Makers of Practice Magic Psychotherapy Billing Software
Hypertext Users' Manual (Windows)
This page provides you with the complete users' manual for Practice MAGIC for Windows. (To view a MAC manual click on the words "View MAC Manual" below.) Included is a table of contents with hyperlinks that allow you to click on a subject item and jump to that portion of the manual. Assuming that you have opened this page with a web-browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, you can also use the FIND feature that your web-browser provides in the EDIT menu to look in this manual for particular subjects you are interested in. There is also a troubleshooting guide with links to relevant sections of the manual. (The MAC version works very similarly to Windows with most of the same menu items, but without some of the bells and whistles. A manual for the MAC version is available on the NEXT page of this website.)
Click here to View MAC Manual.
(Click on any subject item to view text)
How MAGIC Works with Palm Pilots and other Handhelds
Summary of Calendar and Menu Options
To Enter an Appointment in Your Calendar
Scheduling non-clinical appointments
Detailed Explanation of Menu Options
File: Save and Quit, Save (w/o quitting), Restore Backupped File(s), Jump
Edit: Client/Insurance Company Info, Client Info on CMS-1500, Client List, User Data, Client Notes, Add New Client or Ins. Co , Edit Holiday List
Display: Ahead 1 Week, Back 1 Week, Schedule Next Week, Info about Client & Fee, Client $ Status, Jump to new week, Client Phone No., Quick $ Status, Add Client, Electronic Billing Not Yet Sent, Electronic Billing History, Total Month's Billing
CMS-1500: Add Client, Edit/Display Client Info on
CMS-1500, Print insur. form, Print insur. form to disk file (Electronic Billing), Print insur forms for all, Print insur forms to disk for all, Instructions for Using the CMS-1500 Templates.Change: Name, Time, Frequency, Procedure, Visit #, Comment
Print: Client Phone List, Statement, Insurance Forms, Client $ Status, Address Envelopes/labels, Day Sheet, Calendar, Alert Summary, Disable/enable Printer, Statements for All, Insur. Forms for All, Billing Report, Receivables Report for All, Receivables Update Only, Printer Setup, Set Print Scaling
Appt: Move (temp), Skip, Cancel/No Show, Cancel/Terminate, Move (perm), Reschedule (temp), Vacation
Special: Set Alert, Cancel Alert, Alert Summary, Select/Unselect, Select all/Unselect all, Activate the Palm Hotsync (Palm Pilot/MAGIC Interface) or Change Palm Pilot Settings
Deposit: Deposit Checks, Income Report:
Users (This menu is in Multi-user versions ONLY): Add/Delete User, List of Users
Program Capacities and Limitations
Appendix B: Trouble Shooting Guide: If you are having a problem with:
- General Problems
- Printer Output Problems
- Statement Problems
- Problems Filling Out Insurance Forms
- MAGIC Calendar Issues
- Palm Hotsync Issues
- Transfering Files
Appendix C: Sample Output: Client/Patient Statement (Not included in Web version)
Index (Not included in Web version of manual)
Practice MAGIC
The Software That Counts
For Your
Psychotherapy Practice
(for all Windows Operating Systems)
July, 2002
Cornucopia Software
P. O. Box 6111
Albany, CA 94706
510-528-7000
INFORMATION
LICENSE: In purchasing the Practice MAGIC disk, the purchaser receives a licensed for a single person to use the program on one computer or terminal; however, if you are using an introductory copy or demonstration copy of Practice MAGIC, you are authorized to make as many copies as you like of that software and manual and to distribute it to friends and colleagues.
WARRANTY: We guarantee a full refund of purchase price of this software if purchased from the manufacturer or one of the manufacturer's authorized dealers within one month of the refund request, and the purchaser is not completely satisfied with the product. Practice MAGIC is provided "as-is" without any other warranty of any kind either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
CUSTOMER REMEDIES LIMITED: In no event will the purchaser be entitled to any amount of compensation in excess of his or her original purchase price as described above. Cornucopia Software, the distributor, and the author of Practice MAGIC shall have no responsibility nor liability to you or any other person, persons, or entity with respect to loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by use of Practice MAGIC and/or its documentation or by inability to use this product. This expressly includes, but is not limited to loss or invalidation of customer data, programs, files, equipment, business opportunity, loss of business, loss of business profits, or business interruption. The manufacturers, distributors, and authors of Practice MAGIC shall be liable for NO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, even if previously advised of the possibility of such damages.
ACCURACY: Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure accuracy throughout this book, but the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omission. No liability is assumed for damages resulting from the use of information contained herein.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Cornucopia Software will, at its sole discretion, supply a "reasonable" amount of technical support TO A SINGLE USER (even if the software is a multi-user version) of each Practice MAGIC software program at no additional charge for a period of three months from the time of original purchase, after which there will be a charge for support.
TECHNICAL
SUPPORT INFORMATION
Unless otherwise indicated at the time of sale, Cornucopia Software
will, at its discretion, supply a reasonable amount of technical
support for users of the Practice MAGIC software program at no
additional charge for a period of three months from the time of
original purchase. This support will be supplied to one individual
user, even if the software is a multi-user version. It should be
understood that technical support constitutes a major expense to
Cornucopia Software. In order to continue to provide the best
possible support for a premium product that is sold at an extremely
reasonable price, we require that the user who receives the
technical support will train any other person using that program in
its use. We also require that users will first consult the users
manual in printed or electronic form before telephoning Cornucopia
Software for support.
If support is requested from a second user, this support will be
charged to the owner of the Practice Magic software on a per
minute basis.. Specifically, if the program is used by a practitioner
and his or her office personnel, free support will be limited to one
of those people. Support for other people, including new office
staff will be charged to the owner of the Practice Magic software.
We have attempted to give instructions in this manual for
transferring Practice Magic to a new computer in the event that the
original computer on which it is installed fails or is replaced for
other reasons. It is expected that anyone replacing his or her system
will consult a computer dealer, consultant or other professional to
facilitate the transfer of programs and information from the old to
the new computer; if support is requested from Cornucopia
Software for such transfer or reinstallation, that support will be
charged to the owner of the Practice Magic software. The
telephone number for Cornucopia Software support is 510-528-
7000.
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Copyright (c.) 1992 - 2001
Cornucopia Software
All Rights Reserved
The Practice MAGIC software program and this manual are the sole property of Cornucopia Software, which retains all copyrights. Any unauthorized duplication of this material constitutes a violation of federal copyright law. In purchasing the Practice MAGIC disk, the purchaser receives a licensed for a single person to use the program on one computer or terminal; however, if you are using an introductory copy or demonstration copy of Practice MAGIC, you are authorized to make as many copies as you wish of that software and manual and to distribute it to friends and colleagues. The introductory or demonstration copy will only be useful for a limited number of months, usually four. All other copies of Practice MAGIC are also time limited, usually for a period of approximately one year unless a special fee is paid for an unlimited use copy.
This manual printed August, 2001
"Practice MAGIC" is a trademark of Cornucopia Software.
"MS-DOS," "Windows," and "Program Manager" are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
"Day-timer" is a registered trademark of Daytimers, Inc.
"LaserJet" is a product of Hewlett- Packard Company.
Practice MAGIC combines billing and check depositing functions with a unique calendaring feature. The result is a program that makes the paperwork of running a practice almost effortless. The program maintains a record of all clinical and non-clinical appointments. Weekly, multiweekly, and biweekly appointments can be carried forward from week to week automatically. It can print a week's calendar of appointments in a variety of formats including one that replaces Daytimer calendar inserts. Together with the deposit information drawn from the program's deposit slip generating feature, the calendar gives Practice MAGIC all the clinical service and financial information to generate client/patient statements or insurance bills on a variety of forms without any further input from the user.
The appointment calendar that MAGIC creates on your screen that allows MAGIC to do your billing for you automatically can also be printed by your printer and used as a daily calendar for your practice. If you use a Daytimer, MAGIC can be configured to print a calendar in a size and format that will fit into your Daytimer wallet. You can also simply print a weekly appointment calendar on a single sheet of paper. Take your printed calendar with you during your work week and mark in pen any changes or new appointments that you make. Then at the end of your week, run MAGIC on your computer and add these changes and additions to MAGIC's electronic calendar. Since MAGIC automatically carries forward weekly appointments, there will be very few changes for you to make. Then use MAGIC to create and print your week's deposit slip and automatically generate any statements you need for client/patients. Although your bank provides you with preformatted deposit slips, we have found that banks happily accept the clearly printed and annotated deposit slips generated by MAGIC.
Additional features include:
Prints handy client/patient phone number list.
Generates info automatically on all clients/patients with unpaid balances.
Maintains different fee info for different procedures and different clients/patients. Bills for the correct fee automatically.
Requires an absolute minimum of data entry. Only first time or one time appointments must be entered, along with rescheduled appointments. All other scheduling is automatic!
Tracks and bills up to two insurance companies per client/patient.
Can export deposit information to Quicken (pre-2005), QuickBooks and many other check writing and money management programs.
