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ClientTracker Manual Version 4.0
© Entire contents 2011 Ginkgo Software.
All Rights Reserved.


Welcome to the ClientTracker Online Manual
version 4.0 and version 5.0.


0. ClientTracker Cloud 5.0 : Which ClientTracker Is Best For You?


Details in this section include:

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[5.0] Two Different ClientTracker Products

There are two kinds of ClientTracker: a desktop version, and a cloud version.

ClientTracker Desktop 4.0 – This is a software program installed on your computer.  The data resides on your computer’s hard drive.  It can be used by one user at a time.  Most of this entire Online Manual pertains to 4.0 -- except the parts labeled [5.0], which are available only with the cloud version.

ClientTracker Cloud 5.0 – This is a way to access your ClientTracker with almost any computer or device.  Your data file resides on a secure server “in the cloud,” and you use free remote connection software to connect to it.  Multiple logins can be made simultaneously, and each login can be made from a variety of devices, as illustrated below.  All of this manual pertains to 5.0, which has all the features and functions of 4.0, and more!

Tip: If you are uncertain which version you have, check on the top menu, under Help --> About ClientTracker

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[5.0] How ClientTracker Cloud Works

Every ClientTracker Cloud account has at least one login.  This could be any person who logs on using the password.  You can have as many simultaneous logins as you like; however, there are certain conflicts in a multi-user environment that are unavoidable, in order to protect the integrity of the data (see below).  There are two different accounts, or types of logins for users:
If you have a Single-User account, you can use multiple devices to connect to your ClientTracker Cloud via your single login.  Each device must have the “2X Client” remote connection software installed, and be using an adequate Internet connection.  Only one device can use the login at a time.

With a Multi-User account, you can have as many devices as you want accessing your ClientTracker Cloud simultaneously, each using a different login.  Each login can be used by one device at a time.

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[5.0] Data Integrity in the Cloud

In order to save changes to your data properly, no two users can access the exact same record at a time.  ClientTracker Cloud is a database composed of records – for example, one client is a record, one invoice is a record, one appointment is a record, etc.

Tip: Use Ctrl+S to "save" a record when you're done with it, which will make it available to others.

When two users try to access the same record at the same time, ClientTracker displays a warning message, [examples].  The second user has to wait until the first user is out of the record before she can make changes to that record.  When your cursor is in a field, or you have clicked to make a choice, you are “in” the record.  To get out of the record and save what you entered, click anywhere outside a field in a blank spot that has no action, aka “negative space.”

Conflicting simultaneous actions that may trigger a warning include:
  1. Using a QuickFinder in the footer of the same List screen
  2. Using a pop-up QuickFinder for the same thing
  3. Entering preferences in the Settings area
  4. Selecting a new line item on an invoice (even if different invoices)
  5. Creating a report
  6. Using a Find button in the same area
Tip:  The best habit by far is to get out of a record as soon as you are done with it.

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[5.0] Mac Keyboard Adaptations in ClientTracker Cloud








If you use keyboard shortcuts on your Mac, they won't work in ClientTracker Cloud because it's a Windows server.  For most equivalent keyboard shortcuts, simply use the Ctrl key instead of Command.

The following chart is copied from Wikipedia for your convenience.  The original can be viewed by visiting the Wikipedia website.

Many font symbols can be entered via keyboard shortcuts.  For example, if your keyboard has a number pad, the temperature symbol (i.e. °F) can be typed with Alt + 248.  Other symbols can be found with a simple Google search, e.g. "How do I type ____ with a windows keyboard shortcut?"

Keyboard shortcuts for text editing

















































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0. ClientTracker Cloud 5.0 : ClientTracker Cloud Setup & Login


[THIS SECTION IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Details in this section include:
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[5.0] Windows Installation

[THIS PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

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[5.0] Mac Installation

Specifications

Mac OS - Must be 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or higher.  Better performance from newer Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) or 10.8 (Mountain Lion)

iPad - iOS 4.3 or higher required.  1st and 2nd generation iPad iOS only goes up to 4.2.1, so you'll need a 3rd generation iPad or higher to use ClientTracker Cloud from your iPad.

iPhone - Must be iOS 4.3 or higher.
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0. ClientTracker Cloud 5.0 : Working with ClientTracker Cloud

Details in this section include:
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[5.0] Sharing the Calendar with Multiple Users

If you have more than one login for your ClientTracker Cloud, you can have more than one person using the program simultaneously.  One of the areas in the program where multiple users are likely to "bump into each other" is the Calendar.

Tip: Use Ctrl+S to "save" a record when you're done with it, which will make it available to others.

The Calendar has a Graphical column display where appointments appear as if they are in an appointment book.  This display needs to be refreshed regularly.  The List Views do not need to be refreshed.

When you make or edit an appointment in ClientTracker, it saves the appointment so the user who made it can see it immediately.  Other users will see a bright yellow message at the top of the screen: "Click to Refresh Calendar."  This has been provided so you can refresh the Calendar when you need to, and not have an automatic refresh disrupt what you may be doing.  The refresh action usually takes only 2-5 seconds.

When you click the message, "Click to Refresh Calendar," the message will disappear and any new appointments will appear on your screen.

Tip: It's wise to refresh whenever you are looking to make a new appointment, so you can see what slots are available.

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[5.0] New Feature Index - ClientTracker Cloud 5.0

New Feature Index

NOTE:  Also look in other areas of the Online Manual (e.g. SOAP Notes) for new features & changes in each area.

Tip: Use the Search field at the upper right of this site to find specific topics, e.g. Client Instructions, Waiting List, Formula Templates, etc.


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[5.0] Working with Linked Files or Photos in the Cloud

[ THIS PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION - DRAFT ONLY ]

There are several places in ClientTracker where you can upload a file, graphic, or image to be linked to your ClientTracker records in the cloud. 
NOTES:

How to Find and Link a File from the Cloud

When you use one of the features below, a "File Browser" window will open that allows you to locate any file on your local computer and use it in the Cloud.

Look for the name of your hard drive(s) in the left panel of the Browser.  Most commonly, this will be called the "C" drive, followed by the name you have assigned to your computer, e.g. "C on John XPS."  Double-click the name of your drive, and your local folder structure will appar in the Browser.  Browse to the file you want, and double-click to use it.

Tip:  You can see the files displayed in various ways.  Click the View As icon near the upper left of the Browser to select a view.

Tip:  Use the Back button on the upper left corner of the Browser to go back to where you were before.  If the Back button doesn't appear, use the "navigator" drop-down arrows in the top "address" area, as shown below.

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ClientTracker Features That Use Linked Files

Email an Invoice - See XXX for more info.

Graphic Header for Letters & Forms
Client Personal Screen
Practitioner Signature
SOAP Note - Files-Photos tab
Communication
Compile and manage a list of files stored "in the Cloud" that can be used as attachments for emails sent from within ClientTracker.
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[5.0] Changes in How ClientTracker 5.0 Works

[THIS PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

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1. Using This Manual / Glossary : Using This Manual

Welcome to ClientTracker!

This online documentation is intended to help you become familiar with the basic functions of ClientTracker software, version 4.0.  ClientTracker is published and copyrighted by Ginkgo Software, at www.ginkgosoftware.com.


ClientTracker Online Documentation

The Table of Contents (TOC) runs along the left side of the web page.  Click on a chapter to expand it and show sections within that chapter.  You can open more than one chapter in the TOC by clicking the small plus [+] symbol next to each chapter.  Click a section to display its details on the reading panel (right side) of the screen.

Throughout the online documentation or "User's Manual," you will see many links to see more information about a certain topic, like those shown above.  Click a link to quickly go to that part of the manual.  In some cases, you will have a link to return, but you may find it easier to return to where you were by using the TOC or clicking the Back button on your browser.

At the end of each detail, or topic, in a section, there is a Back to Top link that will scroll the reading panel of the web page back to the top, or beginning of that section.

You can always use the Back and Fwd buttons on your browser to see other pages in your current session.


Find Information

There is an index of topics available in Using This Manual / Glossary> Index - Where to Find It.  A glossary of terms used in the manual can be found at Using This Manual / Glossary> Glossary.

To find information by keywords, type one or more words into the search field and click the Go button.  A summary of details matching the search will be displayed, with a link to each detail just above.  Your options are:


Tips, Notes, and Warnings

Throughout the online documentation, you will see special information in colored boxes.  A "Tip" is a suggestion about making ClientTracker easier to use, for example:

Tip:  For faster results, consult the online documentation first before contacting Ginkgo Software support.

A "Note" is an advisory or alert about information important to a function, for example:

Note:  After clicking a link, using the Back button on your browser will return you to the last section viewed.

A "Warning" is critical information that could significantly alter how the program works, for example:

Warning:  Do not eat while using ClientTracker, because you might spill food on your keyboard and temporarily disable your computer.

If you have any questions about using ClientTracker or this online documentation, contact   info@ginkgosoftware.com.


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Accessing the Manual Offline

The Online Manual is available free to anyone without a support plan.  This includes the right to make an offline copy, PDF, or printouts of the Manual as needed, using your own software tools.  We do not provide a PDF or other file copy as a standard, because the manual is changing and improving all the time.  The online method of providing documentation has become the industry standard for software.

Note:  To make an offline copy, you will need Internet access to the Online Manual, even if only temporarily.   Without a Support Plan, Ginkgo Software does not provide any files, shortcuts, or assistance for making an offline copy, other than the information below.

Tip: Having a Support Plan is a useful way to optimize your ClientTracker experience. We will be happy to provide a copy of the manual that can be viewed in your browser, IF you have a valid Support Plan.

Save As an Offline Copy (easiest)
Using your Browser software (usually under "File" at the upper left), you can save save the Online Manual as a "Complete Web Page" in most browsers, so you can open it and read it offline.  Check your browser's Help pages.

Tip:  Save it from the title page: http://www.ginkgosoftware.com/documentation/

Warning:  Links embedded in the manual will not work offline. Use the Directory on the left to read the entire manual in offline mode.


