Medical Billing, Dental Billing and Electronic Medical Claims Processing is a service offered by small and home-based businesses or independent contractors to healthcare providers. It consists of obtaining patient information from the healthcare provider, entering it into billing software and sending it electronically through a modem to the insurance company or printing the claims and forwarding it by mail. The error rate on claims sent electronically is well below that of claims processed manually and the turnaround time for insurance payments is significantly faster than the payment time on claims processed manually. Electronic claims processing eliminates paperwork for the doctor's office and improves cash flow because payments are received much faster. On average, electronic claims require 10 days in comparison to 70 days with paper claims. Additionally, it reduces the reject rate for claims from over 35% to less than 1%.

As a Medical Biller, Dental Biller and Medical Claims Processor, you contract with doctors and other healthcare professionals to file their claims electronically using your home computer. Full-time billers and claims processors can process claims for up to four doctors. Medical and Dental Billers usually charge doctors between $3 to $4 per claim. With an average of 400 claims processed per month per doctor, you can gross well over $5000.00 to $6000.00 per month. It is an undisputed fact that the current system of paying healthcare claims is inadequate to handle the estimated 10 billion claims filed annually. There is no doubt that Medical Billing, Dental Billing and Electronic Medical Claims Processing is an important industry that will continue to grow dramatically in the coming years. The package below contains the billing software, medical codes, health data and insurance forms needed to begin a Medical Billing, Dental Billing or Electronic Medical Claims Processing business at home.

Medical Coders reviews, codes, and analyzes medical records in order to abstract relevant data from patient medical records into the computer system. Medical Coders perform the following tasks: checking the diagnosis and procedure to ensure accurate coding and sequencing as specified by established coding principles and guidelines, following coding guidelines for outpatient and inpatient records, obtaining accurate and complete patient data through the review of the medical record, discharge summary, history and physical, consultation, progress notes, laboratory, radiology, operative and pathology reports, coding all procedures on inpatient records (all payors) and outpatient surgical records according to ICD-9-CM Codes, CPT-4 or Physician E&M (Evaluation & Management) Level Code (as applicable), referring questionable diagnoses and sequencing issues to the physician for clarification, communicating with the Patient Accounts staff and coordinating with department Manager any questionable abstract or coding problems, assigning ICD-9-CM Codes and completing a coding summary for physician review. Medical Coders also perform medical record data entry duties by abstracting diagnosis and procedure codes into the Hospital computer system according to specified guidelines.

As treatment becomes more complex and litigation remains a significant concern in the medical community, the need for Medical Billers, Dental Billers, Medical Coders and Medical Claims Processors becomes more immediate. Medical Billers, Dental Billers, Medical Coders and Medical Claims Processors ensure procedures are properly covered through insurance claims. This position is integral to the smooth operation of any healthcare facility. With the right training, you can successfully find employment with doctors, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and a number of other facilities. All insurance companies employ individuals to review and process medical and dental claims. Experienced Medical Billers, Dental Billers, Medical Coders and Medical Claims Processors are in demand for these positions.

8  AMS BASIC MEDICAL BILLING SOFTWARE & USER MANUAL

Patient Program


• Everything about the patient is on this screen. This program is capable of printing many things including: Insurance Forms for individual visits, a Patient Bill/Receipt, an Attorney Bill/Receipt, any visit history, or a mailing label. This program tracks charges, payments and allows for the breakdown of balance between Patient, Insurance and Total. This program allows for patients to be assigned to a particular fee schedule, which in turn, eliminates the multiple complications at the front desk. No need to decide if a modifier is required; no need to decide which charge applies to this patient, etc. This program tracks patient Copay on a per visit basis. This program allows you to copy information and paste it in other files or in a word processing document. Track deductibles. Finds unpaid claims. Place of Service can change per HCFA. Macros can be done to suit your office.

