SUPPORT

Alteer offers complimentary learning opportunities designed to help you make the most of your Alteer Office(r) system. Whether you want to learn how to use the Forms Builder tool to create standard, reusable templates for your forms and letters; about using scheduling and Patient Flow to efficiently plan and move patients through your office; or about increasing revenue by understanding EDI reports so you can quickly resolve claim errors, our free learning opportunities offer solid building blocks to get you started. Free offerings include Online Learning Videos, On-Demand; and Live, Online Training Overview Sessions. Read More...

This advisory pertains to all Alteer Office(r) users in Medicare Jurisdiction (J1) who use Alteer Office to submit electronic Medicare fee-for-services claims. (J1 includes American Samoa, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, and the Northern Mariana Islands.) In Fall 2007, CMS announced that Palmetto GBA, a leading provider of technical and administrative services for the federal government, had been awarded the contract for the combined administration of Part A and Part B Medicare fee-for-service claims in J1. As a result, you must enroll with Palmetto. For details about how to do this and for the enrollment forms, click here.

This advisory pertains to all Alteer Office® users who use Alteer Office to submit electronic claims to Medicare. Medicare has initiated a new payer edit wherein claims with the word "NONE" in the Patient Insurance Group box are rejected. Specifically, the EDI error is "Insurance name is required when group number is submitted." To learn how to prevent this EDI error, click here.

This alert pertains to Alteer Office® users who use Alteer Office for billing and who submit claims to Texas Medicaid MHMR (Mental Health Mental Retardation). Effective February 21, 2008, the payor ID for Texas Department MHMR changed to 86916. The old ID, TMHMR, will be accepted through March 15, 2008. You should change the payor ID number for Texas Department MHMR in Alteer Office immediately. For instructions about how to do this, click here.

This alert pertains to Alteer Office(r) users who use Alteer Office to submit electronic claims to Medicare carriers. We have received inquiries from some of our practices regarding NPI readiness for the upcoming March 1st deadline. Please be assured that Alteer has taken all necessary steps to ensure compliance; your practice is ready for the new requirements. Read more...

According to the terms of your contract, your database will be updated automatically at the end of business on Friday, December 27, 2007. Read the attached document to for information about the items that will be updated.  More...

This alert pertains to all Alteer Office(r) users, v.4.7 and higher, who use Alteer Office to submit electronic claims to Medicare carriers. By October 29, 2007, the Medicare NPI crosswalk went into effect requiring verification that provider legacy ID numbers submitted an electronic claims match the NPI numbers reported on the NPI Registry. For claims that have ID and NPI numbers that do not match the Registry, Medicare rejects them. The crosswalk also verifies practice address on file; a mismatch of address also results in rejection. The date on which the NPI crosswalk was implemented--that is, the date on which Medicare began rejecting claims--varied by state (between 9/10 and 10/1 of this year. If you have claims that rejected due to mismatched legacy and NPI numbers or address on file, you must check the NPI Registry to verify that your information is correct. Then, call Alteer Customer Support for further assistance. Read more...

CMS requires you to use the new 2008 ICD-9 codes beginning October 1, 2007; your database will be updated automatically by the end of October 29th. Read more...

This alert pertains to all Alteer Office® users, version 4.7 and higher, who use Alteer Office for billing. After June 29, 2007, Medicare will reject the old HCFA form CMS-1500 (12/90). You must use the new version: CMS-1500 (05/08) after June 29th. More...

This alert pertains to all Alteer Office(r) users, version 4.7 and higher. If you have already purchased a supply of the new CMS-1500 (08-05) professional claim form, you must verify that the forms you received are properly formatted. To verify, visit CMS at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ElectronicBillingEDITrans/Downloads/1500%20problems.pdf.

 6/13/07: Deadline extended to June 29, 2007. More... 

This alert pertains to Alteer Office(r) users, v.5.1 and higher. After May 31, 2007, do not use insurance adjustment reason code 42 when allocating payments. Medicare’s standard claim adjustment reason codes have been revised; the most commonly used code, 42 [“charges exceed our fee schedule or maximum allowable amount”], will not be accepted on claims after 5/31/07. Instead, use code 45 [“charges exceed fee schedule/maximum allowable or contracted/legislated fee arrangement” (use group codes PR or CO based on liability)]. The appearance of code 42 on a claim after May 31st will result in claim denial.
If your system shows code 42 as the default value in the Insurance Adjustment Table (in the Reason column) in payment allocation, after May 31st, when adding an insurance adjustment, type “45” (or other appropriate reason code) over “42” in the Insurance Adjustment table’s Reason column. If your system does not show a default value, after May 31st, in cases where you would normally use code “42,” type “45” instead.
Note: The default value will be changed to “45” in a future version of Alteer Office. Until then, beginning on June 1st, to help you avoid rejections, the system will check outgoing claims for code 42 that you may have entered by mistake and replace it (on the backend) with “45.”  Read more...  

