Balance forward?

Day-to-Day Users
#1

harleytuck wrote on Friday, May 01, 2015:

Let’s say I’m migrating a patient from my paper system to OpenEMR. Let’s
say I’ve created the new patient in OpenEMR and now I’m trying to
transfer her outstanding insurance and patient balances into her OpenEMR
account.

Seems like it should be straightforward but for the life of me I can’t
figure it out or locate instructions in the forum. Rather than waste
precious electrons describing all the things I’ve tried, I will just
ask, “how is it done?”
Regards- Harley

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#2

fsgl wrote on Saturday, May 02, 2015:

Are you able to write a .sql file to insert data into ar_activity/ar_session ?

Or a .csv file for the same purpose?

Suggest you do a dry run on the 4.2.0 Demo to see where each piece of datum fit into which column.

#3

aethelwulffe wrote on Saturday, May 02, 2015:

Give us an example of a data entry you would like to import.

If all you want are balances, then a kludge would be to create a starting balance billing item (a custom billing code type called ‘starting balance’), then input that into a fee sheet.

This is an item I think the folks working on the new billing management system should perhaps look into…

#4

harleytuck wrote on Tuesday, May 05, 2015:

Hi Art-

I just want to start a new pt’s record with a balance owed both by the pt and by their 1’, 2’ and 3’ insurance. It seems so simple and that it should be a common activity; I’m amazed it’s not common knowledge. And yes, I, too, hope the billing re-write project looks at this.

I have tried the ‘costom code on the fee sheet’ idea but that only puts the new negative balance in the insurance column. In the ‘payment’ module I’ve de-selected the copay and manually entered a negative amount as a pt payment on the encounter balance. Still goes to the insurance balance.

Interesting ideas, though, yours. I just now played around with directly altering the contents of ar_activity and I think it put the balances where I want them. That would tell me the csv import file idea might work. Need to double check what it does to the other billing processes, however.

Thanks, will get back after I muck about with it a little more.

Rgds- Harley

#5

htuckjr wrote on Tuesday, May 05, 2015:

Hi fsgl-
Yes, I know the sql to do that. And in the hypothetical case of migrating a large number of pts into the new system I’d want to build that import file.
More later- HT

#6

fsgl wrote on Tuesday, May 05, 2015:

Had a quick look at ar_session. If the numbers of the checks are not needed, that table can be skipped. Of course, just after saying that; a patient will phone, demanding to know why their check #1234 for $50 was never credited to their account, followed by embarrassed silence from the Front Office.

There should be no significant billing ramifications if EOB’s from all insurers have been received.

There is no Wiki documentation on this subject because the new user will not have, in most cases, the ability to construct the .sql file. Paper to EHR transfer is best left to developers. Most practices will neither have the skill nor the time to undertake such a big project.

If the new user is a DIY-er, manual transfer of patient demographics is the safer option. Often a practice will have a Practice Management Software for the AR stuff, even when they don’t have an EHR. It would be less stressful to maintain the old PMS alongside OpenEMR until all the old AR clear out.

Learning to use an EHR & coping with MU require a great deal of patience even in the absence of database disasters.

#7

harleytuck wrote on Tuesday, May 05, 2015:

Hi fsgl-

I appreciate your followup, you saved me a lot of effort. I’m mostly doing this as an educational proof of concept project. As you observed/ implied, it would be much easier, more practical and less error prone to just put new charges into OpenEMR and let the old paper system fade away by attrition, than to build spreadsheets and import them.

Thanks- Harley

#8

tmccormi wrote on Wednesday, May 06, 2015:

While that is true, it’s rarely what a practice that is moving over wants to do.

They usually want a “conversion” of balances moved into OpenEMR, which is not too hard. We typically just create an “CPT Code” call “BALFWD” and make an new encounter with the last payment date as the “encounter date” and the balance as the charge amount.

Doing the same thing manually would work fine and attaching a patient ledger PDF from the old system as an attachment doc would provide history.

–Tony

Recommended procedure for entering previous patient balances into OEMR?