PracticeSuite Release Note

Product Release Version: 25.2.0
EHR Version: EHR-18.0.0

        Product Release Date: November 2024

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Printed November 2024 at PracticeSuite, Inc., 3206 Cove Bend Dr., Suite A, Tampa, FL 33613

Part 1- Key Product Enhancements

EHR

1.1 Lab Hub- Place Lab Orders Without Charts

Lab Hub simplifies the ordering process by eliminating the need for manually associating a chart to the order. The steps for the direct lab order method are summarized below. 

1. New ‘Order Lab’ Button: This button is at the top right-hand side of the screen next to Retrieve Lab Results. Clicking on this option opens a dedicated page for creating new orders.

2. Enter Order Details: Users can input the required information into the form, viz. patient, provider, service location, lab name, test needed, and relevant diagnoses.

3. Automatic Chart: An HL7-LAB chart is automatically generated in the background when an order is saved.

4. Send the Order: The user can click ‘Send Order’ to open the lab order form to review and submit to the designated lab.

5. Track and Edit Orders: All the saved orders stay on the pending list. Users can make the required edits from here. To submit the order, users can click on the ellipsis at the right and then click ‘Send’. All the submitted orders will be on the ‘Sent/Completed’ list.

Image 1.1

1.2 Charting – Level-2 Screen of ICD-10 Updated

1.3 Referral Management

The referral management module has been further enhanced with additional features and functionalities. The following are the new changes made to it.

A. Appointments: Users can now add new and follow-up appointments from the referral screen. To add a follow-up appointment, the chart should have originated via an appointment. If an appointment is not associated with a clinical chart, the option to add the follow-up appointment will be unavailable.

To schedule an appointment, click on the ellipsis at the right end of the referral listing. Please refer to Image 1.3a.

Image 1.3a

B. Upload Documents: Users can directly upload documents from the referral screen. All the uploaded documents are automatically attached to the referral (see Image 1.3b).

Image 1.3b

C. Provider’s Signature: Users can add the provider’s signature to referral letters. Use the tag #@PROVIDER_SIGNATURE#@ to populate the provider’s signature to the letter.

D. Facesheet: The facesheet will capture all the referral details associated with the patient. A separate section has been made available in the facesheet to display this information. Please refer to Image 1.3d.

Image 1.3d

1.4 Score Calculator in Flowsheets

1.5 Telemed

1.5.1 Background Customization

Hereafter, patients and providers can enable a custom background for their Telemed sessions. They can choose from a set of built-in images within the app or upload the image from their device using the ‘Add Background’ option. Please refer to Images 1.5.1a and 1.5.1b.

 

Image 1.5.1a

 

Image 1.5.1b

1.5.2 Telemed – Email Invitations

In addition to the text invite, invitations will be sent by email.

1.6 Disabling E-Signature

Users who prefer not to use the recently released e-sign feature for specific encounter sheets can turn it off from the EHR Admin page. To configure this, go to EHR Admin > Encounter Sheets. Select the relevant encounter sheet and check the option Exclude E-Sign and Lock.

Clinical charts created using the encounter sheets excluded from e-sign will not appear in the Pending e-sign list, on the Review Center, the signed/unsigned indicators in the Visit History, and any other screens where this is normally indicated.

Note: Hereafter, Lab HL7 charts will also be excluded from the pending e-sign list.

Image 1.6

Practice Management

1.7 Work Queue Enhancements

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the user experience, this edition of Work Queue has significant improvements to its look and feel.

A. The Work Queue now includes expanded search filters, with nearly all the filters in Collections Manager being made available in the module. Users can access these filters by clicking the filter icon next to the search field, which opens the full range of Work Queue search options (see Image 1.7a). This enables more precise and efficient search functionality within the Work Queue.

Image 1.7a

B. The Work Queue has been updated to restrict users to viewing only their assigned worklists, ensuring the worklists remain private and maintaining focus and attention to their tasks. Only supervisors and administrators can have access to all worklists. The supervisors ( designated Level-1 and Level-2 on the Teams settings screen) retain visibility of the overall user’s tasks and access to the Assigned To filter to view other users’ tasks.