Printing the Manual

As the ClientTracker Manual is online, you can print any section by using the Print button on your browser.  This will print everything you see in the one section.


Making a PDF
If you have the software to print as a PDF, you can try this when printing.  Or, with more sophisticated PDF software, you can save an entire web site as a PDF. 

Note:  The above options are explained in your own software's Help pages, and are not part of ClientTracker or our support.

Warning:  Links embedded in the manual will not work in a PDF.  You will need to scroll through the pages or make your own bookmarks to read the entire manual in offline mode.


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1. Using This Manual / Glossary : Glossary

The ClientTracker software and manual use terms that may already be familiar to practice management software users.  To assist in understanding important concepts, we offer a limited glossary below. Words in blue are defined in this glossary.

Ad Hoc - A manual data entry that bypasses a Drop-down List, and does not become part of the Value List for that Field.

Area - A group of several screens about the same type of Record, e.g. the "Clients Area."

Button - A clickable object that loolks like a button, which executes an action.  The names of Buttons are Green in this manual.

Chart Note - See SOAP Note

Comm Panel - A group of four or five Buttons that will access the Communications Module.

Control Panel - The left side of the Functions Bar in a specific area.

Detail Screen - A screen with the most information about a Record.

Dialog or Message Box - A pop-up gray box that requires a response from you.

Drop-down List - A Value List that opens when a field is clicked; from which to select an entry.  You can also enter an ad hoc value by clicking the field a second time.

Field - A place to type or enter data in ClientTracker.

Find - The process of searching for Records by specified criteria.

Found Set - A set of Records resulting from a Find.

Functions Bar - The main horizontal panel of Icons located at the top of most screens.

Icon - A large Button with a graphic, which performs an action or navigates to another Area.

Insured - The policyholder of an insurance policy (may be someone other than the client).

Line Item - An item that appears in a Portal on an invoice as a diagnosis, procedure, product, or payment.

Link - In ClientTracker, this is appears as an underlined blue link that acts like a Button, and usually performs an action.  In this Manual a ClientTracker link is represented in bold blue so as not to be confused with links to other parts of the Manual.

List Screen - A screen showing a Found Set, or list of records arranged in rows.

Main Menu - The gray, horizontal menu of ClientTracker functions, e.g. "Edit" or "Help."  Clicking a menu item opens a submenu of choices.

Navigation Panel - The right side of the Functions Bar, composed of seven navigation Icons that, when clicked, will take you to another Area of ClientTracker.

Payment On Account - A pre-payment, or payment made by a client or insurer to be applied to existing charges or retained as a credit.

Payment Palette - A group of Fields and Tabs for use in entering a payment

Pop-up Menu - A Value List that pops up when a field is clicked, and offers a menu of choices including "Other..." as a way to enter a value that becomes part of the list.

Pop-up Window - A small ClientTracker window that opens on top of the screen you were on.  It may be moved, but requires and action from you to close it.

Portal - A small list of records and information related to the current record, which often have actions associated with them.

Posting - An action that transfer "funds" from a Payment On Account to pay an invoice or an adjustment to an invoice.

Print Palette - A small Pop-up Window that opens each time something is printed, with a set of Buttons and controls to preview, print, or cancel the print job.

QuickFinder - A type-ahead method of finding one or more matching records in a Portal or list of records.  Available as a Pop-up Window to select a single record, or at the bottom of List screens that have a lot of records.

Radio Buttons - A set of clickable small circles that will select only one from a choice of values

Record - A single unit in ClientTracker, such as a client, company, or communication.

Record Navigator - A small panel of buttons to move to the first, previous, next, or last record in a Found Set.

Scroll Bar - A small handle that slides in a vertical bar on the right edge of a Portal or the main window of ClientTracker to show additional items.

Search Operators - Symbols that can be combined with text, dates, or numbers to express dynamic search criteria in an Advanced Find; e.g. ">100" or "John *smith."

SOAP Note - An acronym for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan, which are the main tabs of the SOAP Note; used in ClientTracker to record clinical info from a client's visit.

Sort - A temporary rearrangement of the order of records in a Found Set, e.g. alphabetical order of clients.

Tab and Subtab - A set of layered panels with clickable tabs that display the contents of the panel.  A subtab is a set of tabs within a tab.

Tabbing - The act of moving from Field to Field on a screen by using the "Tab" key on your keyboard.

Third Party Payer - A company or other person who makes a payment on a client's charges.

Value List - A list of values that can be entered in a field by means of a Drop-down List or Pop-up Menu.
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1. Using This Manual / Glossary : Index - Where to Find It

What's the fastest way to find something in ClientTracker?
Note:  The main areas of ClientTracker are accessed via the icons in the Navigation Panel of the Functions Bar at the top of most screens (see below). The icon names are in Green.






1500 - (see Insurance Claim Form)

Appointments - Create an appointment for a client, or view appointments
Appointment Confirmation Email - Set up how these are used (or not) for your practice
Backup - Use Local Backup to protect your data
Calendar - Make an appointment or view/edit any day's schedule
Clearing Houses - Create or edit clearing houses and electronic billing
Clients - Find or enter clients and their personal, insurance, and financial details
Client History - Record the clinical medical history of a client or view Diagnoses, Procedures, and Products used for that client in ClientTracker
Communication - Compose, send, or save letters, emails, forms, and phone notes
Communication Templates - Set up templates to create communications
Diagnosis Codes - Create or edit diagnosis (ICD-9) codes used most often by your practice
Email Settings - Select an email sending method and other details
Envelopes & Labels - Print one or more envelopes or labels
Families - Group clients into families and share their payments
Files - Link electronic files to clients or their SOAP Notes and view them
Insurance - Create or edit insurance companies or other Third Party Payers
Insurance Claim Form (or 1500) - Fill out and send paper or electronic claim forms
Insurance Policy - Enter or manage insurance policies for clients
Insured - Enter and manage info about a policy holder
Inventory - Manage inventory levels and reordering
Invoice - Create or edit invoices in Simple, Superbill or 1500 formats
Invoice Settings - Set up how invoices are created, printed, or displayed
Payment - Enter a payment on a client's account
Photos - Link digital photo files to a Client's record or SOAP Notes and view them
Practice Info - Basic info about your practice, used throughout ClientTracker
Practitioners - Create and edit records for practitioners in your practice
Print Settings - Includes customizable headers for letters, reports, SOAP Notes, etc.
Procedure Codes - Create or edit procedure (CPT) codes used most often by your practice
Products - Enter or edit products sold by your practice
Providers - Enter or edit providers who refer clients to your practice
Refunds - Where and how to refund a payment made by a client
Register - Set up and use (or not) a reconciled bank account register for your practice
Registration Code - If you need a new Registration Code for some reason:


Reminders - Create or edit a reminder to show on the schedule
Reports - Run a report for financial or marketing purposes
Rooms - Create a list of rooms in your practice to be used on the schedule
Sales Tax - Set sales tax rates used by your practice for products and services
SOAP Notes - Create and fill out SOAPs
SOAP Templates - Set up templates and assign them to practitioners to create SOAPs for different types of appointments
Statements - Generate and print a client statement of account
Superbill - (see Invoices)

Thank You Letters or Email - Create and send thank-you communication to those who refer clients to you
Troubleshooting - If something isn't working for you
Value Lists - Control what shows in selected drop-down lists throughout ClientTracker
Vendors - Create and manage records of companies that sell you products

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2. QuickStart Guide : Introduction / Demo Mode

Details in this section include:

This QuickStart Guide will help you quickly install, configure and become familiar with the basic functions of ClientTracker software, version 4.0.  ClientTracker is published and copyrighted by Ginkgo Software, at www.ginkgosoftware.com.

ClientTracker is a practice management software solution designed for health providers in a small office. It enables you to manage the following types of information:

• Clients, Families
• Appointments
• SOAP Notes
• Invoices, payments and insurance claims
• Payments on account
• Practitioners
• Inventory of retail supplies and vendors
• Insurance companies and payments
• Clearing Houses for e-billing
• Communications
• Register for a bank account

If you have any questions about using ClientTracker or this online documentation, contact user support at support@ginkgosoftware.com.

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Demo Mode

The "Demo," or Demonstration Mode, lets you try the features of ClientTracker before you buy.  

The installer runs like any program.  A ClientTracker shortcut or alias will be placed on your computer's desktop.  Click this to open the Demo.

When the program opens, click the Try Out button to try out ClientTracker.  Other choices are:

Register- Click if you have a new Registration Code, after having used Demo Mode before.

Purchase- Naturally, we hope all who try out ClientTracker in Demo Mode will purchase the full version of the program!  If you have any questions about purchasing ClientTracker, visit our web site at www.ginkgosoftware.com, or contact us at support@ginkgosoftware.com.

Note:  While in Demo mode, you can test almost all features.  You are limited to entering 10 new clients, 30 new appointments, and 10 new invoices.  Printing is disabled, but the Floating Preview Palette shows how a printout would look.

WARNING: All Demo Mode data, including any changes you make, will be deleted when you register, and any templates provided with the program will be restored to their system data.

Demo Mode contains enough sample data to show how your practice can use ClientTracker's features.  You can add or edit data (within the restrictions noted above).

Note:  Some Demo data is set up differently than it will appear after you register. See Demo Data below for more info.

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Demo Data
The following parts of ClientTracker are set to work differently in Demo Mode, to give you a sense of how some of the features work.


New Clients and Communications Templates

Communications Templates can be set to "auto-create" when a new client is created.  This can be useful, for example, to generate forms or other communication that your practice would like to make sure new clients read or sign.  These Communication templates are set to auto-create in Demo Mode:
Note:  When you register, any changes made in these Templates will be lost, the text will be restored to the system default, and all 3 will be set to NOT auto-create.


Photos and Files

Files can be linked to ClientTracker, including digital photo files.  These can be linked to the Client record, or SOAP Note.  To demonstrate this process, the main ClientTracker folder installed on your computer has a sub-folder called ClientTracker Files-Photos.  This is a built-in place to put all the files linked to ClientTracker. You can move this folder elsewhere or you can choose your own folder location as well.

