Integration is a key design philosophy that is threaded throughout the entire suite of KIS products. The concept of integration is simple; enter data one time. However, the process of integration in software can be very complex. Successful software integration is hindered by the fact that the point of entry for data (the operator) does not have access to all of the information necessary to post a transaction throughout the entire KIS software solution. For example, a clinician would know what service they provided, how long they spent with the client, etc., but they may not know what billing sources are going to pay for the service, how much should be charged for the service, how the service will be posted to the financial reports, etc.

 

In order for integration to be successful, decisions about processes have to be made before actual transactions are created. KIS handles this complex decision making process through "templates". Examples of templates are:

• Service Templates -- allow setting and control of billable sources, billable rates and codes, procedures codes, edits for amounts and limits, discounts (write-offs)

• Distribution Templates -- allow setting of all financial sheet settings, includes the actual codes and departments, percentage distributions, full double entry support

• Payroll Templates -- allow setting of payroll piece rate selection, standard deduction templates, standard certification / accreditation templates, vacation / sick / holiday hourly accrual based on tenure, pre-hire (resume)

KIS uses its expansive template setups to make the complex decisions needed to achieve true software integration. In our example above, the clinician enters a service, specifying the service provided, and the amount of time spent (along with other applicable clinical information). At that point, the KIS templates then determine:

• Who will be the primary biller (as well as the subsequent billing order)

• What rate will be charged for the service

• If there is a write-off and how much it is, and how that write-off will be handled

• Where the charge for the service (and write-off) will be tracked in the financial statements (percentage by account/department)

• If the service will be billed to the state and/or Medicaid or Insurance

• If the service should be reimbursed as a piece rate charge (and what that reimbursement should be)

• If the service passes all edits (preset state edits, limit edits, allowed code edits; staff, cost center, reporting unit and service code)

Integration is essential to your success in using any software package. Through templates KIS allows your users to enter just the data they are familiar with, and have preset templates make the other complex process decisions. This allows your agency to achieve true "one time data entry".

 

Without a doubt, one of the biggest challenges for your agency is to get paid for the services that you provide. If you can't get paid, then you can't provide the services that your clients need.

 

KIS Client Services is designed from the ground up to get you paid. The billing processes in your agency can be very complex. Some of your services may be funded by state or other grants. Some are funded by Medicaid, or other insurance companies. Some services and activities may be funded through EAP (Employer Assistance Plans), or other Employer related plans. Some services may be related to the Judicial process in your area. In addition, some of the services that you may provide may be self pay, where the client pays for some or all of the service. This list is by no means complete; many of you are constantly thinking of new and innovative ways to acquire funding to provide care and treatment to your clients.

 

KIS is designed to handle all of these different billing sources and revenue streams. KIS not only supports standard generation of billing files for Medicaid and Insurance billings (full HIPAA 837 support), but it also allows you to setup an unlimited number of custom contracts that you can easily track and print data for. In addition, KIS supports a full client statement system, with built in support for insurance billing separation and custom payment plans, so that you can work with self pay clients to get paid.

 

Even with all of this power, there is still one component that must exist in order for you to successfully and consistently bill for your Client Services (and get paid). This component is: Operators entering service data do NOT have all of the information available to them at the point of entry to successful bill and get paid for services. With the myriad of billing sources and revenue streams that you work with every day, it is not possible for your users (whether they are data entry personnel or clinician's entering their own data) to keep up with the latest billing rules, rates, sources, write-offs, edits, financial reporting requirements, etc.

 

KIS uses templates to make the complex decision making process necessary for successful billing and payment possible. Some of the templates provided in the KIS Client Services module are:

• Funding Source Templates that allow KIS to select the appropriate primary biller (and subsequent billers) for a provided service

• Service Amount Templates that allow KIS to select the proper billing rate for a service

• Service Limit Templates that allow KIS to apply selected edits on amounts and time (i.e. can't have more than 3 services in a week), as well as edits on valid service, staff, cost center and reporting unit combinations (fully user controlled)

• Write-Off Templates that allow KIS to determine what (if any) write-offs are valid, and to calculate the amount of the write-off

• Billing Templates that determine procedure code and contract setups

• Prior Authorization Templates that can track specific authorizations for validity -- preventing invalid services from being billed under the PA

• Piece Rate Templates that allow for services to be fed directly into the KIS Payroll system, for reimbursement directly to the staff person provided the service

• Distribution Templates to determine how all of these various amounts and charges will be charged to the financial reporting system (by percentage and code/department

Getting paid for your services is critical to the long term stability and success of your agency. The KIS Client Services module gives you the tools and power needed to bill your services and get paid.

 

Note: Clinical Records is offered as a separate contract from standard KIS Lynx. While not included in standard KIS Lynx, we offer custom contracts to meet your Clinical Records and certified EHR needs.

 

Clinical Records is one of the most complex, data intensive tasks that your agency faces. The challenge is heightened by the fact that you want your clinicians focused on patient care, and not burdened by tasks that are artificially created by the need to duplicate work on paper and in your software system.

 

The key design for any successful Clinical Records package for your agency contains several key elements:

• You have to be able to design your own forms. Your data entry needs will vary greatly depending on the type of service being provided; the only way to successfully integrate Clinical Records in this environment is to be able to design forms that specifically fit your needs.

• Clinician's can't be required to enter information they are not familiar with. For example, most agencies do not want their clinicians determining billing rates, billable sources, State / Medicaid / Insurance information, financial sheet reporting, write-off amounts, piece rate reimbursement rates, etc. Any successful Clinical Records package will allow your billing staff to make as many decisions as possible BEFORE the clinician sees the patient.

