Kareo Release Notes - August 2006
A new release of Kareo's web-based medical billing software has been deployed. Below you'll find the list of new features followed by a short description of each new feature. For more information about these features, please consult the online help or user manual. For software support, email support@kareo.com or call 888-775-2736 during our normal business hours of Monday through Friday between the hours of 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM PDT.
If you would like us to consider your priorities, feedback, or other ideas for the next major release, please send us an email at features@kareo.com.
New Features List
New Features Descriptions
Setup and Enforce Scheduling Rules by Reason and Location
Application: Medical Office
You can now use timeblocks to set up and enforce scheduling rules by appointment reason and location.
Start by setting up timeblocks that correspond to different scheduling scenarios (e.g. New Patients,
Established Patients, Do Not Schedule, etc). You can allow or deny overbooking by timeblock.
You can limit the schedule to a certain number of appointments per timeblock.
You can set up one or more permitted locations per timeblock. You can set up a timeblock to allow only
specific appointment reasons, deny only specific appointment reasons, or allow all appointment reasons.
Once you define the provider schedules using timeblocks, you can configure the system to enforce the
scheduling rules. Then if you attempt to schedule an appointment that does not comply with the rules
you have set up for your timeblocks, the system will prevent the new appointment and display a custom message
explaining why the new appointment is not allowed at the selected time.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Using the Appointment Scheduler >
Using the Timeblock Calendar located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Scan Documents from Any Fax Machine with kFax
Application: Administrator, Business Manager, Medical Office
kFax is an innovative new service that gives you the power to use any standard fax machine to
capture and scan paperwork directly into Kareo's integrated document management system. Use
Kareo Administrator to assign each medical practice on the system a unique kFax number (e.g. 949-555-1234).
This kFax number will be displayed in the Practice Home dashboard of the corresponding medical practice.
Then use any standard fax machine to fax paperwork to the kFax number assigned to the medical practice.
These faxes are received by Kareo's fax servers, converted into scanned documents, and automatically
loaded into the "New" documents list associated with the corresponding medical practice. Note: kFax is
available only to customers with an Enterprise Edition or Team Edition subscription.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Managing Documents >
Adding a Faxed Document located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Improved Downloading, Navigation, and Viewing of Scanned Documents
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Documents
There are a few improvements to downloading, navigating, and viewing scanned documents. First,
the system now downloads the pages of a scanned document incrementally for quicker loading. Second,
you can now view documents in a full screen mode by clicking the "Full Screen" button on the View
Document task or the Full Screen menu item in the Window menu. Third, there are several improvements
to the mouse and keyboard navigation of pages of a scanned document. You can use the "Ctrl +" keyboard shortcut
or the "Ctrl" plus left mouse button to zoom-in on pages of a scanned document. You can use the
"Ctrl -" keyboard shortcut or the "Ctrl" plus right mouse button to zoom-out on pages of a scanned document.
You can also pan the pages of a scanned document using the up/down/left/right arrow keys or by pressing the
left mouse key and dragging around the page.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Managing Documents > Using the Document Viewer
located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Improved Patient Activities with Filters and Reports
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Patients
The "Activities" tab of the Patient record has been redesigned to provide a better snapshot of a patient's
financial history with new filters and reports. You can show several different views of a patient's
history including Charges Summary, Transactions Detail, Recent Statements, Recent Appointments, Recent
Payments, and Recent Encounters. You can filter by case, date of service, provider, charge status,
or transaction type. Once you select a view and configure one or more filters, you can click the
"Print Report..." button to print a report of what you see on the screen. You can double-click any item
in the list to cross-reference the corresponding record. Finally, you can access Activities for a patient
more quickly by selecting the "View Patient History" item from the Patients menu.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Managing Patient Records >
Viewing Patient History located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Reprint Historical Paper Claims
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Patients, Claims
You can now reprint paper claims previously billed from the system. To do so, go to the "Activities"
tab of the Patient record. Select "Transactions Details" from the Show drop-down list. Then select
a transaction in the list corresponding with the original printing of the claim (e.g. "Printed paper
claim for date of service mm/dd/yyyy") and click the "Reprint Claim" button. The system will reprint
the claim as it was originally printed.