User can choose print font and size.
Because Practice MAGIC works the way one would in-tuitively expect and continually displays on the screen the op-tions available to the person using it, little written document-ation is necessary, even for someone who is barely familiar with computers. This manual is intended to give you an over-view of the features and uses of Practice MAGIC. There is a convention used throughout the program and the manual that will help to clarify what keys you are being asked to press: the names of keys are surrounded by pointed brackets. For instance, if you are instructed to press the "R" key followed by the "Enter" key, the program might prompt you, "Press <R><ENTER>," or "Press <R> and then <ENTER>."
To run the WINDOWS version of Practice MAGIC you will need a computer with any WINDOWS operating system installed including WINDOWS 3.x/95/98/2000/ME and Windows XP, 8 megabytes of RAM and six megabytes of free space available on your hard disk.
Installing Practice MAGIC on a hard disk:
1. Turn your computer on and if it does not go directly into windows automatically, type WIN to go into WINDOWS.
2. Put your Practice MAGIC disk into your floppy drive. For the purposes of these instructions we will assume the drive is A. If your floppy drive is B, substitute B for A in the instructions.
3. To install on a Windows 3.x version, open PROGRAM MANAGER, click on the FILE menu of PROGRAM MANAGER and drag down to RUN; then release the mouse button.
To install on all other WINDOWS versions, click on STARTUP at the bottom left corner of your screen. (If you do not see STARTUP there, move your mouse pointer off the bottom of the screen and STARTUP will appear.) Then Click on RUN.
4. Windows will display a dialog box prompting you to input a "Command Line." Respond by typing A:SETUP.BAT (where A is the drive in which you put the MAGIC disk).
5. The MAGIC setup and installation program will now run. Simply follow the prompts to complete the installation.
Running Practice MAGIC:
To run MAGIC click on the application program icon Practice MAGIC or Practice MAGIC demo in the MAGIC window of PROGRAM MANAGER or your desktop. If you are running any Windows operating system other than 3.x, the MAGIC installation program will create a small window on your desktop screen; we recommend dragging the Magicwin icon (a red file box against a yellow background) from that window to your desktop so that it will be easy to find and run in the future. Regardless of whether you have the regular MAGIC or the demonstration version, you will be given the option in the opening screen of running the program or running a self-prompting demonstration. If you select the self-running demo, you are required only to press the <ENTER> key in response to each prompt as many of Practice MAGIC's features are illustrated and explained.
If MAGIC fails to run: If MAGIC fails to install try the alternate intallation program by running "A:ALTINST" instead of "A:SETUP." If it installs but gives you a message that you should call Cornucopia Software for an update, be sure that the current day's date is properly set on your computer.. (The date on your computer can be changed by clicking on the CONTROL PANEL icon in the MAIN window (Windows 3.x) or START menu (all other Windows) and then clicking on the TIME/DATE icon.) If you see the message "Error 7" on your screen when you attempt to run MAGIC and MAGIC will not run, it means that there is insufficient internal memory (RAM) in your computer to run MAGIC. In addition to the RAM used by the operating system, WINDOWS, PROGRAM MANAGER, and any other software you have loaded prior to MAGIC that you have not terminated, MAGIC will require approximately a million and a half bytes of RAM in order to run. If you encounter this problem, you can find out how much memory is available for MAGIC to use by clicking on the DOS icon in the MAIN window or the Program list in the START menu and then typing MEM followed by pressing <ENTER>. When you wish to return to WINDOWS, type EXIT followed by pressing <ENTER>. You can increase the amount of memory available to MAGIC by removing any programs that are currently active in your computer besides WINDOWS PROGRAM MANAGER or WINDOWS Explorer. You can identify these by holding down the <CTRL> key and pressing the <ESC> key (Windows 3.x) or pressing the <CTRL> and <ALT> and <DEL> keys simultaneously in any other Windows.
When you run MAGIC for the first time: When Practice MAGIC runs for the first time, a file display box will appear on the screen and you will be asked to click on Practice MAGIC in the box and then the OPEN button. (Click on Practice MAGIC demo if you are running the demo.) The next screen you will see after a title screen will give you some instructions about giving MAGIC information about your printer and about you. Click on "OK" to advance, and MAGIC will automatically print a test sheet from your printer, and display a series of screens that allow you to enter precise information about how your printer positions printed matter on a sheet of paper plus a screen that allows you to EDIT the USER DATA file, a file of data that MAGIC maintains about you, the user, including your name and address. The printed sheet and these screens will only appear the first time you run the MAGIC program or until clients have been entered into the program. You can return to the USER DATA editing screen any time, however, by clicking on the EDIT menu of the main MAGIC screen and then dragging down to USER DATA.
Fill in the information on each line of USER DATA, and then press <ENTER> to proceed to the next line or click on the line you would like to fill out. Several entries may be unclear from the prompt. For instance, leave the line "User code" blank. For "printer type code," (line #25) enter 0 for printers that do not print in landscape mode (envelopes are not fed end first), and 1 for printers that do have the capability of printing in landscape mode (envelopes are fed end first) The information lines asking the minimum top and left margins that your printer is capable of are critical to printing accurately on insurance forms like the HCFA-1500 or CMS-1500 and will be filled out automatically by a utility called "SET PRINT SCALE," which was run automatically the first time you ran Practice MAGIC before the current edit screen and can be run any time from the PRINT Menu. If you received a Windows version of Practice MAGIC on a CD Rom disk after November of 2002, the program can print the entire HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 form on a color printer, rather than just fill one out. "SET PRINT SCALE," will ask you whether you want to do this; alternatively you can instruct MAGIC to do this by placing an asterisk ("*") at the end of line #25 of USERDATA. (Note, that it is far more economical to use preprinted forms. ) . [If you later find that these settings are slightly off, you can go back an adjust them. If printing is too high, decrease the minimum top margin (line 20 in User data) in 1/12" increments. If printing is too low, increase the minimum top margin. If it is too far to the right, increase the minimum left margin (line 18). If it is too far to the left, decrease the minimum left margin. If the type lines up properly on top part of HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 when it is printed but becomes gradually out of alignment further down the page or if type lines up properly on left part of HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 when it is printed but becomes gradually out of alignment further right on the page, you should remeasure the vertical (up and down) and horizontal (right and left) lines printed by the SET PRINT SCALE option and you will find that it is not EXACTLY 3 inches long. Enter the EXACT distances when prompted by the program.] When you have entered all the information you wish, click on the DONE button. The information you have entered will be saved automatically and SET PRINT SCALE will execute, printing a sheet automatically from your printer. The SET PRINT SCALE utility is also an option in your MAGIC Calendar PRINT menu. You will be asked to make some measurements on the page that has printed, and to enter these from your keyboard. Next you will be informed that MAGIC is loading calendar files and then an instruction notice will appear indicating how to fill out the blank calendar that is about to be displayed.
PRINTER NOTES:
The following paragraphs provide solutions to problems
that can occur with certain printers. Practice MAGIC comes to you with "BM1"
added to the "printer type code" on line 25 of your MAGIC UserData file
(accessed through the calendar EDIT menu). This causes, the bottom line of print to be
omitted when filling out a HCFA-1500 or CMS-1500 insurance form so that on the
HCFA-1500, the date in box #31 and PIN# and GRP#
in box #33 of the form are not printed, and on the CMS-1500, box 32a (NPI
of Place of Service), box 33a (NPI) and 33b (other
provider I.D. number) are not printed. Removing the "BM1" will allow the bottom
line to be printed, but certain pinters will print that bottom line by itself on a second
sheet of paper. If your printer does this, and it is important to
you to print the date or PIN# or NPI#, do the following: BEFORE STARTING MAGIC, you will
need to click on PRINTERS AND FAXES in your WINDOWS' CONTROL PANEL, then right-click on
your printer, then select SETTINGS or PROPERTIES and then change the page size to
"8.5 x 14" or "8.5 x 13" rather than "8.5 x 11".
(Note that for most printers, setting the paper size to longer than 11 inches will
cause the printer to print off the bottom of the sheet when printing very long statements,
so you will need to use the same procedure to change to 8.5 x 11 inch pages to print two
page statements.) If you received
a Windows version of Practice MAGIC on a CD Rom disk after November of 2002, the program
can print the entire HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 form on a color printer, rather than just fill one
out. To do this, edit line #25 of USERDATA (which you can edit by selecting USERDATA
from the MAGIC calendar screen EDIT menu) and MAGIC will take you through a small wizard
which will ask you a few questions including whether you want to fill out the
HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 form or print the entire form. If you request that it print the
entire form, you will notice, when the wizard finishes, an asterisk ("*") has
been placed at the end of line #25 of the USER DATA ("Printer Type Code").
