In brief

Medtech is pleased to announce the recent appointment of Jacki Hatfield as Acting General Manager of Australia. Jacki looks forward to working with you in 2010 and is happy to be contacted directly with if you have any suggestions or recommendations for our newsletter. Jacki’s background and experience in the health sector are outlined under the “Leadership Announcement” article.

Medtech is also pleased to announce the appointment of additional customer services staff in early 2010 to further reduce the turnaround time of your support related issues.

Thank you to everyone who provided us with feedback and suggestions during 2009. A key issue shared by our customers was the need for better data capture and quality in General Practice. Our development team has been busy this year creating the Clinical Auditing Tool and Patient Dashboard modules based on your ideas and suggestions. The Clinical Auditing Tool is currently undergoing Beta testing and we anticipate both modules will be ready for release in the first quarter of 2010. Please read the articles in this newsletter for further information.

Please take note of our office and customer services department hours over the festive season, outlined below. We look forward to working with you in 2010.

Christmas/New Year Office Hours

Our Head Office will be closed from 5:00pm Wednesday, 23rd December until 8:00am Monday 11th January 2010. Please arrange any sales or account enquiries around these dates.

The Medtech Helpdesk will remain open from 9:00am – 5:00pm AEST Monday to Friday throughout this time (except for Public Holidays on 25th and 28th December 2009 and 1st January 2010).

Leadership Announcement

Medtech Global has recently appointed Jacki Hatfield as Acting General Manager for Australia. Jacki has over 25 years experience in the healthcare sector, with 15 years of clinical nursing and 10 years in healthcare technology. She began her career in 1998 with StemSoft Software Inc which specializes in stem cell transplant, cord blood banking and cellular manufacturing software and information management. Jacki spent two years from 2005 with Deloitte Healthcare Strategy and Consulting focusing on regional IT strategic planning, custom data set design, nurse scheduling process redesign and software vendor selection before returning to StemSoft as Chief Executive in 2007. Jacki holds a BSN from the University of Victoria (Canada) and an MBA. Jacki looks forward to working with our Medtech customers in her new role.

New developments - Medicare Online and Easyclaim Update

Medtech32 is currently in its final phase of Easyclaim testing with HICAPS and we anticipate Beta testing will begin in the next few weeks. The updated version of Medtech32 provides the following advantages to your practice:

Medicare Online Client Adaptor 6.12

• Streamlined DVA Paperless claiming
• Ability to claim Service Items with Medicare that are up to 2 years old (currently can only claim up to 6 months old)

Medicare Easyclaim (via HICAPS)

• Ability to transmit Bulk Bill and Patient Claims via EFTPOS
• Patients can receive Rebate Payment via EFTPOS into their nominated back account
• No more signing of Assignment Forms, patients can assign their benefit to your practice by simply pressing a button on an EFTPOS machine.

Information on how to upgrade Medtech32 to incorporate the Medicare Easyclaim features will be available early next year.
 

Medtech Evolution update

Medtech is pleased to announce that our Evolution product is now ready for Beta release. Customers who are interested in participating in the Beta program should contact our Software Product Manager – Chrissie Patterson on email: cpatterson@medtechglobal.com for further details.

Features of Evolution include:

• Health assessment and management tools
• Interface with laboratory results
• Drawing tool for anatomical references
• Geo-coding for demographic information
• Immunization
   

Quality Data Analysis for Improved Clinical Outcomes

Patient Dashboard – Based on our innovative Advanced Forms engine, the Patient Dashboard can be set to automatically popup as the Front Page for each patient in Medtech32 to assist users in the quality control of demographics and clinical data entry. The Dashboard consists of “traffic light” indicators which alert users to missing or partially completed demographics data, clinical data and care plans, with a built-in decision tree that validates the patient’s eligibility for each care plan behind the scene. By simply clicking on a "red" or "yellow" indicator, the relevant screen or form will be opened to enable quick data entry where data is missing. The Patient Dashboard serves as an important monitor to ensure critical data is captured properly which can then be further analysed via the Clinical Auditing Tool, rather than being hidden within Text/Word-based document templates which cannot be reported on.

The Patient Dashboard is currently undergoing final development and will be available soon for Beta testing.