  Reporting
  

• Included is a Daily Cash Report, which summarizes several things including – Daily Transactions, Gross Sales, Adjustments/Write Offs, Net Sales, Deposit, Visit Count, A/R for the day. Included is a Monthly Cash Report, which summarizes the same information for any time period. This can be run for any date range. A Statement program, which prints statements to patients with outstanding balances. Statements can be printed on white paper or 2 choices of pre-printed forms, which shows how much is outstanding to the 3 parties – Patient, Insurance and Total. Patient Balances is an Accounts Receivable program that allows you to view or print all patient's outstanding balances. This can be done for everyone or for any group of patients you choose. You can categorize patients and then choose to select balances of every patient in that category. A Daily Activity Report and Monthly Activity Report that lists every file that has changed for the time period you are running the program. It shows a breakdown on the codes that were used whether they are diagnosis, payment or other codes. A Daily Operations Summary, which summarizes several details including: Net Sales, Visit Count, Percent Collections and New Patient Numbers and Percentages. An Interest program, which allows you to apply interest to accounts with outstanding, balances beyond a certain time period. A Recall program which finds patients who have stopped coming in for care. Undo program allows you to take information out of the patient files, which was accidentally inserted. An example being taking the Insurance Filed comment out a patients file when the claims that were printed did not get submitted. 9999 Doctors can be tracked. Report by Code=Description this means you can track by Company or Attorney.

  Sorting, Exporting and Querying
  

• This program has the ability to sort on any data field in the entire patient file. The sort then prints out whatever data you have choose. This has proven to be extremely flexible. This allows for such features as printing labels including: Birthday labels, Newsletter labels, New patient labels. This allows for information to be merged into a word processing program to print letters to particular groups of patients. This program can export to other programs such as Document Plus.

  Importing Program
  

• This program allows for data to be imported from another program. Information such as Diagnosis Codes, Procedure codes and Dates of Service can be input into patient files on a per patient basis. This program can be run one time per day or it can be running all of the time so that visits can be input into the patients file as the other program generates the data.

  Billing Program
  

• This program is used to check patients out when not importing the data from another program. It makes this process as fast and simple as is possible. This program offers easy access to Diagnosis and Procedure codes. It allows you to print a HCFA or a Receipt as well as allowing you to calculate sales tax if necessary. Patient Number Shows on billing screen if this feature is being used. Find feature in Help codes.

  Calendar
  

• AMS offers and extremely flexible scheduler. The times are totally customizable. Each day can be different or the same, it depends upon your office. You can block out times and you can choose the increment of time between appointments. This program allows you to print Patient Names and Phone Numbers. It allows you to print Encounter Forms. It allows you to print a hard copy of the calendar if needed. It has a Find feature that quickly allows you to find patients next appointment. If using multi calendars, you can search for an appointment on all calendars. Prompts for phone numbers of new patients. Prints on legal and regular size paper. Lookup box on column 4 for any comments.

  Utilities
  

• Adding new fee schedules is as easy as opening a similar fee schedule and saving it as the new name. Changes can then be made in the new file with extreme ease. Adding new diagnosis codes and procedure codes is a very quick and simple process. Change font and size with just a few clicks.

  Networking
  

• The program is easily networked. There is no additional charge for networking the software within the purchasing office.

  Operating System compatibility
  

• The program is designed to function on Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP or NT systems. The program is written in windows and functions equally well in all of the 5 operating systems.

  Multi-doctor
  

• The program is capable of handling up to 9999 doctors with ease. Cash reports, mailing labels, insurance forms, statements as well as many other features can be printed on a per doctor basis.

  AMS bills insurance faster
  

• Submit electronic claims.
  
• Manage your practice with ease and efficiency.
  
• Schedule appointments in seconds.
  
• Prints standard HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500) health insurance claim forms.
  
• Includes software for electronic claim submission.
  
• Tracks visits authorized and used.
  
• Uses alternate procedures and diagnoses codes to meet carrier requirements.
  
• Stores billing information to allow duplication of any insurance claim.
  
• AMS's Claim Management operation gives you access to every claim in the system -- both paper and electronic.

  AMS Simplifies Accounting
  

• Patient ledgers show all accounting activity on a patient’s account.
  
• Patient aging reports help ensure that charges are collected more quickly.
  
• Patient account statements present billing information professionally, urging patients to keep their account current.
  
• Prints separate accounts receivable aging, ledgers, billing, reports and more by attending provider.
  
• Records billing information by case.
  
• This window lets you specify which transactions are paid by an insurance carrier or patient payment. Select the transaction and enter the amount paid.

  AMS makes practice management more effective
  

• Closing a day’s accounting is a snap with AMS’s patient daysheet report.
  