If your printer feeds envelopes end first and you find that
envelopes are not being addressed properly, first test your printer by using an 8.5x11
sheet instead of an envelop. If envelopes are fed from the middle of the paper tray or
sheet feeder follow the number "1" on line #25 with the letters CF. If
MAGIC is attempting to address envelopes on the opposite side from which they are fed
follow the number "1" on line #25 with "LF" (This is usually the case
if, as the envelop enters the printer, it is entering on it's right side.) Add an
"NF" if you are finding that the return address on envelops is being cut off and
"NF14" instead of "NF" if, in addition, you regularly indicate in
print setup that you are printing on 8.5 by 14 inch sheets so that the printer will print
to the bottom of an HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 form. (see above) Some printers, like the HP
Laserjet III or IV allow you to set print parameters from the control panel, and may not
automatically reset to a 10 c.p.i. font when turned on; for these printers be sure that
the font is set to a 12 point 10 c.p.i. font and that they are set for not more than 60
lines per page.
The MAGIC Calendar Screen: The calendar screen is the first screen that will appear in subsequent uses of Practice MAGIC unless you indicated on line #58 of your userdata information that you wish to be notified what reports are due whenever Magic is run, in which case the first screen will be a list of "alerts.". The first calendar screen will also list the version number at the bottom of the screen and all subsequent fresh calendar screens will display the total for billable services for the week displayed. From the calendar screen, appointments can be filled in by clicking on the appropriate appointment hour. Type the first ten characters of the last name, the first several letters of the client/patient's last name followed by a period, or the two letter initials of the client/patient ("name code"). (Do not put periods or spaces after the letters in initials.) You will then be asked for additional information about the client/patient. When you are returned to the calendar screen, the appointment time (11:00) followed by the client's first initial and last name, the default procedure code ("C.P.T. 90801" for first visits of clients with a copay of less then 100% and "C.P.T. 90806" for subsequent visits), the word "temp" (the default frequency code which indicates that this client is not seen each week at the same time) and the visit number, which is assumed to be "1" the first time a client name is introduced, will be displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Placing "&" in the name code for couples or families being seen conjointly (i.e. "A&R", "AB&RS" or "A&RS") will cause MAGIC to automatically generate the C.P.T. procedure code for couples therapy. If you are seeing more than two people in a family conjointly, use the initials of only two. The default procedure for non-couples can be set by clicking on the desired procedure line (lines #27 to #37 and #59 to #64) in the userdata file and checking the box that says, "Default procedure code for all visits." If no other procedure default is defined, individual psychotherapy, 50 min. ("90806" - line #27) is automatically used as the default for visits other than first visits and "C.P.T. 90801" for first visits of clients who's copay is indicated as less then 100%; however, explicitly assigning any procedure as the default, including "90806," as described above, prevents "C.P.T. 90801" from being used as the default for first visits. Also, the default procedure for first visits can be set by clicking on the desired procedure line (lines #27 to #37 and #59 to #64) in the userdata file and checking the box that says, "Default procedure code for first visits."
Although appointment slots are initially set for even hours, if your appointment is not on the hour, you can indicate the exact appointment time by clicking on "time" in the CHANGE menu and then :00, :15, :30, or :45 in the submenu. You can also select "Other" from the submenu and then entering the exact appointment time or just ":" followed by the number of minutes after the hour. If you change to a time that is not on the hour, you will notice that the physical location of that appointment box on the screen will shift accordingly. Procedure codes can also be changed by clicking on procedure in the change menu and then on the desired procedure in the submenu. Clicking on an appointment that is already scheduled and overwriting it with another appointment will cause the previous appointment to be eliminated and replaced with the new appointment. If the previous appointment was a weekly appointment and not the first visit for that client, the client will automatically be rescheduled for the following week.
Expanded Client Info Box:
In the calendar window and all other screens where there is a green pull-down client/insurance company list, the green data entry box can be opened by clicking on the arrow to the right of it to reveal a complete list of clients and insurance companies. Clicking on any one of these will cause the code for that client to be entered in the currently selected appointment slot. If it is difficult to distinguish between insurance companies in this list with the same name but different addresses, you can make the list box wider by holding the SHIFT key down and pressing the right arrow key. Once you have opened the client list box in this wider format, it will open in the wider format each time you open it during that session of MAGIC. The exception is the initial-information screen for client information, which has a pull-down list box for the name of the client's insurance company. This list box can be expanded by holding the SHIFT key down and pressing the left arrow key rather than the right one. This will be intuitively clear when you see it. In this screen, holding the SHIFT key down and pressing the right arrow key causes the list box to contract.
How MAGIC Works with Palm Pilots and other Handhelds with the Palm Operating System (Pre 1.4 only):
MAGIC DOES NOT HOTSYNC WITH NEWER PALM HANDHELDS. If you have a version of Practice MAGIC that contains the optional Palm/MAGIC hotsync interface and your palm is running a Palm Operating System that is PRIOR to Ver. 1.4, MAGIC will hotsync with your Palm Datebook desktop software every time MAGIC is run. (Handhelds that use an operating system other than the Palm operating system will not work with MAGIC) This means that each time you run MAGIC, you should first hotsync your handheld to the desktop computer and then after running MAGIC you should hotsync them again.
Warning: The Palm interface is a bit tempermental. It utilizes some vendor software not developed by Cornucopia; this software has some ideosyncracies that require some special instructions for getting started with the palm interface.
Getting started with the palm interface:
To simplify the process of getting started with the palm interface and prevent possible glitches, we recommend starting with a fresh or nearly fresh calendar on your handheld. To accomplish this, display a day of appointments from the datebook calendar on your handheld. Then, tap the date in the upper left corner. Select PURGE. Check the box that allows an archive copy to be created on your Desktop. Purge everything older than a month (or a week if you wish). Then go through all the remaining appointments and comments and place a period (".") before each one. This will cause MAGIC to treat them as "non-clinical." So MAGIC will not get confused if they are not in the form MAGIC expects. If you have no appointments in your calendar, put one in like ".test" (MAGIC needs to start with at least one appointment.)
Of particular importance also, is that the PALM Desktop software permits you to give your handheld a name for the purposes of identification, and to change that name when you wish. An idiosyncrasy of the Palm/MAGIC interface is that the name you give to your handheld should be no more than five characters. If it is longer, you should shorten it by running your Palm Desktop software, opening the pull-down list entitled "USERS" at the top right of your screen (by clicking on the little arrow on its left side), and then selecting EDIT USERS. Click on the user name you are using, and select RENAME. (Shortening the user name in this way ensures that the name of the PALM subdirectory containing your desktop datebook information is the same as your user name, which is what MAGIC requires.)
Now, to activate the PALM hotsync feature of your Practice MAGIC Software (available only on the version of MAGIC with verions number starting with "6", the one we recommend for use with Windows XP and some other windows versions), run MAGIC. When MAGIC is first run it will ask you if you want to activate the PALM/MAGIC Hotsync feature. If you do not activate it at this time, at a later time, from the MAGIC calendar screen, open the SPECIAL menu, and select "Activate Palm Hotsync." A setup screen will appear that asks you the number of months prior to the present date and after the present date that you want MAGIC to hotsync. The more months you chose the longer will be the delay while MAGIC transfers and integrates your PALM datebook data each time you start MAGIC and each time you exit MAGIC. We recommend you select 2 months of history. Whatever you decide, datebook data further back than the period you select will gradually be erased by MAGIC as it puts new appointments into the calendar. The setup screen will also ask for the location of the PALM datebook information on your hard disk. Unless you have customized this location or are using a hard drive designation other than "C" for it, MAGIC should be able to locate your PALM information by itself without any help from you. The is also an option of setting a security level for your data, including a MAGIC password. We recommend strongly that you do not do this until you have completely installed MAGIC and it is running to your satisfaction. On newer versions of MAGIC (versions with version number beginning with "6," we have made the program appear to have no password feature, because we have had a fair number of users who have forgotten their passord or have had other difficulties with the password feature that have required undue time from our support staff; if you absolutely must have password protection, you can reenable the password feature by placing a tilda, "~", at the end of the nineteenth line of the UserData information (accessed from the EDIT menu of the MAGIC Calendar screen.)
Operating MAGIC with the PALM hotsync interface: Each time you run MAGIC, you should first hotsync your handheld to the desktop computer and then after running MAGIC you should hotsync them again. Your PALM Desktop software maintains an electronic image of your handheld, which you can access and edit using the Palm Desktop software that came with your handheld. Every entry you make in your handheld will be transferred to MAGIC except entries that you designate in the PALM datebook as repeating (i.e. weekly). These will be ignored. (In other words, don't designate appointments to repeat in your handheld if you want them to appear in your MAGIC calendar.) If you wish, these can be designated as "weekly" from the MAGIC Calendar instead. With that exception, any changes you have made to your PALM datebook calendar will automatically be transferred to your MAGIC calendar each time you run the PALM version of MAGIC. You can cancel appointments by simply removing them from your PALM datebook using DELETE. Accordingly, any entry that is in your MAGIC Calendar when you start MAGIC and is not also present on the handheld will be assumed to have been cancelled on the handheld and therefore will be removed from the MAGIC Calendar. A warning screen will appear to alert you to appointments that are being deleted from the MAGIC calendar and you will have the option of preserving them. Any changes you make to your MAGIC calendar while running the PALM version of Practice MAGIC will automatically be transferred to your PALM datebook calendar, so you should again hotsync your handheld to the desktop each time exit MAGIC. In addition, for each appointment that is transferred, the visit number, procedure number, alert information, and client phone number(s) will also be transferred into the PALM notes for that appointment. For more information on features of the MAGIC/PALM hotsync see the section "How the PALM/MAGIC Interface Works (with Palm Pilots and other Handhelds using the Palm Operating System) - Features." For information on setting the various MAGIC parameters that apply to your handheld, see the sections on Activating the PALM/MAGIC Interface and on Initializing the Handheld's Datebook with MAGIC's Calendar Entries and Setting PALM/MAGIC Parameters.