Clinical Auditing Tool – A browser based tool that works on your live database in real time, which allows search criteria to be modified according to various demographic and clinical filters. Interactive linkage to Medtech32 allows opening patients directly in Medtech32 from the search results, and the bulk creation of patient tasks, alerts, recalls and mail merges for all patients who meet the search criteria. The Clinical Auditing Tool will also cover the current APCC and NPI data set requirements, and allows direct upload of the APCC results back to APCC via the Internet in real time. Clinical Auditing Tool and the Patient Dashboard are designed to work together to achieve better patient care and clinical outcomes. At the same time it allows practices to utilize their revenue by meeting common accreditation standards such as APCC and by knowing what additional care plans need to be provided to eligible patients.

The Clinical Auditing Tool is currently undergoing Beta testing and is planned for release early next year.

Interbase 2007 Upgrade

Medtech is pleased to announce that the Interbase 2007 upgrade is now available. Existing customers currently running Interbase Versions 6.0.1, 7.5.0 or 7.5.1 are eligible for a discounted upgrade price

By upgrading to Interbase 2007, your practice will be able to enjoy the following advantages:

• Improved performance over previous Interbase versions – the degree of performance increase is dependent on your system configurations
• Supports up to a maximum of 8 physical processors without having to purchase additional CPU licenses – Interbase 7.5.x only supports 4 physical processors (with additional CPU licenses purchase), Interbase 6.0.1 only supports 1 physical processor
• Supports new online incremental backup – only changes since the last backup are processed, which saves time and reduces the load on your live system (will be available from Medtech channel partners and certified engineers in early 2010)
• Supports new data redundancy and disaster recovery features – for protection against system crashes and reduced downtime during recovery (will be available from Medtech channel partners and certified engineers in early 2010)
• Official support for Windows Vista – including Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise Editions
• Comes with annual maintenance plan, which allows free upgrade to future Interbase releases without further payment – e.g. sites that are on Interbase 2007 annual maintenance plan will receive free upgrade to Interbase 2009 when it is released

Please note that Interbase 2007 only supports Medtech32 Version 7.2.0 or above. If you are on an older version of Medtech32 and would like to take advantage of the new enhancements in Interbase 2007, you MUST also upgrade to the latest version of Medtech32 at the same time.

To initiate the update process or to learn more about the benefits of Interbase 2007, please contact our sales team on 03 9690 8666 or email salesau@medtechglobal.com.

Software Releases

Version 7.3.0 Build 2686 Update (December 2009)
Medtech32 Version 7.3.0 Build 2686 Update (December 2009) is now available on our web site for download: (http://www.medtechglobal.com/aus/medtech-online-au/mo-medtech32-au/downloads-8.html).

This Update contains major performance enhancements in the Patient Account and Batching modules, and a number of other changes and enhancements. Please ensure you download and read the release notes prior to running this update.

Version 7.2.0 Build 2667 Update (November 2009)
Medtech32 Version 7.2.0 Build 2667 Update (November 2009) is now available on our web site for download: (http://www.medtechglobal.com/aus/medtech-online-au/mo-medtech32-au/downloads-8.html).

This update contains the new Medicare Bulk Billing Incentive for Diagnostic Imaging Services, and a number of other changes and enhancements. Please ensure you download and read the release notes prior to running this update.

Medtech32 Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Why can I only view the patient’s most recent accounts?

A. From Medtech32 Version 7.3 onwards, the default setting for viewing “patient account transaction look back range” is six months. You are able to change the look back period under ► Setup ►location ►location settings ►postal and accounting details tab called “Look Back Range”.

Q. My Function Keys do not bring up the relevant screen – F12 Consultation / F9 – Billing screen / F7 – Appointment screen etc… “It works for everyone else, and it worked yesterday for me…”

A. Go to the top line menu option – select Windows ►Arrange. This will bring the wayward screens back in to view. This happens when the screen was inadvertently moved to one side – out of view.

Q. I am trying to add to my Consultation Notes from yesterday, but I get a message stating that ‘The Consultation Notes are locked as they are being edited by another user’. I’m the only one logged on???

A. From within the Consultation Notes screen, go to the top line menu option – select Consultation ► Unlock Consultation Notes.

Windows 7 Support Notice

Please note that Medtech32 does not currently support Windows 7. Please do not attempt to upgrade your current systems to any Windows 7 versions as we are unable to provide support until thorough analysis and testing has been carried out. We anticipate an announcement regarding this early in 2010.

Please refer to the latest system requirements document on our web site for the list of currently supported versions of Windows – http://www.medtechglobal.com/aus/medtech-online-au/mo-medtech32-au/hardware-specifications-2.html.

If your practice is planning to migrate to Windows 7, please discuss your upgrade options with our sales team at 03 9690 8666 or email salesau@medtechglobal.com

Note that Windows 7 is also currently not supported by CodeGear (Interbase) and Medicare.