Articles

Healthcare IT News

A group of Japanese researchers has made a significant contribution to the use of Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) software. They have revealed and described a way how the CAD software can help quantify pulmonary fibrosis in lung cancer patients. The findings are published in the Radiology journal.

Meanwhile, we have released a useful feature to save your time and improve the efficiency of your team.

[#18760] Copy diagnoses in Service Edit window

If you deal with services consisting of multiple studies, there’s good news. Now you can save the time you spend on entering the same diagnoses for several studies. Click the Copy button to the right of the Diagnosis field, and the system will automatically copy all the diagnoses to the rest of the studies if their Diagnosis fields are empty.

Healthcare IT News

If you’ve been following industry news, you have probably noticed that AI is becoming extremely popular in medical imaging. Last week Chinese researchers published their findings on improving an AI algorithm, which detects pulmonary nodules.

Another rapidly developing field is healthcare business automation. This week EMSOW developers have created a dedicated portal for nurse practicioners and physician assistants.

[#18663] Rendering Provider portal

To improve EMSOW’s usability for clinical practitioners, we have created the Rendering Provider portal. Here, you can create studies in order to save the results of your work with patients. By clicking the “Edit worksheet” button, you can add notes to the studies based on customizable templates. User-friendly search filters allow you to filter the studies by any criteria, from the date of service to the patient’s or doctor’s name. To get yourself set up with the new module, please contact EMSOW support at support@emsow.com.

[#18017] Referring accounts and insurance groups in reading and billing Rules

Previously, there was no functionality for adding referring accounts and insurance groups to Reading and Billing rules. We have added the corresponding conditions to the Reading Rules and Billing Rules modules, and also added search filters for these conditions.

Moreover, now you can select, add and remove the conditions as easily as never before. Just click the icon to the right of the Conditions section and use the dropdown menu.

Medical imaging news

IT and Artificial intelligence are strengthening their presence in the imaging industry. Last week researchers at the American College of Radiology reported their findings on improving the AI algorithm of thyroid nodules risk stratification.

This week EMSOW team has been working on optimizing automation and user-friendliness of our system.

[#18639] Automatically send images for reading upon preliminary report completion in Processing

Previously, reading rules were not automatically triggered when you used the Processing module to complete a preliminary report, unlike the PACS Storage and Technologist Portal modules. Now the system automatically sends images for reading upon clicking the “Complete preliminary report” button in any module, given that an applicable reading rule exists.

Medical imaging news

News from the Society of Magnetic Resonance Radiographers & Technologists (SMRT). MRI has shown that even a small amount of cannabis causes changes in the adolescent brain.

As for EMSOW, our recent update is aimed at improving your reports so that you could present your findings in the best possible way.

[#18635] Additional signature in report addendums

From now on, amended reports from reading doctors will include an “Amended by” line specifying the name of the doctor who amended the report.

News of the World

Hello World!

One of the most important industry news of the last two weeks is FDA’s new instruction regarding reports about the problems associated with the use of Rubidium-82 generators (for details, please refer to the official FDA release).

As for EMSOW, we have released a line of essential upgrades to improve the transparency and efficiency of your business.

EMSOW Release

[#18550] PACS Package Manager
We have created the PACS Package Manager module for packing DICOM files and burning CD/DVD discs, which increases EMSOW’s user-friendliness and improves your efficiency. Now you can manage all your PACS archives and ISO files in one module.
We have replaced the DICOM package queue panel with a convenient notification system. Now, you can save plenty of time, since you don’t have to monitor the queue and wait until your archive is ready. Instead, you will receive a pop-up notification with a download link, no matter which module you are currently viewing. To learn more about this feature, please refer to our updated manual.

[#18344] Audit log in the Processing Module
We have increased the transparency of services processing by adding an audit log feature to the Processing module. From now on you can track who and when sent the services for reading and billing. This information is available in the History section of the Processing module.