SUMMARY OF CALENDAR AND MENU OPTIONS:
To edit your calendar:
<Pg Up> <Pg Up> Will show the previous week's appointments. <Pg Up> Will show the previous week's appointments. <Pg Up> Will show the previous week's appointments. <Pg Up> Will show the previous week's appointments. <Pg Up> Will show the previous week's appointments.
<Pg Dn> Will show the following week's appointments.
<F1> Will automatically schedule the following week's appointments.
<Click> Click on the appointment slot you wish to fill out or edit.
To enter a client/patient appointment in the calendar:
MAGIC displays a week's calendar of hourly appointment slots.
To schedule an appointment, click on an appointment slot on the calendar screen and enter the initials of the client/patient (no periods necessary), last name, or beginning letters of the last name followed by a period of the client/patient you are scheduling for that time. If MAGIC does not recognize the name or initials you enter (because they are not in the client/patient list),, the program will ask if the initials are correct. If they are, press <ENTER>. You will now be asked for the client/patient's last name if you have only entered initials in the appointment calendar. If you do not want to enter the client/patient in the client/patient list, click <CANCEL>. If you wish to enter the client/patient in the client/patient list, enter the last name of the client/patient. If you want MAGIC to use the actual last name as the code, indicate that by clicking on the corresponding button.. After entering the last name, you will be prompted for more information about the client/patient (first name, home and office telephone numbers). If you did not originally enter a two to four letter code for this client/patient in the calendar, a name code will be automatically assigned consisting of the first letters of the client/patient's first and last names. If that abbreviation represents a duplication of an existing code or if the last name represents a duplication, the new code will be followed by a number to set it apart from the duplicate. Names of Insurance Companies will be automatically preceded by "@". You can change the name code by editing the client/patient list (EDIT menu); however, if you do this you must also change any appointments in the calendar in which that code was used, or MAGIC will no longer recognize those appointments.
If the appointment you schedule is the first for that client, MAGIC will assume that the appointment is going to be held with that patient at the same time each week ("WEEKLY"). By editing the user data file you can change the default so that MAGIC assumes the appointment will not be held with that patient at the same time each week ("TEMP"). Weekly appointments are shown on the calendar in bold while TEMP appointments are shown in a different color and are not bold.
If you inadvertently press a key while in the calendar screen and there is a client code at the location of the cursor, the client code will disappear. You can restore the original entry by backing up the cursor with the backspace key so that the character(s) you have just entered no longer appear and then pressing <ENTER> or clicking on another appointment box. The original appointment will be restored.
To schedule a group, type the word GROUP. A code of "GP:" will be assigned to the group and you will be asked to give the client codes of the group members. If the program does not automatically assign GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY as the procedure code, go the the CHANGE menu and select PROCEDURE and then the appropriate Procedure. The fee for that procedure will be taken from the fee listed for that procedure in each group member's client information file. If GROUP already refers to another group, and you wish to begin a new group, add a number, i.e. "GROUP2" or "GROUP5." A simple way to verify the group you have scheduled is the one you intended is to place the cursor on the group appointment in question and press the fourth option in the DISPLAY menu, and a list of client/patients will appear at the bottom of the screen.
When a new group is scheduled, the program now asks you to list the members of the group and if one or more members are not recognized the program asks about the new member(s) and adds them to the client/patient list. When printing billing statements for group members, you can now place the cursor on the group appointment, select "Statement" from the "Print" menu, and statements will be printed for all group members. To print a statement for a single group member who is not also seen individually, place the cursor on a blank appointment slot and select "Statement" from the "Print" menu, giving the client's name or code when the program asks for it. This method of entering groups ensures that all group members' names or codes correspond exactly to how they are listed in the client/patient list. If a member drops out of the group, his name needs to be deleted from the list of members in the client list for that group. This is done by editing the client list, selecting that group, and then editing the list of members of that group. Similarly, if a new member is added, his name must be added to the list of the names in the client list, followed by a comma. If you are experiencing problems with clients not being found or recognized, check to be sure that every character of the name you are looking for corresponds exactly to the way it was entered in the client list and calendar. The procedure code defined for the group session will become the code used for each of the members of the group for that appointment. The fee for that procedure will be taken from the fees stipulated in each group member's individual information file; there is no information file for the group itself, so the "Edit Client Information" function will not operate when a group appointment has been selected.
Scheduling Non-clinical Appointments (or Non-professional Activities):
Placing a period before an appointment description in an appointment hour indicates to MAGIC that this is not a clinical appointment. These appointments will not be checked against the client list, and will appear on the screen in a different color.
FILE "File" to Exit program, saving changes, Exit with Backup, Display a different Calendar week.
EDIT "Edit" to edit user information; edit list of clients/patients; or edit information or progress notes for a particular client/patient.
DISPLAY "Display" to move calendar ahead one week, back one week, schedule the following week automatically, see information about a client/patient, run a status on a client or display a different calendar week.
HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 The "HCFA-1500/CMS-1500" menu redundantly provides in one place all the functions that would be required by someone only interested in using Practice MAGIC for filling out and printing HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 forms for clients. The entries are in the order one would use them: add a client, edit the client information on an on-screen HCFA-1500/CMS-1500, and print it. These are exactly the same functions as "Add Client" in the DISPLAY menu, "Client Info on HCFA" in the EDIT menu, and "Print insur. form" in the PRINT menu respectively. There is a fourth menu entry under HCFA-1500/CMS-1500, "Print all insur forms," which is the same as the entry under PRINT with the same name.CHANGE "Change" to change name, time, frequency, procedure code, visit number, or comment for the appointment identified by the cursor.
PRINT "Print" to print client/patient list, statements, insurance forms, envelopes (or labels), calendar.
APPT "Appt" to cancel, skip, move, reschedule or terminate appointment at cursor location or designate a vacation day for therapist.
SPECIAL "Special" to set a visit number at which you would like Practice MAGIC to alert you when you schedule that appointment. (This function is often important for managed care situations in which reports are due periodically.) Also used to select or unselect clients/patients for print functions.
DEPOSIT "Deposit" to fill out and print check deposit slips and to generate income reports.
MENU OPTIONS (DETAILED EXPLANATION)
"Save & Exit" Used to exit the program, save your work, or move to a different part of the calendar. Choosing "Save & Exit" will save any changes you have made automatically.When you click on the calendar screen "SAVE & EXIT" option in the FILE menu to exit MAGIC you will be given four options: to simply exit, to return to the calendar screen you just left, to return to an different calendar screen, or to backup your data and exit. If you choose to Backup your data before exiting by clicking on Backup and EXIT, MAGIC will backup any client information files that you have edited or updated and any calendar months that were loaded into MAGIC during this running of MAGIC. During the backup process MAGIC will also backup the client/patient list, the check deposit information and the user data file. These will be copied to the floppy disk or to the location of your choice (indicated on line #54 in your UserData information.)
Backing Up Your data: For the backup process, if you are backing up to your floppy drive, you will need to insert a blank formatted disk into the floppy drive you specified on line #54 of the USER DATA file (The default is drive A.) You can actually specify any path on line #54 other than directly to a CD-RW drive. For instance you can back up onto a RAM drive (also called flash drive, jump drive, thumb drive, travel drive, memory stick, Data Traveler etc.) by stipulating the letter of the RAM drive on line #54; if the letter is "F" you would put "F:\" on line #54 of the USER DATA. (Beware, that depending what you have plugged into your USB ports and whether the RAM drive was plugged in before or after you booted your computer, the letter of the RAM drive is likely to change.) Or choose a path, like "F:\magicbac\" as long that path exits at the time you put it on line #54. If you want to backup onto a CD or DVD disk, you will need to use a utility that makes it function like a floppy drive, that is "rewritable." Otherwise you can make a backup independently by using a CD disk utility like Nero or CD Creator (whatever came with your CD drive) to back up your entire MAGIC directory (C:\MAGIC\), however, in this case you will need to restore using a program like "My Computer" because the MAGIC "Restore" function will not work for files backed up in this way. Finally, you can solve the backup problem by creating a directory on your hard disk called "MAGICbak" and specify the path, "C:\MAGICbak" on line #54 so that all of your backup infomation will be stored on your hard disk in that location. Using your hard disk is problematic because then you have only ONE backup location. IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE BACKUP DISK or RAM DRIVE, WITH WHICH YOU ROTATE, so that if corrupt data is written to your backup disk, overwriting valid data, you will still have another backup disk with valid data. If you are using a secondary location on your hard disk, copy the information in that directory onto a removeable media like a CD-RW. Independenly creating a backup CD disk as just described will complicated the process of restoring files, which is built into MAGIC when the backup is made by MAGIC. If the reason you do not have a floppy drive is that you have just switched computers to a new one with a XP operating system, note that Cornucopia has a separate version of MAGIC for XP that is ten times the size of the MAGIC you have been using; you can continue to use the old one and it may or may not work properly, or you can switch to the XP version ($39.95 upgrade charge); we do not provide technical support to customers attempting to use the earlier version of MAGIC on a Windows XP system, because the customers' difficulties usually arise from the incompatibility of the two.