• The practice analysis report summarizes charges, payments and account adjustments. Print it each month to stay informed about your practice’s financial health.
  
• AMS includes Office Hours, a complete computerized patient appointment book.
  
• Print birthday lists, recall patients and create customized reports and form letters with AMS’s report designer.
  
• AMS Improves Collections
  
• Prints customized patient statements with collection messages and writes collection letters.
  
• Tracks slow-to-pay patients and insurance carriers.
  
• AMS Fits the Way You Work
  
• Search or browse for all types of information. Search for patients using nineteen different data fields.
  
• Use AMS’s report designer to create specialized reports.
  
• Use AMS’s own data backup program or specify another backup program to safeguard billing information.
  
• Enter data, print a report and do billing all at the same time using AMS’s multi-tasking features.
  
• Print reports using Windows printers and fonts -- A print preview is available, letting you see a report before it is printed.
  
• The AMS Report Designer lets you customize your insurance claims, patient statements, lists and more. Use the report designer's visual interface to make your printed output look the way you want it to look. Use Windows fonts and draw simple shapes to enhance your image!
• Online help and easy to understand user manual answer your questions.

8  MEDICAL BILLING CODES SOFTWARE

CD-ROM Contents:

• CPT Codes (Current Procedural Terminology) Easy-to-use and easy-to-understand, this software provides official CPT codes and the rules you need to know to use them efficiently for optimal reimbursement. Access the latest official codes. Use of the official codes is required by CMS and to be in compliance with HIPAA regulations. All of the CPT codes, their descriptions and the official rules and guidelines. A comprehensive index by procedure, service, organ, condition, eponym, synonym and abbreviation.
  
• ICD-9-CM Codes (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification) Designed especially for medical coders, medical billers and claims processors. Includes ICD-9-CM procedure codes in a single, space-saving software. Improve your diagnosis code accuracy with our coding and symbol notation system and locate ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes faster. This product contains the complete official version of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (Volumes 1, 2, 3, and Guidelines), compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The ICD-9-CM CD-ROM contains all changes issued through October of this year.
  
• ICD-10-CM Codes (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification) The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the Federal agency responsible for use of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10) in the United States, has developed a clinical modification of the classification for morbidity purposes. The ICD-10 is used to code and classify mortality data from death certificates, having replaced ICD-9 for this purpose.

8  BUSINESS INFORMATION SOFTWARE

When you're juggling multiple jobs and clients, you're already stretched for time. That's why we've paired Quicken Home & Business 2007 with Running a Business of One: The Quick Guide for the Independent Professional. It's an easy-to-use guide to help independent consultants, 1099 contractors and freelancers get up to speed quickly on topics like:

• The most useful features for consultants and contractors
  
• How to track expenses to avoid tax-time paper hunts
  
• How to manage your cash flow by monitoring your bills and unpaid invoices

8  OPEN OFFICE WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE

OpenOffice is a fast full-featured word processor. It works on Windows and most Unix Systems. It is safe and easy to download and install. We used this software to create the files on the software. OpenOffice includes: Basic character formatting (bold, underline, italics, etc.), Paragraph alignment, Spell-check, Import of Word and RTF documents, Interactive rulers and tabs, Styles, Unlimited undo/redo, Multiple column control, Widow/orphan control, Find/Replace and Images.

8  INSURANCE HANDBOOK FOR THE MEDICAL OFFICE
By: Marilyn Takahashi Fordney and Linda L. French

Insurance Handbook for the Medical Office is a key text for Medical Administrative Assisting, Medical Front Office programs, or those who wish to become insurance billing specialists, claims assistance professionals, or electronic claims processors for physicians' practices and hospital outpatient clinics. Those already practicing in this area will also find this text beneficial, as will health claims examiner programs. The goal of this extremely up-to-date text is to increase efficiency and streamline administrative procedures for the most exasperating aspect of the doctor's office routine - insurance billing. This text offers guidance for all aspects of submitting, tracing, appealing, and transmitting claims for today's full range of health plans. Important coverage of diagnostic coding, procedural coding, office and insurance collection strategies, Medicare, Managed Care, and more is presented. Additionally, a free CD-ROM featuring the HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500) claim form is included with the book. The CD-ROM contains 10 scored patient case studies with related insurance information so that the student can practice completing the HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500) claim form in a fun, interactive format.