For more info on linking files and photos, see:
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2. QuickStart Guide : Installation / Registration

Details in this section include:

Use the following information to download and install ClientTracker.  If you have any trouble, contact us at support@ginkgosoftware.com.

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System Requirements - Windows

Having enough computer power to run a mission-critical program like ClientTracker is essential.  These are minimum requirements... more power is always helpful to run your business efficiently.  If ClientTracker is running slowly for you, see How ClientTracker Works> Program Functions>Program Speed - Is ClientTracker too slow? for more info.
Note:  An Uninterrupted Power Supply (aka UPS) is strongly recommended for your computer. This is not a function of the software, but is an important hardware safeguard.

To install:

  1. Download the ClientTracker demo version for Windows from www.ginkgosoftware.com/download.

  2. Double-click on the file you downloaded to start the installer.  When the installer has completed, double-click on the ClientTracker icon on your desktop.

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System Requirements - Macintosh
Yes!  ClientTracker is compatible with the new Lion OS 10.7, as of November 2011. 

Having enough computer power to run a mission-critical program like ClientTracker is essential.  These are minimum requirements... more power is always helpful to run your business efficiently.  If ClientTracker is running slowly for you, see How ClientTracker Works> Program Functions>Program Speed - Is ClientTracker too slow? for more info.

Note:  An Uninterrupted Power Supply (aka UPS) is strongly recommended for your computer. This is not a function of the software, but is an important hardware safeguard.

To install:

  1. Download the ClientTracker demo for Macintosh from www.ginkgosoftware.com/download. This is the installer.
  2. The installer window may open on its own after the download is complete.  If so, skip to step 4.
  3. Go to the folder on your computer where you first downloaded the package.  Find a file called ClientTracker.dmg.
  4. You will see a window containing a folder called ClientTracker.  Drag the ClientTracker folder to your Applications folder.  To make the icon appear in your dock, open the ClientTracker folder and locate the 'ClientTracker' file with the round green icon.  Drag this to your dock.
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Register and Start Using ClientTracker

Once you have purchased ClientTracker and received your registration code, go to the Settings area at the bottom of the Program screen, and click the Register ClientTracker link.  

This takes you to a screen where you enter your practice name and registration code.  These must be entered exactly as they appear in the email you received after purchasing ClientTracker.  We recommend that you copy and paste these items from the email to the boxes on the Registration screen for accuracy.  Be sure there are no extra spaces or other characters or it will not work.


STEP 1 - Enter your Practice Name and Registration Code exactly as you received it in your registration email.

Note:  Be careful of the differences between the letter "O" and zero, and the letter "I" and number 1.

STEP 2 - Set the starting number of your invoices (this can only be done once).

STEP 3 - Enter the name of one practitioner and one room to start.

That's it!  You can now begin using ClientTracker as a registered user.  Next, you will see the QuickStart Tips screen.  To learn more about this and get off to a smooth start, see QuickStart Guide> QuickStart Tips.

IMPORTANT:  Your license allows you to install ClientTracker only on up to 2 computers. Multi-user access (i.e. sharing data between multiple computers) is not supported in Version 4.0. If you install on 2 computers they will have separate sets of data.  Installation on a network or server is not supported.

After successful registration, you  have the opportunity to enter optional passwords to protect your data to prevent unauthorized access to your data.

If you choose to enter passwords at this time, more info can be found at How ClientTracker Works> Program Functions>Passwords.

To enter Required Information and start using ClientTracker, click the Start button.

Note:  If you have trouble registering, or need a new Registration Code for any reason, see Technical Information> Password or Registration Code Issues.


Let Us Help You

As part of your initial ClientTracker set up, you should make sure that your email program's spam filters are set to send direct to their inbox any email from ClientTracker support:

This is so you can easily receive our emails with specific support issues or upgrade info, and also our newsletter.

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Safeguard Your Data

Follow the below for the safety of your business-critical data:

Some features in ClientTracker are dependent on your own computer environment:

Note:   You may need to set your firewall to allow ClientTracker to access the Internet. Consult the documentation for your firewall program. Access to the Internet is not covered by ClientTracker support.

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[5.0] ClientTracker Cloud Installation - WINDOWS

This section is under development.  Contact Ginkgo Software Support for installation instructions.

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[5.0] ClientTracker Cloud Installation - MAC
This section is under development.  Contact Ginkgo Software Support for installation instructions.

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2. QuickStart Guide : QuickStart Tips

Details in this section include:
QuickStart Tips can be accessed from the Settings or Registration areas by clicking the button.  These tips will help you have a smooth start using ClientTracker.  The tips assume that you have registered and have had all the Demo data deleted - starting with your own copy of ClientTracker.

Note:  The deletion of Demo data when you register does not change any of the Program Settings or Practice Information you may have already entered in the Settings area. If you have valid data there, you can use it going forward or change it as you see fit.

Tip:  To access Start-up Tips anytime, go to any Settings screen and click the Start-up Tips button at the bottom of the screen.  The Start-up Tips screen has an additional link where you can Take a Tour of ClientTracker, and see the main areas and features.

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Customize Your Practice Information
From the QuickStart Tips layout, click Take Me There to view and edit your practice information.  From most other screens in ClientTracker, click the Settings icon at the far right of the Functions Bar.  For more info see Settings> Practice.
Note:  SOAP Templates can be set up in advance with diagnoses, procedures, and products that will show up on the invoice generated for a client visit.  By doing this, even if you don't use ClientTracker's SOAP Notes, you can create templates for invoices.
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Customize Your Program Settings
ClientTracker has many ways in which you can customize how it works for you.  We recommend you take a few minutes to review the entire Settings/Program area to get familiar with the available settings, and decide which ones will need to be customized for your practice.  Or you can scan this section and go to just those that interest you.

From the QuickStart Tips layout, click Take Me There to view and edit the Settings/Program area.  From most other screens in ClientTracker, click the Settings icon at the far right of the Functions Bar; then click the Programs tab.  from there, select a subtab to view specific settings.

Defaults Subtab
Financial Subtab
Print Subtab
Utilities Subtab
Value Lists Subtab
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Set Up ClientTracker for Use

Other Areas Where You Might Want Starting Information
  1. Diagnosis Codes and Procedure Codes - ClientTracker is shipped with standard diagnosis (ICD-9) codes and procedure (CPT) codes used for billing.  To customize these lists, click the respective tabs in the Settings area, and see Settings> Diagnosis and Procedure Codes for more info.

  2. Calendar - Check to make sure your active practitioners and rooms show up on the Calendar, get familiar with the different views and ways of finding a date, and practice making a few appointments.  See Calendar> The Calendar Area for more info.

  3. Clearing Houses - If you use electronic billing, set up the Clearing Houses that you will use and their billing info.  See Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies for more info.

  4. Insurance - Enter the companies you know are being used by your clients, and assign Clearing Houses as needed.  As you create client records, you will look up Insurance Companies to create polices for clients.  See Insurance & Billing> Clearing Houses for more info.

  5. Vendors - Enter the companies that are selling products to you.  You may also want to set up office charges - using "vendors" as categories - or edit the ones already provided by ClientTracker.  See Inventory> Vendors for more info.

  6. Inventory - Create a list of any products sold by your practice so they will be available to put on invoices.  Assign Vendors, set up beginning and reorder levels, and designate sales tax.  See Inventory> Inventory Setup for more info.

  7. Register - If you choose to use the Register, you may want to enter a beginning balance as the first entry.  See Invoices & Payments> Using the Register for more info.
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Set Up Automatic Functions

Optional Automatic Functions
  1. Email Appointment Confirmation - If you want an email to be sent to the client when an appointment is made, go to Settings/Program/Defaults.  See Calendar> Appointment Confirmation for more info.

  2. Communication Templates - If you want any communication to auto-create for new clients, go to Reports/Templates & Marketing and check the "Auto" box in the template row.  See Communication> Templates & Segments for more info.

  3. SOAP Templates - If you want to use SOAP Templates as an option when filling out a SOAP Note, set these up by clicking the SOAP Templates button on Reports/Templates & Marketing.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates for more info.

  4. Practitioner Designated SOAP Templates - If you would like to designate SOAP Templates for use by certain practitioners, go to each practitioner's Detail screen (from the Settings/Practice tab) and assign the template for Initial and/or Subsequent visits.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Default SOAP Templates for Practitioners for more info.

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2. QuickStart Guide : QuickStart Videos

Basic ClientTracker Navigation - Video Series
Videos in this section include:


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01.1 Getting Around in ClientTracker
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01.2 Using the List View
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01.3 Finding Records Quickly
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01.4 Using the Detail Screen
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2. QuickStart Guide : Getting Around in ClientTracker

Details in this section include:
ClientTracker is set up intuitively with many areas and places to perform tasks.  Chances are, you have explored these in demo mode, or have used a similar program before.  This section lists where to find more information.  To see what to do first after installation and registration, see QuickStart Guide> QuickStart Tips.

Take a Tour of ClientTracker

On the Start-Up Tips screen is a link, Take a Tour of ClientTracker, which opens a pop-up window with Back and Next buttons that show you a few highlights of the program.

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Navigation Tools

Most ClientTracker screens have a set of navigation tools called "The Functions Bar."

                                               Functions Bar




                   Control Panel                                                             Navigation Panel


Navigation Panel - Click an icon to go to a main area of ClientTracker.  All but Calendar and Settings will show all the records in that area.

Control Panel - These icons perform different functions, depending on which area you're in.  In the example above, there are functions for New Client, Find Client, Clients List, Print, and Manage Families.  


Back & Forward Buttons - If you get lost, or want to return somewhere where you just were, use the Back and Forward buttons, which function just like a web browser.

Note:  The Back and Forward buttons retains any lists and sorts you were working with, and will also return you to any tabs that were open on a screen.