"Save" "Save" Select this option of save work you have done on the calendar and client list without exiting MAGIC.
"Jump to New Week" Type the date (mm/dd/yy) of the calendar page you wish to display, and click on OK. MAGIC will then display the calendar week for whatever date you indicated, provided it is not beyond the expiration date of your copy of Practice MAGIC.
"Restore Backed-up File" To retrieve or "import" backed-up information that was backed up using MAGIC's BACKUP option, simply select the "Restore Backup files" option in the FILE menu and then select the client file (".pat") or calendar file (".cal") you want from your Backup disk and MAGIC will copy it back to the INFO sub-directory in your MAGIC directory. MAGIC will also offer you the option of restoring all files that were backed up at the end of your last MAGIC session or restoring all active files (client and calendar) from your backup disk. The first of these options is especially convenient for people who use two computers, and want to transfer client and calendar information back and forth between the two. MAGIC queries you whether you would like to be warned when a file being restored is older than the file it is replacing. It is a good idea to have more than one BACKUP disk and rotate them. We recommend having three or four. In this way you avoid the possibility of backing up faulty data over non-faulty data from your previous backup. People who independendly back up their data onto one-write media like CD disks, as described under Backing up Your Data will not be able to easily use this function. Those people will simply need to use MYCOMPUTER to copy the desired file from thier backup disk to the C:\MAGIC\INFO folder of their desktop computer.)
Reinstalling MAGIC: If you purchase a new computer or lose your data due to a crashed hard disk, you can not simply reinstall the last Practice MAGIC update you received. You must first go to www.practicemagic.com, click on the "Download Demo" button, and install the Practice MAGIC demo. Then install your update. Transferring all your data can be a bit more complicated than simply RESTORING from your last backup as described above because because your USERDATA FILE will not be automatically restored, and some of your calendar or patient files may not be present on your last backup disk. For more detailed information about this process, go to the last paragraphs of the Trouble Shooting section of this manual, entitled Transferring MAGIC to a New Computer.
Used to update information in the client/patient list, to edit information about a client/patient in list form or on the HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 form on screen, to edit client progress notes, or to edit information about you, the user (therapist).
Response Conventions Used by MAGIC: Questions involving a portion of a fee that a client/patient pays (copay) or an insurance company pays may be answered in one of four ways: decimal, fraction, percentage, or fixed amount (above $1). For example, a copay of $20 on a fee of $80 could be indicated by ".25", "1/4", "25%" or "20".
The following options appear in the EDIT menu:
"Client/Insuranc Co. Info" This option on the EDIT menu enables you to edit information about a client/patient's or insurance company including its name and address. If you have clicked on a client/patient appointment in the calendar before selecting this function, that client/patient's information will be accessed. If you have clicked on a blank (unscheduled) slot in the calendar, you will be prompted for the name or code of the client/patient or insurance company for whom you wish to edit information. Insurance company information will also include the company's allowable fees (optional) which can be inserted automatically into the client information of any client having this companies coveage. Note that when you change a client or insurance company name, you will need to also change the name in the client list (see change name). Client/Patient information also includes payments, diagnosis, balance and insurance information. Most of this information need not be filled in unless you need MAGIC to fill out detailed insurance forms like the HCFA-1500/CMS-1500. Any line can be left blank except the name lines. You are given the alternative option in the EDIT menu of selecting CLIENT INFO ON CMS-1500 which displays a CMS-1500-like form on the screen and allows you to enter the client's information by clicking on the appropriate boxes in the form (see next section).
If you have clicked on a blank (unscheduled) slot in the calendar, you will be prompted for the name or initials of the client/patient or insurance company for whom you wish to edit information. You can open up a pull-down menu at this point and select the name of that client/patient or insurance company. Since INSURANCE COMPANIES' names will not appear in any appointment slots, you must click on a blank (unscheduled) slot in the calendar in order to edit the information (name, address, or allowable fees) for an insurance company.
To edit this information file, click on the line to be edited and make any changes you desire. Press <ENTER> to end the edit on that line or click on another line. Scroll for more data. Click the DONE button to save your changes and return to the calendar.
When filling out patient data, if the patient has two insurance companies some entries will be different for each company. In most cases the data line specifies which company it refers to. However, in others "Primary Ins\Secondary" or "Prim.\Sec." on the information line will indicate that information for both primary and secondary insurance policies (if different) should be included on the same response line separated by a back-slash. In these cases enter the information for the primary insurance policies followed by a backslash and then the information for the secondary insurance company all on the same line. If there is no relevant information for the primary insurance, begin the information relevant to the secondary insurance policy with a back-slash. If you want the information you give to apply to the primary carrier but not the secondary carrier (if there is one), then end the entry with a back-slash. Where there is no secondary carrier, no back-slash is necessary.
Finding an Entry: The process of entering client information includes several features to help you locate the lines on which to enter information. Once you have accessed the information edit screen for a particular client (select "Client Info" in the EDIT menu) or for User data (see below), each time you select an information line by clicking on it, the number of that line appears at the top of your screen. If that line of information corresponds to an information box on the revised HCFA-1500/CMS-1500, the number of that box is also given at the top of your screen. If you have a specific box that you need MAGIC to fill in, for instance "9b," you can locate the appropriate information line on your screen by clicking on the FIND button and then typing #9B followed by <ENTER>. The screen will jump to the appropriate line. If you need to change some information you've already entered, and want to find the line on which it was entered you can use the same FIND feature. For instance to change the "relationship to insured" from "self" to "spouse," you would click on FIND followed by typing SELF and the <ENTER> key and the cursor will jump to the line that contains the word "self." If there are more than one lines containing the word "self," and you have located the wrong one, again click on FIND followed by the <ENTER> key to locate the next line containing "self."
Adjusted Fees Entered Automatically: If you enter the name of a valid insurance company a the "primanry insurance" (line #29) or "secondary insurance," (line #67) you will be asked if you want the "allowable fees" of that company automatically include in that client's information. If you answer "Yes" the fees you entered as allowable will automatically become the "adjusted fees" for that client. Full fees will still be used for filling out CMS-1500 forms; however, adusted fees will appear as a separate column on client statements and be used to calculate the amount owed you from that company.
Default Procedure Codes for First Visits: Some insurance companies pay a higher fee for initial diagnostic visits (CPT 90801) than for normal psychotherapy. If you have indicated that a client's copay is not 100% (i.e. insurance will pay part of the bill) on the Client Input Screen, MAGIC will automatically make the procedure code for the first visit "90801." You can disable this feature by stipulating the default procedure for first visits; do this by selecting USER DATA from the EDIT menu and then clicking on the fee line for the desired procedure code (lines #27 to #37 and #59 to #64 in the userdata file) and checking the box that says, "Default procedure code for first visits." That procedure will become the default procedure for first visits. If, for instance, you want 90806 to be the default for all first visits, click on line #27, "Fee for 90806, 50 min. Indiv. Psychotherapy," in your USER DATA information and, when the dialog box comes up that allows you to define that fee, click the box next to the caption, "Default procedure code for first visits."
Alternatively, since only some insurance companies pay a higher fee for initial diagnostic visits, you can designate these when you input the adjusted fee amounts allowed by each company, by placing a "#" or a "*" at the end of the line on which you input the fee for the procedure that you would like to be the default procedure code for that particular insurance company. When you input the name of the insurance company for a particular client (using either of the first to menu options in the EDIT menu or the second menu option in the CMS-1500 menu) if the calendar input cursor was located on visit #1 for that client, and you are asked if you want the "allowable fees" of that company automatically included in that client's information, if you answer, "Yes," the procedure for that first visit will be automatically changed to the default you designated for that insurance company (if you designated one).
DSM IV and ICD9 Code Help: When entering DSM IV codes (lines 7, 8, and 9), a green "combo" box will appear on your screen containing a list of DSM IV Categories. Click on a category and press <ENTER> and the box will display the codes in that category. Click on a code and press <ENTER> and that code will be automatically filled in in the DSM IV information box you are editing. You can also find a code by typing a question mark followed by part of the code description and that code and description will be displayed. If the code that is displayed is not the one you are looking for you can continue the same search by entering "??". (If you need an ICD9 code rather than DSM IV, use the CLIENT INFO ON HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 option in the EDIT menu rather than the CLIENT INFO option. Just below the area on the on-screen HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 where diagnostic codes are filled in, there is a check box for DSM IV and one for ICD9. If you check the ICD9 box, and then click on diagnosis slot 1, 2, or 3, the ICD9 codes rather than the DSM IV codes will be displayed in a drop down box.)