Features :

• This edition of the Fordney text is full color (and is the first text in this discipline to use this format). This full-color format will help the students identify each insurance payer with a specific color and icon, thus making the learning process more effective.
• The text has been updated to reflect recent changes in procedural coding for government programs and the private sector.
• Also in this edition, the text has been completely rewritten by the author to emphasize procedural (CPT and HCPCS) and diagnostic (ICD-9-CM) coding and documentation which are the keystones to obtaining maximum reimbursement.

8  MEDICAL BILLING, CODING, AND REIMBURSEMENT: HOW TO RUN YOUR OWN HOME MEDICAL BILLING SERVICE GUIDEBOOK
By: Loretta Sinclair

Americans now spend about $1 trillion a year on health care and the bill is sent out to collect every dollar. Why is that important to you? Because doctors have trouble collecting what is owed to them by patients, insurance companies, medical groups and hospitals. They're buried in paperwork, complicated Medicare and Medicaid documents and insurance forms they must deal with daily.

What’s the remedy? More and more doctors are paying billing experts to handle their paperwork. This creates a growing niche for entrepreneurs who are experts at tunneling their way through the paper avalanche. As a billing specialist, you will help clients fill out claims forms to make sure patients get all the benefits they rightly deserve; then you'll transmit claims electronically, directly into the computers of HMO and Medicare, short-cutting the handwork that slows down many claims and gaining automatic priority over claims submitted on paper. With referrals from doctors and hospitals, your billing service can grow quickly. In fact, with health-care needs accelerating, the demand for your services will grow by leaps and bounds-along with your profits.

This guide teaches you everything you need to know to run your own home medical billing service, covering everything from training and set-up to marketing and promotions, including:

• Researching the market
• Calculating start-up and operating costs
• Finding clients
• Getting referrals
• Demystifying medical jargon
• Dealing with insurance carriers

8  HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500) FORMS

HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500), Health Insurance Claim Form: This information is required to reimburse health care providers for services rendered to injured employees covered under OWCP-administrative programs. Approved by the AMA's Council on Medical Services and HCFA. These claim forms are used to submit health insurance claims for services provided by health care professionals to Medicare and Medicaid, insurance companies or clearinghouses for processing. Printed in red ink on special bond paper in strict compliance with government regulations and specifications. Helps expedite medical benefit payments from Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies.

8  SMALL BUSINESS LEGAL PRO SOFTWARE

As a small business owner, you face complex legal questions every day. Now, for less than the cost of minutes with a lawyer, get clear and concise answers instantly with Small Business Legal Pro. Packed with more than 120 business forms and the complete text of six Nolo business bestsellers, this essential small-business tool includes hundreds of pages of high-impact, low-cost marketing strategies to help your enterprise grow and succeed.
• Create more than 50 business letters and documents
• Choose from business forms such as credit applications, demand letters, and contracts
• Find information in a snap with random-access text searching and keyword index
• Search the multilevel table of contents or connect to the hypertext links
• Print out and copy text, create bookmarks for easy access, and attach notes

8  FULL MEMBERSHIP

This business package includes Full Membership (One Year) with Free and Unlimited access to our services.

Medical Billing, Dental Billing and Electronic Medical Claims Processing is a service offered by small and home-based businesses or independent contractors to healthcare providers. It consists of obtaining patient information from the healthcare provider, entering it into billing software and sending it electronically through a modem to the insurance company or printing the claims and forwarding it by mail. The error rate on claims sent electronically is well below that of claims processed manually and the turnaround time for insurance payments is significantly faster than the payment time on claims processed manually. Electronic claims processing eliminates paperwork for the doctor's office and improves cash flow because payments are received much faster. On average, electronic claims require 10 days in comparison to 70 days with paper claims. Additionally, it reduces the reject rate for claims from over 35% to less than 1%.