Record Navigator - This shows how many records you are looking at in a set, called the "Found Set" in this manual.  Clicking the First, Prev., Next, or Last buttons in a List screen moves you up or down the list.  In a Detail screen, you see the different records like turning the page of a book.

For more info about the key concept of a Found Set of records, see How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information.

Main Menu








ClientTracker's Main Menu runs across the very top of the window, and has 6 choices:

File | Edit | View | Records | Insert | Help

Each Main menu choice opens a drop-down menu of additional choices.  Some menu choices offer keyboard shortcuts, e.g. Copy (Ctrl + C).  Notable choices include:

For detailed information about using the Main Menu when working with ClientTracker, see How ClientTracker Works> Program Functions>Main Menu.

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2. QuickStart Guide : Basic ClientTracker Functions

Details in this section include:
Each main area of ClientTracker having multiple records will show them in a List screen.  Use the main window scroll bar or the Record Navigator to move up and down through the records in the list.

Current Record Highlight



On a List view, the currently selected record is highlighted by a yellow box around the row.

Portal List


A smaller list of records is called a "portal" because it is looking at records related to a single, main record being viewed - for example, the portal of Phone Numbers for each client.  These usually have small scroll handles on the right for viewing all of the portal list.


Sort Records

The records of many portals and List screens can be sorted by the contents of the columns.  Click the column to toggle the sort by ascending or descending, depending on whether the data is text, a date, or a number.  To undo all sorts, hold down the Shift key and click the column.

Tip:  A sortable column is noted by a small 3-bar graphic to the left of the column header.  Many List screens are sorted automatically by name.

Found Set

In any List screen, the current set of records is known as a "Found Set."  This can be modified by performing a Find, using the QuickFinder (if available), or omitting a record temporarily from the visible list.  (See below.)

For more info about the key concept of a Found Set of records, see How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information.

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Find Options

Finding information in ClientTracker is discussed in more detail in another section, How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information.

QuickFinder - for finding one matching record



A small version of the QuickFinder appears as an orange-bordered field with a magnifying glass next to it (see above).  It appears on full screens and pop-up windows.

Type any information into the field, or pick a category from the drop-down list, and the portal of available choices will adjust to show records matching what you entered.  This method is used to select one record; for example, finding one client or adding a procedure or product to an invoice.

See How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information>Using the QuickFinder to Find and Select a Single Record for more info.

QuickFinder - for finding one or more matching records on a list screen




A bigger QuickFinder is in the footer of most List screens where a large number of different records are expected, for example, the Diagnosis Code screen.  This creates an instant "Found Set" of records in response to information entered into its fields - including powerful "Search Operators."  The resulting set can be worked with in many ways.

See How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information>Finding Records with the QuickFinder for more info.


Find Screens


Click the Find icon in the Control Panel of an area to access a more detailed method of finding a group of records, or even just one.


In a Find screen, you enter one search criterion, or a combination of criteria, and click Continue.  The results of the search are displayed on another screen, usually a List.  This method is also used to generate reports, and can be used with "Search Operators."

See How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information for more info.

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Tooltips

A "tooltip" is a brief message that pops up when your mouse hovers over some fields or objects in ClientTracker.  A tooltip lasts for about 5 seconds, and informs about a choice, or displays more information about the field.





The contents of tooltips cannot be copied, pasted, or held open for longer than the 5 seconds.  To see it again, move your mouse away and back again.

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Value Lists

Definitions

Value List - A list of values, such as words or phrases, that can be inserted into a field.










Drop-down List - A function that opens a Value List when a field is clicked.  (If the list is long there is a scrollbar.)



Pop-up Menu - A function that opens a Value List like a menu when a field is clicked.




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2. QuickStart Guide : QuickStart for Insurance Billing

Note: This list is provided as a guide only. Insurance billing requirements may differ in your area. If you follow all these steps, you will be ready to bill insurance companies for services provided to patients, which are called "clients" in ClientTracker.


You may also want to review our 6-part video series, "ClientTracker and Insurance," which is available via the Video Library page on our web site.  These are more detailed than what you see here; however, you may also find the links below to be useful additions to the videos.

STEPS TO SET UP INSURANCE BILLING

Before you start seeing patients...

1. Register ClientTracker using the Practice Name that is the "Service Facility" (i.e. the place where the patient received services)  See Settings> Practice>Practice Information

2. Enter practitioners and their insurance address, NPI, Social Security or EIN number, license number, and other 1500 info.  See Settings> Practice>Create and Manage Practitioners

3. Create a clearing house account (outside of ClientTracker) and set up the company information.  A few popular clearing house records are already entered in ClientTracker.  See Insurance & Billing> Clearing Houses

4. Create insurance company (Insurer) records as needed to represent client policies.  The insurance company's info is usually found on the insurance card presented by the client.  See Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies>The Insurance Company Detail Screen

5. Create or import Procedure and Diagnosis Codes see Settings> Diagnosis and Procedure Codes


As you begin seeing patients...

6. Set up each Client's record and their Client Insurance Policy by selecting the Insurer and filling out the info needed for the 1500.  See Clients> Client Insurance Tab

7. Enter referring providers and their NPI, license number.  As needed... See Settings> Practice>Referring Providers


8. Create 1500 claim forms as invoices for client visits, and all the above information will automatically transfer to the proper boxes.  See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Invoices
  1. Create an E-Billing batch in ClientTracker and save it as a file to your computer.  This alone does not send the batch file!  See Insurance & Billing> E-Billing>Create an E-Billing Batch File

  2. Go to your user account on the clearing house website and upload the above file to send it for processing.

Tip:  Set up your account with a clearing house before you process an E-Billing batch in ClientTracker.  Contact the clearing house directly to find out their guidelines for accepting electronic files.

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All About the 1500 Insurance Claim Form

Formerly known as the HCFA 1500, or CMS-1500, this is the main claim form used in ClientTracker for billing insurance.


For details about the 1500 Claim form and where the ClientTracker  "source info" can be found for each Box in the form, see the following sections of this Manual:

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3. How ClientTracker Works : Program Functions

Details in this section include:
ClientTracker is designed so that its main functions are intuitive and easy to remember.  In case you want or need more details, start here.
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Program Speed - Is ClientTracker too slow?

If you have repeated "slow" experiences with ClientTracker, this may be due to the overall speed of your computer... even if other programs seem to be working properly.  The Minimum System Requirements are at least 2.0 GHz processor speed and 1 GB RAM.  This is average speed for a computer nowadays... a faster processor and more RAM are always helpful. We strongly recommend at least a 2.66 GHz processor, because this has more to do with overall program speed than the RAM, although 3-4 GB of RAM is recommended if you typically run ClientTracker while other programs are open on your computer.

Minimum System Requirements
Often, if you are running other programs at the same time, they could be using processor speed or memory.  If ClientTracker is a mission-critical program for you, it's best to allow it to run with the full resources of your computer at its disposal.  Having a computer that's fast enough to run your business-critical software is a wise investment.

Things That Slow Down ClientTracker

Running a system backup - these should be scheduled for times when ClientTracker is not running.  We strongly recommend shutting down ClientTracker every night so it can be backed up.

File Transfers - If you are uploading or downloading a file, this takes a lot of memory and will slow down overall performance.

Graphics and other programs - If you have fancy, graphics-heavy customizations for your desktop or OS, this can take a lot of memory to maintain.  Basic desktop settings are recommended.  Closing other non-essential programs is also recommended while ClientTracker is running.

Online connections - Some online functions can use a lot of memory.  Just displaying graphic-heavy web pages, or having many tabs open in your browser can slow down overall performance.

Experiment with a Faster Computer
Here is an experiment to try:  If you copy your the entire ClientTracker 4.0 folder (or download the Demo) to a flash drive or other portable USB drive, you could try this eye-opening experiment:

1. Take the USB drive with ClientTracker on it to a computer store (or a friend's new computer) and say you want to "test drive" on a new computer a program that is critical to you.

2. Plug in the USB drive and find the ClientTracker 4.0 folder in the new computer's directory.

3. Inside the Program folder, double-click the ClientTracker.exe program, and you will be able to run ClientTracker on the new computer and try a few things... like (state reported problem)

You may see how much faster the experience is on other computers!

Note:  With some computers, running ClientTracker from an external drive (as in the experiment above) can slow down the program. If this happens, try installing the free Demo on a 2nd computer and compare the speed of the Demo vs. the speed on your other computer.

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Main Menu








ClientTracker's Main Menu runs across the very top of the window, and has 6 choices:

File | Edit | View | Records | Insert | Help

Each Main menu choice opens a drop-down menu of additional choices; explained below.  Some menu choices offer keyboard shortcuts, e.g. Ctrl + C for Copy (for Macintosh, use the Ctrl or Command key).  For more information about keyboard and mouse shortcuts when working with ClientTracker, see Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts.

File

Edit (menu choices change as you work with data in fields)

View


Tip: You can also Zoom In and Zoom Out by clicking the scale buttons in the lower left corner of the main ClientTracker window.

Format

Records

Tip:  The total number of records in the current Found Set can be seen in the Record Navigator, located in the top Functions Bar on most layouts.  Click the buttons to move forward and backward through the records.

Note:  Menu choices for Records apply to the main record being viewed; not records in a portal.  We do not recommend using Record choices when a pop-up window is open.

Insert

Help

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Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts

Keyboard & Mouse Navigation Shortcuts (Windows)

Note:  Macintosh users most of the time substitute COMMAND (cloverleaf or Apple logo key) for "Ctrl" for Windows. Some Mac keyboards also have a separate CTRL key that may sometimes be used. Consult your keyboard or system documentation for help.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Many keyboard shortcuts are available for Main Menu functions.  See Main Menu for more info.

Windows:

On long Detail screens (like the invoices), use these keys when your cursor is not in a field:

On List screens, some keys behave differently:


Data Entry

Dates - Enter in M/D/YY format.  If the date is in the current year, the year will enter automatically; e.g. 6/11 becomes 6-11-10.

