allows you to create User Groups. They can be created as a Work Group and/or E-mail Group, specific Menus can be assigned to each User Group, and E-mails can be sent to a specific E-mail Group.
- Change Function Security (System, User Management, Function Security Menu) - If a Password is entered on a menu or function, a new Locking icon will display to the left of the menu or function name. The yellow shell or blue circle normally displayed next to the menu or function will now display a set of keys, indicating it has been locked.
- Collections Integration Options (System, Database Maintenance Menu) - This function was moved from Collections, Collection Tables to this section.
- Image Management Integration (System, Database Maintenance Menu) - This function was added to accommodate the increased functionality for Image Management.
- NetPracticePM Integration Options (System, Database Maintenance Menu) - This function was previously named MARS Integration Options.
- NetPracticePM Default Values (System, Database Maintenance Menu) - This function was previously named MARS Default Values. An Adj Code for Recalls field was also added to this function, which allows you to automatically post an adjustment to patient accounts each time a Recall Letter or Card is printed.
- Patient Check In/Out Integration (System, Database Maintenance Menu) - This new function allows you to setup the Integrations required to utilize the new Patient Check In/Out function in Scheduling.
- Configure Colors (System, Database Maintenance Menu) - This function was moved from the File menu. It allows you to select the Colors and Font Style for the Patient Transaction History Ledger and E-mails.
- Search Integration (System, Database Maintenance Menu) - This new function allows you to select which fields to display in the Search Results window whenever you click a magnifying glass icon to Search a Table.
- Reactivate Inactive Patient (System, File Maintenance Menu) - This function was enhanced to allow you to enter just a portion of the patient's name to display a list of Inactive patients meeting your criteria.
- Delete Inactive Patient Accounts (System, File Maintenance Menu) - This menu function removed from NetPracticePM.
- Reset Statistical Files (System, File Maintenance Menu) - This function was changed to process in the background instead of tying up the workstation while the files are recalculated.
- Link Images (System, Image Management) - This function allows you to view any Unlinked images, identify the Image Types and Link them to patient accounts.
- View Images (System, Image Management) - This function allows you to View images already Linked to a patient's account.
- Maintain Image Types (System, Image Management) - This function is used to create the different Image Type codes required to utilize Image Management.
Tables:
- Table Menus - The menus have been changed to display in alphabetic order for easier access.
- Review Functions - Review Functions have been added for each Table. This allows users that are not allowed to make changes to Tables, to have access to view Table codes.
- Maintain Recall Type (Tables, Recall Type Table) - A DMS Letter to Print field has been added allowing Letters to be defined for each Recall Type.
- Insurance Plan Table (Tables, Insurance Carrier Table) - Contains three new functions: Maintain Insurance Plan Code Conversion Amounts, Copy Plan Amounts, and Print Ins Plan Code Conversion Amt Comp.
- Patient Class Table - This new table allows you to Maintain, Review, Print, and Copy, Patient Class codes.
Transactions:
- Procedure Entry - The Ticket Number field has been changed to Superbill Number and the required field indicators - check marks - have been added to the top portion of the data entry screen.
- Procedure Entry - Two new screens have been added for the entry of Admit/Discharge and Anesthesia Time information.
- Payment Entry - A new Unposted Payment Screen has been added. If any payments were entered for a patient using the Patient Check In/Out function in Scheduling, those payments will be displayed when the account is selected in Payment Entry.
- Payment Entry - The Payment Allocation Screen has been switched to display the open items with the most current date listed first.
- Payment Entry - A Check Number field has been added. It will default to the previously posted check number as long as you remain in Payment Entry.
- Payment Entry - Link and Acquire Image functions have been added.
- Edit a Transaction - This function was moved to Transactions from the System, File Maintenance menus.
- Create a Batch and Edit a Batch (Transactions, Transaction Batch Control) - Link and Acquire Image functions added for scanning and linking explanations of benefits directly to a Batch.
- Print Refund Checks - This new menu function allows Refund Checks to be printed directly from the Transactions menu.
- Unposted Payment Journal (Transactions, Transaction Journals) - This new report Prints a list of every unposted payment entered using the Patient Check In/Out function in Scheduling.
- Check-In/Out Journal (Transactions, Transaction Journals) - This new report Provides an audit trail of every payment entered and voided using the Patient Check In/Out function in Scheduling.