[#18587] Delivery log in the PACS Storage
We have improved the delivery log feature in the PACS Storage. By clicking the “Delivery log” button, you can see who and when sent images from your PACS Storage to an external PACS system.

[#18505] Edit notes in Billing Rules
If you are dealing with many users and multiple billing rules, there’s good news. After changing a billing rule, the user is now prompted to add a note and explain why the rule had to be changed. Go to the Setup menu and select Billing Rules in the Rules dropdown menu to take a look at the improvement (you need permission to access this section). This new feature increases usage transparency and helps you avoid confusion, no matter how many rules and users you’re dealing with.

[#18608 ] Improved header in the Billing module
The header pane in the Billing module contains a lot of useful information. Now you can hover the mouse over any displayed value to see its description. From now on, your employees will not get confused when they want to calculate totals at the end of the month. Moreover, you can now turn on and off the display of particular values.

[#18265] Improved interface for entering CARC & RARC codes
Now some good news for your payment posting team. We have increased the usability of the posting interface by replacing the CARC and RARC dropdown box in the “Post transaction” window with a dialog where you can enter these codes faster. This option is essential since sometimes you have to enter over ten explanation codes for one transaction. With this option, your posting team will get more efficient.

[#17882] Increased stability of the PACS storage
We have increased the stability of EMSOW’s PACS Storage module. Previously, the system might return an error when you used the “Received from” search filter. Now we have eliminated this bug.

Hello, world!

A week ago, radiologists in China found a 13 cm spoon in a woman’s duodenum. She accidentally swallowed it when she tried to remove a fishbone out of her throat. Luckily, the spoon was timely extracted.

And if you need to improve your turnaround time, we’ve got something new for you.

[#18551] Automatically change service status and auto-assign a technologist

When a technologist attaches images by dragging and dropping study tiles in the Technologist Portal, the system automatically changes the service status from “Scheduled” to “Performed”. Now your scheduling managers can save their time since they don’t need to manually change the service status prior to image upload—the system recognizes the status change on its own!

In addition, if the service was not assigned to the technologist, the system assigns him or her to the service (given that their user account is linked to the particular technologist account), so that their name appears on the final report.

Hello, world! First, some insurance facts. Did you know that alien abduction insurance in the USA exists since 1987, Gene Simmons from the Kiss band has insured his tongue for $1,000,000 (quite reasonable!), and Starbucks pays for their employees’ insurance more than for their coffee? As for EMSOW’s insurance and billing sections, this week we have completed a new feature to improve your claims management, as well as another useful option. Both upgrades were suggested by our customers!

EMSOW Release

[#18071] Void claims resubmission

Claims management is gradually becoming more complex, and EMSOW team is keeping up with the ever-changing business environment. Now, you can resubmit claims not only as original or replacement claims, but also as void claims. To use this option, double-click on the needed service, hover the mouse pointer over the electronic claim that you need to resubmit, click on the Resubmit icon, and select the claim type in the Resubmission code field. The void claims contain 8 in Box 22 of the 1500 form.

[#18495] Disable auto-assign and auto-send upon the completion of a preliminary report

We have increased the versatility of EMSOW’s workflow for imaging technologists. Previously, the system would always assign a reading provider and send studies for reading automatically, immediately upon the technologist’s completion of a preliminary report. We have added an option to disable the automatic reading assignment, which allows you to have more control over your workflow. If you want to modify your setup, please contact EMSOW support: support@emsow.com.

Tech News Digest

What’s up, Doc?

A week ago a Charity group called University of the Underground launched a series of audio releases recorded on X-ray film. The project attracted the iconic artists and lecturers: Massive Attack, Sigur Rós, Noam Chomsky and many more.

Great way of X-ray film utilization (although not quite new).

However, if you are going to send your x-rays for reading and billing, instead of engraving your new album on them, the latest EMSOW upgrade is just what you need.