Dollar Amounts - No need to enter a dollar sign, or a decimal if a whole number.  For example, entering "100" will display as $100.00 when you exit the field


Mouse Shortcuts

Note:  One click is usually all that is needed to select an item from a portal or QuickFinder.  When the cursor is in a data entry field, the double- and triple-clicks will select text as usual.

Right-Click - Displays a small menu of options when the cursor is in a field: Suggested Spellings, Cut, Copy, Paste Unformatted Text, Insert (current date), and Export Field Contents.

Mouse Wheel - Scrolls through records in List screens or portals.  In List screens, the mouse wheel moves through the list of records (i.e. scrolls the main window), without changing the active record.  In large text fields (e.g. communications), the mouse wheel will scroll the text up or down.

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Passwords
ClientTracker allows you to set Admin and Staff level passwords, or use no passwords at all. When passwords are used and you are logged in as Admin, you have access to setting up and changing passwords, financial reports, and invoice totals -- areas which are not available to those who log in with the Staff password.

After successfully registering, you next have the option of setting your passwords.   If you don't want to set your password(s) now, you can do it later.  You can always change your passwords at any time.

Initial Setup of Passwords




To activate password protection: Go to the Settings/Program/Defaults tab.  Click the Set Admin Password button, which is at the bottom next to your registration info.
Changing a Password

You can change a password at any time with Admin access, by clicking the Password Setup button on the Settings/Program/Defaults tab.  On the Admin Setup screen, click either button to change a password. You will be asked to enter the current Admin password, and the new password (twice to confirm).

To set ClientTracker not to use any passwords, leave the new password fields completely blank for both Staff and Admin, and click OK.

Note:  If you remove the Admin password, the Staff password will also be cleared automatically.

Opening ClientTracker with Password Protection

If you have set any passwords, a Login dialog box will prompt you to enter a password. ClientTracker will know if what you enter is for Admin or Staff.  Other Login options are:

Recovering a Lost Password

When purchasing ClientTracker, users will set up their security question and password. Only the security question info will be available to Ginkgo Software.

If a you forget your password, click the Lost Password button on the initial Login dialog box. These instructions on how to request a temporary password will show:
Once Ginkgo Support confirms your identity by using the security question and answer, you will be provided with a temporary password.  This will allow you to login to ClientTracker, but will not provide any password protection.  You will need to set passwords again after recovery if you want password protection.
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ClientTracker Program Windows

The ClientTracker program has one main window open at a time.  Additional, smaller windows may open as pop-ups.

Closing a window: During use of most programs, clicking on the red X (Windows) or dot (Mac) usually closes a window. ClientTracker has this function disabled. The only way to close a window is to finish the process if it is a small pop-up window. To exit the main ClientTracker window, completely Quit or Exit the program from the Main Menu.


Macintosh Computers Only

The Macintosh feature Expose allows you to change windows. You can use F10 to change window back to the main window (from the small pop-up). However, while you can change to the main window, as soon as you click anywhere on this new window, you will be brought back to the small pop-up to finish your task.

Tip: If your ClientTracker program window winds up off screen, one thing you can always do is go to System Preferences -> Displays -> Gather Windows, which should bring every open window back onto the screen.

Windows Computers Only

If your ClientTracker window winds up off screen:

First make sure you’ve alt-tabbed to the window, or clicked on it once to bring it into focus. Then right-click on the taskbar and choose Move.

At this point, you should notice that your cursor changes to the “Move” cursor, but you still can’t move anything.

Just hit any one of the arrow keys (Left, Right, Down, Up), move your mouse, and the window should return onto the screen.

Tip:  For keyboard savvy people, you can just alt-tab to the window, use Alt+Space, then M, then Arrow key, and then move your mouse.

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Formatting Text
Formatting text is possible only on selected screens.  Whatever text you format in ClientTracker will print that way (if compatible with your system printer).
1. The SOAP Note detail
2. The SOAP Template detail
3. The Communications Compose screen (when writing a letter or form)
4. The Communications Template detail, or Compose screen
5. The Program/Print tab. for the header used for reports and invoices (in the Settings area)
When you are on one of these screens, an additional menu choice appears in the top, or Main Menu, called "Format." 

To format text, highlight what you want to format and expand the menu for additional choices.




Tip: Click the Text... choice at the bottom of the menu to open the Text Format for selected text dialog, where more choices are available.






Note:  The choices are standard for text formatting. The best way to learn what options are available is to make a Communications Template or SOAP Template and try the different formatting options before using them.

Formatting a Paragraph

Click the Paragraph... button on the Text Format for selected text dialog to open the Paragraph dialog, where you can apply alignment, indents, or line spacing to the currently selected paragraph of text.



Tip: You can also use the Text Ruler to format indents and see where tabs are set in the current field. You must be clicked in the field to see the Text Ruler.





Formatting Tabs

Click the Tabs... button on the Paragraph dialog to set tabs for the currently selected paragraph.


















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[5.0] QuickClips

"QuickClips" is a pop-up feature that you can access anywhere within ClientTracker to insert text in a field.  The clip is copied to your computer's clipboard, after which you can paste it anywhere you enter text by using Ctrl + V on your keyboard (Command + V for a Mac).

To access the QuickClips pop-up window:
-- From the top menu, select QuickClips --> Open QuickClips
-- FASTER: Press Ctrl + 1 (Command + 1 on a Mac)

































Create your own list of clips of any length -- short or elaborate, and organize them by Category or check the Frequent box to make them appear at the top of the list.  The list sorts to put those marked Frequent first, then it sorts by by Category, and then by the first letter or number of the text.

Tip:  Your clips can be text formatted using the Format options in the top menu, and the formatting will be retained during copy and paste.

To create a new clip, open the QuickClips pop-up and click the Create New button.  Enter the text and assign a Category if you like.  The drop-down Category list builds itself from values you have entered for any clip.  What you enter is saved automatically by ClientTracker.

Click << Return to list to go back to the Clipboard list.

Tip:  To copy and use the new clip immediately, click Copy this clip and close pop-up

To edit any clip, click the small Edit link at the right of its row.  Click the red button to Delete.





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[5.0] Mac Keyboard Adaptations in ClientTracker Cloud








If you use keyboard shortcuts on your Mac, they won't work in ClientTracker Cloud because it's a Windows server.  For most equivalent keyboard shortcuts, simply use the Ctrl key instead of Command.

The following chart is copied from Wikipedia for your convenience.  The original can be viewed by visiting the Wikipedia website.

Many font symbols can be entered via keyboard shortcuts.  For example, if your keyboard has a number pad, the temperature symbol (i.e. °F) can be typed with Alt + 248.  Other symbols can be found with a simple Google search, e.g. "How do I type ____ with a windows keyboard shortcut?"

Keyboard shortcuts for text editing
















































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3. How ClientTracker Works : Main Areas of ClientTracker

The Main Areas of ClientTracker are represented by buttons on the Navigation Panel of the Functions Bar and are explained in more detail below.




Clients - See Clients Area.

Calendar - See Calendar Area.

Financial - See Financial Area.

Reports - See Reports Area.

Insurance - See Insurance Area.

Inventory - See Inventory Area.

Settings - See Settings Area.

Each area contains multiple screens, tabs, and controls to display information as efficiently and clearly as possible.

Take a Tour of ClientTracker

On the Start-Up Tips screen is a link, Take a Tour of ClientTracker, which opens a pop-up window with Back and Next buttons that show you a few highlights of the program.

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Clients Area





Clients - This area is for finding clients, and adding or editing their information.  When you click this icon, a QuickFinder list of clients is displayed, including basic information such as age, category, next & last appointments, and phone.   The clients area is discussed in its own chapter, Clients> The Clients Area.

The Client Control Panel


You can also access the Client QuickFinder from all screens in the client area by clicking the Find Client icon in the Control Panel.

New Client

To add a new client, click the New Client icon on the Control Panel.  This pops-up a small window for you to enter the client's name which checks to see if this person may already be in ClientTracker. 

After entering the name, click Create New to insert this name into a blank client record  where you can add all the client's information, including contact information, referrals and linked files, and even an optional photo of the client.

Creating a client record is necessary in order to schedule appointments for a client -- this can also be done from the Calendar.  See Calendar> Create New Appointments>Appointments for New Clients.

Clients List

Clicking the Clients List icon displays a list of all active clients in ClientTracker, initially sorted in alphabetical order. You can change the sort order by clicking on any of the column headers. Three other List views are available.  For more info, see Clients> The Clients Area>The Client List Screen.

When on the clients List screen, the Show All Clients icon is used to display all clients in ClientTracker (including inactive).  This will replace the current found set.

Tip:  To retain a found set of records, use the Back and Forward buttons to navigate.

Print

The Print icon opens a pop-up Print Menu of choices - depending on where you are - for printing client records in list form, their personal records, reports, or just a set of labels & envelopes.  For details, see Clients> The Clients Area>Client Print Menu.


Manage Families


The Manage Families icon allows you to group clients into families for shared billing.  See Clients> Client Personal Tab>Manage Client Families for more info.


Client Area Tabs

There are five main screens in the Clients area, represented by five navigation tabs:

Note:  The tab titles are gray if there is no information in them.

For more information about adding and editing clients, see Clients> The Clients Area.

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Calendar Area





When you open ClientTracker, the Calendar can be the first screen you see, if you have selected that choice on the Settings/Program/Defaults tab (see Settings> Program/Defaults).

You can choose which screens to view the Calendar.  Your favorite can be set on the Defaults tab above, and you can also use the View Selector to switch between views from any Calendar screen.  Each view can be modified to show all appointments for that view, or just those for one practitioner (and some for rooms, as well).

View All Appointments...

*Available as a Defaults view choice

The Calendar Control Panel

The Calendar shows all appointments, time and duration, as well as reminders.  It first opens showing the current day's appointments and allows you to easily move to any day to check upcoming or past appointments.

Create Appointments


To create appointments or recurring appointments from any Calendar view, just click the New Appt or Recurring Appt icon to open the a pop-up scheduling window.  From there, enter the client name, appointment date(s), time, and other optional info.