As a Medical Biller, Dental Biller and Medical Claims Processor, you contract with doctors and other healthcare professionals to file their claims electronically using your home computer. Full-time billers and claims processors can process claims for up to four doctors. Medical and Dental Billers usually charge doctors between $3 to $4 per claim. With an average of 400 claims processed per month per doctor, you can gross well over $5000.00 to $6000.00 per month. It is an undisputed fact that the current system of paying healthcare claims is inadequate to handle the estimated 10 billion claims filed annually. There is no doubt that Medical Billing, Dental Billing and Electronic Medical Claims Processing is an important industry that will continue to grow dramatically in the coming years. The package below contains the billing software, medical codes, health data and insurance forms needed to begin a Medical Billing, Dental Billing or Electronic Medical Claims Processing business at home.

Medical Coders reviews, codes, and analyzes medical records in order to abstract relevant data from patient medical records into the computer system. Medical Coders perform the following tasks: checking the diagnosis and procedure to ensure accurate coding and sequencing as specified by established coding principles and guidelines, following coding guidelines for outpatient and inpatient records, obtaining accurate and complete patient data through the review of the medical record, discharge summary, history and physical, consultation, progress notes, laboratory, radiology, operative and pathology reports, coding all procedures on inpatient records (all payors) and outpatient surgical records according to ICD-9-CM Codes, CPT-4 or Physician E&M (Evaluation & Management) Level Code (as applicable), referring questionable diagnoses and sequencing issues to the physician for clarification, communicating with the Patient Accounts staff and coordinating with department Manager any questionable abstract or coding problems, assigning ICD-9-CM Codes and completing a coding summary for physician review. Medical Coders also perform medical record data entry duties by abstracting diagnosis and procedure codes into the Hospital computer system according to specified guidelines.

As treatment becomes more complex and litigation remains a significant concern in the medical community, the need for Medical Billers, Dental Billers, Medical Coders and Medical Claims Processors becomes more immediate. Medical Billers, Dental Billers, Medical Coders and Medical Claims Processors ensure procedures are properly covered through insurance claims. This position is integral to the smooth operation of any healthcare facility. With the right training, you can successfully find employment with doctors, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and a number of other facilities. All insurance companies employ individuals to review and process medical and dental claims. Experienced Medical Billers, Dental Billers, Medical Coders and Medical Claims Processors are in demand for these positions.

8  AMS ADVANCED MEDICAL BILLING SOFTWARE & USER MANUAL

Patient Program


• Everything about the patient is on this screen. This program is capable of printing many things including: Insurance Forms for individual visits, a Patient Bill/Receipt, an Attorney Bill/Receipt, any visit history, or a mailing label. This program tracks charges, payments and allows for the breakdown of balance between Patient, Insurance and Total. This program allows for patients to be assigned to a particular fee schedule, which in turn, eliminates the multiple complications at the front desk. No need to decide if a modifier is required; no need to decide which charge applies to this patient, etc. This program tracks patient Copay on a per visit basis. This program allows you to copy information and paste it in other files or in a word processing document. Track deductibles. Finds unpaid claims. Place of Service can change per HCFA. Macros can be done to suit your office.

  Reporting
  

• Included is a Daily Cash Report, which summarizes several things including – Daily Transactions, Gross Sales, Adjustments/Write Offs, Net Sales, Deposit, Visit Count, A/R for the day. Included is a Monthly Cash Report, which summarizes the same information for any time period. This can be run for any date range. A Statement program, which prints statements to patients with outstanding balances. Statements can be printed on white paper or 2 choices of pre-printed forms, which shows how much is outstanding to the 3 parties – Patient, Insurance and Total. Patient Balances is an Accounts Receivable program that allows you to view or print all patient's outstanding balances. This can be done for everyone or for any group of patients you choose. You can categorize patients and then choose to select balances of every patient in that category. A Daily Activity Report and Monthly Activity Report that lists every file that has changed for the time period you are running the program. It shows a breakdown on the codes that were used whether they are diagnosis, payment or other codes. A Daily Operations Summary, which summarizes several details including: Net Sales, Visit Count, Percent Collections and New Patient Numbers and Percentages. An Interest program, which allows you to apply interest to accounts with outstanding, balances beyond a certain time period. A Recall program which finds patients who have stopped coming in for care. Undo program allows you to take information out of the patient files, which was accidentally inserted. An example being taking the Insurance Filed comment out a patients file when the claims that were printed did not get submitted. 9999 Doctors can be tracked. Report by Code=Description this means you can track by Company or Attorney.