"Miscellaneous Information" Lines: Because some insurance forms ask for different information than others, we have included four miscellaneous lines in the client/patient information file for idiosyncratic information. The default response on these lines is "Misc. #" followed by 1, 2, 3, or 4. You will know if an insurance form makes use of the miscellaneous lines because when you first try printing the form "misc. #n" (where "n" is 1, 2, 3, or 4) will print in the place where some particular information is asked for that should then be entered on the miscellaneous #n line in the client information line. If, for instance, "Misc. #3" is printed in a box on an insurance form that MAGIC fills out, it means that whatever information that box requires should be placed in the client/patient information file on line 74, which is the third miscellaneous information line.
This situation also occurs on statements when the client name (line 14) is not the same as the name of the responsible party for payment (line 1) In that case the client's address (lines 2 and 3) would not necessarily be the same as the address of the responsible party, so MAGIC takes the mailing address for client statements from the third and fourth miscellaneous information lines. If no information has been placed in the third and fourth miscellaneous information lines, and the client/patient name (line 14) and responsible party's name (line 1) do not match (excluding order) the program automatically fills in the third and fourth miscellaneous information lines with the address that appears on lines two and three.
Designating User-definable Procedure Codes: The six User-definable Procedure Codes that are designated in the user information list (accessed by selecting "User Info" in the EDIT menu) take the form of a procedure description followed optionally by "@" and then the fee amount excluding the dollar sign. If the fee is specified in this way it becomes the default which is transferred automatically to the client information files. The procedure description can consist of a five digit C.P.T. code alone, a five digit C.P.T. code followed by a descriptive phrase, or just a short descriptive phrase of up to 18 characters. If the five digit code is present, a printed statement for a client/patient for whom this procedure was performed will read "C.P.T." followed by the five digit code in the "procedure" column. If there is no five digit code or you have not indicated "N" on line #24 of the USER DATA file, the statement will include the short descriptive phrase in the procedure column. This is equally true of line #47 of the client/patient information file which is the individually user-defined code that varies from client to client.
In the event that one of these user-defined procedures is being performed with a client or patient and the fee for that person is not the standard fee, an alternative fee can be indicated in the client information file for that person on lines 111 through 116, which ask for the fees for the six user-defined codes specified in the user information file. The client information file will display as a default any fees indicated for those procedures in the user information file. These six procedures are displayed in a submenu when "Procedure" is selected from the CHANGE menu..
Stipulating Fees for Clinical Procedures: There are ten procedures listed in the client information file, including one that you can define any way want. This last one need not even be a number, but can instead be a descriptive phrase like "Case Consultation." If there is no five digit code in the procedure description but instead a word description, the statement MAGIC prints will include the short descriptive phrase in the procedure column. If you place a descriptive phrase of up to 18 characters after the five digit code, and you have not indicated "N" on line #24 of the USER DATA file, this description will also be printed on statements. This is equally true of line #47 of the client/patient information file which is the individually user-defined code that varies from client to client. For each procedure you are asked to input your fee. These procedure lines are the same as appear in your USER DATA file and the fees that appear in your USER file are automatically transferred to each client information file that you create. These fees can be changed in any client information file at any time. In older versions of MAGIC, if you wanted to indicate a "standard" fee as well as an "adjusted" fee as requested by many managed care companies, you would do this by typing the standard fee followed immediately by a greater than sign (">") followed by the adjusted fee. In current versions, MAGIC gives you a dialog box with places to designate each of these fees. MAGIC will print both fees on your statements, the standard fee on insurance forms, and use the adjusted fee in financial calculations to determine what is actually owed. If your insurance form calls for the exact number of minutes that you see the patient rather than a range the FEE DIALOGUE BOX gives you a place to stipulate the exact number of minutes or hours that you see the client for this procedure. (In older version, you would stipulate this by following the fee amount immediately by a colon (":") and then the number of minutes.) Entry #24g on the HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 form, column G of box #24 (Days of Service/Units of Service), defaults to "1", however this number will be effected by the above procedure of adding a colon followed by a number. If the number after the colon is less than 20, that number will appear in column G of box #24 when the corresponding procedure is used.. If an ending date is stipulated it will be indicated by a dash (-) followed by the ending date (mm/dd/yyyy).
New C.P.T. Codes: In 1998, the 1997 C.P.T. codes for psychotherapy were replaced by new C.P.T. codes that reflect the length of sessions as well as whether they involve "insight-oriented psychotherapy", "interactive psychotherapy" and/or "medical evaluation and management services". Although MAGIC lists only "90804," "90806," "90808," (the codes for 25 minutes, 50 minutes, and 75 minutes of out-patient "insight-oriented psychotherapy" respectively) and "90818", (the code for 50 minutes of in-patient "insight-oriented psychotherapy,") you can place modifiers after the fee designations for "90804," "90808," and "90818" that will cause MAGIC to automatically adjust the C.P.T. code. For these codes you can specify the number of minutes (as just described in the previous paragraph) and the code will be changed accordingly. To specify interactive psychotherapy ("interactive psychotherapy using play equipment, physical devices, language interpreter, or other mechanism of non-verbal communications") and/or "medical evaluation and management services" terminate the fee line with "I" or "M" respectively or "IM" for both. For example, "55:25 IM" would be printed as "90811" if it were entered on line #38 (20-30 minutes of interactive psychotherapy using play equipment, physical devices, language interpreter, or other mechanism of non-verbal communications, in an office or outpatient facility.), and would be printed as "90824" (the same as 90811, but for an inpatient setting) if it were entered on line #43 (Hospital Visit). Even if you have designated "I," "M," "IM," or a change in length of time, the procedure that appears on the bottom of the screen when you select an appointment will be the corresponding regular C.P.T. code that do not reflect these changes. To view the actual adjusted procedure code at the bottom of the calendar screen, click on the client's appointment and press the <END> key or select "Rest of Info Line & Fee" from the DISPLAY menu.
Default for Place, Type of Service (Box #24b & Box #24c on HCFA-1500/CMS-1500): The default for Place and Type of Service (Boxes 24b and 24c on HCFA-1500/CMS-1500) is 11 and [blank] respectively, or whatever you indicate on the last lines of your USER DATA information. New clients you introduce to MAGIC will automatically assume the default values. To change these default values, change the Place or Type of Service (Boxes 24b and 24c) on the on-screen HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 for any client (reached by selecting "Client Info on HCFA" from the EDIT menu on the MAGIC calendar screen.), and MAGIC will ask you if you want this changed value to be the default for new clients.
Unlimited Individually-defined procedures, fees, copays: In addition to the User-defined Codes described above, the "change procedure" menu also offers you an unlimited option to type in unique procedure codes and fees for particular visits. The option of entering a fee and an adjusted fee separated by ">" is also available for User-defined Codes as it is for standard procedures (described above). In addition a separate copay can be defined for a particular visit or procedure by following the fee (or adjusted fee) amount with ">>" followed by the copay amount. This is useful if there are certain visits or procedures that are not covered by insurance and must by paid fully by the client. If the copay in this case is defined as the entire (adjusted) fee, this procedure will not be included when insurance forms are printed. For instance, 85>65>>0 would indicate that the normal fee is $85 (Which is the amount that would be printed on insurance forms), the adjusted fee that the insurance company actually pays is $65 and the copay is $0. If this feature is used for a procedure that is one of the basic nine procedures already stipulated in the program, the program may read the fee from the standard fee set in the program for that procedure rather than the special fee stipulated through this process.
Non-Medical Procedures: In addition, if that individually user-defined code is descriptive without a C.P.T. code, MAGIC will assume that this is a consultation or some other non-medical service and the words "Client:" or "Patient:" that normally appear in front of the client/patient's name at the top of the statement will be omitted. If, for example, the procedure is "Case Consultation" performed with another practitioner, the statement for this person will not refer to him or her as a client or patient.
Billing for Non-Client/Patient Professional Activities:. (Non-clinical Activities or Nonprofessional Activities) In certain circumstances you will want to eliminate the words "client" or "patient" from statements, as in the case of professional supervision, consultations and certain other services that may be performed with other professionals or people who you are not treating clinically. To omit "client" (or omit "patient") designate a user defined procedure in the client/patient's file (line #47) or user information list (lines 59-64) as other than a number so that MAGIC will assume that this is not necessarily a client. For instance you may put the words "Clin. Consult." on line #47 and that phrase will appear in the procedure column of this person's statement, and his or her name and address will appear on the upper portion of the statement without the word "Patient:" or "Client:" before it. Accordingly, MAGIC will not print CPT in front of the procedure when it is printed if it is not a number.