EMSOW Release

[#18400] Auto-assign reading doctors to externally read exams

We have increased the versatility and automation of EMSOW billing features. If you send exams to an external reading facility, you may not always know which doctor will interpret them. This poses a problem for billers if they need to use a specific doctor’s NPI to bill for the externally read exams. Now EMSOW can assign certain doctors to such exams based on the reports received from external systems. EMSOW analyzes the report, automatically retrieves the reading doctor’s name and assigns the doctor to the corresponding study. With this upgrade, your billers will not have to open each received report and check which doctor provided it—they can proceed straight to claim generation!

For this functionality to work, the external reading doctors have to be added to the Reading Doctors module beforehand. Please contact EMSOW Support if you wish to set it up.

[#18425] PDF images and report template on the same screen

The reporting module in EMSOW has become more user-friendly! Previously, medical images in PDF format (such as EKG sheets) could be viewed in a separate browser tab only, so reading doctors had to switch between the tabs over and over again while working on their reports. With this upgrade, you can work with the PDF images and report template on the same screen, which saves your time and streamlines image interpretation:

Here’s a quick tip on how to enable this functionality: click Preferences in Physician Portal and select Show study documents. By the way, this EMSOW improvement was suggested by one of our customers!

Hi folks!

This week Apple has announced that the new AirPods will look the same as the previous model. Meanwhile, our team has added a couple of updates to EMSOW.

[#18203] Detailed error descriptions in the Reports Delivery Tracking module

Many doctors prefer receiving their reports by fax. Fax delivery may fail for multiple reasons, e.g. the fax machine did not respond, the line is busy, a voice answer was detected.

Previously, EMSOW informed about the failure, but did not inform about the failure reason, which hampered troubleshooting. With this update, you can hover your mouse pointer over the “failure” label in the Reports Delivery Tracking module to see a detailed message about what happened.

[#18260] Purchased service charge excluded from account balance

Due to a bug, EMSOW used to add purchased service charges to the balance of procedures. We have fixed the bug, and now these charges are only added to claims as an informational field (Box 20 of the HCFA form) and do not affect the balance. You can still see the purchased service charges as transactions in the Billing information window.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18351] Print the assigned billing company information on account statements

Previously, the system always printed the default billing company information in the upper-left corner of an account statement. With this update, we made it possible to print the information of the company that is assigned to the study. If you wish to enable this functionality, please contact EMSOW Support, and we will check your settings.

[#18352] Print the rendering provider name on account statements

One more update to the account statement form: it is now possible to include the rendering provider name.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18252] Post recoupments without forwarding balance

We have created a new option for manual recoupment posting. If an insurance company has overpaid for your services and wants to draw some money back (instead of the total payment amount), you can manually post a negative amount, different from the previous payment. Your posting team will love this new feature, that’s for sure!

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18328] Ordering facility as a condition in billing rules

Now you can select an ordering facility while configuring a billing rule — the new condition “Ordering facility” has been added.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18309] NPPES integration

EMSOW is now integrated with the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). This means that whenever you add or edit a doctor or organization, EMSOW can automatically look up the NPI, address, and taxonomy codes in the NPPES and fill out the corresponding fields. This applies to referring facilities, referring doctors, reading facilities, reading doctors, rendering providers, and billing companies. In order to perform a lookup, click the NPPES lookup button in the editing window. If the button is not yet available to you, please contact EMSOW Support to request access.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18297] New data entry statistics feature

If you have a dedicated data entry team and wish to track their work progress, there’s good news. We have added a new menu command to the Processing module: “Mark as” → “Processed study.” By clicking this command, a user indicates that he or she has processed selected services. Managers can see which services have been processed by a specific user by using the “Processing” filter group in the Billing module.

[#18266] Patient lookup dropdown fix

We have applied a small layout fix to the patient lookup dropdown menu in the “Edit service” window to make sure the patient’s date of birth fits in the menu.

[#18307] Export Data From Clearing

We have fixed a bug that prevented users from exporting data from the Clearing module.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18253] Taxonomy Codes Reference

Previously, taxonomy codes for reading facilities and other entities were entered as free text, which might cause human errors. In this update, we added a reference table for taxonomy codes and replaced the free-text fields with drop-downs.