  Sorting, Exporting and Querying
  

• This program has the ability to sort on any data field in the entire patient file. The sort then prints out whatever data you have choose. This has proven to be extremely flexible. This allows for such features as printing labels including: Birthday labels, Newsletter labels, New patient labels. This allows for information to be merged into a word processing program to print letters to particular groups of patients. This program can export to other programs such as Document Plus.

  Importing Program
  

• This program allows for data to be imported from another program. Information such as Diagnosis Codes, Procedure codes and Dates of Service can be input into patient files on a per patient basis. This program can be run one time per day or it can be running all of the time so that visits can be input into the patients file as the other program generates the data.

  Billing Program
  

• This program is used to check patients out when not importing the data from another program. It makes this process as fast and simple as is possible. This program offers easy access to Diagnosis and Procedure codes. It allows you to print a HCFA or a Receipt as well as allowing you to calculate sales tax if necessary. Patient Number Shows on billing screen if this feature is being used. Find feature in Help codes.

  Calendar
  

• AMS offers and extremely flexible scheduler. The times are totally customizable. Each day can be different or the same, it depends upon your office. You can block out times and you can choose the increment of time between appointments. This program allows you to print Patient Names and Phone Numbers. It allows you to print Encounter Forms. It allows you to print a hard copy of the calendar if needed. It has a Find feature that quickly allows you to find patients next appointment. If using multi calendars, you can search for an appointment on all calendars. Prompts for phone numbers of new patients. Prints on legal and regular size paper. Lookup box on column 4 for any comments.

  Utilities
  

• Adding new fee schedules is as easy as opening a similar fee schedule and saving it as the new name. Changes can then be made in the new file with extreme ease. Adding new diagnosis codes and procedure codes is a very quick and simple process. Change font and size with just a few clicks.

  Networking
  

• The program is easily networked. There is no additional charge for networking the software within the purchasing office.

  Operating System compatibility
  

• The program is designed to function on Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP or NT systems. The program is written in windows and functions equally well in all of the 5 operating systems.

  Multi-doctor
  

• The program is capable of handling up to 9999 doctors with ease. Cash reports, mailing labels, insurance forms, statements as well as many other features can be printed on a per doctor basis.

  AMS Advanced Bills Insurance Faster
  

• Prints standard HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500) health insurance claim forms.
  
• Go Electronic! Includes software for electronic claim submission.
  
• Go Electronic! Verifies a patient's status in a healthcare plan with Eligibility Verification.
  
• Offers multiple fee schedules. Enter and track up to 26 prices for each procedure.
  
• Store and use twenty-six different prices for every procedure in AMS Advanced. With this multiple fee schedule feature it's easy to charge the correct price for any patient.
  
• Tracks visits authorized and used.
  
• Uses alternate procedures and diagnoses codes to meet carrier requirements.
  
• Stores billing information to allow duplication of any insurance claim.
  
• AMS Simplifies Accounting
  
• Patient ledgers show all accounting activity on a patient’s account.
  
• A quick pop-up ledger window gives immediate access to all the billing detail for an account.
  
• AMS Advanced's ledger window is easily one of its most popular features. Get complete, at-a-glance information about a patient's charges, payments and account adjustments.
  
• Patient aging reports help ensure that charges are collected more quickly.
  
• Patient account statements present billing information professionally, urging patients to keep their account current.
  
• Prints separate accounts receivable aging, ledgers, billing, reports and more by attending provider.
  
• Go Electronic! Sends patient statements to MedPrint to be processed, printed, folded, and mailed.
  
• Records billing information by case.

  AMS Makes Practice Management More Effective
  

• Closing a day’s accounting is a snap with AMS’s patient daysheet report.
  
• The practice analysis report summarizes charges, payments and account adjustments. Print it each month to stay informed about your practice’s financial health.
  
• AMS includes Office Hours, a complete computerized patient appointment book.
  
• Print birthday lists, recall patients and create customized reports and form letters with AMS’s report designer.
  
• AMS Improves Collections
  
• Prints customized patient statements with collection messages and writes collection letters.
  
• Tracks slow-to-pay patients and insurance carriers.
  
• AMS Fits the Way You Work
  
• Search or browse for all types of information. Search for patients using nineteen different data fields.
  
• Search for patients using many different data fields.
  
