What s New in Lytec 2009 SP Correction: Diagnosis Codes Switching Places on the More Detail Window

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1 What s New in Lytec 2009 SP1 This service pack offers many new corrections, improvements, and enhancements to help you manage your practice. Some of the highlights include: Correction: Diagnosis Codes Switching Places on the More Detail Window Corrected an issue with the fifth and seventh Diagnosis Codes switching places on the More Detail window (Billing menu, Charges and Payments command, Detail button, More Detail command) after adding and saving the codes. For more information on this window, see the topic, More Detail Correction: Insurance Lag Report Calculation Modified a calculation for the Av. Days column on the Insurance Lag report. The report was returning inaccurate values in this column. For more information on this report, see the topic, Insurance Lag Report Correction to the Restore Function when Restoring Practice Data Modified the data restore routine to address a data access issue when restoring practice data. When completing a restore after first logging into a practice, the restore process would produce an exclusive access error message, resulting in the restore failing. For more information, see the topics, Backup and Restore Overview Modification to the Appointment Scheduler Calendar and Appointment Detail Window Corrected an issue with moving windows in the Appointment Scheduler feature (Activities menu, Schedule Appointments command). Moving the Appointment Detail window to another location in the Scheduler window resulted in the Calendar window displaying only one month instead of previous number shown before the move. The Calendar window and the Appointment Detail window now remain displayed if the main appointment window is minimized. You can move and resize both. Double-clicking the windows returns them to their default locations and sizes. You can also double-click the main appointment window to maximize its size in the available space. For more information on these windows, see the topics Appointment Detail Window and Calendar Enhancement to the Patient List Report Added the Billing Status code range to the Patient List report (Reports menu, Lists command, Patients command). Though the billing status code is primarily a feature used to track billing situations, the filter of the Patient List report offers you greater flexibility when analyzing practice data and another way to gather and track information that impacts your business practice. For more information, see Billing Status Codes and Patient List Report Appointment Scheduler Speed Enhancement when Running Eligibility Changed appointment grid refresh methodology. The application now uses new logic for handling the Appointment grid refreshes. This change improves overall data refresh/update speed, especially when running Eligibility.

2 14570 Correction to Data Handling on the Charges and Payments Window In some instances on the Charges and Payments window, the application would exit unexpectedly. This situation would sometimes occur after users printed insurance claims in the Charges and Payments window and then changed data elements on in the Detail Item grid, including adding an expired authorization code and then modifying other fields or adding/editing custom fields. For more information see the topic, Charges and Payments Window Practice Analysis Report COM Error Correction Corrected an error that occurred when running the Practice Analysis report. A COM error occurred when previewing the report with the Include YTD and MTD box and the Include Transactions Archive box selected. For more information, see the topic Practice Analysis Report Data Integrity Enhancement: Alphanumeric Data Entry Only for Key Fields Improved data integrity for key fields in Lytec by applying new logic that does not allow nonalphanumeric character entry. When you enter data in one of the key fields and save the record the system displays a message that calls out the name of the field and the type of data entry allowed (alphanumeric, a-z and 0-9 combinations). This enhancement also addresses records in the database that might have non-alphanumeric data in a key field. You can still find and access these records. Key fields in Lytec include the following fields accessed from the List menu: Patients window, Chart Number; Guarantors window, Chart Number; Providers, Provider Code; Insurance Companies window, Insurance Code; Transaction Codes window, Transaction Code; Diagnosis Codes window, Diagnosis Code; Hold Codes window, Hold Code; Notes Reminders window, Notes Reminder Code; Addresses window, Address Code; Laboratories window, Laboratory Code; Places of Service window, Place of Service Code; Patient Codes window, Patient Code; Patient Types window, Patient Type; Billing Status Codes window, Billing Status Code; Insurance Category 1 window, Insurance Category; Insurance Category 2 window, Insurance Category; Insurance Category 3 window, Insurance Category; Linked Transaction Lines window, Code; Appointment Reason Codes window, Reason Code; Location Codes window, Location Code; EDI Receivers window, EDI Receiver; Fee Schedule Types window, Fee Schedule Type Code; Fee Schedules window, Fee Schedule Code; A/R Management Tasks window, A/R Mgmt Task; and A/R Management Status window, A/R Mgmt Status Code. For more information, see the topic Data Entry and Removed Duplicate Fields from the Patient Window Removed the Mobile Phone and Home fields from the Patient window, Contacts tab. These fields conflicted with the same fields on the Patient window, Patient Information tab and resulted in the data not saving on the Contacts tab. For more information, see the Patients topic Workflow Enhancement: Removed Unnecessary Save Prompt Removed an unnecessary Save prompt in the Charges and Payments window when moving between patients various billings without making any changes. The application now only

