Kay
Kelley
Patient
Accounts Manager
Nancy
Rogers
Patient
Accounts Representative
Nancy Rogers and Kay Kelley are in charge of patient accounts
at Heart Consultants, the practice for cardiologists Dr. Gregory
Reddish and Dr. Robert Brockie. To keep up with the high demand of
patient accounts, they started using WinMedStat in April 1999.
Heart Consultants decided to use WinMedStat because of the
excellent referrals given to them by other physician’s offices
in their building.
“We
were using another program before that was not very user
-friendly. It was a UNIX system, and we were only able to use it
for billing,” says Nancy. “WinMedStat can do many functions.
We are able to use it for word processing, appointment scheduling
and billing. Eventually, we are aiming to keep patient’s medical
history in the system. It’s also convenient to close and open
several windows to work on multiple tasks at once. You don’t
have to complete an entire function to move on to something
else.”
Since converting to WinMedStat, Kay and Nancy have noticed many
advantages to the system. “The WinMedStat system does the job of
multiple people,” says Kay. “Nancy was out for about six to
seven weeks, and I was able to handle everything on my own because
of the system.”
“WinMedStat makes everything so easy. Upgrades to the system can
be done by modem. We are able to run financial reports and patient
reports that are complete and easy to understand. Insurance claims
can be sent electronically over the THIN network, but they can
also be printed out and mailed,” says Kay.
What about compliance with Y2K? “That’s what is so great about
WinMedStat. It is Y2K compliant,” says Nancy.
The program can also be used to back up records. “To create back
up files, we just stick a tape in at night, and the program
generates reports overnight. The old system would have to be keyed
up 30 minutes before you needed a report generated,” says Nancy.
Was the WinMedStat system easy to learn? “Yes, we had a
WinMedStat staff person come out here, and one day they walked us
through the billing process and the next day, we went through
appointment scheduling,” says Nancy. “Whenever we have
problems or a question, WinMedStat is more than happy to help.”
Charlotte
Lancet
Office
Manager, Diagnostic Medical Associates of North Texas
Managing a doctor’s office with multiple doctors can be
difficult, but when each doctor operates as a separate
practice, it can make billing and scheduling a nightmare.
The MedStat system has made what could be very confusing a
breeze for Charlotte Lancet, Office Manager for Diagnostic
Medical Associates of North Texas, a group of internal
medicine physicians.
“In
1991, we went to a computer-based system. I looked into different
program options, and because I heard so many other physician’s
offices raving about how wonderful MedStat was, I didn’t feel I
needed to look any further,” says Charlotte.
In the eight years she’s been using MedStat, Charlotte has found
many advantages to the program. “We started out with one doctor,
one nurse and me as the office manager. When we added doctors and
nurses to the practice, we didn’t need to add any office staff,
because MedStat made the administrative duties so
uncomplicated,” says Charlotte. “Now we have three doctors and
three nurses, and only two administrative people are needed. If we
didn’t have a system like MedStat, we’d have to have at least
two additional administrative staff members.”
“MedStat allows you to send claim forms through the THIN network
through a modem connection, but it also lets you print them out if
you need to mail them in to the insurance company. This makes the
paperwork a lot simpler.”
How easy is to learn the MedStat system? “Considering the only
thing I knew about the computer is where to turn it on, the
WinMedStat system has proved to be very easy for me to learn.
WinMedStat provided our office with excellent training. Someone
spent two days with us, walking us through the basic system with
different appointments and billing functions,” says Charlotte.
“Anytime we needed a new function added to the system, we called
WinMedStat, and they made the upgrade.”
“We are upgrading to WinMedStat very soon. This new system will
allow us to close a window without having to finish a particular
function. For example, if a patient is paying out, we have to go
through the whole billing function in the MedStat program.
However, in the new WinMedStat program, we could close out the
window and move to a different function or to the billing
information of another patient.”
“Another thing the new WinMedStat system will allow us to do is
when a insurance company sends us a check for multiple patients,
we can go to each patients file, enter in how much the insurance
company paid on that patient, and the amount will automatically
deduct from the original group check. This will make it less
confusing, and we can keep track of the amount paid on each
patient very easily.”
Jennifer
Peek
Office
Manager, Dr. Elizabeth Kerner, Plastic & Reconstructive
Surgeon
Today, it seems as if the impersonal corporate business
world dominates society. Rarely do you find personalized
customer service. However, Jennifer Peek, office manager for
plastic surgeon, Dr. Elizabeth Kerner feels differently. She
has found that WinMedStat has been the best choice of
software for practice management. "If I could do it all
over again, I'd still go with WinMedStat," she says.
"The conversion to the system was easy, and the
training and support I received was excellent."
"With
our previous program, I would call for customer support, and it
would take me forever to even get to talk to a human being. There
is really no comparison to WinMedStat out there. I can't think of
one system that comes close. Even if a system was comparable, we
would not have the excellent service that we have with WinMedStat.
They have never left me hanging."
"I was actually going to go with another program when I
decided to make the transition to MedStat in 1992," Jennifer
says. "WinMedStat asked if they could come out and
demonstrate the product for me. MedStat could do everything and
more than the program I was looking at for half the cost."
"I belong to a society for office managers at Presbyterian
Hospital Plano. Once a month, we have a round table discussion,
and I always hear the other office managers complaining about
their practice management systems. I can't complain because I love
our system," Jennifer says.
"In November of 1998, we upgraded to the WinMedStat program,
a Windows-based system, rather than the old DOS system. We can
toggle between windows to complete different tasks and functions.
It's really great to work on multiple things at once, and not lose
your place or get confused with what you are doing. The program is
very user-friendly."
The WinMedStat system also has many checks and balances. "You
can get your claims ready to send in, and the system checks them
to make sure everything is correct. This saves me so much time in
working with rejected claims. WinMedStat was the first to get
established with the Texas Health Information Network (THIN). This
has allowed us to send claims electronically to the insurance
companies for free."
"Also WinMedStat makes queries and reports a breeze. You can
search records by last name, first name, social security and the
procedure performed on the patient. We are able to pull up reports
of the different procedures done within specific time frames. The
system just makes our work so much easier. If it were not for
WinMedStat, we would need at least two more administrative people
if not more. If you ask me, choosing WinMedStat was a
no-brainer."