Friday, December 30, 2011
Therabill Frequently Asked Questions
The Frequently Asked Questions board in Therabill is going public. Therabill has a FAQ board where members can go and ask questions about how to use Therabill. The questions are normally answered within 30 minutes (often sooner). I thought that some of the content in the FAQ might be beneficial to the public as a whole. Therefore, I have created a WordPress site to publish some of the questions and the replies that were given. This site is located at www.therapist-billing.com.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Search ICD-9 and HCPCS by Profession.
Therabill is creating a public code search tool. After testing, this will be incorporated directly into Therabill. In addition to searching and browsing codes, using analytics from Therabill, you can view what codes are being used by specific therapy profession. For example, a mental health counselor can view HCPCS codes that other mental health counselors are using in Therabill.
Friday, December 2, 2011
5010 Deadline Extended - Therabill is already 5010 compliant
CMS has announced that the deadline for compliance with the new 5010 EDI transaction standards has been extended from January 1st, 2011 to March 31, 2011 due to many complaints that many software companies, clearinghouses and even Medicaid will not be able to make the original deadline of 1/1/2012.
Therabill would like to announce that Therabill is 5010 ready. Therabill has made all of the needed changes such as requiring a physical street address and 9 digit zip code on the software side. We have also fully tested our 5010 transactions with several clearinghouses. We will begin submitting 5010 electronic claims on 1/1/2012. Therabill will always go above and beyond to make sure there is no interruption of service to our members who faithfully use our software.
Therabill would like to announce that Therabill is 5010 ready. Therabill has made all of the needed changes such as requiring a physical street address and 9 digit zip code on the software side. We have also fully tested our 5010 transactions with several clearinghouses. We will begin submitting 5010 electronic claims on 1/1/2012. Therabill will always go above and beyond to make sure there is no interruption of service to our members who faithfully use our software.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
In Response to : It's All Too Complicated
I am writing in response to Dr. Dan Quinn, a Berkely Therapist, who is blogging on finding a simple to use practice management solution. In his post on October 20th, 2011 (http://therapybridge.net/?p=325), Dr. Quinn makes a list of items that he would want available in a practice management tool.
I agree with Dr. Quinn 100% that most software out there is WAY TOO COMPLICATED!. I have my Ph.D. in Bioinformatics. Before I started Therabill, I tried setting my wife up with software and I could NOT figure out how to use any of it... it was way too complicated!!
I am not going to go through Dr. Quinn's list of necessities and address them. I do want to say that Therabill does have features meet all of those needs though. I want to address his last point (point 6).
6. Cuts directly to the chase, and doesn’t do a bunch of other stuff that makes screens complicated and navigation ponderous.
Any therapist is going to have a very difficult time finding software that does only what they need it to do and nothing else. The only way to get this would be to hire a developer to create your own personalized software. Depending on your needs, you might be able to whip something up. But if you are wanting something like electronic claims submission, then don't expect it in a couple of weeks. The guidelines for 837 files (electronic claims) cost over $500.00 and is about 700 pages long. It will take more than a couple of weeks to read it and understand it (and longer to code it). You mentioned that you wanted web based, now you will be getting a dedicated server (I wouldn't recommend web hosting to hold your private patient information). Dedicated servers cost around $150 - $300 per month). If you are going to have a good coder, think $80.00 - $120.00 per hour... well, you can see where this goes. It gets VERY expensive.
The reason you are not going to find commercial software that does ONLY what you need it do it is because different providers have different needs. Provider A may say I need software that does {A,B,C,D,E}, Provider B may say I need software that does {A,C,E,F,G}, Provider C may say I need software that does {C,E,I,K}... and so on. Commercial software takes the very high cost of creating the and maintaining the software and tries to spread it over many users (and then try to come out with a profit). Therefore, we have to meet as many providers needs as possible.
I am firmly confident that Therabill has solved the "complicated" issue. Therabill was designed by therapists. One of the things my members always tell me is that it is "so easy to use".