[#18287] Ability to send images from a specific AET

We have added a new option for external reading facilities. Now you can specify which AE the system should use when communicating with an external DICOM server. Go to the “Send options” tab of the reading facility properties and set the “Send from AET” option. The list of available AE titles is configured under Setup → PACS → PACS Clients. If you leave the “Send from AET” selection blank, the default PACS server will be used.

[#18148] Facility Billing Improvements and Fixes

We have improved several EMSOW features for facility billing.

We have added the “Auto fill” button to the Payer Assignment module, which allows you to auto-fill billing information for selected exams, based on billing rules. On the left sidebar of the module, you now have a checkbox that allows you to show only those exams that do not have billing information filled. Another new checkbox allows you to show only those exams that have not yet been invoiced.

Besides, we have added a clickable service ID link to every exam, which opens the Processing module. This link is available both in the Payer Assignment module and the “Edit invoice” window.

Also, the system will not anymore print “$0.00” in the “Savings” column of an invoice if the savings amount to zero – the space will be left blank.

[#18258] Increased Speed of Statistics Module

Before this update EMSOW might take some time to count and display studies in the Statistics module. We have optimized the module so that it displays data quicker.

[#18223] Jump to the Wholesale tab in Processing from other modules

Previously, the “Wholesale” tab of the Processing module did not open when you jumped to Processing from another module, such as Billing or PACS Storage, by clicking a service ID or A/N link (the system would always open the “Retail” tab, regardless of which tab the service was under). We have fixed this annoying bug.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#17784] Monthly Reconciliation Report Improvements

We have improved our Monthly Reconciliation Report by adding the following new columns:

• The count of studies flagged as “no read”
• The percentage of studies for which payments have been collected
• “Open studies” (the difference between the count of billed studies and the count of written off and collected studies)

With the extended EMSOW report, you have better control of your financial inflows.

[#18235] Replicating Checks with the Same Number

Payment checks that have the same control number can now be replicated between EMSOW domains. This new feature eliminates replication errors associated with checks for our customers who use multidomain configurations.

[#18245] Aliases for Study Groups

It is now possible to add aliases to study groups. Go to the Tests section of the Setup menu and select Study Groups. Here you can edit the needed study groups and add aliases to them. This feature may come useful for customers who use 3rd party integrations with EMSOW and receive data from external systems, such as EHRs.

[#18144] Extended Default Settings in the Standard Domain Configuration

From now on, the standard domain configuration includes the “performed,” “scheduled” and “canceled” service statuses. Thus, we have streamlined the process of creating new domains for our clients who deal with multiple domains.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18160] Improved performance of the Clearing Module

Previously, queries in the Clearing module did not run fast enough to process large amounts of data. This was especially critical for large medical businesses that deal with huge financial flows daily. In this update, we have increased the speed of the queries and improved the stability of the module.

[#18183] Option to reduce CLM01 length for certain payers

The default length of the CLM01 segment (Patient Control Number) in electronic claims has been recently reduced to 20 symbols [#18023]. We have found that certain payers require this segment’s value to be even shorter and made it possible to change the length of the segment for them. Go to Setup → Insurances → double-click the needed payer → open the Billing tab, and change the “CLM01 length” option as required.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18174] Make any file types available in Physician Portal

Good news for providers who pay attention to each and every small detail. We have made it possible to make any file type available to Physician Portal users. Go to Setup → Processing → File types and select the “Show in physician portal” checkbox for the required file types. Now your providers can get as much information from your paperwork as they need.

[#18186] Send claims without Rendering Provider IDs to certain insurances

Billing connectors have the “Include rendering provider” option, which enables the adding of rendering providers’ NPIs to box 24J of the 1500 form. We have made it possible to turn this option off for particular insurances by adding the “Include rendering provider“ checkbox to the “Billing” tab of the “Edit insurance” window. The new checkbox is selected by default.