C. The Unallocated and Need More Info Queue lists will only appear if the user selects the Show Unallocated checkbox under the More Filters section. 

D. A quick search box has been added to the left pane, allowing users to instantly type keywords to search for all items, including rules and worklists. The search results are organized and displayed under their respective headings, making it quick and convenient to locate specific items.

E. The priority headers on the left-side pane will be listed with colored badges corresponding to their priority, this visual enhancement makes it easier for users to identify and respond to high-priority items at a glance. The priorities will have the following color codes: Priority 1: Red 2: Orange 3: Blue 4: Dark Blue and 5: Green.

F. Rule headers will have  prefixed to the rule name.

G. The left pane can be hidden by clicking on the header.  Additionally, an expand and collapse option has been provided for all the levels in the tree structure, including a ‘Collapse All’ at the top.

H. To clearly distinguish between line status and sub-status, items with a status of HOLD will now be prefixed with Line Status, while line sub-statuses starting with HOLD_**** will be prefixed with Line Sub Status.

Image 1.7b

1.8 Charges and Claims

1.8.1 Claim Batch Generation

A change in the batching logic has been made to include service location as a criterion for the claims batching process. The batching structure was previously by LE, Receiver, and Insurance, and with this change, there will be further grouping by service location within the electronic file. Please refer to Image 1.8.1.

This change has been made to align with the requirement of certain payers to have service location-based segments appear within the electronic claim headers in the 837 file. This is an internal logic change and does not impact user experience.

Image 1.8.1

1.8.2 Changing Line Status from HOLD

Charges can now be moved from HOLD status to any other line status, enhancing flexibility in charge management. Previously, charges in HOLD status had to be reinstated to the line status they were in before they were changed to the hold status. This applies to charges updated from X-Superbill, Charge Master, and Claims Workbench.

1.8.3 Claim Validation

1.8.4 EDI Claim- Send Admission Date for POS 32

The admission date will now be included in the EDI (electronic) claim for place of service “32”. Admission dates will continue to be sent for place of service 21, 31, 51, and 61.

1.9 X-Superbill

1.9.1 X-Superbill Automation for Eligibility

A setting has been made available to enforce eligibility prechecks for automated charge processing. A new checkbox named Auto-Process Charges Only if Eligibility is Verified has been added under the billing options. This setting enforces the system to auto-process the charges only if a valid eligibility status response has been received through the automated eligibility checking cycle. If this option is not selected, the system processes all the charges regardless of their eligibility status.

Additionally, the field length of  Exclude Procedure Codes in the Billing Options screen has been increased for improved usability. Please refer to Image 1.9.1.

Image 1.9.1

1.9.2 New HOLD Bucket for Eligibility

After running through the eligibility verification cycle, all errored charges will be moved to a bucket named HOLD_ELIGIBILITY. The line sub status of the affected charges will change to HOLD_ELIGIBILITY and remain in the line sub status until a subsequent eligibility checking cycle receives a successful response.

Additionally, on the X-Superbill listing screen, charges with eligibility errors after they run through the overnight automated eligibility processing cycle will be marked with a red X for easier visibility (see Image 1.9.2). All error-free charges will be indicated with a green check next to the encounter. 

Please note that these indicators will not be functional for the eligibility checks made from the patient screen or other methods in the system. The eligibility indicators will work only if the eligibility checking automation has been enabled for the X-Superbill and the charges run through the automated eligibility cycle.

Image 1.9.2

1.9.3 Charges Import- Wizard

An import wizard has been made available for the front-end bulk charge upload feature rolled out in the last release. Similar to the fee schedule import, the charge import also has a two-step process and can be uploaded using a CSV file:

1. Step 1: The user uploads the system-compatible charge CSV file.

2. Step 2: The user can custom-map the fields in the file to the corresponding fields in the system to complete the upload process.

Once the fields are mapped, the user can click on ‘Import’ to upload the data to the system, and to have them appear on the X-Superbill screen. 