Important Note: In order to support claim reprinting, a change was made to the system to store a copy
of the claim as it was originally printed. As a result, you can only reprint claims that are originally
printed AFTER August 27, 2006 because the information necessary to reprint the claim was not previously
stored in your customer database prior to this release. Going forward, you will be able to reprint any
claim that is originally printed after this release.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Managing Patient Records >
Viewing Patient History located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Ctrl+S Keyboard Shortcut for Saving Any Record
Application: All
Area: All
You can now use the "Ctrl+S" keyboard shortcut to save changes to any record in the system.
Improved Organization of Clearinghouse Reports
Application: Business Manager
The clearinghouse reports have been re-organized to provide more information about the reports
as columns displayed in the lists. The tabs have been re-organized to group similar reports
into more convenient categories.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Working with Clearinghouse Reports
located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Auto-Populate Service Date, Batch # on Next Encounter
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
The service date and batch # fields are automatically copied from one encounter to the next.
This change saves a few keystrokes in entering similar information for the same batch of encounters.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Entering and Tracking Encounters
located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Select Service Line to Apply Copay
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
You can now select one or more service lines to apply a copay associated with an encounter.
Start by entering the copay information on the Encounter record. Then check the Copay box
next to one or more service lines to which you would like to apply the copay. Once the
encounter is approved, the system will automatically post a payment for the copay and apply
portions of the copay to the checked service lines, in order. Please note, you may need to
right-click on the columns of the procedures list and click "Customize" to add the new Copay
column to the list.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Entering and Tracking Encounters
> Entering a New Encounter located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Show Total Charges for Encounters
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Encounters
There are a couple of changes to the Encounter record related to charges. First, the procedures
list now shows separate fields for the "Unit Charge" and the "Total Charge" associated with
each procedure. Second, there is a "Total Charges" field which provides the total charges
for all procedures associated with the Encounter.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Entering and Tracking Encounters
located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Auto-Populate Post Date, Batch # on Next Payment
Application: Business Manager
Area: Payments
The post date and batch # fields are automatically copied from one payment to the next when
using the Save and New button. This change saves a few keystrokes in entering similar information
for the same batch of payments.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Posting Payments > Posting a
Payment Manually located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Customize Payer Scenarios List
Application: Administrator
Area: Settings
You can now add, remove, or change items in the Payer Scenario list associated with your
customer database. To modify the list of Payer Scenarios, click on Settings > Payer
Scenarios in Kareo Administrator.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Managing Settings >
Managing Payer Scenarios located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Disable Patient Statements by Payer Scenario
Application: Administrator
Area: Settings
You can now configure the system to disable sending patient statements for any charges
associated with specific payer scenarios (e.g. Workers' Compensation). To disable
patient statements for charges associated with specific payer scenarios, uncheck
the "Send patient statements?" box located on the Payer Scenario record accessible
from Settings > Payer Scenarios in Kareo Administrator.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Managing Settings >
Managing Payer Scenarios located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Disable Patient Statements for Specific Patients
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Patients
You can now configure the system to disable sending patient statements for any charges
associated with specific patient cases. To disable patient statements for charges associated
with specific patient cases, uncheck the "Send patient statements?" box located on the
Case record associated with any Patient record.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Managing Patient Records >
> Entering a New Patient Record > Adding Cases to Patient Record > Entering General Case Information
located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Payment Application Summary Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
The new Payment Application Summary report shows the total payments received and
applied over a period of time. You can filter by provider,
service location, department, insurance plan, insurance company, payer scenario,
payment type, patient, or batch #. You can show or hide information about
unapplied payments. You can also group or sub-group by provider, referring provider,
primary care physician, service location, department, insurance company, insurance
plan, payer scenario, payer type, payment method, and batch #. You can show columns for
Total Only, Months, Quarters, or Years.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Patient Summary Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
The new Patient Summary report shows the total patient visits over a period of time.
You can select totals by post date or service date. You can filter by provider,
service location, department, payer scenario, contract, batch #, or patient type (e.g.