• Use AMS’s report designer to create specialized reports.
  
• Use AMS’s own data backup program or specify another backup program to safeguard billing information.
  
• Secure billing information with easy-to-use security profiles.
  
• Set up each user with their own login. Define a user's security level to limit them only to data entry operations or to allow more access to sensitive information as necessary.
  
• Enter data, print a report and do billing all at the same time using AMS’s multi-tasking features.
  
• Print reports using Windows printers and fonts -- A print preview is available, letting you see a report before it is printed.
  
• The AMS Report Designer lets you customize your insurance claims, patient statements, lists and more. Use the report designer's visual interface to make your printed output look the way you want it to look. Use Windows fonts and draw simple shapes to enhance your image!

  Get Help When You Need It
  

• Online help and easy to understand user manual answer your questions.
  
• Whether you get assistance from an independent AMS dealer, from one of the many AMS training classes or choose to call AMS’s 800-line support service, help for AMS is easy to get.
  
• Exclusive AMS-Advanced Only Features
  
• AMS Advanced includes these features not found in other AMS products:
  
• Pop-up patient account ledger window to get a quick look at patient accounts.
  
• Payment application to automatically post payments, adjustments, and deductibles to the correct case.
  
• Security features to protect sensitive accounting information.
  
• Audit files and an audit report to identify changes and deletions in billing data.
  
• Custom patient data screen to store extra, user-defined information.
  
• Cascade insurance billing to hold claims for secondary and tertiary carriers until the prior carrier has paid or responded.
  
• Remainder statements to let you bill a patient for any amounts remaining after all their insurance has paid.
  
• Referral source report to identify the source of new patients.
  
• Referring physician report to pinpoint valuable referral sources when a practice depends on physician referrals.
  
• Billing/payment status report to help office staff staff track the billing and payment progress on each charge.
  
• Multiple fee schedules to help you charge the right price for every procedure, automatically.
  
• Bank deposit entry and deposit report to enter deposit information into AMS and use the information to print a deposit report.
• Billing charge to automatically create a billing charge on past-due accounts.

8  MEDICAL BILLING CODES SOFTWARE

CD-ROM Contents:

• CPT Codes (Current Procedural Terminology) Easy-to-use and easy-to-understand, this software provides official CPT codes and the rules you need to know to use them efficiently for optimal reimbursement. Access the latest official codes. Use of the official codes is required by CMS and to be in compliance with HIPAA regulations. All of the CPT codes, their descriptions and the official rules and guidelines. A comprehensive index by procedure, service, organ, condition, eponym, synonym and abbreviation.
  
• ICD-9-CM Codes (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification) Designed especially for medical coders, medical billers and claims processors. Includes ICD-9-CM procedure codes in a single, space-saving software. Improve your diagnosis code accuracy with our coding and symbol notation system and locate ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes faster. This product contains the complete official version of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (Volumes 1, 2, 3, and Guidelines), compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The ICD-9-CM CD-ROM contains all changes issued through October of this year.
  
• ICD-10-CM Codes (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification) The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the Federal agency responsible for use of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10) in the United States, has developed a clinical modification of the classification for morbidity purposes. The ICD-10 is used to code and classify mortality data from death certificates, having replaced ICD-9 for this purpose.

8  BUSINESS INFORMATION SOFTWARE

When you're juggling multiple jobs and clients, you're already stretched for time. That's why we've paired Quicken Home & Business 2007 with Running a Business of One: The Quick Guide for the Independent Professional. It's an easy-to-use guide to help independent consultants, 1099 contractors and freelancers get up to speed quickly on topics like:

• The most useful features for consultants and contractors
  
• How to track expenses to avoid tax-time paper hunts
  
• How to manage your cash flow by monitoring your bills and unpaid invoices

8  OPEN OFFICE WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE

OpenOffice is a fast full-featured word processor. It works on Windows and most Unix Systems. It is safe and easy to download and install. We used this software to create the files on the software. OpenOffice includes: Basic character formatting (bold, underline, italics, etc.), Paragraph alignment, Spell-check, Import of Word and RTF documents, Interactive rulers and tabs, Styles, Unlimited undo/redo, Multiple column control, Widow/orphan control, Find/Replace and Images.

