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Post by KizerOpt on Jun 7, 2016 14:21:51 GMT -6
I just got off the phone trying to explain a statement to a patient, and I had to admit to her that our invoices don't make sense. I thought I was doing well, then I tried to show her that the Ins Tot Column is a running total, but beyond the 2nd line it isn't. See the example below. Line 1 plus line 2, minus the Discount is ok. Then line 3 added, minus the discount STILL equals the same amount. No wonder the patient is confused! We have had multiple complaints about the invoices/statements being hard to understand. I know several of us on the forum have requested a cleaner invoice. The patient today even suggested that we find a new software vendor that could make better invoices. I was embarrassed today and it took 30 minutes out of my day to explain the charges and payments to her. Can't anything be done to improve this part of CPM?
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Post by gracecrystalpm on Jun 7, 2016 15:24:06 GMT -6
I'd be happy to help make some modification to your custom invoice and see. Worth a try?
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Post by mdeyedoc on Jun 7, 2016 19:00:12 GMT -6
I just got off the phone trying to explain a statement to a patient, and I had to admit to her that our invoices don't make sense. I thought I was doing well, then I tried to show her that the Ins Tot Column is a running total, but beyond the 2nd line it isn't. See the example below. Line 1 plus line 2, minus the Discount is ok. Then line 3 added, minus the discount STILL equals the same amount. No wonder the patient is confused! We have had multiple complaints about the invoices/statements being hard to understand. I know several of us on the forum have requested a cleaner invoice. The patient today even suggested that we find a new software vendor that could make better invoices. I was embarrassed today and it took 30 minutes out of my day to explain the charges and payments to her. Can't anything be done to improve this part of CPM?
This is a story that is replayed in our office on a regular basis. I've been working on a comprehensive review and recommendation for the invoices but I was on vacation for a week and now I'm in the middle of hiring and training 2 new employees AND trying to have a life outside work and Crystal. There's nothing in the custom invoice that fixes the problems. Believe me, I've tried. I don't know why it has not been addressed. The only thing I can figure is that they don't want to make people change procedures or that they can't figure out how to make the necessary changes compatible with prior invoices. There are better ways and all you have to do is look through your invoices from other doctors, almost any other doctor, to see them. Marcia |
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Post by caitlin on Jun 8, 2016 12:21:15 GMT -6
We take the information out of Crystal and have written our own template in Excel and print out our own statements. We use a drop down list for CPT codes and descriptions- but even typing in patient information and the amounts saves us so much time rather than dealing with confused patients!
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Post by KizerOpt on Jun 8, 2016 15:26:57 GMT -6
We take the information out of Crystal and have written our own template in Excel and print out our own statements. We use a drop down list for CPT codes and descriptions- but even typing in patient information and the amounts saves us so much time rather than dealing with confused patients! Wow, that's sad, but can you attach a sample? We looked at all version of the invoice, and agree they are all confusing. Need to do something. Thanks,
Karen
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Post by caitlin on Jun 8, 2016 15:41:21 GMT -6
StatementTemplate.xlsx (38.22 KB) StatementTemplate.xlsx (38.22 KB)Ok- see attached! The biggest help is just having a box where we can write in comment/details for clarification. This is what we've talked to a few people about at Crystal, but it hasn't gone anywhere...
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Post by tag701 on Jun 9, 2016 6:59:36 GMT -6
Ok- see attached! The biggest help is just having a box where we can write in comment/details for clarification. This is what we've talked to a few people about at Crystal, but it hasn't gone anywhere... So you insert all the information and I'm assuming you just update it each month until it's paid. I understand why you do it but it seems like a lot of work. Do you just use those for your monthly statements? I'm assuming that you don't use those when the patient is at check out paying their copay, etc. It is set up very nicely. Thank you for sharing. |
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Post by KizerOpt on Jun 9, 2016 7:49:47 GMT -6
It does look nice, Caitlin. It also looks like it requires a full time person to fill them out and send them all. I'm sure you get positive feedback from your patients about them. Thank you for sharing!
Karen
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Post by caitlin on Jun 9, 2016 22:47:25 GMT -6
Yes- we just use them for our monthly statements- not invoices- and our patient's A/R is pretty low because we collect up front for the most part- so it takes our bookkeeper probably 2 hours each month to send out the monthly statements. She developed the spreadsheet and with two monitors has Crystal up on one screen and Excel in the other so it does goes pretty quickly- and she can create one easily if needed. As far as invoices on the day of service- we're old school and still use a paper superbill and give the patient the top copy! I've sent this to Grace at Crystal to ask for some of these features but it didn't really go anywhere. I think the ability to add a note box to the statement in itself would really help to clear up 90% of patient questions. "Balance is patient responsibility according to insurance- deductible not met" ... etc etc...