Dr. Quinn, I invite you to come take a look at Therabill (www.therabill.com). We can schedule a phone conference, where I will walk you through the site and show you how things work (I do offer this to any new member of Therabill too). If you do not want a phone conference, I suggest you take a look at our Quick Guide Video
I agree with Dr. Quinn 100% that most software out there is WAY TOO COMPLICATED!. I have my Ph.D. in Bioinformatics. Before I started Therabill, I tried setting my wife up with software and I could NOT figure out how to use any of it... it was way too complicated!!
I am not going to go through Dr. Quinn's list of necessities and address them. I do want to say that Therabill does have features meet all of those needs though. I want to address his last point (point 6).
6. Cuts directly to the chase, and doesn’t do a bunch of other stuff that makes screens complicated and navigation ponderous.
Any therapist is going to have a very difficult time finding software that does only what they need it to do and nothing else. The only way to get this would be to hire a developer to create your own personalized software. Depending on your needs, you might be able to whip something up. But if you are wanting something like electronic claims submission, then don't expect it in a couple of weeks. The guidelines for 837 files (electronic claims) cost over $500.00 and is about 700 pages long. It will take more than a couple of weeks to read it and understand it (and longer to code it). You mentioned that you wanted web based, now you will be getting a dedicated server (I wouldn't recommend web hosting to hold your private patient information). Dedicated servers cost around $150 - $300 per month). If you are going to have a good coder, think $80.00 - $120.00 per hour... well, you can see where this goes. It gets VERY expensive.
The reason you are not going to find commercial software that does ONLY what you need it do it is because different providers have different needs. Provider A may say I need software that does {A,B,C,D,E}, Provider B may say I need software that does {A,C,E,F,G}, Provider C may say I need software that does {C,E,I,K}... and so on. Commercial software takes the very high cost of creating the and maintaining the software and tries to spread it over many users (and then try to come out with a profit). Therefore, we have to meet as many providers needs as possible.
I am firmly confident that Therabill has solved the "complicated" issue. Therabill was designed by therapists. One of the things my members always tell me is that it is "so easy to use".
Dr. Quinn, I invite you to come take a look at Therabill (www.therabill.com). We can schedule a phone conference, where I will walk you through the site and show you how things work (I do offer this to any new member of Therabill too). If you do not want a phone conference, I suggest you take a look at our Quick Guide Video
Sunday, October 9, 2011
A New Therabill Design
As an engineer, I have never been known for my artistic skills. I can make things work, but I can't make them look good. Over the past week, I have spent countless hours updating the design of the Therabill public web pages. Last night, with bloodshot eyes, I finished the new design. I think it looks good and contains a lot more information. For example, the informational page on submitting electronic insurance claims contains a lot more information. I have also sprinkled video demonstrations though out the various pages. All of the video demonstrations are available from within the Therabill Instructional Video Library.
I have also included a nice page of links to therapy resources. If you know of any great therapy resources, let me know. If you are the webmaster of a therapy web site, please reciprocate with a link to Therabill.
I have also included a nice page of links to therapy resources. If you know of any great therapy resources, let me know. If you are the webmaster of a therapy web site, please reciprocate with a link to Therabill.
Friday, September 23, 2011
My experience with iPad
This is going to be a quick post. I just want to say that it is great developing a web application on the iPad. There is really only one web browser to develop for (Safari). There is not Internet Explorer to worry about. I never have to check compatibility with other web browsers. This is the way it should be!!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Prepared for 5010
The sky is falling!!!! This is the fear that many billing software companies are trying to instill into healthcare providers. They are using the conversion to 5010 as a marketing ploy. They are making a selling point out of being 5010 ready and that you better make sure your software is 5010 ready (or switch over to us).
I hate to break it to everyone. Being 5010 ready is not complicated. It is not a selling point. If a specific healthcare billing software is not 5010 ready... well, come January 1, 2012 they are out of business.
