User Guide — athenaCoordinator for athenaCollector Senders

 

You can set personal preferences that customize the application and allow you to move through the referral generation process in the most efficient manner.

1. On the Main Menu, click Settings > Coordinator User Options.

Set procedure quickpicks

2. Click the Procedure Quickpicks tab.
3. Your Procedure Quickpicks — Enter all or part of a word, phrase, or CPT code to filter the search results.
4. Select the procedure that you perform on a regular basis.
   
5. Repeat the steps above to add additional quickpicks.
6. Click Submit.

Create procedure groups

If you often order groups of procedures at the same time, you might want to configure procedure groups. For example, you might always order the same five tests when you order a general health panel. Instead of ordering each test individually, you can group a set of individual tests under one procedure group name. On the New Request form, you then select the procedure group name, and each individual test appears on the request form.

7. Click the procedure groups tab.
8. Click Add new.
9. Name — Enter a name for the procedure group.
10. Description — Enter a description for the group.
11. Procedure Codes — Enter all or part of a word, phrase, or CPT code to filter the search results.
12. Select the procedure to include in the procedure group.
    
13. Repeat steps above to add more procedure groups.
14. Click Save.

Create diagnosis quickpicks

Diagnosis quickpicks appear in a convenient list on the New Request form, so you can quickly select the diagnoses you use frequently.

15. Click the Diagnosis Quickpicks tab.
16. Your Diagnosis Quickpicks — Enter all or part of a word, phrase, or CPT code to filter the search results.
17. Select the diagnosis that you use on a regular basis.
    
18. Repeat steps 3 and 4, as necessary.
19. Click Submit.
    

Create favorite provider notes

You can save blocks of text that you use frequently as a favorite provider note template. A favorite provider note is common or re-usable information that describes a patient or procedure. You can then insert these templates in the Favorite Provider Notes section of a new request.

20. Click the Favorite Provider Notes tab.
21. Click Add new.
22. Name — Enter a name for the provider note.
23. Note Text — Enter the text of the provider note.
    
24. Click Save.
    

Create favorite precert clinical templates

Precertification clinical templates are saved blocks of text that you use frequently, specifically related to the clinical component of the request you initiate. This includes information that is frequently relevant to obtain precertification. For example, you might want to supply additional clinical documentation along with a new request, and you find that you usually provide the same information and answer the same questions for a particular type of referral, such as an MRI. You can create a favorite precertification clinical template with the questions and information you provide for the MRI, so you can call up the template from the Clinical Data section on the New Request page. After your template appears on the request form, you can continue to edit the text of the template or add or remove information.

25. Click Favorite Precert Clinicals.
26. Click Add new.
27. Name — Enter a name for the template.
28. Note Text — Enter the text of the template.
    
29. Click Save.

 

athenahealth maintains electronic signatures of athenaCoordinator referring providers, so an approved order contains an electronic copy of the approving provider's signature.

 

To add or update a provider's signature, please contact the CSC by selecting Support > Create Case or Call in the Main Menu. Some receiving facilities may require a digital signature.

 

 

If you are a user at a large practice, you might want to enter and view requests for a limited list of providers instead of for all providers in your practice. To limit the number of providers for which you can view and enter requests, please contact the CSC by selecting Support > Create Case or Call in the Main Menu.

 

You can create athenaCoordinator requests from the Quickview page or the Checkout stage of the 5-stage patient encounter workflow.

1. Display the Quickview page.
2. Under the Insurances heading, click add/view auths under Insurances.
   The Authorization/Referrals page appears.
3. Click Create Coordinator Request.

 

Note: athenaOne automatically populates much of the data that you would normally enter in a new request. If information appears in gray text, it means that you cannot edit it on this page. If any of the prepopulated information on the page is not accurate, before proceeding, return to the patient's Quickview to make corrections.

1. First Name — The patient's first name. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
2. Middle Name — The patient's middle name. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
3. Last Name — The patient's last name. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
4. Social Security Number — The patient's Social Security number. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview. If an SSN does not appear, you can enter one on the new request.
5. Date of Birth — The patient's date of birth. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
6. Sex — The patient's gender. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
7. Referring Provider — Select the referring provider.
   Note: These are the providers who have the Coordinator Referring Provider field set to Yes on the Providers page. If no provider filters are set for your user account, you can create requests for any Coordinator Referring Provider in your practice.
8. Facility — Select the facility where the procedure/test will be performed.
   Note: To change the range of the facilities that appear in this field, click select range and select a different distance from the specified ZIP code.
9. Scheduling — Select the scheduling department where the procedure/test will be performed. Each facility has a customized list of scheduling options.
   Note: If someone in your office has already scheduled and confirmed the appointment with the receiving facility, select "Doctor's office already scheduled."
10. Date of Service — Select the date on which the procedure/test will be performed
    
