Field Descriptions in Encounters Practice Preference
The following table describes the fields in the Encounter practice preference.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| When creating a new encounter, set types to | You can select the encounter types that should be selected by default in the Encounter Types field on the Create Encounter window. For NextGen® Enterprise PM, select Billable. For NextGen® Enterprise EHR, select Clinical. For NextGen® Optical Management, select both Optical and Billable. |
| User-Defined Fields | This section enables you to add labels for multiple custom encounter-level fields in NextGen® Enterprise PM. The user-defined fields include the following:
These user-defined fields can be used as search criteria in the Encounter Specific field on the Encounter Lookup window. |
| User-Defined 1-4 | You can enter user-defined names to label up to four fields that the practice can use to enter additional information on encounters in NextGen® Enterprise PM. These customized free-text fields appear on the General tab on the Create Encounter and Encounter Maintenance windows. The fields are also available on most reports. |
| Encounter Specific 1-50 | You can enter user-defined names to label up to 50 fields that the practice can use to enter additional information on encounters in NextGen® Enterprise PM. These customized free-text fields appear on the Encounter Specifics tab on the Create Encounter and Encounter Maintenance windows. The fields are also available on most reports.
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| Clinical UD 14 | You can enter user-defined names to label up to four fields that the practice can use to enter additional information on encounters in NextGen® Enterprise PM. These customized free-text fields appear on the Clinical tab on the Create Encounter and Encounter Maintenance windows. The fields are also available on most reports. |
| Bill & Collection UD- 1-4 | You can enter user-defined names to label up to four fields that the practice can use to enter additional information on encounters in NextGen® Enterprise PM. These customized free-text fields appear on the Billing & Collections tab on the Encounter Maintenance window. The fields are also available on most reports.
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| Require Patient Type | You can select this check box to require a patient type on all encounters in the practice. The Patient Type field is red and required on the Create Encounter and Encounter Maintenance windows. Patient types are defined in Master Lists. |
| Delay Medicare Billing By [0-30] Days from Encounter Date | You can enter the number of days to hold Medicare batch billing starting from the encounter date. This setting enables charges billed to Medicare to be held for the specified number of days before claims are generated. For example, if the encounter date is July 1 and the hold days are set to 5, then the hold date is July 6. The hold date is calculated when a user attaches a Medicare payer to an unbilled encounter. The hold date then appears in the Hold Until Date field on the Billing & Collections tab on the Encounter Maintenance window in NextGen® Enterprise PM.
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| Require Rendering Physician | You can select this check box to require a rendering physician for the encounter. |
| Require Referring Physician | You can select this check box to require a peferring Physician for the encounter. |
| Prompt to default Rendering Physician for patient's chart | You can select this check box to display a message when a user creates an encounter that asks if the user wants to use the rendering physician as the default. |
| Prompt to default Referring Physician for patient's chart | You can select this check box to display a message when a user creates an encounter that asks if the user wants to use the referring physician as the default on the patient's chart. When you set a referring physician to be the default for a patient's chart, the referring physician's name automatically appears on the following windows. The Referring Physician field on the Add Appointment window The Referring field on the Patient Chart window > Encounters tab in the Providers section. The Default Referring Physician field on the Chart Details window The Referring field on the Create Encounter window. |
| Default Referring from Rendering Physician for Encounter | You can select this check box to default the Referring Physician from the Rendering field when creating an encounter. For more information on this option, refer to the Capturing General Encounter Information section in the Encounters chapter in the Encounter Maintenance User Guide for NextGen® Enterprise PM.
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| Do not allow free text Referring Physicians | You can select this check box to prevent users from typing in a physician name in an applicable field. Instead, users must choose the provider from a list. This list is set up in the Provider master file. |
| Prompt for Bulk Rebilling Reason | You can select this check box to require a reason for rebilling a claim. The reason is then copied to all encounters associated with the claim. |
| Copy appointment details to encounter complaint | You can select this check box to copy appointment details to encounter complaints when someone checks in an appointment. |
| At check-in, show same day encounters | You can select this check box to display existing encounters for the patient that have the same date as the appointment being checked-in. The appointment can be linked to an existing encounter, or a same-day encounter can be created. |
| Require Homeless Status | You can select this check box to require the patient's homeless status at the time of the encounter.