A pop-up window with vital information will open when any appointment is clicked on a Calendar view.

For more info, see Calendar> Create New Appointments or Calendar> Recurring Appointments.


Just like appointments, a reminder can be scheduled at any time by clicking the New Reminder or Recurring Reminder icon.  Use this feature for any reason that is meaningful to your practice.  Reminders will show on all views and printed schedules (except Month).  Reminders can be made for one practitioner or all practitioners.

For more info, see Calendar> Calendar Reminders.

Print


A different schedule will print from each screen when the Print icon is clicked.  The schedules may be sorted by day, practitioner, or room, depending on the current view.

For more info, see Calendar> Printing Calendar Information.

See Today's Schedule


Click the Today button as a quick way to return to your chosen default view to display the current day's schedule.


Calendar Area Tabs





Find a Date


Use the small "date selector" calendar to quickly locate and display any date in the past or future.  Simply click on a visible date, or use the navigation bar to select a different month.  To locate a date directly, enter it in the QuickFinder just underneath.


Note:  The Prev. and Next buttons in the Control Panel will go to the previous or next day or week; depending on the current view.  The Month view has navigation bars to go to the previous or next month or year.
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Financial Area





The Financial area shows a complete list of invoices for all clients.  This is a good way to view billing summaries from all clients without having to look in each client's record, and is useful for spotting anomalies such as unpaid invoices.  If you have checked the box to use the optional Register, on the Settings/Program/Financial tab, it is available via a main tab.  If you entered a date to Archive Old Invoices, on the Settings/Program/Financial tab,then only invoices created after this date will show and all unpaid invoices regardless of their date.

The Financial Control Panels

Control Panel for Invoices

The New Invoice icon first asks you to select a client and invoice type.  Then creates an invoice that is NOT yet linked y to a SOAP Note - although you can quickly create one from the Invoice detail screen.

Find an Invoice

Click the Find Invoice icon to enter detailed criteria to find one or more invoices and display them on this List screen.  You may also use the QuickFinder at the bottom of the screen for many searches (see below).




List Options

Available only on the List screen, the Show All Invoices icon will show all Invoices in ClientTracker, with the highest invoice number first.  This replaces any found set of invoice records that was displayed and/or sorted.


On other screens, the Invoice List icon is in this place shows as and which takes you to the List screen with your current found set.



Clicking the Print icon has different actions depending on the screen:



Duplicate Invoice


Available only on Invoice detail screens, this create a new invoice with all the same information as the current one (except date, invoice # and payments).

For more info, see Invoices & Payments> Manage Invoices>Automatic & Duplicate Invoice Entry.

Control Panel for Register



The Register Entry List has a set of icons in the Control Panel for register functions.


Financial Area Tabs


Note:  The tabs will show only if the Register is set for use on the Settings/Program/Financial tab


Invoice List Functions

For more info, see Invoices & Payments> The Financial Area.


Filling Out an Invoice

Select an invoice type (see below), and if the client has an active insurance policy, it will be loaded for Superbill or 1500 types.  If the invoice is generated from a SOAP, the procedures and products (and diagnoses if applicable) will be transferred automatically to the invoice, after which the SOAP and invoice are "program_linked," and a change in one would change the other as well.

On the invoice detail screens, you can click New to enter a line item for diagnoses, procedures, and products sections.  Discounts can be entered for line items or for all the procedures, or all the products.   Payments are entered in the "Payment Palette."


Invoice Types

Simple - This invoice type is intended for simple transactions not involving insurance.

Superbill - This may be used for insurance or client billing, and has the diagnosis codes.

1500 - This claim form is used for billing insurance companies on paper or electronically.

For more info, see Invoices & Payments> The Financial Area>Invoice Types.

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Reports Area





This area enables you to generate a variety of reports from your data.  There are two main tabs in the Reports area: Reports and Templates & Marketing, which can be accessed via the tabs on the upper right side of the screen.

Note:  Reports are naturally more useful when you have plenty of data in your ClientTracker software.  For this reason, the QuickStart only gives a description of what each reports are available.  For more information about running reports, see Reports & Marketing> The Reports & Marketing Area.

Reports Tab

This area is divided into sections for Invoices, Inventory, Appointments & Visits, and financial reports.
For more info, see Reports & Marketing> The Reports & Marketing Area.


Templates & Marketing Tab

This area allows you to manage Communications Templates, access SOAP Templates, and perform marketing-related tasks.
For more info, see Reports & Marketing> The Reports & Marketing Area.
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Insurance Area




This is where Insurance Companies and Clearing Houses are added, and electronic billing, or "E-Billing" is performed.

Insurance Area Tabs


Insurance Companies Tab

Control Panel




Actions Available Insurance Company List Screen


Click the Payments button to view the Payments screen for a company
Click to Omit a company temporarily from the list; e.g. before printing


For more info, see Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies.

Insurance Company Detail Screen (Company Subtab)

For more info, see Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies>The Insurance Company Detail Screen.

Insurance Company Payments Screen (Payments Subtab)

For more info, see Insurance & Billing> The Insurance Payments Screen.


Clearing Houses Tab

Control Panel




Clearing House List Screen Actions

Click the E-Billing button to view the E-Billing screen for a clearing house


Click to Omit a clearing house temporarily from the listFor more info, see Insurance & Billing> Clearing Houses.


Clearing House Detail Screen (Company Subtab)
For more info, see Insurance & Billing> Clearing Houses>Manage Clearing Houses.

Clearing House E-Billing Screen (E-Billing Subtab)
For more info, see Insurance & Billing> E-Billing.
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Inventory Area




This is where you enter products that you sell as Inventory, and the Vendors that sell them to you.

Inventory Area Tabs

Inventory Tab

The Inventory Control Panel





Actions Available on the Inventory List Screen


Click the Go button to view the Detail screen for any product
For more info, see Inventory> Inventory Setup.

The Inventory Detail Screen

For more info, see Inventory> Inventory Setup>Inventory Detail.


Vendors Tab

The Vendors Control Panel




Actions Available on the Vendors List Screen


Click the Go button to view the Detail screen for any vendor


Click to Omit a vendor temporarily from the list; e.g. before printing


The Vendor Detail Screen

For more info, see Inventory> Vendors>Vendor Detail.

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Settings Area





This is the area where you can customize ClientTracker to suit your practice. Program defaults can be set here, as well as backup settings and other details.  By clicking on the various tabs in this section you can also configure data related to your Practice, as well as Diagnosis Codes and Procedure Codes.

Before getting started with most ClientTracker activity, we recommend that you fill out information about your practice, practitioners, and rooms in the Program and Practice tabs.

Practice Settings Available
Program Settings Available

Defaults tab
Financial tab
Print tab
Utilities tab
Value Lists tab

For a more detailed description of Settings, see Settings> Introduction.

Note:  As soon as you have mission-critical data stored on your computer, you should begin a regular backup schedule~not just with ClientTracker's built-in backup system, but also to an external drive.  Don't wait until you've lost hours of of work entering data before you start safeguarding it.
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3. How ClientTracker Works : Printing Information

Details in this section include:
Printing information from ClientTracker is available for several types of output:
The appearance of printouts is largely set by the program; however, you can customize information in the header.  See Settings> Program/Print>Select and Format Your Print Header for more info.

Tip:  If you have Adobe or comparable software, you may be able to print nearly all ClientTracker output in PDF or other electronic formats.  This depends on the software installed on your computer and is not a part of ClientTracker.
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Print Choices and Setup
The best way to print information from ClientTracker is to use the print menus and button included with the program.

ClientTracker should automatically use the printer you have set as the default for your computer.  If it doesn't, you can choose a printer (or other output) and set the paper size and source for the program; use the Main Menu (at the top of the window).  Go to File --> Print Setup and try different options until you are satisfied with the output.


When printing with ClientTracker's buttons, you will see a "Floating Preview Palette" that controls how you preview the document, which is seen in a preview mode just underneath.

The Floating Preview Palette can be moved (just like any pop-up window) so you can see what's underneath.
Available options are:



When you click Print, your computer's Print dialog will open, where you can choose the printer (or other output if available), pages, copies, etc.  The appearance of the final printout depends on the settings of your own computer and printer.

Note:  All ClientTracker printouts are formatted for 8 1/2" by 11" paper, with at least a 5/8" margin for all sides. For printouts with headers, the first page header area is about 2" high.  The second sheet is about 1" high.


Your Computer's Print Dialog

When you click Print on the Floating Preview Palette, you will see a new Print window, called a "dialog" because it can accept instructions from you about which printer to use, how many copies, etc.  In Windows, the Print dialog looks like this:






























IMPORTANT:  Make sure the top choice Print: is always "Records Being Browsed."

Other Choices:

Printer Name - Select from a menu of your computer's available print options.  The example above shows "Adobe PDF" becayse Adobe Acrobat is installed on the computer.  Your system default printer should show automatically.

Print Range - Should always be set to "All" unless you want just selected pages of a report, for example.

For more info about your computer's Print dialog, consult your computer's Help resources.  Ginkgo Software does not provide support for using the Print dialog, except as noted above.

Print Setup

For most Windows computers, you can preset the print choices that will appear in your Print dialog.  Whether a ClientTracker printout prints in portrait or landscape is governed by the Preview Palette described above.  However, if you have multiple printers, you can select which one will show in your Print dialog.  To do this, go to Print / Print Setup in the top Main Menu of ClientTracker.

Note:  In Macintosh computers, selecting a printer in either the Print Setup or Page Setup dialogs may not change what will be shown as the default printer in the Print dialog.
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Customize Print Headers

You can customize the default print headers for all printouts, including communication, reports, and SOAP Notes.  When you print a letter or form, you can also choose to use your pre-printed stationery or plain paper, and the printout will reformat accordingly.  All other printouts are intended for plain paper and will print the default header.

On Settings/Program/Print there are two subtabs, each representing a choice of how you want your default print header to look throughout ClientTracker for Invoices & Reports, or Letters & Forms.  Formatting a header for one of these selects the header used on the first page of all print layouts.  By choosing different options, you can format how your practice information and logo are displayed.