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Post by KizerOpt on Jun 10, 2016 8:47:45 GMT -6
Yes- we just use them for our monthly statements- not invoices- and our patient's A/R is pretty low because we collect up front for the most part- so it takes our bookkeeper probably 2 hours each month to send out the monthly statements. She developed the spreadsheet and with two monitors has Crystal up on one screen and Excel in the other so it does goes pretty quickly- and she can create one easily if needed. As far as invoices on the day of service- we're old school and still use a paper superbill and give the patient the top copy! I've sent this to Grace at Crystal to ask for some of these features but it didn't really go anywhere. I think the ability to add a note box to the statement in itself would really help to clear up 90% of patient questions. "Balance is patient responsibility according to insurance- deductible not met" ... etc etc... I do that with the footer.... the problem I have with it is when it's printed and mailed, there is no record of it. If you try printing to the pt's file with the Crystal printer, you have to do it over again for a hard copy to mail. Else you have to scan the hard copy into the pt's file.
Karen
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Post by tag701 on Jun 10, 2016 10:18:24 GMT -6
Billing shouldn't be this difficult!
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Post by agapevision on May 19, 2017 23:38:01 GMT -6
AS a new user--- this still has not been resolved 5/2017?  ? |
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Post by breeze on May 15, 2019 11:06:12 GMT -6
The statements/invoices are really my only complaint with Crystal. We get countless calls and patients coming in asking for clarification before they will pay. Or they pay the wrong amount. It really is horrible. We tried custom but it did not help. Crystal really needs to re-vamp these. It is ridiculous. We've had patients recommend we switch operating systems because of it as well. I wonder if Office Mate's is better?
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Post by KizerOpt on May 15, 2019 11:52:52 GMT -6
Crystal gets high marks for customizability of the software. It does really well on that side. However, the most complaints about CPM seem to relate to the basics of business - the need for easy to read invoices, the (in)ability to include the next appointment date on correspondence, the (in)ability to send correspondence for missed/cancelled appointments, and the lack of flexibility in creating reports that work and show the information needed. These and other issues continue to be brought up and continue to be ignored by CPM - for 9 years now. It would be great if the developers would work to actually give the community of users what they ask for, instead of things that we don't need - ie, showing the zip code on the printed schedule report in the Insurance field -what's that about??.
Karen
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Post by friscoeyeassociates on May 16, 2019 16:43:00 GMT -6
TLDR: I agree they could absolutely do a better job, particularly with the User Interface and a few problem areas like invoices etc.. but for the most part Crystal do well, and at this time I don't know of any better alternatives esp when price is a consideration.
It's not that I disagree with anyone in this thread. I agree with most of the points made and agree that things could and probably should be better. Rather, my point in posting here is to give some perspective on software development as I have some insight. I will say that our practice, which is pretty large, does not seem to encounter the same issues in regards to invoice explanation. I am not sure why that is, maybe because we take payment up front before the insurance payments and write offs make it a bit more confusing.. Who knows.. Could also be our demographic just asks few questions in general. Of course we have upset patients, but in general its due to staff error or miscommunication and not the presentation of data on the invoices. I think software development, particularly the kind that the people at Crystal PM are doing, without massive angel investment or corporate backing (ie. VSP and Officemate) is an arduous task.. Building these systems requires talented developers and these come at a hefty price. Because of this, I assume many of Crystal's full time developers, of which there may only be a few, are heavily devoted to debugging and fixing anomalous issues as they arise, along with optimization and maintaining SQL database standards and database compatibility as server hardware and softwares continue to upgrade every couple of years. Every software developer deals with such issues, but smaller companies with limited resources generally devote heavy resources into maintaining status quo so their existing customer base can continue to operate unencumbered in the ever changing landscape of tech. Thus, less time time is spent on the writing in of new features and instead is spent on optimization and continued alteration to match new industry standards both in tech and healthcare. They have to balance these to make the software have longevity. It could be argued that the allocation of new and improved features in Crystal is not weighted strongly enough, but to remedy that we as customers may have to assume some of the cost. I have not looked into EHR's for some time now, but at the time we signed up for Crystal they were certainly one of the best priced on the market, with a low annual service fee in comparison to others, along with unlimited client station licensing, an all in one electronic health record AND practice management workflow for which other companies often charge extra for, and its compatibility with even low ceiling server hardware make the barrier for entry one of the best I've seen for any optometry practice. Not to mention they are privately owned and operated which despite not seeming like a plus it actually is in my mind. Companies like VSP who back Officemate and Examwriter are intrinsically not Private Optometry friendly, and while we are forced to do business with them in the current healthcare market, we don't have to feed into every one of their revenue streams for which EHR is a major one. I know from experience with other SQL based databases that Crystal actually performs quite well in terms of it's stability, the relative lack of "null" or unknown values, server lag, and its ability to be efficient on a wide variety of machines. For these reasons and despite the relative lack of new features and introductions I have chosen to stick with Crystal over time. I wish I had more experience with custom invoices, because maybe then I would have some solutions for you guys in regards to how to change it up but like I said we just have not run into the same kind of confusion at our office and a major overhaul of formatting would actually probably cause us more issues than it would help. Another reason why the devs job isn't always easy. Some want change while others are fine. I think more robust customization options is probably the best solution, as it is so obviously a strength of their medical records side. I strongly recommend taking payment at time of service as well, as this gives you a chance to clarify any confusion on the spot. I find that patients are willing to pay in office, they are expecting to hand over their credit card at some point. If you wait and they get a bill in the mail 3 weeks later you are always going to have more complaints. Cheers to all, and I hope solutions are added in soon!
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