passatdoc
Well-known member
I joined a group medical practice last fall. Still in my same one-doctor group, but now we are employed/managed by the group. Prior to this move, we did all the insurance claims and billing on an in-house basis, whereas many of my colleagues had outsourced it. The billing system we used was the 2005 version (we began with the 1998 version, then upgraded to 2001 version and finally to the 2005 version). In 2007-8 there were substantial changes to how claims had to be submitted, but the electronic clearinghouse that handled our claims had written patches so that my 2005 version would comply with 2008 regulations. So we were able to make the 2005 version work without shelling out thousands for the new version.
More importantly, the 2008 and up versions run only on Win 7, they won't run on XP. Don't ask me why. And the 2005 will run on XP but no later versions like Win 7. That is the reason I bought the XP disk when I did---to ensure I'd have a way to upgrade or downgrade a computer to Win XP so I could continue to use the billing software.
Now that we are using the group's new system, we still have to keep one local computer with XP running, which in my case is the computer that was the file server for our old system. We probably need to keep it running for another seven years, even though the Accounts Receivable in the old computer is all paid off, because we could still be asked for information from the old database:
1. Patient in an accident and their insurance wants to see a ledge of when the patient was seen, how much was charged/paid, etc. This would be if the insurance is going after a third party (say you are rear ended and your doctor treats you, but then your Blue Cross goes after the other motorist's car insurance to recoup its costs).
2. Attorney requests for information in the case of a patient in an accident or Workmans Comp situation.
3. Malpractice suit: you may have to generate a ledge of charges re: the patient
4. Divorce/child custody proceedings: attorney may need to see a ledger of parent's or child's medical expenses over an extended time.
So we plan to keep that computer running for another six or seven years. It's a Dell and so there is a system reinstall disk for it, and we have the install disk for the software. (I bought the XP disk in 2008-9, and bought the Dell in 2010, but to restore the Dell you pretty much have to use the disk that came with it).
More importantly, the 2008 and up versions run only on Win 7, they won't run on XP. Don't ask me why. And the 2005 will run on XP but no later versions like Win 7. That is the reason I bought the XP disk when I did---to ensure I'd have a way to upgrade or downgrade a computer to Win XP so I could continue to use the billing software.
Now that we are using the group's new system, we still have to keep one local computer with XP running, which in my case is the computer that was the file server for our old system. We probably need to keep it running for another seven years, even though the Accounts Receivable in the old computer is all paid off, because we could still be asked for information from the old database:
1. Patient in an accident and their insurance wants to see a ledge of when the patient was seen, how much was charged/paid, etc. This would be if the insurance is going after a third party (say you are rear ended and your doctor treats you, but then your Blue Cross goes after the other motorist's car insurance to recoup its costs).
2. Attorney requests for information in the case of a patient in an accident or Workmans Comp situation.
3. Malpractice suit: you may have to generate a ledge of charges re: the patient
4. Divorce/child custody proceedings: attorney may need to see a ledger of parent's or child's medical expenses over an extended time.
So we plan to keep that computer running for another six or seven years. It's a Dell and so there is a system reinstall disk for it, and we have the install disk for the software. (I bought the XP disk in 2008-9, and bought the Dell in 2010, but to restore the Dell you pretty much have to use the disk that came with it).