11. Admission Time — Enter a time of day in HH:MM format with AM or PM appended.
12. PAT Date — Enter the date of pre-admission testing, if applicable.
13. Service Length — Select the admission length for the procedure/service.
14. PreCertify — Select the desired option for precertification tasks.
    Note: The athenaCoordinator Operations staff handles precertifications only if you select "athenahealth" here.
15. Patient Phone Number — The patient's primary phone number. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
16. Patient Phone Type — Whether the patient's primary phone number is Home, Work, or Mobile. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
17. OK to leave phone message? — Select Yes if it is OK to leave a phone message for the patient.
18. Alt. Contact Name — An alternate contact for the patient. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
19. Alt. Contact Phone — The patient's alternate contact's phone number. This field is prepopulated from the patient's Quickview.
20. Procedures to Perform — Select from your quickpicks or click the Search tab and search for the procedure to perform.
21. Supporting Diagnoses — Select from your quickpicks or click the Search tab and search for the patient diagnoses.
22. Notes — Enter note text, select from your favorite notes and click Append to Notes, or both.
23. Insurance Information — The primary insurance provider and the secondary insurance provider. These fields are prepopulated from the patient's Quickview. To specify a tertiary insurance, add a note in the Notes field or the Clinical Data field.
24. Clinical Data — Enter any clinical data or a tertiary insurance.
    Note: This field appears only when you select "athenahealth" in the PreCertify field.
25. Favorite Clinicals — Select a favorite precertification clinical template that you created on the Favorite Precert Clinicals page.
    Note: This field appears only when you select "athenahealth" in the PreCertify field.
26. Attachments — Click Browse and select any documents to attach to the request.
27. Click Submit to submit the new request.
    A confirmation message appears.

 

Any user can generate a new request; however, it is the provider's responsibility to log in to athenaOne and approve the orders.

 

Orders must be approved (signed) by a user with the Collector: Coordinator Provider role. A user does not have to be designated as a Coordinator Referring Provider to have the Coordinator: Collector Provider role. Providers with the Coordinator: Collector Provider role can sign their own orders, sign orders on behalf of midlevel providers who do not have the Coordinator: Collector Provider role, and sign orders on behalf of their colleagues who might be unavailable to sign the order due to vacation or another reason.

1. Display the Coordinator Inbox: On the Main Menu, click Patients. Under Care Coordination, click Coordinator Inbox.
   
2. In the Provider Approved column, check the box for the order.
   
3. Click Update Approvals at the bottom of the page to sign the order electronically.
   Note: To "unapprove" an order, you can clear the checkbox and click Update Approvals.

 

Check the status of your submitted requisitions on a daily basis to ensure that scheduling and precertification proceed on schedule and to respond to any alerts that appear in the Alerts column.

1. Display the Coordinator Inbox: On the Main Menu, click Patients. Under Care Coordination, click Coordinator Inbox.
   
2. You can search for the requests associated with a specific patient name, or enter a date range to retrieve all requests with dates of service in a specific date range.
   • Patient — The patient's name. Click the linked patient name to open the request entry/edit page to update a request that is not yet complete.
   • DOS — A red [date] in this column indicates that the procedure or test has not yet been scheduled.
   • Complete — A red No in this column indicates the request has not been completed by the athenaCoordinator Operations team.
   • Precerts — The status of the precertifications.

   • Action Required — Order on Hold — This column is populated if the athenaCoordinator Operations team is unable to process the insurance verification or the precertification (e.g., if clinical documentation is required, or if an insurance is not valid).

   • Procedures — The procedures/test to be performed.
   • Facility — The name of the facility where the procedure/test will be performed.
   • Referring Provider — The name of the referring provider.
   • Order — Click Order to review the order.
   • View Full Record — Click Record to view the full record.
   • Alerts — You can view system generated alerts, or send a message to the receiver or the athenaCoordinator Operations team by creating an alert.
   • Attachments — Click the paperclip icon to open the attachment.
     

 

Alerts are used as a method of communication between receiving facility, precertification services, and sending provider when information is requested or changes are made to a specific requisition. Any of the following parties can add alerts:

• athenaCoordinator Operations staff
• Scheduling staff
• Receiving facility staff
• Ordering practice
• Automatically generated by the system

To add a new alert or to view existing alerts, open up an existing requisition by selecting the patient name from the Coordinator Inbox. Select the alerts link in the upper left-hand corner. You may also access an existing alert by selecting the icons displayed in the alert column from the Coordinator Inbox.

 

Type the desired text into the Add Alert text box and select the Add Alert button to create a new alert.

 

To clear an alert, click Clear next to the alert text. When you do, athenaOne shows that the alert was cleared, when, and by whom.

Note: You cannot "un-clear" alerts. Do not clear an alert that you did not resolve. athenaOne time-stamps cleared alerts but does not delete them.