- Superbill Register (Transactions, Transaction Journals) - This report was converted from Text and added to NetPracticePM.
- Print Missing Superbills (Transactions, Transaction Journals) - This report was converted from Text and added to NetPracticePM.
NetPracticePM and Text Updates
Billing
- Print Insurance Form on Demand (Billing, Insurance Billing Functions or BIL.INS.DEM) - A Date of Service field has been added, allowing you to demand a specific Date of Service when there are multiple dates entered on one accounting date.
Collections:
- Review for Turn Over Report and Third Party Turn Over Report (Collections, Turn Over Functions or NXT.TRN) - A Sort by Doctor field has been added, allowing you to sort the reports by Responsible Doctor.
- Print Collection Letter Labels - This new function allows you to print mailing labels for the collection letters currently in the print file.
Patient
- Family Income Data DMS Record (Patient, Change Patient Data, DMS or PAT.CHG.DMS) - This new DMS record allows you to utilize a sliding fee schedule based on a family's income level.
- PC-Immunize - For Idaho clients only - A new IRIS DMS Record has been added allowing you to indicate if the Guarantor has given consent to release immunization data, which controls whether the data is sent to IRIS or not.
- Patient Name and Address screen - If the Patient's Status is changed to Deceased, NetPracticePM will automatically delete all future Appointments and Recalls.
Reports
- Insurance Procedure Analysis Reports (Reports, Insurance Related Reports, Insurance Statistical Reports or MAN.INS.STA.PRO) - A new NO column has been added showing the Number of Procedures filed.
- Insurance Never Filed (Reports, Insurance Related Reports or MAN.INS.INS) - A Billing Group column has been added to the report.
- Insurance Pend Reports (Reports, Insurance Related Reports, Insurance Pend Reports or MAN.INS.PEN) - The patient's Policy Number has been added to each of the Pend reports.
- Double Sorted A/R Reports (Reports, Aged Accounts Receivable Reports, Sorted Aged Receivables or MAN.AGE.SRT.DBL) A new field has been added to every report, allowing you to select an additional sort option of Alphabetic, Numeric, or High Balance.
- Delinquent Accounts Receivable Reports - A new field has been added allowing you to select to print for Accounting Date or Patient Balance Aging.
- Payment Analysis Reports (Reports, Statistical Reports or MAN.STA.PMT) - A new field has been added allowing you to sort by Payment Code or CPT Code.
- Sorted Productivity Analysis Reports and Comparative Productivity Reports (Reports, Statistical Reports, Productivity Analysis Reports or MAN.STA.PRD) These reports were enhanced and can be printed based on a pre-defined Procedure Code List.
- Patient Class Reports - A new sort option for Patient Class has been added to each of the Statistical Report sections, including: Productivity Analysis, Payment Analysis, Adjustment Analysis, and Summary Analysis.
- Open Credit Report - The report layout has been reformatted and a Print with Detail field has been added. This will print the Transaction Details, if selected.
- Procedure Journal (Reports, Transaction Journals or MAN.JRN.PRO) - A new sort option to Print in Ins Doctor Order has been added.
- Adjustment Journal (Reports, Transaction Journals or MAN.JRN.ADJ) - A new sort option to Print in Ins Doctor Order has been added.
Schedule:
- Appointment Entry Statistics (Schedule, Scheduling Printing Menu or SCH.PRT.APP) - This new report shows the Number of Appointments entered by User Code, split up between AM and PM.
- Print Chart List (Schedule, Scheduling Printing Menu or SCH.PRT.CHA) - This report was enhanced to print patient's Middle Initial. Please Note: Only registered patients are printed on this report.
- Patient Referral/Pre-Registration - An E-Mail Address field was added to this function.
System:
- Collections Integration Options (System, Database Maintenance Menu or SYS.DBS.COL) - A Minimum Balance field has been added, allowing you to specify which accounts will migrate into the Collection process.
Tables:
- Procedure Code Table - A Default Diagnosis field has been added, allowing you to enter a Default Diagnosis for Procedure Entry. A field for NDC Code was also added, which will print in box 19 on the Insurance Claim Form.
- Maintain Fee Schedules (Tables, Fee Schedule Table or TBL.FEE.ADD) - A new Based On field has been added, which allows you select whether the Fee Schedule will be based on Procedure Code Amounts or a Family's Annual Income level.