• You should only have to enter the data one time. This concept, while simple, is often overlooked in software selection and analysis. If data is entered more than once, each subsequent entry presents opportunities for omissions and errors, which cost you both time and money, as well as lowers your ability to ultimately treat your clients. One time data entry is an essential element of any successful Clinical Records package.

The KIS Clinical Records solution gives you all of this and much, much more. You have full control of your data entry forms using visual designers (you can actually see what you are designing). Through the powerful integration templates, clinicians are only required to enter the data they know; templates can be designed to make the other software decisions required (billing, reimbursements, validity edits, etc.). Finally, the KIS Clinical Records package is completely integrated with the full suite of KIS software. This means that Intake, Admission, Discharge or Service information collected from your Clinical Records forms are automatically updated and saved throughout the KIS product -- allowing your users true one time entry.

 

In addition to the features outlined above, KIS Clinical Records also supports full scheduling of services, tasks, reminders and messages. It also allows for visual view of the clients Electronic Health Record (sometimes referred to as the Electronic Medical Record, or EMR), as well as a visual view of the Clinician's data summarized in a single easy to use interface (called the Clinician's Assistant Page, or CAP). KIS also supports custom Treatment Plan generation and tracking, including assignment of services to treatment plan objectives.

 

KIS Clinical Records gives you the maximum control that you need to make electronic Clinical Records a reality for your agency.

 

The KIS Clinical Records and Client Services module allow you to track your interaction with your clients, and to get paid for your services. However, that is just one part of your business. There is a whole other world outside the Clinical / Billing processes; and that is the issue of tracking your business and organizational financial health. The KIS Accounting modules are designed specifically with this in mind. These modules are outlined below:

 

Payroll / Human Resources

 

Paying your employees can be a big challenge. The KIS Payroll module meets this challenge head on, and makes the process easy. Standard features are:

• Automatically generate checks for your salaried employees

• Calculates and reports back to you the standard tax deposit amounts

• Easy and quick entry of information for hourly employees

• Automatic calculation of all standard tax amounts (Federal, State, FICA and Medicare)

• Direct Deposit Capability built in

• Tracks Pay Period, Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly Totals

• Tracks and Generates State and Federal 941 reports

• Tracks and Generates Federal W-2 reports (both paper and electronic)

• Tracks vacation / sick / holiday hours, including templates to automatically calculate accrual balances based on tenure

• Tracks employee events (accidents, raises, reviews, reprimands)

• Tracks employee certifications / accreditations

• Tracks employee resumes

• Uses Distribution Templates to determine financial reporting impact -- allows for unlimited department breakdown by percentage

• Interfaces with Client Services to generate Piece Rate payroll checks based on services provided

• Fully integrates with the Financial Reporting module for true one step data entry

• Tracks all checks in a Checking Account module and allows for reconciliation

The KIS Payroll module is designed from the ground up to make the process of payroll easy and quick for your agency. A process that used to take you a week or more can be accomplished in a single afternoon!

 

Accounts Payable / Purchase Orders

 

Accounts Payable is designed to make it easy for you to track and pay your bills. Features of accounts payable are:

• Tracks Vendor payment/invoice information to make the process quick and painless

• Allows you to enter invoices as you receive them, or to auto generate recurring invoices

• Allows you to pre-assign standard distribution templates to vendors (templates can be split by percentage and code / department, unlimited lines of detail). These templates can be used automatically when invoices are generated, or you can choose to override with custom templates. You can even combine multiple templates on a single invoice.

• Allows you to track Purchase Orders for items that you have committed to purchase, and to generate the invoices when received -- this limits billing errors for your agency (i.e. if you get billed for something other than you ordered)

• When paying invoices, you can select payment items individually, by vendor or by date

• Full check void / regeneration and invoice deletion / regeneration tracking so you can fix mistakes

• Fully integrates with the Financial Reporting module for true one step data entry

• Tracks all checks in a Checking Account module and allows for reconciliation

The KIS Accounts Payable module allows to track who you owe, what you have paid, and to pay your bills with full visibility and with minimal work. Paying bills is never fun, but it can be easy!

 

Financial Reporting / Contract Tracking

 

Financial Reporting should be considered as the "backbone" of your organization. It is the only place that you can tell how you are doing across your entire organization (all in one place). The features of the Financial Report module are:

• Seamless integration across the entire suite of KIS modules -- data entered in those modules are generated automatically (based on distribution templates and overrides) into the Financial Report module

• Full Suite of Financial Reporting formats (Revenue / Expenses, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, Cash Flow, Cash Management, Detail Reports, Budget Comparison Reports)

• Full tracking of budgets by year, including migration of budgets from one year to the next, individual tailoring of budgets by month or year (by account / department)

• Full control over the format of the Financial Reporting report formats. Individual control over the main accounting areas (Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income, Expenses, Other Income, Other Expenses).

• Detail tracking of transactions, with ability to roll up and summarize

• Ability to create recurring entries (by amount or percent), and to generate them as desired

• Interfaces with the Checking Account module to allow for reconciliation

• Ability to track individual "contracts" over custom time periods (even multiple years), with full detail tracking back to the original source module

KIS's "one time data entry" design and powerful templates allow you to truly keep your finger on the pulse of your organization. What you can't see CAN hurt you! Use KIS Financial Reporting to keep visibility of your entire organization, and to stay on top and in business.

 

The KIS Accounting system is central to the total management of your agency; it builds the bridge between your business and your behavioral health systems.