Pacific Medical Communications, Inc.

Front Desk Operations Manual

1.Log In

2.Task.

3.Schedule appointment

a.Date and available times

b.Patient

i.For Existing Patient

ii.For New Patient

4.Check In

a.Confirm patient

b.Confirm patient admission (Check in)

5.Patient Demographics – General Info

6.Patient Insurance

8.Eligibility Check

9.Authorizations

10.Scan Document (e.g., Insurance Card)

11.End of Day reporting

12.Patient Payment

a.COPAY

b.Other Cash Payment by the patient

c.Receipt Report

13.Encounter

a.Add new encounters: e.g., Telephone Calls

  1. Log In

Type in your username and password

  1. Task

This feature allows SuperEMR users within the ImagingCenter to communicate messages with each other. When the task is completed, the Done button can be clicked and the task will disappear from the list.

  1. Schedule appointment

a.Date and available times

Select the day by clicking on the correct date on the calendar pad on the right hand side, if the day is different from today. Based on the requested type of procedures (e.g., Xray, CT, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, or MRI), click on the available time slot that is acceptable to the patient.

  1. Patient
  1. For Existing Patient

If this is an existing patient, select the correct patient by either one of the following selection methods:

  1. Type in patient MRN number. Select the patient and click OK.
  2. Type in patient’s last name. Select the correct patient and click OK.
  3. Type in the first or first several letters of the last name. Scroll down the list and select the correct patient and click OK.
  4. Select the letter corresponding to the first letter of the last name (e.g., John Smith – click S; All patients with last name beginning with S will show up). Scroll down and select the correct patient and click OK.

  1. For New Patient

The following fields are required for the demographics page:

  1. Last Name
  2. First Name
  3. Middle Initial
  4. Sex
  5. Date of Birth
  6. Telephone number
  7. PCP – Add PCP information if new [[Make sure the UPIN information is added for the new PCP]].

Click OK and continue to the next page. – Enter Insurance Information. – See Insurance Section.

  1. Check In

When a patient walks into the Medical Facility,

  1. Confirm patient
  2. If the patient is NEW, the demographics as well as eligibility have to be verified. Select the patient by clicking on the patient button.

Demographics: Click on the demographics button and make sure that all required fields must be entered.See patient demographics section.

Eligibility: Click on the eligibility button. Click on the Check Current button to get eligibility information based on the insurance information entered.

  1. Existing Patient - Patient Demographics validation – Select the patient and confirm if the patient name, DOB, Gender, PCP (referring physician) is correct.

If not, click on the Demographics view and correct as necessary. Update insurance information if necessary and scan in photo id if it is not already there.

  1. Confirm patient admission (Check in)

From the Front Desk screen, click on the check-in screen

Click on the patient name

Select/Confirm attending physician name

Enter co-payment amount if appropriate

Click OK and continue

  1. Patient Demographics – General Info

This screen can be accessed after a patient has been selected and the Demographics button on the left is clicked.

MRN number is a unique number identifying a patient within the system.

The staff should try to request for as much information as possible. All input (e.g. first and last names, telephone number, gender, date of birth ) should be carefully verified with the patient’s identification cards wherever possible.

PCP information should also be entered and use the NEW button to set up new ones as appropriate.

  1. Patient Insurance

All information on this page should be entered with care.

The default last name and first name, DOB, Gender, Address, Telephone information are the same as the patient’s. However, if the insurance coverage is under the spouse’s name, then the information has to be carefully copied from the insurance card.

Primary / IPA Original / Secondary
Medicare+Medical / Medicare / Medical
Medicare only / Medicare
Medical only / Medical
HMO / IPA name / Other Insurance Co.
Regular Primary + Secondary / Primary Insurance Co / Secondary Insurance Co.

SCAN A COPY (BOTH SIDES) OF THE INSURANCE CARD USING THE DOCUMENT/SCAN OPTION (Chapter 10)

  1. Patient Photo ID

The feature allows storing a scanned image of the patient photo id into the system. This replaces the need to make a Xerox copy of the id card.

To scan the id card into the system, do the following:

  1. Select the patient from the system.
  2. Click on the Demographics option
  3. Click on the Photo page
  4. Place the id to the right of the scanner
  5. Click the Scan button – the id card will go through the scanner and the patient id can be seen on the screen.

The photo id will help to confirm the identity of the patient in the examination room as well as when the patient returns.

  1. Eligibility Check

ELIGIBILITY CHECK IS REQUIRED FOR ALL NEW PATIENTS

CHECK ONE PATIENT ONLY

If eligibility check is only required for one patient (e.g., a new patient), the staff needs to first select the patient and then click on the eligibility option on the left hand side.

CHECK FOR A GROUP OF PATIENTS BASED ON APPOINTMENTDATERANGES:

If the insurance information is entered into the system correctly, the system can perform automatic eligibility check on the patient ahead of the appointment. The eligibility information can be accessed via the Eligibility option on the left hand side.

Mass eligibility can be executed by selecting the (appointment) date range, patient (all or already selected current patient as shown on the top of the screen), insurance carrier and click GO.

The status of each check will be shown on the far right column (OK or failed).

The actual eligibility can be viewed by clicking the entry under the HTML column.

  1. Authorizations

This is required for NEW PATIENTS.

Currently, the process is manual. Authorizations information can be entered into the SuperEMR system, via the Eligibility screen.

After selecting the patient’s chart, click on the eligibility option and then the authorizations button.

  1. Scan Document (e.g., Insurance Card)

This feature allows incorporating external documents (e.g., patient insurance cards, forms, faxes) to the system.

The functionality can be accessed via the Documents option on the right and then selecting the SCAN option.

  1. End of Day reporting

Reports can be accessed from the Front Desk menu. The report commonly used is the daily schedule. Additional reports may be added in the future.

  1. Patient Payment

Patient payment can be added to the system in several ways:

  1. COPAY

Patient copay for a visit can be entered at the check-in or check-out screen.

Check-in screen:

Check-out screen:

  1. Other Cash Payment by the patient
  2. Select patient
  3. Click on the Payment tab on the left column
  4. Select Payment type – e.g., Patient Paid
  5. Enter the values and payment form (e.g., cash, check, credit card)
  6. Enter Comments regarding the payment if appropriate.
  7. Click on the save button
  1. Receipt Report

Total cash receipt report can be generated by clicking on the Billing – Report – Receipt

Sample Receipt report:

Selection criteria for the report:

  1. Transaction date range (i.e. cash receipt dates)
  2. Patient

Also, patient’s alternate MRN will be displayed on the report if available.

  1. Encounter

Examples of patient encounters are office visits, telephone calls, minor office procedures, Refill request,…

  1. Add new encounters: e.g., Telephone Calls

Select a patient. Click on the Encounter tab:

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Pacific Image Communications, Inc. Front Desk Operations Manual (Updated 10/6/2018)