For more info, see Settings> Program/Print>Select and Format Your Print Header.

Invoices & Reports - the Text Header is composed of the following text:
Letters & Forms - the Graphic Header is an option available only for printed communication.  Select which option to use:

For more info, see Settings> Program/Print>Select and Format Your Print Header.

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3. How ClientTracker Works : Finding Information

Details in this section include:
There are several methods for finding information in ClientTracker.

The QuickFinder - The small QuickFinder appears with selected portals in a pop-up window; used throughout ClientTracker to select a single record.  For example, the pop-up QuickFinder is used to choose a product for an invoice, or a client to make an appointment.  See Using the QuickFinder to Find and Select a Single Record.

A larger QuickFinder is available on most List screens, and is a fast way to find one or more matching records based on criteria entered about the information displayed in the list.  In this tyope of QuickFinder, special search operators can be used to enhance your search.  See Finding Records with the QuickFinder.

Tip:  For all QuickFinders, the match results in the portal or list will change with each keystroke, so often you only need to type a few characters to get what you want.

Find Icon - Some areas have a Control Panel button, or icon, to search for records in that area by multiple criteria.  Each of these are specific to the area, and are discussed in the corresponding section of the manual.

Find Clients - The Find icon available on Client Area screens will offer a more detailed set of options for combining search criteria to locate one or more clients.  See Clients> The Clients Area>Find a Client Using Advanced Criteria.
Search Operators - These are optional symbols that add meaning to the criteria you enter in the InstantSearch or Advanced Find options.  See About Search Operators.


About The "Found Set"

When one of the methods for finding information returns more than one matching record, you have a "Found Set" of records.  This is a very powerful tool for running reports, customizing printed lists, comparing like (or unalike) records, or crunching numbers.


The contents of a Found Set are usually displayed on a List screen.  The Record Navigator (shown here) will indicate how many records are in the Found Set, and which record is active in the sequence.

For example, you could find a set of Invoices with a similar status, and then view any Invoice's Detail screen.  From there, use the Record Navigator's Prev. or Next buttons to go through the records in the Found Set like pages of a book.

Most List screens have an Omit button with which to temporarily remove a single record from the Found Set.  A record omitted from a Found Set is not deleted from ClientTracker.  To see all records not included in the Found Set, select Records --> Show Omitted Only from the Main Menu at the top of the ClientTracker window.

Note:  A Found Set is retained if you use the Back and Forward buttons in the Functions Bar to navigate.   If you select an icon for a Main Area from the Navigation Panel (right side) of the Function bar, or click a "Show All" icon, the Found Set will be replaced by all the records in that area.
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Finding Records with the QuickFinder




A large QuickFinder is in the footer of most List screens.  It is comprised of two oval entry fields, a help button, and a text display showing the current Found Set.  The smaller oval on the left defaults to "All," meaning all the records are showing.  Click in this field to see a drop-down list of the searchable columns.  Choose "All" to search in all the fields listed.

First choose a column on the left, then enter one or more characters in the right oval field to display records that match the search text for the selected column.  Choosing "All" columns will display search results that match any of the columns in the drop-down list.

As you type your criteria, the records in the list above are immediately changed and the find results are displayed below the oval fields, telling you how many records are found and the total number of records in ClientTracker.  For example it might say, "308 records found, in a total of 954." Each time you type a new character, the find results are updated.

Find results are known as a "Found Set" (see above for more info).

Note:  the Record Navigator in the Function Bar can still be used to navigate through any found set of records. The number on the right of the Record Navigator changes to reflect the number of records in the Found Set.

The Found Set resulting from the use of a QuickFinder can be sorted, printed, or used for other output.  When you type any new character or select a different column, ClientTracker sees this as a new find request, and any existing sort order is cleared.

To clear the QuickFinder fields and show all records, click the white X that appears on the right when any search text is entered.  Otherwise, the find text and results will be retained in the List screen until you clear them.

Tips for Finding Information with a QuickFinder

Text - Any text you type will display results with each keystroke. 

Note:  Text matches are made with any word in the field. In the example above, both "apple pie" and "red apple" would be found.

Advanced Search Options for a List Screen's QuickFinder

Dates - Date fields will start finding as soon as the first number is entered.  For example "9" gives you all September dates; for all years in ClientTracker.  Similarly, "9-15" would display 9-15-07, 9-15-08, 9-15-09, etc.   The most reliable results are from using full dates, or in combination with Search Operators.

Numbers - Enter dollar amounts without the dollar sign.  Numbers will find one digit at a time. Whereas "A" finds all text values that begin with A, "1" will find only exact matches for the numeral 1 -- not all numbers beginning with 1.

Phone Numbers - Only works if phone numbers are entered in the format: 702-345-7777 (i.e. no parentheses)

FOR ALL TYPES OF DATA

  • A new column heading is selected

  • A new character is typed in the search criteria field

  • The reset (X) button is clicked

  • Shift+click on the column header

For more information, see Search Tips or About Search Operators below.
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Using the QuickFinder to Find and Select a Single Record



A smaller version of the QuickFinder works with small lists, or portals.  It searches almost always on text, and does not use Search Operators.  In other words, it works like a type-ahead list, where typing the first few letters of a name or word will show only matching records.  Some QuickFinders allow you to search by a drop-down list of values, e.g. client Category.

The QuickFinder is used when selecting a single record for a specific purpose, i.e. to add a product to an invoice, or to make an appointment for a client.  The QuickFinder is an orange-bordered field with a small magnifying glass, and is found in many places.

EXAMPLE:  Using a QuickFinder is when selecting a client for an appointment.  When you click the New Appointment icon in the Calendar area, a small pop-up window appears, with a portal of all active clients.  Each time you type a letter in the QuickFinder above the portal, its contents change to show clients whose first, middle, or last name matches the typed letters.  The best way to learn how the QuickFinder works is to try it!
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Search Tips

> finds any alphanumeric value greater than that entered

< finds any alphanumeric value less than that entered

* acts as a "wild card" symbol:

"*p" finds any word with a p that does not begin with p

"p*" finds any word that ends in p

  • EXAMPLE: "1" will find the number 1; but not 10, 100, 111, etc.

  • If only one item is found, you go to its detail screen.

  • If >1 found, go to List

  • If none found, error message & return to Find screen

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About Search Operators

Search operators (also referred to as "symbols" in ClientTracker) can be very useful when performing a search using the Advanced Find button.

Use a symbol before a value to define the search criteria:

=     match whole word or match empty

  • =Smith returns Smith, Smithey & Smithson
  • = returns all records with no values

==   match entire field

  • ==Smith returns only Smith

!     find duplicate values

  • !Smith returns all records with Smith

>     greater than value

>=   greater or equal to value

<     less than value

<=   less than or equal to value

...  range

  • 20...30 for Age returns all ages 20 thru 30
  • 5/1/10..5/31/10 returns all for May 2010

//   todays date
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3. How ClientTracker Works : File & Folder Sturucture


The necessary files and folders for the proper function are contained inside the main ClientTracker 4.0 folder.

Location of the ClientTracker 4.0 folder

Unless you placed it somewhere else when you installed the program, this folder will be in:

















Note:  If your computer is a Vista 64 bit or Windows 7 64 bit, the folder where Ginkgo Software is installed is called C:\Program Files (x86).

Contents of the ClientTracker 4.0 Folder - Both Windows and Macintosh
Your computer settings may or may not display any "extensions" on a file name, i.e. the  .ctr .exe or .app that follows at the end of the file name.

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3. How ClientTracker Works : ClientTracker and QuickBooks


ClientTracker does not have a way to export all the information that is part of an invoice. However, many people successfully use ClientTracker in conjunction with Quickbooks. Many people use the ClientTracker reports for all that tax reporting needs.  It's up to you and your accountant for what is best for your practice.

ClientTracker keeps the details of clients/patients, their invoices and payments, and sales of herbs and supplements. Using ClientTracker to manage these details provides the additional benefit of having all the clients' electronic medical records, in one place: including financial data which is connected to all the scheduling, SOAP notes, insurance information, 1500 form, electronic billing, and marketing information.

ClientTracker has a very simple check register for one bank account to track checks and ATM charges from that one account.  It will give a simple report by category of Income and Expenses.  It doesn't have a payroll function or provide you with a balance sheet. ClientTracker does not claim to be a full accounting software.  Depending on the practice, many small offices do find it sufficient to provide reports to their accountant for taxes purposes.

To use QuickBooks for your full accounting needs, we recommend keeping your invoices and their payments, and inventory in ClientTracker. Create a Customer in QuickBooks called "ClientTracker."  Then run the ClientTracker report(s) you  need for the time period: Transactions, Payments Log, Posting Log, Liabilities, Accounts Receivable,  Sales Tax, and possibly the inventory reports. Take the total(s) and enter them manually into QuickBooks.  Now you can run the balance sheet and profit and loss reports from QuickBooks.

This saves the hassle of double entry of all the detail, in both ClientTracker and QuickBooks.

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4. Settings : Introduction


Before you enter clients and appointments and use ClientTracker, you should go to the Settings area and set up basic information and options related to the program, and to your practice. You can also customize diagnosis and procedure codes, and customize the look and functions of your ClientTracker program.

Settings has the following areas; divided into main tabs and subtabs:

Practice Tab- See Settings> Practice

Program Tab

Diagnosis Codes Tab or Procedure Codes Tab - See Settings> Diagnosis and Procedure Codes

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4. Settings : Practice

The main Settings/Practice tab is where you enter contact information, sales tax options, and other information about your practice.  Choices include:

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Practice Information

Enter the contact information for your practice in this area, including practice name, address, phone and fax numbers, email address, and web site.

