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Medical Billing Software Alternatives?
irwinr12 asks: "Well, I've spent hours and hours and hours scouring though pages of google search results, trying to find a medical billing software package that will run on Linux. (Or Solaris or even Mac OS X for that matter) I've come out pretty much empty handed. Perhaps I'm just not looking in the right places, or perhaps such software does not exist yet? I ask this, because we are currently using MediSoft on Windows 98. We are very displeased with the service from medisoft, and the instability of Windows(MediSoft is partly to blame too) is costing us alot of money in downtime. We are a fairly small billing office, only billing for 5 doctors at this time, so some of the large 'hospital' billing systems want much more than we can afford for such a small operation. If anyone could send any information my way, i'd appreciate it." We did a similar story on Ask Slashdot over 3 years ago with very little in the way of definitive answers. Has the intervening time made any difference in the answers?
Look at sumtime for mac.
Although it may be only for mental health users.
My parents have been using this for a few years on OS 7 and OS 9.
sumtime
What you are looking for may be a medical billing program. But note that a medical billing program "is a" billing program. Are there any billing programs out there for any of your target platforms?
If you have a handful of developers, or even one, throw them at one of the general billing programs that are already out there. This is what open source is all about.
You might also want to look into general DBMS's, as this seems like the kind of important data you'd want to take care of. It wouldn't take too much effort to throw a custom GUI and printing interface over a MySQL or PostgreSQL backend.
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It's an invented, contrived category. The proper solution is a flexible, extensible generic financial system, which could apply itself to Medical Billing among many other things. You might ahve better luck searching for open source billing/financial software than "medical billing" and modifying it to taste.
11*43+456^2
You don't say.
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There is a company here that has a medical billing platform that runs on SCO Unux and they have successfully ported it to Linux. My company uses it exclusively for billing our clients (we are a billing office). The server has a windows client that is really just a glorified terminal emulator. I have used dumb terminals to connect to it as well. Its a very robust platform and their support is pretty good. The only problem is that it is, as most of these apps are, quite expensive.
Rule of Life Number 2: Remember, it can all go to hell at any minute. --Jimmy Buffet
From what I've heard, high-test medical software runs on mainframe-type machines. You may need to go with something from IBM, just because that is the platform the software is designed for. Medical computing is old enough that its roots really are in the mainframe era, not the relatively new UNIX/Linux era. Keep in mind that you won't need a big mainframe, just a desk-side model.
Also, I don't know if it was MediSoft, but I knew someone who worked with a Windows based billing program at one time--and hated it. It was down more than once every day; the the lost productivity probably made it much much more expensive than just shelling out the cash for a real mainframe. Just think of it, a whole medical lab stopped in its tracks while one person argues with tech support over the phone. Terrible.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
I don't remember its name, but a while back I saw a freshmeat posting for free software that helped to run a veterinary clinic. I think it handled scheduling and perhaps simple billing.
But other posters are correct: a general MySQL database really needs a lot of work to hone it into something that front office people can use productively.
I've seen my dentist's office use some kind of Windows based software that nicely integrates patient records (show teeth and point out cavities, X-ray images), examination records, appointments, billings, sending out reminders of appointments, helping to concoct the right insurance claim submission. Very impressive.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
try http://www.freemed.org
It utilizes apache, php, and has a light html frontend. That about fits the bill.
-Linux was for the masses, who spoke, and everything was crystal clear.
--Robert
Check out The Physician's Computer Company . They've been around 18 years, run on Red Hat (they handle it all for you), specialize in smallish offices like yours, having met some of the staff socially they're folks I'd like to do business with.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
I ask this, because we are currently using MediSoft on Windows 98. We are very displeased with the service from medisoft, and the instability of Windows(MediSoft is partly to blame too) is costing us alot of money in downtime. When it comes to my health (or life), I wouldn't depend on a system that is known to bluescreen. Receptionist: Well, until we can finish reformatting our system, we cannot bill your Insurance, so you must pay your bill in full today!
$cat
MacCentral has run a bunch of Forward Migration Kits for different industries. They ran one about medical management software about two years ago -- kinda dated, but it should give you a starting point:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
--Paul
if you find something, let me know. this medical billing is a real nightmare. i'm a physican, and have been out of residency for a few years. it's frustrating to find out how things work out in the real world.
for example, lets say i see a patient in the office, diagnose a problem, perform surgery, and follow up post operatively. i then submit a bill to the insurance company. they look at it, and will say my services were worth 1/2 of what i billed for, so here's the money.
i can also be sent to jail if i UNDERBILL the federal goverment. congress can also get a bug up there rear end, and change the medicare/medicaid laws, and retroactively audit your records with the new laws. you could have been within bounds with the older law, and could go to jail with the new laws.
mean while, i have my rent, and staff to pay. i've hired a person just to take care of my billing. nothing to do with medicine at all. my malpractice premium is doubling at the end of next month too. of course, the student loans are pending.
(seriously, if there is anyone out there thinking about medicine... think really hard. i love taking care of my patients, but the business side really sucks.)
the tough part of medical billing is to somehow distill the information in a medical record and provide the appropriate code to the insurance companies. medical records are now a financial document, rather than a medical or legal document.
of course, i thing the insurance companies want it to be confusing so they can milk every penny from both provider and patient. until that gets fixed, i see no solution.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
We used Medisoft--the Client/Server version (with 5 workstations and 1 server), and run it under Windows 2000 on all the PC's. This combination is very stable. Windows 95/98 is one of the major reasons for instabilities. The file sharing version of Medisoft is also not as stable as the client/server version.