Reduced or Adjusted Fees: MAGIC has the ability to designate a reduced or "adjusted" fee for a client/patient in addition to your customary fee. This is done by placing a ">" after the fee amount in the client information file followed by the reduced fee amount. This designation can be made in the corresponding fee in the user information list and it will be automatically transferred to client information files. For instance, the entry after "Initial Evaluation" might read "120>100" to indicate that your standard fee for this procedure is one hundred and twenty dollars but that you are charging a reduced fee for this client/patient of one hundred, which may for instance be the fee you have contracted for with this person's HMO. If the insurance form for this client requires a statement of the number of minutes of the procedure, the entry might read "120>100:60" to indicate the additional information that the procedure was 60 minutes. When the insurance form prints, the larger number (in this example, 120) will be used to fill out the form. However, when statements or receivable reports are printed, the lower number will be used as the actual ("adjusted") amount of the fee. Statements will show both the actual fee and the "adjusted fee." This was included because many managed care companies request that they be billed for your full fee, even though it is understood that you will only be paid a reduced portion of that fee. NOTE that whenever a ">" sign appears in any fee in a client's information file, MAGIC assumes that adjusted fees may be involved and so it prints a column on the statement for "adjusted fee" even if no procedure containing this designation in its fee definition actually appears on the statement. Keep this in mind when you indicate default fees in the USER DATA file.
Deductibles: Line #5 of the Client Info screen reached through the EDIT menu allows you to stipulate both a standard copay and a deductible. If there is no deductible currently stipulated on that line, simply add " + xx deductible" where "xx" is amount of the deductible. After printing a client statement and answering "Y" to the query as to whether to "update," the remaining deductible anount on line #5 will automatically be adjusted.
Referring Physician: If you fill in this line (#60) it will be automatically printed on client statements, unless you enter the first character as lower-case (not capitalized).
Entering Initial Financial Data: When first using MAGIC, you will need to transfer existing financial information to MAGIC so that your statements accurately reflect the client/patient's history. MAGIC makes this easy for you on the initial Client Input Screen that appears when you first introduce a new client/patient to MAGIC by scheduling that client/patient on the calendar or by clicking on the ADD NEW CLIENT option in the CMS-1500 menu or the DISPLAY menu. This screen asks you if you want to regularly bill this client/patient, his or her insurance company (if any), both or neither. In addition to basic information like name, address and phone numbers, it also asks for the client/patient's $ balance (money he or she owes you) as of the end of the day before this client/patient's first appointment in MAGIC's calendar. If you indicated that you want to bill this person's insurance, several additional questions will appear allowing you to input the client/patient's copay, the portion of his or her bill that is not covered by insurance, the deductible if any, and the anount currently owed you by the insurance company as of that same date. If there is no insurance involved this number for COPAY is "100%" or "1," which is the default. The copay amount is important to enter at this time, even if you are not sure, because it tells MAGIC that there is an insurance company involved, which triggers an automatic change in the default procedure for the first visit.You can enter the copay portion in any of a variety of forms: a decimal (like ".25"), a fraction (like 1/4"), a percentage (like "25%"), or a dollar amount greater than one (like "$10.00"). An additional line has recently been added to this screen which allows you to check off whether or not this client is being seen at your primary office location. As of April 15, 2001, many insurance companies including Medicare and Medicaid are requiring box #32 on the HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 form to be filled out; MAGIC now automatically fills out this box with the address of the office at which you have indicated you are seeing this client. These questions supply MAGIC with the information it needs to begin keeping your billing records for this client/patient. They are all optional and can be left blank except the client's last name and at least a first initial. You can always go back and edit any client/patient's client information at a later time, adding this information.
Changing financial information can also be done by clicking on that client/patient's appointment and then dragging the EDIT menu to "client info" to edit data for that client/patient. The most critical data to fill in are the insurance company's current balance, the client/patient's current balance (balance forward) and the last date that deposits were considered in calculating these balances ("Date of last deposit considered in balances") You are actually prompted to give two date prompts. The first (line #11) asks for a month, day, and year preceding the client/patient's first appointment that you wish MAGIC to produce statements or bill for. This date is automatically updated every time you print a statement and ask that the client/patient's financial data be updated. The other date is on line #16, the last deposit date that was used in the calculation of the client/patient's current balance ("Date of last deposit..."). Any deposits subsequent to that date will be assumed to be additional payments to be considered in the current statement. This date is also automatically updated, Any time this date is changed a warning appears that the program is clearing certain financial history data. This means that any data that the program has stored about this patient's payment and balance history will now be assumed to be inaccurate, as well as the patient's balance forward.
If you would like to include previous aging information about the client's account, fill in the financial information requested at the end of the client information list. Each amount should reflect the total amount due as of the corresponding date minus all payments that have been made since that date. The earliest date should be the lowest on the screen. (Consequently, the amount must decrease with each succeeding earlier date.)
The final information that is often essential is the insurance company or companies' outstanding balance(s) if insurance is involved. A simple way to think about all these figures is to make Practice MAGIC's information accurate up to the date you activate Practice MAGIC. Then give Practice MAGIC the appointment and deposit information it requires from that date forward and let MAGIC do the rest.
Note: If you find that the changes you made in the file were not saved, see item number 2 under General Problems in the Trouble Shooting section of this manual.
"Client/Patient Info on CMS-1500" The EDIT menu also displays the option of displaying the HCFA-1500 or CMS-1500 form on the screen so you are able to click on the appropriate boxes and fill them in. Currently, MAGIC comes to you configured to fill out HCFA-1500 forms, but capable also of filling out CMS-1500 forms. For instructions for switching to CMS-1500 forms, go to Using MAGIC with CMS-1500 Forms. This information will then be automatically transferred to the client information file. NOTE THAT THE FORM ON YOUR SCREEN IS NOT AN EXACT DUPLICATE OF THE PAPER HCFA-1500 or CMS-1500 FORM: it will, however, fill out the paper form properly. On-screen DSM IV help and ICD9 help are also available; they work exactly as described under "Edit Client/Patient Info." If you have clicked on a client/patient appointment in the calendar before selecting this function, that client/patient's information will be accessed. If you have clicked on a blank (unscheduled) slot in the calendar, you will be prompted for the name or initials of the client/patient for whom you wish to edit information. When you finish editing click the DONE button at the bottom of the screen or close the window using the CLOSE box at the top right corner or select one of the PRINT buttons. If you select a PRINT option, Magic will ask you before filling out any insurance forms, if you want to "update." Answering "yes" will cause the beginning date for the next form you print to be adjusted so that the first date of service will be the one after the last one you are currently printing. If you do not see the DONE and PRINT buttons at the bottom of the on-screen insurance form or only the tops of them are visible, they are probably covered by the WINDOWS TASK BAR. If so, place your cursor at the top of the task bar so that the cursor changes to an up and down arrow, and drag the tast bar down off the screen. If this does not work, read the TASK BAR NOTE at the end of the paragraph, "Deposit a check from an insurance company" in the section "Deposit Checks" under the heading "DEPOSITS" in this manual.
After entering information, you will occasionally be querried as to whether you would like the information you just entered to become the default for new clients. If you respond "yes," this change will be reflected in all new clients you introduce to MAGIC from then on.
Reprinting an Insurance Form: When the CMS-1500-like insurance form appears on the screen for client information entering and editing, the client's first six appointment dates after the date in the box labeled "Beginning of billing period" will appear in box 24a of the on-screen form. You will find the box labeled "Beginning of billing period" on the right side of the bottom portion of the on-screen form. By changing the date in that box, you can cause the dates in 24a on the form to automatically change. So, if you want to reprint an insurance form, be sure that the date in the box labeled "Beginning of billing period" falls just before the first appointment date you would like the form to list. When you print an insurande form, this date will be automatically moved forward to just after the last appointment date printed, if you answer "yes" to the question about whether you want to "update" the client information. Although the dates in box 24a also include a colon followed by the time of the appointment (as a four digit number, military time) the time will not print on the paper insurance form. You can edit these or add additional appointments with or without time designations, and these new appointments will be transferred to the calendar automatically. If no time was designated, the appointment will be written into the earliest empty appointment slot available on the appropriate day on the appointment calendar.
Some CMS-1500 boxes are not displayed on the screen. For instance, in most states Medicare requires psychologists to place the modifier "AH" and LCSW's to place the modifier "AJ" after the procedure code and Masters Counselors to place a "Z9" in box #24D. If "MEDICARE" is selected in HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 Box #1, MAGIC will automatically place the these codes after the procedure code if the procedure is one of MAGIC's nine standard procedure codes other than "psychological testing," which does not require it. If the code is user-defined or individually-defined, you will need to add those letters yourself when you define the procedure. The preceding does not apply, however, if colon (":") is placed at the end of the data on line number 14 of the USERDATA file (which normally just contains the code for whether you are using your Soc. Sec. # or your Employer ID.#) followed by any two characters; this will cause those two characters to be printed as a modifier after the C.P.T. code on HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 forms that are designated for Medicare. Placing an explanation point ("!") after those two characters on line #14 will cause those characters to be printed as a modifier after the C.P.T. codes on ALL HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 forms.