Since when did a change in format warrant such a big deal. When the 4010 addendum was released.. everyone quietly switched to the new format. Bottom line: healthcare providers should NOT be scared into billing software based on 5010 readiness. In the end, the healthcare provider isn't even going to notice any difference when the switch is made to 5010 (at least not with Therabill). It is a data interchange format. It should be left for us geeks to worry about... behind the scenes. Leave the healthcare providers out of it.. they have enough on their plates.
I hate to break it to everyone. Being 5010 ready is not complicated. It is not a selling point. If a specific healthcare billing software is not 5010 ready... well, come January 1, 2012 they are out of business.
Since when did a change in format warrant such a big deal. When the 4010 addendum was released.. everyone quietly switched to the new format. Bottom line: healthcare providers should NOT be scared into billing software based on 5010 readiness. In the end, the healthcare provider isn't even going to notice any difference when the switch is made to 5010 (at least not with Therabill). It is a data interchange format. It should be left for us geeks to worry about... behind the scenes. Leave the healthcare providers out of it.. they have enough on their plates.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Therabill on the iPad
I can't wait for this new feature to roll out. We are developing a web application of Therabill designed specifically for the iPad. While the current version of Therabill does work pretty nicely in the iPad, the layout just isn't ideal. We hope to have a limited version available within the next 2-3 weeks. Soon after that, we will roll out the iPhone / Android version.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Therabill Member Forum
The Therabill Healthcare Billing Forum is now open for viewing to the general public. You must be currently logged in to your Therabill in order to post to the forum. The general public (non-Therabill members) can read the forum posts.
Therabill Calendar Syncs to Google Calendar
I have been working hard over the past 3 days getting ready to roll out a new feature for Therabill. This new feature will allow you to sync your sessions that you have entered in your Therabill schedule to your Google Calendar.
Most calendar's on smartphones have the ability to sync with your Google Calendar. If you set up your smartphone to sync with your Google Calendar and you set up your Therabill calendar to sync with Google Calendar, then the end result will be that if you enter a scheduled therapy session in Therabill, the session will show up in your calendar on your smartphone.
Pretty nifty.
Most calendar's on smartphones have the ability to sync with your Google Calendar. If you set up your smartphone to sync with your Google Calendar and you set up your Therabill calendar to sync with Google Calendar, then the end result will be that if you enter a scheduled therapy session in Therabill, the session will show up in your calendar on your smartphone.
Pretty nifty.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
The CMS-1500
Therabill has started to post a tutorial on how to fill out the CMS-1500. It is still under development, we are adding how-to posts in the same order as they appear on the CMS-1500.
Video Demonstrations
Therabill is expanding its documentation to video. We understand that many people would rather watch and listen than read a users manual. I am actually one of those people. We are starting with video demonstrations of commonly asked questions. We will keep expanding. We thrive to have every member experience all that Therabill has to offer. Insurance billing should not be difficult, Therabill has a reputation of making it easy.. we hope the video demonstrations make it even easier.
Go and take a look at our video demonstrations. These videos are informal and unscripted, so please excuse my mistakes. They will get better as I become more comfortable with it.
Here is an example of a video demonstration showcasing how to navigate the Therabill Calendar which is used for enter therapy sessions.
Go and take a look at our video demonstrations. These videos are informal and unscripted, so please excuse my mistakes. They will get better as I become more comfortable with it.
Here is an example of a video demonstration showcasing how to navigate the Therabill Calendar which is used for enter therapy sessions.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
A flood of new feature requests
Therabill has always thrived on feature requests from Therabill members. This has even led to our second motto: "Designed by Therapists like Yourself". I am excited to report that new feature requests have exploded over the past few weeks. From small little tweaks to large scale feature implementations, I have been hard at work adding new features to Therabill.
Scheduling
A new member recently mentioned in an e-mail that Therabill has many awesome billing features, however, they also pointed out several therapy scheduling features that were missing. I immediately acknowledged that these key scheduling features should be added.. and quickly.
Schedule - Week View
I added a week view to the Therabill calendar. The "week view" is in addition to the calendar view that has always been available in Therabill.