You're being a little too harsh. I agree that the mentality of "Oh, throw some PHP and MySQL at it" is unrealistic-- even idiotic, at best-- but medical billing is not "rocket science", from a programming standpoint.
(I've worked "integrating" medical, dental, and eyecare billing software into many practices. It's just software. If anything, it's software that actually DOES very little.)
The hardest part I've seen, from the standpoint of watching Medisoft and others modify their software (over and over and over and over) appears to be getting the software to work flexibly enough so that offices "entrenched" in their antique "paper-based processes" are able to function with some degree of efficiency.
Have you ever looked at the drivel that passes for billing software for small offices? All of Medisoft's DOS versions were just flat-file ASCII! Their new "client server" 'doze versions are based on the Extended Systems "Advantage" database engine-- but it's still not that complicated. I haven't seen a package for the dental or optometric field that's much more complicated (albeit most of those apps bring charting into the mix, too).
For a small office, the "technology" isn't the issue. I would agree with your statement that medical billing is a "science in and of itself"-- if only because it's been made that way by idiotic regulation and the insurance industry-- but those are problems that need to be solved by a human operator-- not by a software application. The software part of the job just isn't that big of a deal in a small office. (Hospitals, very large practices-- there's a difference there).
Some of this is probably my angst built-up from actually working with people who administer and operate billing and coding operations. I've met people that were, effectively, trained chimps with a certificate from a community college that could just assure me that I couldn't possibly grasp the science that is medical billing-- as though it's simply beyond the capability of mortal men to understand. It doesn't, however, seem to be beyond the capability of middle-aged fat women in flowery gowns and white shoes.
(It's times like these that a good ol' "salt the earth" Free software project sounds like such fun!)
The Attitude Adjuster, I hate me, you can too.
      You can find an enormous amount of open-source, medical software at the VISTA and Hard Hats site. Some of the software apparently pertains to billing (see "integrated billing," about half-way down the page), but I cannot attest as to its quality or applicability to your needs.
Nearly all of the VISTA software is written in the Mumps programming language, with which comparatively few programmers are familiar these days (that's my impression -- I could be wrong).
A lawyer & digital forensics examiner. Also an expert on open source software (OSS).
and it smells like teen spirt
      Here's a description of the "integrated billing" module of the VISTA software.
A lawyer & digital forensics examiner. Also an expert on open source software (OSS).
SQL-Ledger is open Perl Web acctg software using PostgreSQL (or other transaction DB).
It doesn't have much for billing, but at least it has some accounting components to build on.
They're a company based out of Louisville, KY. I have a friend who works there. The software's pretty good from what I understand -- however, my view could be a bit biased. Call (800)542-0594 and talk to someone there.
The medical billing chunk of my company has grown over the years. We have developed a custom application with a Java front end and a Perl backend running on top of MySQL. The Java client provides progress note view and entry, treatment plan, prior authorization, patient chart, electronic billing, rebilling, etc for both online and offline mode. We were very careful to make sure all communication and even the offline data file is strongly encrypted. I know I wouldn't want MY medical data floating around the internet in the clear.
James
http://james.nontrivial.org
This message from Cliff and Irwin12 was forwarded to me by a friend. My name is W. Scott Child, and I work for a company called PCC (Physician's Computer Company) If you are looking for a software package that does far more than just billing, check us out. www.pcc.com Our software runs on an IBM e-Server running Redhat Linux. Feel free to fill out the information request form on our site and we'd be more than happy to send you an information package.
Thanks.
W. Scott Child
wscott@pcc.com
ww.pcc.com
The company that I work for has a product that is completely web native. Sold as a service to doctors, it's really on the cutting edge. It handles scheduling, patient information, insurance claim submission and much more.
Course, I work there, so I am a little biased. Check out more information here:
http://www.athenahealth.com
-There is the issue of deep governmental involvement (via Medicare, Medicaid, various odd state-government programs, and veterans administration/Champus).
-There is the issue of very strict and arbitrary laws. For a brief introduction, take a quick look at HIPAA, the Healthcare Information Privacy and Accountability Act. After that, have a look at the THOUSANDS of state and federal laws regarding healthcare financials. Bear in mind, I'm not talking about clinical regulations, I'm merely talking about the regulations regarding how you submit a bill and receive payment for services.
-Let's not forget about managed care (often called HMO's, but there are other kinds, too). Does anyone out there actually understand the specific rules that govern their own healthcare benefits? Here's a surprise for you: the doctors don't and can't understand them either, but they are required to follow those rules if they want to get paid for services they provide. And, these rules are often different for every different employee group benefit plan. Do you want your doctor more concerned about when and for whom he needs to submit prior referral authorization forms to which office of which insurance company? Do you think the doctor wants to worry about that? Do you think Quicken is going to tell them? Get real.
-etc...
And if you're thinking that, well, special billing cases really only influence like five to ten percent of a typical doctor's revenues, I've got news for you. Healthcare has huge overhead. Why is healthcare so expensive? Because it's so expensive to provide. If a doctor actually makes EVEN ten-percent margins, then he or she is a lucky, lucky doctor. If you get a really good billing service, and you're able to up your collections by a few percent, you've probably doubled your net profits. DOUBLED!
And for the guy who started this thread: you should check out athenaNet from athenaHealth (www.athenahealth.com). Briefly: It's a web-native billing service including software, but also including a lot of key services. These services include electronic eligibility checking, electronic claim submission, payment/denial posting and claim follow up. Another service that really sets it apart is the learning rules database. AthenaNet continually updates its own billing rules, learning how to submit cleaner claims. It is really in a class all by itself. The software runs in your web browser, so there is nothing to install. It's a subscription-based pricing model, so there are no huge up-front software license fees. Give them a look.