3 prompts users to save a billing when moving to another billing if changes were made. For more information, see the Charges and Payments Correction: Patient Portion Field not Calculating on Billing Detail Search Window Corrected a calculation error in the Find Billing lookup window when in the Show Detail mode (box is selected) with the Patient Portion field added. The application now correctly calculates the patient portion in the lookup window when this field is added. For more information on adding a field to a lookup window, see the topic Edit Layout, and for more information on the lookup window, see the topic Find Billing Report Display Enhancement: Increased Viewing Window and Viewing Size of Previewed Reports Changed the initial settings for previewed reports to use the largest display frame possible (based on the size of the Lytec window) and the maximum supported magnification size reports display in the largest possible space and use the greatest level of magnification. This change applies to all reports and custom reports. For more information on previewing a report, see Print Preview Workflow Improvement to Pay Item Window Positioning Modified the application to remember and re-display the last position of The Pay Item window when users move the window to a location other than the default location. This improvement enhances workflow since the Pay Item window now stays in its location when moving from record or record or after closing and reopening the Charges and Payments window. For more information, see Pay Items Correction: Removed a Medigap Prompt from Appearing after Posting Secondary Payments Removed an errant Medigap prompt. This option, which is set in the User Preferences window, Insurance/Billing tab, Prompt button, was appearing when posting a secondary insurance payment in the Apply Insurance Payment window. If selected, the system now will prompt you after a primary insurance payment has been applied to the billing. When an insurance payment has been applied, a window will appear asking if you would like the program to make the necessary system entries for Medigap claims. If you click Yes, the system will automatically add a billing date to the secondary insurance claim. If you click No, the system will not add a billing date to the secondary insurance claim. For more information on this prompt, see the topic User Preferences Insurance/Billing Tab Workflow Enhancement: Apply Insurance Payment Window Automatically Displays the Appropriate Carrier Enhanced the application to initially automatically calculate and display the responsible insurance carrier when using the Apply Insurance Payment window. The behavior of the first Apply Insurance Payment window has not changed. The improvement appears on the second Apply Insurance Payment window after you select a record from the Patient list. The system now uses the patient s data to automatically calculate which insurance is responsible for the payment (if the primary has paid, then the secondary would be responsible, etc.) and display