Scheduled Events
In additon, Therabill will soon allow you to enter "non therapy" events into your schedule. This can be used for blocking off times within in your schedule or for entering office meetings. The "Scheduled Events" feature is in final stages of development and will go live on July 3rd, 2011.
Service Facility Rooms
Therabill has always allowed you to create multiple service facilities. However, what many might not know is that Therabill recently added the ability to create "rooms" within those facilities. This allows you to not only assign a therapy session to a facility but to assign the therapy session to a specific room within a facility. While the "rooms" do not show up on anywhere on insurance claims, they are useful for therapy scheduling for those business that share office space.
Enhanced Therapy Session Search
A new area has been added to Therabill that offers enhanced search for scheduled therapy sessions. Using the many enhanced search filters, Therabill members can quickly find therapy sessions and perform common tasks such as enter payment, enter therapy session notes, view session folder and edit session.
Hot Keys
Some people prefer not to take their hands off of the keyboard. For this reason, I have started developing some hot keys into Therabill. For the moment, these hot keys are only available on the bill insurance page. These hot keys will be expanded throughout different areas in Therabill in the near future. At this time, hot keys allow you to hold the control key down while pushing another key on the keyboard to perform certain tasks. For example, holding the control button down while entering the 'c' is the same as clicking the Create Invoice button with your mouse.
Client Statement Settings
Client statements is one of the methods of billing your clients that most Therabill members prefer. It is preferred because members because it is a quick and easy method for creating client billing statements. Therabill has recently added a couple of new settings that allow for further control over which therapy sessions should be included on the statement. For example, you can choose to hide therapy sessions that do not have any insurance payment entered on them yet, or that have a zero balance due.
In addition, a setting has been added that allows you to customize the units of the session length. You can choose to either display the session length in "billing units" or in "minutes".
I will continue to post articles to this blog every once in awhile to update you on new features to Therabill. As many already know, we are developing an Electronic Medical Records feature that will be added as an enhancement to the current therapy notes within Therabill. I will start another blog category to cover the development of the electronic medical records.
SchedulingA new member recently mentioned in an e-mail that Therabill has many awesome billing features, however, they also pointed out several therapy scheduling features that were missing. I immediately acknowledged that these key scheduling features should be added.. and quickly.
Schedule - Week View
I added a week view to the Therabill calendar. The "week view" is in addition to the calendar view that has always been available in Therabill.
Scheduled Events
In additon, Therabill will soon allow you to enter "non therapy" events into your schedule. This can be used for blocking off times within in your schedule or for entering office meetings. The "Scheduled Events" feature is in final stages of development and will go live on July 3rd, 2011.
Service Facility Rooms
Therabill has always allowed you to create multiple service facilities. However, what many might not know is that Therabill recently added the ability to create "rooms" within those facilities. This allows you to not only assign a therapy session to a facility but to assign the therapy session to a specific room within a facility. While the "rooms" do not show up on anywhere on insurance claims, they are useful for therapy scheduling for those business that share office space.
A new area has been added to Therabill that offers enhanced search for scheduled therapy sessions. Using the many enhanced search filters, Therabill members can quickly find therapy sessions and perform common tasks such as enter payment, enter therapy session notes, view session folder and edit session.
Hot Keys
Some people prefer not to take their hands off of the keyboard. For this reason, I have started developing some hot keys into Therabill. For the moment, these hot keys are only available on the bill insurance page. These hot keys will be expanded throughout different areas in Therabill in the near future. At this time, hot keys allow you to hold the control key down while pushing another key on the keyboard to perform certain tasks. For example, holding the control button down while entering the 'c' is the same as clicking the Create Invoice button with your mouse.
Client Statement Settings
Client statements is one of the methods of billing your clients that most Therabill members prefer. It is preferred because members because it is a quick and easy method for creating client billing statements. Therabill has recently added a couple of new settings that allow for further control over which therapy sessions should be included on the statement. For example, you can choose to hide therapy sessions that do not have any insurance payment entered on them yet, or that have a zero balance due.
In addition, a setting has been added that allows you to customize the units of the session length. You can choose to either display the session length in "billing units" or in "minutes".