8  INSURANCE HANDBOOK FOR THE MEDICAL OFFICE
By: Marilyn Takahashi Fordney and Linda L. French

Insurance Handbook for the Medical Office is a key text for Medical Administrative Assisting, Medical Front Office programs, or those who wish to become insurance billing specialists, claims assistance professionals, or electronic claims processors for physicians' practices and hospital outpatient clinics. Those already practicing in this area will also find this text beneficial, as will health claims examiner programs. The goal of this extremely up-to-date text is to increase efficiency and streamline administrative procedures for the most exasperating aspect of the doctor's office routine - insurance billing. This text offers guidance for all aspects of submitting, tracing, appealing, and transmitting claims for today's full range of health plans. Important coverage of diagnostic coding, procedural coding, office and insurance collection strategies, Medicare, Managed Care, and more is presented. Additionally, a free CD-ROM featuring the HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500) claim form is included with the book. The CD-ROM contains 10 scored patient case studies with related insurance information so that the student can practice completing the HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500) claim form in a fun, interactive format.

Features :

• This edition of the Fordney text is full color (and is the first text in this discipline to use this format). This full-color format will help the students identify each insurance payer with a specific color and icon, thus making the learning process more effective.
• The text has been updated to reflect recent changes in procedural coding for government programs and the private sector.
• Also in this edition, the text has been completely rewritten by the author to emphasize procedural (CPT and HCPCS) and diagnostic (ICD-9-CM) coding and documentation which are the keystones to obtaining maximum reimbursement.

8  MEDICAL BILLING, CODING, AND REIMBURSEMENT: HOW TO RUN YOUR OWN HOME MEDICAL BILLING SERVICE GUIDEBOOK
By: Loretta Sinclair

Americans now spend about $1 trillion a year on health care and the bill is sent out to collect every dollar. Why is that important to you? Because doctors have trouble collecting what is owed to them by patients, insurance companies, medical groups and hospitals. They're buried in paperwork, complicated Medicare and Medicaid documents and insurance forms they must deal with daily.

What’s the remedy? More and more doctors are paying billing experts to handle their paperwork. This creates a growing niche for entrepreneurs who are experts at tunneling their way through the paper avalanche. As a billing specialist, you will help clients fill out claims forms to make sure patients get all the benefits they rightly deserve; then you'll transmit claims electronically, directly into the computers of HMO and Medicare, short-cutting the handwork that slows down many claims and gaining automatic priority over claims submitted on paper. With referrals from doctors and hospitals, your billing service can grow quickly. In fact, with health-care needs accelerating, the demand for your services will grow by leaps and bounds-along with your profits.

This guide teaches you everything you need to know to run your own home medical billing service, covering everything from training and set-up to marketing and promotions, including:

• Researching the market
• Calculating start-up and operating costs
• Finding clients
• Getting referrals
• Demystifying medical jargon
• Dealing with insurance carriers

8  HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500), UB-92 or ADA FORMS

HCFA-1500 (CMS-1500), Health Insurance Claim Form: This information is required to reimburse health care providers for services rendered to injured employees covered under OWCP-administrative programs. Approved by the AMA's Council on Medical Services and HCFA. These claim forms are used to submit health insurance claims for services provided by health care professionals to Medicare and Medicaid, insurance companies or clearinghouses for processing. Printed in red ink on special bond paper in strict compliance with government regulations and specifications. Helps expedite medical benefit payments from Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies.

8  SMALL BUSINESS LEGAL PRO SOFTWARE

As a small business owner, you face complex legal questions every day. Now, for less than the cost of minutes with a lawyer, get clear and concise answers instantly with Small Business Legal Pro. Packed with more than 120 business forms and the complete text of six Nolo business bestsellers, this essential small-business tool includes hundreds of pages of high-impact, low-cost marketing strategies to help your enterprise grow and succeed.
• Create more than 50 business letters and documents
• Choose from business forms such as credit applications, demand letters, and contracts
• Find information in a snap with random-access text searching and keyword index
• Search the multilevel table of contents or connect to the hypertext links
• Print out and copy text, create bookmarks for easy access, and attach notes

8  FULL MEMBERSHIP

This business package includes Full Membership (One Year) with Free and Unlimited access to our services.

Medical Billing, Dental Billing and Electronic Medical Claims Processing is a serv