PiMS provides immediate charge posting and/or batch processing. Immediate charge posting posts the charges directly to the account and updates the account balance.

Charge Processing involves the maintenance of pre-posted and posted charges. Pre-posted charges are charges in a batch waiting to be processed. Posted charges are those that have been applied to an account.

Control of the charge posting can be managed with batch processing. PiMS includes functions that start and complete a batch, as well as add, update and display charge transactions within a batch. PiMS also edits for unique batch ID numbers when starting a new batch. As charge transactions are entered within a batch, charge data is edited for on-line accuracy such as matching charge dates of service within the date of service.

Multiple batches can be opened, thereby allowing assignment of batches to different departments or employees. Batches can be opened and posted at any time or batches can be open all day and then posted at the end of the day. Posting is the process of editing for a balanced batch and applying the specific charges to the proper account immediately. Charge batches can remain online for a defined length of time and then purged from the system.

Posted charge maintenance includes the correction, updating and reversal of charges that have already been posted to an account. Using the Correct a Charge function posts an offset amount to the original charge and posts the corrected charge amount. Reverse a Charge posts an offset amount creating a zero balance for that charge. Update a Charge provides updated HCPCS and CPT4 for an example to keep information current for a claim. There is no offset amount.

All available charges are maintained in a master file, which is referred to in PiMS as the Charge Description Master (CDM). PiMS maintains a history of all the pricing changes with dates so that any patient’s date of service will match to the same date for the price on that date.

Fee Schedules

PiMS effectively uses fee schedules to override the price in the CDM for those payers that require an override to the standard fee. Fee Schedule rates can be applied at charge posting or at the time of billing. Fee Schedules have a range of schemes that automatically calculates the booked amount for the charge. There are schemes that manage a plus or minus percentage to the CDM amount and plus or minus dollar amount to the CDM amount. You can also select a scheme to calculate fees based on a range of the number of patients or procedures on a sliding scale per month or per year and defining a maximum yearly amount.