I will continue to post articles to this blog every once in awhile to update you on new features to Therabill. As many already know, we are developing an Electronic Medical Records feature that will be added as an enhancement to the current therapy notes within Therabill. I will start another blog category to cover the development of the electronic medical records.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
New TheraBill Users Manual
TheraBill is working on a new users manual. The new users manual is completely web based (as opposed to being PDF files). The new user manual format will allow members to quickly jump between pages using hyperlinks that are spread throughout the users manual.
The new users manual has a tentative release date of 5/15/2011. However, I am asking anyone and everyone to go and check it out at www.therabill.com/help/ and let me know of any typos, grammatical errors or broken links. I have made a user friendly method for reporting any errors within the text. Simply use your mouse to select the text that contains the error. You will then be given a dialog box where you can add any comments and then e-mail me the error.
Please keep in mind that the release date is not until 5/15/2011 and there will be some pages that are not yet available. You will know when you run into one of these pages because it will show an under construction page.
Until the users manual is finished, members can get help and ask questions through the help center within the members area. If you are a health care provider and would like to see how TheraBill can make your billing process easier with our practice management software and with electronic health insurance claim submissions then please try it free for 30 days. There are no restrictions on the free trial and we don't even ask for your credit card information. While using the free trial, if you find that TheraBill is not what you need, then you can simply walk away from it.
The new users manual has a tentative release date of 5/15/2011. However, I am asking anyone and everyone to go and check it out at www.therabill.com/help/ and let me know of any typos, grammatical errors or broken links. I have made a user friendly method for reporting any errors within the text. Simply use your mouse to select the text that contains the error. You will then be given a dialog box where you can add any comments and then e-mail me the error.
Please keep in mind that the release date is not until 5/15/2011 and there will be some pages that are not yet available. You will know when you run into one of these pages because it will show an under construction page.
Until the users manual is finished, members can get help and ask questions through the help center within the members area. If you are a health care provider and would like to see how TheraBill can make your billing process easier with our practice management software and with electronic health insurance claim submissions then please try it free for 30 days. There are no restrictions on the free trial and we don't even ask for your credit card information. While using the free trial, if you find that TheraBill is not what you need, then you can simply walk away from it.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Amateur commercial
Just thought I would share my first attempt at creating a commercial for TheraBill. You can view it on YouTube.
HIPAA Compliance
I have to vent!
Coming January 2012 all electronic EDI claims must be sent in the new ASCX12 005010 format. The following year, ICD-10 kicks in. I think this is all just a ploy for the publishers to keep us developers sending them money. The manual for electronic claim submissions to insurance companies (837-P) alone cost about $600.00 alone. I just bought the old guide last year for $600.00. There aren't really that many changes either, at least from what I have seen.
Oh well, what is done is done. At least TheraBill is now ready for 5010. Unfortunately, I still have to implement 5010 for eligibility & benefits checks. Thanks for letting me vent!
Coming January 2012 all electronic EDI claims must be sent in the new ASCX12 005010 format. The following year, ICD-10 kicks in. I think this is all just a ploy for the publishers to keep us developers sending them money. The manual for electronic claim submissions to insurance companies (837-P) alone cost about $600.00 alone. I just bought the old guide last year for $600.00. There aren't really that many changes either, at least from what I have seen.
Oh well, what is done is done. At least TheraBill is now ready for 5010. Unfortunately, I still have to implement 5010 for eligibility & benefits checks. Thanks for letting me vent!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Easy to use Healthcare Billing Software
As an independent healthcare provider you are very enthusiastic about helping your patients. Unfortunately, as a healthcare provider you must also deal with billing insurance companies. Your small practice size can't afford billing services or commercial medical billing software (that is way more complicated than what you need anyway). Introducing TheraBill (www.therabill.com), a suite of billing and practice management tools designed specifically for speech pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and any other independent therapists who submit claims using the standard CMS-1500 insurance claim form. TheraBill offers scheduling, electronic claims submission and accounting features for your practice.
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