Another example of how the on-screen HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 is different from the printed paper form is that there is only one Charges ("Fee") box (box #24F) displayed on the MAGIC on-screen HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 form; this one box is used to define the fee for all six procedures listed. To define a procedure's fee, click first on the #24D box containing that procedure, and then click on the "Fee" box to the right of the #24D boxes; a dialogue box will appear that will allow you to define the fee charged for that procedure. Any fee you define here for one of MAGIC's standard procedure codes will be saved and become the default for this client. To make it the default for all new clients you will need to select USER DATA from the EDIT menu of the MAGIC calendar screen and edit the default fee for that procedure code. The dialogue box that pops up when you are editing FEES will also allow you to designate an ADJUSTED FEE, a specific COPAY (if different from the standard copay), and the number of "Days or Units" of that procedure (#24G). If you indicated a value other than "1" for the number of units, you will be offered the opportunity to define an ending date of service (Box #24A) if that date is other than the beginning date. Note that, due to space considerations, boxes #24B, #24C, and #24K are displayed only once rather than on each of the six visit lines; however, when the HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 is printed, these boxes are filled in on all six lines. Box #24E is not displayed at all. All diagnosis lines filled in in Box #21 are automatically filled in in #24E.
Showing Copay in Box #29: If you click on Box #29 of the on-screen HCFA-1500/CMS-1500, you will be asked, "Set Amount Paid to 0 (Y/N)?" If you click the "Y" box, MAGIC will always put a "0" in this box. This is strongly recommended. We have not yet heard of any insurance company that actually wants to see the amount of the copay in this box. However, if you want the copay to appear in this box, click "N." With the institution of new HIPPA standards, this box is now considered obsolete (irrelevant).
Electronic Billing (Electronic Data Transmission): At the bottom of the on-screen HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 will be three buttons, a DONE button that will save your edited information and return to the calendar screen, a "PRINT HCFA-1500 or CMS-1500" button that will save your edited information and send it to your printer to be printed out onto an HCFA-1500 or CMS-1500 form, and "PRINT HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 TO DISK FILE" that will save your edited information and send it to a HCFA-1500/CMS-1500-image disk file called E-HCFA.TXT to be transmitted to an electronic clearing house like www.eclaims.com or www.freeclaims.com. The first time you print to disk file during a given session of using Practice MAGIC, MAGIC will ask you if you have already submitted the claims previously written to disk file. If you answer "yes" MAGIC will replace the disk file containing the previous claims with the ones you are currently creating. If you answer "no," MAGIC will append the current claims to the file containing the previous claims that have not yet been submitted. For all subsequent submissions during that given session, MAGIC will assume that the claims in the the disk file have not yet been submitted, so subsequent claims in that session will be appended to the previous claims for submission as a large batch. Most electronic clearing houses will provide you with software to transmit this file or, as in the case of eclaims.com or www.freeclaims.com, upload the file directly for you to their web sites for processing. The process of uploading e-hcfa.txt to eclaims.com or freeclaims.com is straightforward and simple; for directions, go to www.eclaims.com or www.freeclaims.com on the world wide web. For more information about using MAGIC for electronic billing, got to the section entitled "Print Insurance form to disk file" under the "HCFA-1500/CMS-1500" menu.
Primary/Secondary Insurers: To fill out information as it would appear for a SECONDARY insurance carrier, click the box at the top of the screen that says "Primary/Secondary" and then click the box next to "Secondary."
Adjusted Fees Entered Automatically: If you enter the name of a valid insurance company a the "primanry insurance" or "secondary insurance," you will be asked if you want the "allowable fees" of that company automatically include in that client's information. If you answer "Yes" the fees you entered as allowable will automatically become the "adjusted fees" for that client. Full fees will still be used for filling out HCFA-1500 or CMS-1500 forms; however, adusted fees will appear as a separate column on statements and be used to calculate the amount owed you from that company.
"Edit Client/Patient List" To edit client/patient list or delete clients from the list. The client/patient list begins with a list of the names and phone numbers of all your clients/patients in alphabetical order and then lists all the insurance companies you have entered. When you enter an appointment with a client/patient code that does not already exist on the list you will be asked if you wish to add this name to the client/patient list. If you add a client using the code of a client whose name was orinially on the list, but was deleted, Practice MAGIC will ask you if this client is the one you deleted. If you answer yes," MAGIC all the information in the file of the deleted client will be transferred to the information file of the client you are adding. This is especially useful if you have deleted a client by mistake. If you do, you will be prompted for more information which will ultimately appear in this list. This list can be edited at any time. You can also edit information for individual clients by clicking on that client's code and selecting "Client Info" from the EDIT menu.
Names of insurance companies must be included in the client/patient list. This will occur automatically as insurance companies are written into client information files (see below) where the names of primary (line #29) or secondary (#67) insurance carriers is requested, or as checks from the insurance companies are entered.
When you select the "Client List" EDIT option, the client combo box will move to the bottom of the calendar screen. You can open it up and click on the name of the client to be edited. Additional information about that client will be displayed at the bottom of the screen including the full name and telephone numbers of this client, the type of billing you have selected for this client, whether the client is an active client and whether you wish to have this client included in the list of client names and telephone numbers that you can print from the PRINT menu. You can make any changes you desire by clicking in the corresponding area. If you change a name, you must separately edit the information file of that client or insurance company and change the name in that file as well. Press <ENTER> to end the edit on that line or click on another line. Scroll for more data. Click on the DONE button to return to the calendar.
You can delete a client/patient completely by clicking on the client's name in the client combo box and then deleting the client/patient code when it appears in the combo text box or clicking on the DELETE CLIENT FROM LIST button.
WARNING: If you change the client/patient code here, all previous appointments and deposits in which you used a different code for that client/patient will not be recognized when you perform a billing.
Designating Client/Patients as "Inactive:" Clicking the "Include in printed list" box so an "X" no longer appears places a client/patient on the "inactive" list and the client/patient will not be printed when you print the client/patient list. Bills will still be automatically generated for this client, however, when you select "Statements for All" from the PRINT menu unless you click on "Close Acct." in which case the client/patient will neither be printed when you print the client/patient list nor when you do billings. This feature can be used when you will see a client/patient in the future but are not seeing them at the present time. If in the future you schedule an appointment for an inactive client/patient, MAGIC will ask you if you wish to activate this client. You can, of course, remove a client/patient from the list entirely by clicking on that client/patient's name and then deleting the code that appears in the combo box as described above.
Printing the Client/patient List: To print the client/patient list use the PRINT menu. The printed copy provides a handy reference for client/patient telephone numbers when you need to return calls and you are out of the office.
Note: If you find that the changes you made in the file were not saved, see item number 2 under General Problems in the Trouble Shooting section of this manual.
"Edit User Data:" User Data (UserData) includes all information that is particular to the individual user including default values that are transferred to each client/patient. information file when it is created. These defaults can of course be modified for each client/patient as described in the above section. Most of the information requested is self-explanitory. Some of the information items (by line number) include:
1 to 9: User Data information includes therapist's name, addresses, phone numbers, bank account number, ID number, fees. When you select on of these lines, you will be asked in a dialogue box to input the relevant data, and the font you would like used to print this data on the "classic-style" statement.
17: Also includes information about the desired size of the calendar you may wish to print (#17), and information about the printer being used (#25). The heights and widths initialized on line #17 of this file are for printing the calendar. It is currently set to print a calendar that will fit in a 5 inch Daytimer wallet, however it may be necessary for you to make some changes in these settings to customize for your particular calendar wallet, printer or other particular needs.
18 & 20: Minumum left and top margins of which your printer is capable are indicated in lines #18 and #20 respectively. These are set automatically when you run SETPRINTSCALE from the MAGIC Calendar's PRINT menu. For more information, see PRINTER NOTES
19: Statement size. This setting (line #19) defaults to a standard sheet of paper (8.5 inch by 11 inch). If you use your own stationary or for some other reason choose to make the sheet size smaller, the columns and printing will be condensed, so you will probably need to adjust the font sizes on lines 1 - 9 and line #57 so that there will be room for all the information.
22: Window Envelops: Line #22 allows you to specify the position of the address window in your window envelops if you use them, and it also allows you to specify the number of windows. If you make any change on this line, including simply typing a "?", MAGIC will display a series of dialog boxes questioning you about your envelops, and then MAGIC will set this characteristics automatically. THIS WILL EFFECT WHERE THE ADDRESS OF INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE PRINTED ON THE HCFA-1500/CMS-1500 INSURANCE FORM.
24: Procedure Descriptions on statements: Procedure Descriptions on statements: By answering the question on line #24 of the User Data file Y or N you can indicated whether you want to include procedure descriptions on statements in the heading under PROCEDURE or just the C.P.T. Code. Unless you answer "N" a description of up to eighteen characters will appear after the five digit code. If you want descriptions of your USER DEFINED PROCEDURES to appear, you will need to follow the C.P.T. code you select by a space and then a description of up to 18 characters. Extra characters will be ignored.
25: When