[#18153] Print requisition forms from Billing

We have developed a printer-friendly requisition form. To use this feature, go to the “Print” menu in the Billing module and select “Requisition form.” If you need to customize the content of the form, please contact EMSOW Support and provide a template.

[#18152] Medical Necessity drop-down list

We have added a new drop-down list to the “Edit service” window in the Dispatch module, “Medical Necessity.” Mobile X-ray and ultrasound providers can use this drop-down to indicate the reason why an exam has to be performed portably. Possible reasons are set up under Setup → Processing → Medical necessity. The selected reason can be printed on the requisition form [#18153].

[#18167] Apply report design rules to template-generated pages only

EMSOW allows reading doctors to create reports for PDF-based studies, such as ANS and NCV, by using a template as the beginning of the report and attaching the original PDF to the end of it. Thus the final report contains both the doctor’s conclusion and the technical report generated by the diagnostic machine.

From now on, you can use report design rules to apply a custom letterhead to such reports by using the “Apply only to reports” checkbox in the “Edit report design rule” window. If this checkbox is selected, EMSOW will apply the letterhead only to the doctor’s conclusion generated from the template and leave the technical part of the report untouched.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18107] Add notes to referring facilities

We have added a new field to the referring facility edit window (Setup → Referring → Referring Facilities), in which users can leave text notes. You will find this feature useful if you deal with many referring facilities and need to add comments to their records.

[#17878] Improved preliminary reporting

We have improved the stability of the preliminary report feature and fixed some bugs in it. Now the preliminary report tab closes immediately after a technologist clicks the “Complete preliminary report” button (formerly “Save preliminary report”). This ensures that the report is properly saved and no duplicate files are created.

[#17930] Removed date of service restriction from Physician Portal

Previously, the default “Date of service” range in the Physician Portal was set to three months. Some of our clients found it inconvenient, especially when they had to deal with older cases that were sent for comparison. We removed this restriction for the “Pending” queues.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18031] Improved Messaging in the Report Tracking Module

Previously, when a user sent an inquiry regarding a report delay from the Reports Tracking module, the system needed the reading doctor’s email, otherwise, it returned an error. From now on, if the reading doctor’s email is missing, EMSOW will use the email of the reading facility, thus increasing the chance of receiving feedback from the responsible party.

[#18079] Notifications in mobile app

From now on, when the status of an exam is changed, mobile app users will receive a push notification. We believe mobile technologists will take advantage of this feature to efficiently manage their schedule on the go.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve! You are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Dear customers!

This week EMSOW has received a stability update to improve overall service performance.

Among other things, we have improved our phone-based clock-in system and its voice messaging functionality [#18092].

EMSOW can serve as a convenient clock-in system for your employees: all they need to do to check-in is dial a dedicated phone number and record a short message. You can listen to the recorded messages and track your employees’ hours using the Employees Time Tracking module.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve!

Dear customers!

We are glad to inform you that a new version of EMSOW has been released this week.

[#18053] Post payments as received via a collection agency
We have extended the range of options for payment posting. Now, when you are posting a payment, you can mark it as received via a collection agency. In order to do so, select the “Via collection agency” checkbox in the “Post payment“ window after selecting “Patient“ in the “From“ drop-down list. You can also mark a payment as received from the patient by selecting the “Via pt. payment” checkbox.

[#18034] Confirm a dispatched exam from the mobile app
Previously, to confirm an exam, technologists had to use a confirmation link received by email. From now on, they can confirm the exams sent from the Dispatch module by using our mobile app. Tap and hold on the exam in the Resident Visit List (RVL), and then tap the “Confirm” button at the bottom of the screen.

[#18062] Fixed a bug with denied in-patient claims
We have fixed a bug associated with in-patient claim denials. The REF*D9 segment is now reported in the 2300 loop after the DTP*435 segment in electronic claims.

EMSOW appreciates your feedback. Found a bug? Contact EMSOW Support and help us improve!