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| Enable In Progress billing status | You can select this check box to make the "In Progress" encounter status available and to enable all features and functionalities related to In Progress Billing in NextGen® Enterprise PM. When this check box is selected, a message appears stating that allowing In Progress status cannot be cleard once it is turned on. Caution: If you turn this feature on, you cannot turn it off. When this check box is selected, the following additional Practice Preference options related to In Progress Billing become enabled. Default all new encounters to In Progress Allow Execution of NextGen® Enterprise EHR procedure trigger against locked encounter Use Convert In Progress Indicator Enable Recurring Rental Billing |
| Default all new encounters to In Progress | This check box is available only if the Enable In Progress billing status check box is selected. You can select this check box to default all new encounters created in the practice to In Progress status. The In Progress check box on the Create Encounter window is automatically selected when an encounter is created. The In Progress check box does not display on the Encounter Maintenance window after an encounter is created. |
| Limit to Valid Locations | This field is available only if the Default all new encounters to In Progress check box is selected. To limit the default In Progress status to only new encounters created with a specific location, select the locations here. The In Progress check box on the Create Encounter window is automatically selected when one of these locations is chosen in the Service Location field. Leave the field blank if the default In Progress status is not based on the location selected on new encounters. |
| Limit to Valid Specialties | This field is available only if the Default all new encounters to In Progress check box is selected. To limit the default In Progress status to only new encounters created with a specific provider specialty, select the specialties here. The In Progress check box on the Create Encounter window is automatically selected when a provider with one of these specialties is chosen in the Rendering field. Leave the field blank if the default In Progress status is not based on the specialty of the rendering provider selected on new encounters. |
| Limit to Valid Programs | This field is available only if the Default all new encounters to In Progress check box is selected. To limit the default In Progress status to only new encounters created with a specific program, select the programs here. The In Progress check box on the Create Encounter window is automatically selected when one of these programs is chosen in the Program field. Leave the field blank if the default In Progress status is not based on the program selected on new encounters. |
| Allow Execution of EHR procedure trigger against locked encounter | This check box is available only if the Enable In Progress billing status check box is selected. You can select this check box to allow the patient procedure trigger to add, modify, or delete charges (CPT codes) for encounters in a locked status. You might want to enable this action, for example, if some offices or specialties provide care to a patient over a period of time. Because the cost of care cannot be accurately predicted, these offices or specialties would need to hold the charge (CPT code) until the patient’s specific treatment regimen is complete. If you select this check box, users can associate all charges throughout the course of a case with one specific encounter regardless of the encounter lock status instead of the users submitting each charge on independent encounters. |
| Use Convert In Progress Indicator | This check box is available only if the Enable In Progress billing status check box is selected. You can select this check box so that the Convert In Progress check box appears on the Encounter Maintenance window. When the check box is selected, the encounter status can be changed from In Progress to either Billed or Unbilled. The Convert In Progress check box can be selected as follows: Automatically by NextGen® Enterprise EHR Manually by users with the appropriate security right. |
| Enable Recurring Rental Billing | This check box is available only if the Enable In Progress billing status check box is selected. You can select this check box to enable to all recurring rental billing related functions in NextGen® Enterprise PM. |
| Enable Include encounters pending approval | You can select this check box if you want to include encounters that are pending approval. |
| Default Encounters Detail-Exclude Encounters in History | You can select this check box to exclude the encounter from history. |
