Daily Batch Header Appts

 

On the Main Menu, click Calendar. Under APPOINTMENTS, click Batch Header Appointments

 

On the Main Menu, click Calendar. Under APPOINTMENTS, click Today's Appointments. In the left menu, click Batch header appts

 

1. Display the Daily Batch Header Appts page: On the Main Menu, click Calendar. Under APPOINTMENTS, click Batch Header Appointments
2. Scan the list of patient appointments. For every appointment that is not in DROP, CLOSED, or CANCELLED status:
1. Click on the patient name. The appropriate page appears (Appointment, Check-in, Checkout, Charge Entry, or Quickview).
2. Take any actions needed to produce a claim in DROP status.
3. You can click the Batch header appts link at the top of the Today's Appointments worklist to refresh the list.

Completing the appointment batch header means that all patient encounters are accounted for at the end of each day. Any unfinished tasks appear on the Workflow Dashboard the following day.

 

athenahealth recommends that practice managers ensure that the Workflow Dashboard Missing column contains 0 at the end of each day. athenahealth has learned from statistical analysis that for every day a claim goes unentered (and so not submitted to a payer), it loses an average of 0.6 percent of its value. Therefore, charge entry should be completed within 24 hours of service for office visits and within 2 to 3 days for surgical and hospital-based claims.

 

When you click any linked dollar amount on the Workflow Dashboard, the corresponding list of claims appears in the Task Bar. You can then click the claims in the list to access the Claim Action page and perform the necessary follow-up actions.

 

Ideally, the Hold, Mgr Hold, and Missing Slips columns in the Workflow Dashboard for all departments in your practice should contain $0 at the end of each day. For athenaCollector (No Posting) clients, the CBO Hold column should also contain $0. Using the Workflow Dashboard in this way can help billing managers attain and maintain a low DAR for their practice.

 

 

If your organization uses the athenaEnterprise feature, your department-based user access means that this page shows data for the departments and providers associated with your username.

 

A batch header is a daily summary of the patient workflow. Its purpose is to ensure that all cash and patient encounters in a given day are accounted for. Completing the daily batch header provides a check and balance process that allows the practice to reliably track daily patient activity.

 

athenahealth recommends that your practice use this page on a daily basis to:

• Process any appointments that have not been checked in, checked out, or had charges entered
• Ensure that all pending claims achieve DROP status

The page displays the new patients registered during the day (if any), followed by the day's appointments (in billing slip order), with patient name, phone number, and the current appointment or claim status.

 

Completing the appointment batch header means that all patient encounters are accounted for at the end of each day. Any unfinished tasks appear on the Workflow Dashboard the following day.

 

Columns on New Patient List
Registration Date	The date of registration of the new patient (current date)
Last Name	The last name of the new patient
First Name	The first name of the new patient
DOB	The date of birth of the new patient
Account Number	The system-assigned patient ID number of the new patient
Columns on Appointments List
Slip	The billing slip number
Time/Type	The appointment start-time and appointment type
Patient	The patient name, ID number, and phone number
Notes	Any notes associated with the scheduled appointment
Insurance	The patient insurance for this appointment
Claim Status	DROP — Patients who have been checked in and have charges successfully entered CLOSED   CANCELLED — Patients who have cancelled appointments NOT CHECKED IN — Patients who have not checked in ("no shows") MISSING (not checked out) — Patients who have been checked in, but have not checked out, display in maroon MISSING — Patients who have been checked out, but do not have charges associated with their visit HOLD — Patients who have been processed with claim errors ATHENAHOLD — Patients who have been processed with claim errors MGRHOLD — Patients who have been processed with claim errors