4 this insurance carrier in the Insurance list along with bolding the carrier along the top for quick recognition. When determining the responsible insurance carrier, the application checks the whole system for any insurance payments (transaction code of IP) including zero dollar payments) made to date and uses this data to display the correct carrier. For instance, if an insurance payment or a zero dollar insurance payment for John Smith s primary carrier is entered in the system, when you open the Apply Insurance Payments window, John Smith s secondary carrier (assuming he has one) would be automatically selected. Note: for the automatic selection of the appropriate carrier with this feature, you need to enter a zero payment for a carrier if the carrier is not responsible or does not pay; otherwise the application would not default to the next responsible carrier it needs the record of a payment or a zero payment to move the responsibility to the next carrier. This enhancement is especially helpful for posting large secondary payments since you no longer will need to change the insurance carrier in the Insurance list for each patient. For more information on this feature, see the topic Apply Insurance Payments to Charges Modified Multi-Select Filtering Behavior when Using a Scroll Box Corrected a multi-select filtering data selection issue. In some cases when you selected a very large range of filter criteria using the scroll box to move from the first to last data element, the application on occasion would not include filter elements that were not displayed in the range. The term scroll box refers to the standard Windows element that sits between two scroll arrows on the side and bottom of windows in a various applications of an operating system. For more information on this filtering option, see the topic Multi-Select Filtering ERA Logic Correction for Handling Invalid Elements in the Billing Details Modified the ERA processing logic to better handle invalid data elements, such as invalid procedure codes. In some instances during the ERA posting process, if the system encountered an invalid data element, it sometimes was unable to post and then deleted the billing detail with the invalid data element. The modified logic now employs better data handling to avoid deleting invalid data elements within the billing details when posting. For more information, see the topic Remittance Processing Overview and Modification: Changed HL7 Messaging, Connection Methods, and Internal Logic for Communication Manager Updated the user interface, connections offered, functionality, internal logic, database tables, and HL7 message handling for the Communication Manager. The improved logic will streamline Communication Manager messaging when it sends patient demographic information to RelayHealth. The application also now offers a file-based connection method to RelayHealth. The Communication Manager Connection Edit window now features a new field, Partner ID. This value and the Practice ID, (both values are supplied by RelayHealth) are used for setting up the connection. Contact RelayHealth Support for more information on obtaining this value. The file-based connection method is now available for MediNotes and SpringCharts. The registration process for InstantDX was modified and changed to a one-click process. Communication Manager also now includes two new features, Bypass Synchronization Process

5 and Clean HL7 Tables. You can use the Bypass Synchronization Process box to initially disable the synchronization process. For most users this check box is not needed. Only use this feature if you are concerned about validating an initial connection between Lytec and the EMR application before using the feature in full scale production. Use the Clean HL7 Tables feature to clear all the various data tables where HL7 data is stored. This includes the trigger, message, and message data tables. Use caution when using this feature since it clears all HL7 data which results in data not being transferred. Consider using this function if you are adding an EMR but have been using Lytec for a much longer time period. In this case, you will have many unnecessary triggers that Lytec has stored in the database and if these are transmitted, it can result in your initial synchronization taking much longer than necessary. For more information on using Communication Manager, see the topics Create a Connection to RelayHealth to Send Patient Demographics, Create a Connection to MediNotes, Create a Connection to SpringCharts, Application Settings, and Connection Edit Window and Eligibility Update Logic Enhancement Enhanced system logic for handling eligibility system updates. This update streamlines the process by only checking for eligibility updates when and if necessary. For more information on eligibility, see the topic Eligibility Verification Overview Tutorial Data Now Converted to 2009 SP1 After installing the Lytec 2009 SP1 tutorial data, users will not need to convert the data Mixed NPI Now Supported for Lytec Eligibility This update includes an enhancement for individual providers that use the Lytec eligibility feature but have some payers that might require a group NPI number on claims and other payers that require an individual NPI number. This enhancement does not impact providers that already use Lytec eligibility and submit claims to all payers using either an individual NPI number or a group NPI number only mixed NPI environments will use this enhancement. Usually these payers (some commercial and government) require the group NPI number for individual practitioners because the business is organized as an LLC, LLP, PA, etc. Confirm with your payer what type of NPI number is needed. In past versions, the product did not utilize any type of logic that could easily accommodate a provider with an individual NPI number and a Group NPI number. This enhancement provides this missing flexibility via a new custom field you modify for a carrier based on the carrier s requirements. If you are an individual provider that uses Lytec eligibility and has carriers that require mixed NPI numbers (some require individual while some require group), you will need to create a custom field named EGRP: on the Insurance Companies window. For carriers that require group NPI, you will enter your group NPI number in this field. You do not need to remove your

6 group NPI number from the License tab. The trigger looks to this custom field first, and if there is a value in this field, it sends this value. If there is no value in the field, the system then looks to the individual NPI number on the License tab. For step-by-step instructions on setting up this feature, see Setting up Mixed NPI Numbers for Eligibility.