This advisory pertains to all Alteer Office(r) users, versions 4.7 and higher. Alteer is pleased to announce the release of the Alteer NPI Portal, which is a secure Web site where you will enter all your NPI numbers so that they can be used for claims processing (both printed and electronic) through Alteer Office. The NPI Portal Getting Started Guide includes complete instructions about how to log on and use the NPI Portal and has been sent to Document Routing  in your Alteer Office system. These instructions also are available in the Online Help in Alteer Office (on the Index tab, type keyword: NPI). And, once you have logged onto the Portal, NPI-related Online Help is accessible from every page (press the Help button).

NPI data will not be transmitted on printed or electronic claims at this time. Alteer is diligently testing these processes to ensure there is no delay in claim submission for any of our customers. Alteer will begin transmitting NPI on claims well before the May 23, 2007 deadline and will notify you prior to implementation. In the meantime, you must enter your NPI numbers on the Portal as soon as possible so your practice will be ready for the deadline. More...

This alert pertains to Alteer Office(r) users located in areas where Daylight Savings Time (DST) occurs and to non-DST users who interact digitally with users who are in DST zones. Beginning in 2007, DST starts three weeks earlier and ends one week later than previous years. In 2007, DST begins on March 11th and ends on November 4th. Most Windows operating systems will require an update from Microsoft so that the system knows when to adjust the system clock to DST to follow the new 2007 guidelines. Read more...

This alert pertains to electronic claims submitted through Alteer Office (r) on October 16, 2006. Alteer experienced a temporary interruption in its EDI processing on October 16, 2006. As a result, any claims you submitted that day for which you did not receive a green light in Alteer Office or a batch number must be resubmitted.

There is an updated version of the Revised 2007 Medicare Fee Schedule that has been uploaded to your system as of end of business January 10, 2007. This second revision to the 2007 schedule just be used in place of all previously loaded versions. The name of the schedule is "Revised #2 Medicare Fee Schedule 2007." Read more...

Your database will be updated automatically after close of business on Friday, January 5, 2007 with the REVISED 2007 Medicare Fee Schedule for your local region and will be ready for use by your practice on the morning of Monday, January 8, 2007. You must use this revised Medicare fee schedule in place of the one previously uploaded to your system at the end of December 2006. Read more...

The National Provider Identifier (NPI) requirement is part of an administrative simplification mandate of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Every provider completing HIPAA-compliant transactions must use an NPI to identify HIPAA covered healthcare providers in standard transactions by the 2007 compliance deadlines to avoid reimbursement issues. The deadlines are staggered, meaning the schedule accommodates a transitional period for each milestone and each type of claim: professional paper HCFA (CMS-1500), institutional paper (UB92/UB04), and electronic (837 professional and institutional). The final deadline for NPI compliance on all claim types is May 23, 2007, however, there are intermim milestones that must be met. For example, you will be required to use the new CMS-1500 (08-05) HCFA claim form prior to May 23rd. For full details, click here.

As of June 1, 2006, Medicare will stop mailing standard paper remittance (SPR) for providers who elected to receive Medicare electronic remittance advice (ERA) during enrollment. To find out what you need to do, read more...

If you are experiencing problems with your graphics display adapter, follow this workaround. A recent Microsoft Windows Security Update (MS06-015 / KB908531) appears to cause some graphics display adapters to become corrupt and fail to operate properly. If you are experiencing symptoms such as larger than normal fonts and icons, your system may have been affected. Read more...

AntiVirus update may affect your Alteer Fax and Report Services. This alert is for customers who use the Symantec AntiVirus™ software on their network server and/or client computers. Recently, Symantec included a revision to their Symantec Tamper Protection service, which was included in Symantec’s latest update. Alteer has discovered that the update causes problems with our faxing and reporting services. Read more...

For successful accounts receivable management and timely reimbursement, it is critical that you review your online EDI Report on a daily basis. Read more...

Unless directed by the payer to do otherwise, the ANSI 837 4010 claims format requires that the plan type for all Blue Cross Blue Shield carriers or affiliates must be specified as “Other – Blue Cross Blue Shield.” To satisfy this requirement in Alteer Office, edit the Insurance Carriers configuration settings for each BCBS carrier. Read more...

To comply with HIPAA, CMS began accepting electronic claims in the ANSI 837 4010 file format. To fulfill this requirement and maintain consistency, Alteer has begun conversion from NSF to the ANSI 837 4010P format for electronic claims submission. ANSI 837 submission requirements are slightly more stringent than NSF (including the way in which data is entered), which may result in an increased incidence of syntax errors, if these requirements are not met. To avoid such errors (referred to as “997 errors”) and to ensure successful submission and acceptance of your ANSI 837 4010 claims, follow these important guidelines when entering data. Read more...