| Providers | You can select the kinds of providers that you want to enter in encounters. Each check box corresponds to a field on the Encounter Maintenance window. The associated field for each selected check box appears on the Encounter Maintenance window so that users can select the appropriate providers. Admitting. The admitting physician for the encounter. First Consulting. The primary consulting physician for the encounter. Second Consulting. The secondary consulting physician for the encounter. Supervisor. Indicates an additional provider (such as a Physician Assistant, Midwife, or Nurse Practitioner) with a Supervising Physician's credentials, based on payer requirements. Provider information is set up on the Modify Provider Information window. Require Supervisor. For "Incident-To" billing, select this check box to require a supervisor on the Encounter Maintenance window. For more information on "Incident-To" billing, see the Claims User Guide for NextGen® Enterprise PM. |
| When copying from last encounter: Copy | You can select the kind of information to copy from the last encounter to the new encounter when a user selects the Last Enc button when scheduling an appointment in Appointment Book in NextGen® Enterprise PM. The following options are available. Encounter Details. Copies the last encounter information to the current encounter. If the last encounter has a patient type of new patient, the current encounter also has a patient type of new patient. In this case, you can modify the encounter information after it is copied. Insurance. Copies the insurance information that was applied to the last encounter to the current encounter. This check box bypasses a message that asks if users want to copy the previous insurance only if you select the Last Enc button. If users do not select Last Enc, the message appears to give the users the option to copy insurance at their discretion. Diagnosis. Copies the diagnosis from the last encounter to the current encounter. Diagnoses can be copied from NextGen® Enterprise PM to NextGen® Office PM, from NextGen® Enterprise EHR to NextGen® Enterprise PM or conversely. |
| Default Previous Payer(s) to Encounters in PM | The Default Previous Payer(s) to Encounters in PM check box is selected by default. When the option is in default setting, and an encounter is created in NextGen® Enterprise PM, then the previous encounter insurance, if available, is added. You can change the default setting by clearing the Default Previous Payer(s) to Encounters in PM check box. When you clear the check box, you see a message stating that turning off the preference causes new encounters created from PM to default to self pay. There is also a confirmation message asking whether you are sure about the changes that you made to the option. If you select Yes, the changes that you made to the option are saved. New encounters do not have insurance added from the previous encounter. If you select No, the application reverts to the default setting. |
| Require Facility | If the practice does regular UB claims billing, you can select the situation in which a user is required to select a facility on the Create Encounter or Encounter Maintenance window. You can clear the check box if the practice does enhanced UB claims billing. Always. You can select to always require that a facility is selected. Only if Admit or Discharge date is populated. You can select to require that a facility is selected only when a date has been entered in the Admit Date or Discharge Date field. |
| Require Admit and Discharge Times Limit to Valid Locations | You can select this check box to require the entry of an Admit Time and/or Discharge Time when an Admit Date or Discharge Date is entered on the Encounter Maintenance window. To limit the required entry of an admit time and discharge time to specific locations or patient types on the Encounter Maintenance window, you can use one of the following fields. Limit to Valid Locations. You can select one or more locations that require the entry of an admit or discharge time. Limit to Patient Type. You can select one or more patient types that require the entry of an admit or discharge time. Automatically populate FL13 and FL16 with the first-two digits of the admit and discharge hour in military time. Examples: An admit time or discharge time between: 04:00 - 04:59 PM appears as 16. 04:00 - 04:59 AM appears as 04. 12:00 (midnight) - 12:59 AM appears as 00. |
| CCBHC Qualifying Encounter | You can select this check box to enable the functionality in NextGen® Enterprise PM that tracks encounters with one or more Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) services. When selected, the CCBHC Qualifying Encounter check box becomes available in the tab. The check box enables you to flag specific SIM codes as a CCBHC service. When an encounter includes a charge for a CCBHC service, the encounter is automatically flagged as a CCBHC Qualifying Encounter for reporting purposes in NextGen® Enterprise PM. |
| Default Enc Billable Time to System Time | When you select this check box, the application time is set as encounter billable time for the encounters that you create from a patient chart, charge entry, and for the group encounters that you have not created from the appointment book.
When you clear the Default Enc Billable Time to System Time check box, the encounter billable time changes to 12:00 AM but the encounter date remains unchanged.
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