Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

  • 835 File

  • Also referred to as: Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA)
  • The 835 is the electronic transaction that provides Claim Payment information which is used to auto-post Claim Payments.
  • Allowed Fee
  • This is pulled from the uploaded Allowed Fee Schedule and indicates the Payer's expected contractual amount.
  • ALWD
  • AM

  • Account Manager
  • ANSI

  • National format standard for transmitting electronic information.
  • Applied Date

  • This is the date the Applied button was used on the ERA.
  • This date may be different than the Post Date since the Post Date is driven by the Date used in the Reference Batch.
  • Beta Feature

  • The early use of a new feature that allows Users the chance to take advantage of the functionality and provide feedback before the feature's general release.
  • Bill Date

  • The most recent date that the claim was billed to the Responsible Party.
  • BWC

  • Bureau of Workers' Compensation (or WC)

  • CM

  • Days in A/R

  • Total A/R divided by the average billed amount per day over a given time period.
  • It is the number of days the average claim will remain outstanding before payment is made.
  • DB

  • Database
  • On the Receipt, the Disbursed field can be used to flag items that do not belong in the System, such as, Old System Payments.
  • DOS

  • Date of Service
  • EDI

  • Electronic Data Interchange.
  • The method in which Claims, Eligibility, and Remittances are processed electronically.
  • Modify Icon  

  • The Pen and Paper Modify Icon appears throughout the System and is used to modify previous entries.
  • This icon will be referred to as the Modify icon in the documentation.
  • EFT

  • Electronic Funds Transfer
  • The Payer deposits the Payment directly into the bank instead of sending a paper check.
  • The Practice is responsible for completing the setup with each Payer.
  • We do not manage the setup for EFTs.
  • Encounter

  • A Charge that can contain multiple Dates of Service.
  • The System is an Encounter-based accounting system, which means it looks to the charge to drive a majority of the reporting.
  • EOB

  • Explanation of Benefits: This is a statement received from the Insurance Company that summarizes the cost of health care services that were received.
  • Shows how much the Provider is charging the Insurance Company, how much the Insurance is paying, and the Patient's responsibility.
  • It is not a bill.
  • ERA

  • Electronic Remittance Advice
  • An electronic Explanation of Benefits (this is not the same as an EFT).
  • Some payers require enrollment to receive electronic EOBs.
  • ERAs are used to auto apply transactions based on the file that the Payer provides us with.
  • Money that has been entered into the system on a Receipt but has not yet been applied to a service/Encounter.
  • It is used as a temporary holding place until the Payment is posted in full.
  • Etactics

  • Clearinghouse
  • Used to send, receive and process electronic Claims, Eligibility and Remittances. Enrollments for Claims, Eligibility and Remittances are handled by Etactics.
  • Etactics Output Solutions

  • Etactics Output Solutions is a Partner that is used for sending Statements and Invoices.
  • Fee Schedules

  • Charge Each DB should have one default charge fee schedule. These are the fees per CPT® we send on the encounter or charge
  • Allowed: It is recommended each DB has at least the Medicare allowed fee schedule - this can be used to be sure you are being paid according to the contract you have with the payer
  • Go Cuts

  • Keyboard shortcuts to the various areas of the System.
  • Go-Live

  • Date that the Practice will begin billing Claims and partner Invoicing for the Practice’s services will begin.
  • HCFA

  • Paper Claim Form
  • Show Me How

  • Help documents, walk throughs, and videos embedded in the System.
  • IM

  • Implementation Manager (Trainer)

  • Implementation

  • The process in which a Partner or a Practice is involved in during the initial setup.
  • Libraries

  • Used as the basic building block for Claims, Statements, and Calendar setup.
  • Loaded Date

  • The date the ERA was loaded into the PM System.
  • This date may be different from the Received Date.
  • OS

  • Output Solutions (Statement Department)
  • Parse

  • To convert the imported data file into System mapped fields
  • Payer

  • Insurance Company, Attorney, Collection Agency or Third Party responsible for processing and paying Claims.
  • Payer ID

  • Most Insurance companies are able to process Claims, Eligibility and Remittances electronically.
  • The Payers have a correlating Payer ID which serves as an electronic address.
  • PM

  • Practice Management
  • Pop-up

  • A smaller screen within a larger screen.
  • These may be validation errors or warnings or a screen for entering additional information.
  • POPS (PatientOps)

  • Patient Online Payments & Scheduling (Premium add-on).
  • Online Payments are live and Scheduling is coming soon.
  • POS

  • (Place of Service) Place where the service is performed.
  • Selecting Yes for the POS Payment field allows you to track Payments that were made in the office.
  • When adding the Receipt from the Calendar, it automatically defaults to Yes, but has to be chosen when adding a Patient Payment from the other places in the System.
  • Report on POS Payments using these reports Custom Receipt Query, Payments and Adjustments Report, and Receipt Management Report.
  • Post Date

  • The Post Date is determined by the Date set in the Reference Batch.
  • It can be used to manipulate Post Dates at month end.
  • Receipt

  • The Receipt holds the details of the money received, who the Payer is, how much was deposited in the bank.
  • Received Date

  • The Received Date is entered on the Receipt or the date that auto-populates on the ERA Receipt.
  • This is the date that the Payment was received.
  • Responsibility Date

  • The date that the party became responsible for the Balance.
  • Self-Pay: The date the Charge was posted.
  • Not Self-Pay: The date the Balance was transferred to the Patient.
  • RTCS

  • Electronic Method of getting an immediate Claim Status update from the Payer.
  • RVU (Relative Value Unit)

  • RVUs define the value of a service or procedure relative to all services and procedures.
  • Site Admin

  • Each practice should have 1-2 PM Super-Users that will have all permissions and security rights in order to manage the database properly and its users.
  • Statement Department

  • Etactics Output Solutions is a Partner that is used for sending Statements and Invoices.
  • TPA

  • A Third Party Administrator is the entity responsible for the Processing and Payment of Claims for an Employer.
  • WC

  • Workers' Compensation




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