All, New, Established). You can also group by provider, referring provider,
primary care physician, service location, or department. You can also sub-group
by provider, referring provider, primary care physician, service location, department,
insurance company, insurance plan, or payer scenario. You can show columns for
Total Only, Months, Quarters, or Years.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Improved Appointments Summary Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
There are a couple of changes to the Appointments Summary report. First, the report now shows
columns to display the timeblock and ticket # fields associated with appointments. Second,
there are now two different variations of the report. By default, the report shows a "Schedule Style"
of "Normal". However, you can also set the "Schedule Style" to "Fixed Time Slots" to show a schedule
with fixed timeslots and rows with a description of "--OPEN--" to indicate timeslots that are
open and available for new appointments.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Improved Payment Summary Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
The Payment Summary report has been re-organized to break out patient copays and
patient payments on account, and to total all patient payments. You can also now
filter the report by payment method and batch #.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Improved Payment Detail Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
The Payment Detail report now shows the reference # and notes fields. You can now filter
by payment method, payment type, or batch #. You can also show or hide the unapplied
balance.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Improved Account Activity Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
The Account Activity report now shows the patient ID and patient name fields.
You can select totals by post date or service date. You can filter by provider,
service location, department, payer scenario, revenue category, or batch #.
You can also group by provider, service location, department, or revenue
category.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Customizations for Key Indicators Reports
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
There are new customization options for all Key Indicators reports.
You can total all receipts by payments received or payments applied.
You can filter by provider, service location, or department. You can
group by provider, service location, or department.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Customizations for A/R Aging Summary Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
There are new customization options for the A/R Aging Summary report.
You can configure how to calculate receivables aging, either by last billed
date, post date, or service date. You can also filter by service location,
department, or payer scenario.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Customizations for A/R Aging by Insurance Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
There are new customization options for the A/R Aging by Insurance report.
You can configure how to calculate receivables aging, either by last billed
date, post date, or service date. You can also filter by provider,
service location, department, payer scenario, insurance plan, or patient.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Customizations for A/R Aging by Patient Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
There are new customization options for the A/R Aging by Patient report.
You can configure how to calculate receivables aging, either by last billed
date, post date, or service date. You can also filter by provider,
service location, department, payer scenario, insurance plan, or patient.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Customizations for Missed Copays Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
There are new customization options for the Missed Copays report.
You can now filter by provider, service location, department, payer scenario,
patient, or batch #.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Customizations for Payor Mix Summary Report
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Reports
There are new customization options for the Payor Mix Summary report.
You can now filter by contract and subgroup by contract.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Generating Reports >
Understanding the Reports located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Support for Family Planning and EPSDT Billing Scenarios
Application: Business Manager, Medical Office
Area: Patients
You can now bill for encounters associated with Family Planning or Early
and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) patient visits. You can
now check the "Family planning?" or "EPSDT?" boxes on the condition tab of case
records associated with patients. If you check either one of these indicators,
this information will be printed on paper claims in box 24h or included in the
appropriate fields for electronic claims.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Managing Patient Records >
Entering a New Patient > Adding Cases to Patient Record > Entering Patient Condition
located in the Online Help and User Manual.
New Timeslot Options for Appointment Calendars
Application: Medical Office
Area: Appointments
You can now configure appointment calendars to display 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, and 20 minute timeslots. To change
your appointment options, select the Appointment Options item from the Appointments menu.
For more information on this feature, refer to the help topic Using the Appointment Scheduler >
Customizing the Scheduler located in the Online Help and User Manual.
Enter Units for Mobile Encounters
Application: Practitioner
Area: Mobile Encounters
You can now enter units for procedures entered on mobile encounters using Kareo Practitioner. If you enter units on mobile encounters, the units will be synchronized and transferred correctly to normal encounters.
New Help Button on Navigation Pane and Toolbar
Application: All
All applications now feature a help button on the toolbar and shortcuts list within the navigation pane. Clicking either of these buttons will display Online Help.
Request Remote Assistance from Help Menu
Application: All
Area: All
If you have scheduled a remote screen-sharing session with a Kareo customer support specialist, you can select the "Remote Assistance" item from the Help menu as a shortcut to initiating your screen-sharing session.
New Behavior in Loading Lists
Application: All
Any task that shows a list of records will be displayed immediately, but you will now see a short pause while the system loads the items into the list. During this pause, the system will display a message at the bottom of the list that reads "Searching...".
Known Timezone Problems with Recurring Timeblocks
Application: Medical Office
Area: Appointments
There are known timezone problems with recurring timeblocks. If you view a recurring timeblock from a timezone different than the timezone originally entered, the recurring timeblock may show up incorrectly. However, as long as you setup and view recurring timeblocks from the same timezone, you will not have any problems. This issue will be fixed in the next release.
Other Software Issues Resolved