1.10 Payment Master-EOB Attach

Henceforth, users can attach an EOB file to a payment even if the payment falls in a closed accounting period. This change applies to both fully applied and partially applied payments.

General

1.11 IP Permission at Practice Level 

The new software update introduces a new practice-level parameter for regulating IP permissions. The setting allows the practice’s administrators to input individual IP addresses or a range of addresses.  The new field, Practice Allowed IP/IP Range, is on the Preferences screen as seen in Image 1.11a.

Administrators can enter single, multiple (separated by commas), or a range of IPs. To restrict access to a range of IPs such as 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.100, it has to be entered in the format 192.168.0.1/100.

Image 1.11a

Additionally, the remote access control screen within the user’s setup now includes an IP Range Alias drop-down menu. Selecting PRACTICE_ALLOWED_IP_RANGE applies practice-level IP permissions to the user. If the option is left at Select Range it works as previously, allowing the administrators to enter the specific IP addresses in the Public IP Address field.

If left empty, the user can access from any IP address without any restrictions.

 

Image 1.11b

1.12 2FA- Facility to Skip 2FA on a Device

Once the two-factor authentication (2FA) is enabled for a device by the user, the user can choose to skip the prompts for future logins from the same device. A checkbox labeled Trust this device is included in the popup, permitting access from the device for future logins without requiring secondary authentication. Please refer to Image 1.12.

2FA authentication that was previously available for individual logins has been made available for group/single sign-on logins in this release. The grace period to skip 2FA for an SSO user is preset to 15 days.

 

Image 1.12

1.13 Patient Demographics: Import Patient Data CSV

Similar to the recently released charge CSV upload, a feature for the patient demographics import has been made available with this release and has a two-step process. 

Step 1: In the first step, the user is prompted to upload the system-compatible demo CSV file.

Step 2: The user is then prompted to map the fields in the file to the corresponding fields in the system.

Once the fields are mapped, the user can click ‘Import’ to import the data into the system. The system will display a confirmation message with the number of records uploaded.

1.14 Document Scanner 

When using the scanner application within the Document Manager to scan new documents, the most recently used scanner will automatically default for the scanning.

1.15 ICD Repository Updated

The ICD repository has been updated with the latest codes effective from October 1st, 2024.

Reports

1.16 New Aging Report – ‘D16. Detailed- Patient Aging Report’

A new detailed patient aging report containing patient and encounter information has been added to Report Central and is named ‘D16. Detailed-Patient Aging Report’. 

* The offline reporting feature is available for the D16 report.

* Available Search Filters are Patient, LE, Provider, Aging Bucket, Statement Count, Patient Account Type, and Case Type.

Key Columns in the D16 Report
RP Code (Rendering provider code)	Last User Activity By
DOS	Last User Activity Date
POS (Place of Service)	Last User Activity Note
Service Location	Last Follow-Up User
Claim Date	Last Follow-Up Date
Claim #	Last Follow-Up Notes
Procedure Code
D1, D2, D3, D4 (Diagnoses codes)
Charge
Line Status
Balance
Payor Remark
Last Statement #
Age since Last Statement
Aging Since DOS
Aging Since Claim Date

Image 1.16

1.17 A/R Days – Patient Aging Reports

The following reports have been updated and will reflect the patient aging based on the patient’s a/r date (the date the encounter line was moved to the patient responsibility status) instead of the DOS or the claim date.

D3. Summary-Patient/Guarantor Balance and Aging Report

D4. Insurance Balance and Aging by Patient Report 

D7. Accounts Receivable Aging Report

D8. Provider Wise A/R Aging Report

D11. Aged AR (Insurance and Patient) by Patient Report

D12. Aged A/R (Ins. and Patient) by Payer Report

D13. Service Location Wise A/R Aging Report

J28. Procedure Aging by Financial Class

Part 2: Resolved Items

2.1 X-Superbill Alert

2.2 Patient Portal Payments- Service Location Info 

When payments were made through the patient portal they failed to reflect the service location. This has been resolved.

2.3 J1 Report Performance

The performance-related issue reported for ‘J1. System Financial Summary Report’ has been resolved.