Note:  In order for the Practice Address to show on invoices, you must go to the Program/Print tab and click the Reset Address button.  This should be done if you want to change the address, too. See Settings> Program/Print>Select and Format Your Print Header for more info.
Tip:  Beginning with version 4.0.20, you can click on the ZIP link, and a web site will open for looking up the ZIP+4 Code for your address. You can edit the URL of the web site in Settings area, on the Programs/Utilities tab.
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Create and Manage Practitioners

On the Settings/Practice/Practitioners tab, there is a portal where you can manage a list of practitioners that work in your practice.  You can have as many practitioners as you want; however, there must always be at least one.

Note: ClientTracker uses the term "practitioner" for caregivers who work in your practice, and "provider" for outside caregivers who refer clients to your practice. For information about referral providers, see Referring Providers below.














Create a New Practitioner

On Settings/Practice/Practitioners, click the New Practitioner button to begin. This takes you to the Practitioner detail screen, where practitioner data is managed.

For other important information, you have the option of filling it in later:

The fields above will be a pink color if blank, to alert you to fill in the information.  Other information on this screen includes:

Click the OK button when you are finished, and if you haven't yet entered the practitioner credentials or billing info, choose "Do Later" to return to the previous screen.

Note:  You can quickly enter basic information about any practitioner and that will be enough to use them in the Calendar, SOAPs, and some other parts of ClientTracker. However, it is essential to 1500 and Superbill invoice functions to enter a practitioner's license, Federal ID and NPI numbers. You can also track practitioner contact information, email, etc.




Practitioner Details

When you click a row in the practitioner list on Settings/Practice, you will access the Detail screen for that practitioner.

Top Section - Enter the practitioner name, suffix (or credentials), and designate as Active and/or Primary within ClientTracker.

Active - This will make the practitioner's name show in drop-down lists and on the Column Views of the Calendar, so appointments can be scheduled for that practitioner (see below).

Primary - (There must be one primary practitioner.) If a client does not have a default practitioner specified on their Personal/Default tab, the Practitioner designated as Primary will be automatically assigned to an appointment, SOAP or invoice. Of course, you can always change a practitioner on an appointment, SOAP or Invoice.

Display Initials - These are used in ClientTracker to assist you in choosing or identifying a practitioner in a few places, so they should be unique.  As an example, consider two practitioners named Elaine Smith and Edward Sterling. Both initials will display as ES. You would need to modify one or both to be unique, so their display initials might be ELS and EDS.

Address - A practitioner address must be entered if the 1500 form is to fill properly in box 33. If you enter just one address in the front (Address) tab, it will automatically be designated as the primary and insurance address. 

Tip:  Beginning with version 4.0.20, you can click on the ZIP link, and a web site will open for looking up the ZIP+4 Code based on the Practitioner's address. You can edit the URL of the web site in Settings area, on the Programs/Utilities tab.

Contact Information - Phone and email addresses are added in the tab in the center of the screen.

Scanned Signature - See [5.0] Practitioner Scanned Signature

Defaults for New SOAPs & Invoices - See Practitioner Defaults for New SOAPs and Invoices

Other Info

Personal Info - Enter practitioner Date of Birth, Gender, or Marital Status, if desired.

Click the blue links near the top of the screen to see:

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Inactivate or Delete Practitioners

Active vs. Inactive

Only practitioners with the Active box checked will show on the Calendar Column Views and drop-down lists used to make appointments and other functions in ClientTracker.


Tip:  Often, a sensible option to deleting a practitioner is to deactivate them. You can check or uncheck the Active box in the Practitioners tab on Settings/Practice, or on the Practitioners Detail screen.  This will not affect their being the practitioner of record for past or future appointments, reminders, or invoices.

The process of deactivation is governed by these rules:

To deactivate a practitioner, simply uncheck the Active checkbox. To re-activate a practitioner, click the same checkbox.


Delete a Practitioner

If you want to delete a practitioner, click the Delete this Practitioner button on the details screen. You will not be allowed to delete a practitioner if any of the following are true:

Warning: Deleting a practitioner is permanent, and if you re-enter a practitioner with the same name, he/she will NOT link up to any existing records in ClientTracker.

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[5.0] Practitioner Scanned Signature







Scanned Signature
The Scanned Signature subtab is behind the Practitioner's Phones - Email subtab on the Practitioner Detail screen.  Click +New Scan to add or replace an image you have already scanned and saved to your computer.
-- Suggestion: crop your scan to have as little white space as possible... this affects the scaling of the scanned signature image (see sample below)

SAMPLE: [graphic]

Image quality Tips:
Browse your computer to find the file, and ClientTracker will ask if you want to move or copy the file into the Files-Photos folder, where all images used in ClientTracker are stored.
[ClientTracker Cloud 5.0]
Use the system's Browser window to locate a graphic file on your local computer and upload it to the Cloud.  See ClientTracker Cloud 5.0> Working with ClientTracker Cloud>[5.0] Working with Linked Files or Photos in the Cloud for details.
To delete the scan, click the Delete button beneath it.

Note:  The signature scan becomes part of the data file, and cannot be exported or transferred.   If you update ClientTracker to a new version, simply reenter the scan as above.
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Practitioner Defaults for New SOAPs and Invoices

Default Template for New SOAPs & Invoices - Select a SOAP Template, if desired, to be loaded for this practitioner.


[Version 5.0] When you select "Use previous SOAP/invoice with same Practitioner," you have the additional option to copy Products.  Go to Settings, on the Program/Defaults tab, and check the box on the lower right if you want to copy Products forward.  This choice applies to all practitioners.

For an Invoice with No SOAP - Set your choice for how line items are auto-entered when an Invoice No SOAP is created.  This choice is enacted automatically when there is just one practitioner in the office so you don't have to select each time a new Invoice No SOAP is created.

For more info re Invoice No SOAP, see Invoices & Payments> Manage Invoices

Practitioner Signature Printing - [Version 5.0] Set Practitioner signature printing options for SOAP Notes or the Superbill.  There are 4 choices that can be overridden for any individual SOAP Note or Superbill.

  1. Default (all choices blank) or Signature line: A signature and date line (to be signed manually after printing)
  2. No Signature line - Completely blank, showing nothing at all
  3. Signature On File - Same as above, with the phrase "Signature On File" where the signature would go
  4. Scan - A scanned graphic of the practitioner's signature (aka "electronic signature")
Note:  The Scan choice uses the graphic from the Practitioner's Scanned Signature tab.  See [5.0] Practitioner Scanned Signature for more info.

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1500 Insurance Claim Form & Superbill


Billing and Other Information - The pink & white panel at the bottom of the Practitioner screen contains optional information for invoicing (if applicable for that practitioner).

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Create and Manage Rooms

In ClientTracker, you can create as many rooms you need to manage your practice, but there must always be at least one room.  Rooms have no detail information, and are managed on a portal on the Settings/Practice/Rooms tab. If you want to make a new room, click the New Room button. When you create a room, it is automatically designated as "Active" so it will show in drop-down lists and on the Column View of the Calendar (when View by Room is chosen).














  • The number indicates how many appointments can be scheduled for that room; for the same time slot (including overlapping times).  The default is a capacity of 1, which means only one appointment can be scheduled.  If a room is used for more than one client at a time (e.g. groups), set the capacity accordingly.
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Delete or Deactivate a Room

Similar to the rules for deleting and deactivating practitioners, there are rules that govern the management of rooms. You will not be able to delete or deactivate a room if any of the following are true:

Warning: Deleting a room is permanent, and if you re-enter a room with the same name, it will NOT link up to any existing appointments in ClientTracker.

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Other Practice Info

At the bottom of the Settings/Practice area, you can enter the following information:

The SOAP Template List button takes you to a sortable list of SOAP Templates used in ClientTracker, including the System Default plus any new SOAP Templates you create.  For more info, see SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates.

The Referring Provider List button takes you to a sortable list of providers that refer clients to your practice, and can be used on the 1500 form, Box 17.  (See Referring Providers below for more info.)

The Non-Client Insured List button takes you to a sortable list of people who are not clients in ClientTracker, but are designated for use as "Insured" on client insurance policies.  For more info, see Clients> Client Insurance Tab>Manage the Insured Person On the Policy.

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Referring Providers

Referring Providers List

To view a sortable, printable list of providers that shows client referrals, click the Referring Provider List button near the bottom of the Settings/Practice tab.

On the list, you can perform the following actions:

Referring Providers Detail Screen

On the left side of the screen, enter the provider name, address, phone numbers, email, and optional notes.  On the right side is insurance information such as License Number, Federal Tax ID, and NPI.

On the far right is a Specialty field with a drop-down list.

Communications tab - Providers can also be recipients of communications.  On this tab, you can view a portal of the communications sent to this provider or generate a new one with the Comm Panel just above it.  You can also view a Complete List of these communications, in a larger, sortable list.

For more information on how communication works, see Communication> Create Communications.

Clients Referred tab - This tab shows a portal of all clients who have been referred to your practice by this provider.  For each client, you can click the arrow button or row to view their Personal screen, view the date of their first appointment, or enter a date when a Thank You was sent to the provider for that client's referral.  The number of invoices and Total for that client shows on the right.

Just to the left of the tabs is a Send TY button, which will generate a Thank You letter or email to thank the provider for all the client referrals that do not yet have a TY Letter Sent date.  You can also view a Detailed List of the referred clients.

1500 tab- ClientTracker automates many of the tasks of filling in a 1500 claim form. A referring provider can be chosen before an invoice is made (on the Clients/Personal screen), or at the time you fill out the 1500. To automatically fill info on the 1500 claim form, the following info needs to be entered for the referring provider:

  • Box 17 Provider Name
  • Box 17a Qualifier and State License Number (or optional identifier, below)
  • Box 17b NPI

Tip: If a provider doesn't have a License Number, then fill in the 1500 tab info on the provider's Detail screen; for example, if a different number needs to show in Box 17a (Qualifier + Identifier). For more information, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Invoices>Filling Out the 1500 Claim Form - Visit and Diagnosis Info.

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Sales Tax Overview

ClientTracker's sales tax system is set up to accommodate the varied reporting requirements for the USA and in Canada.  You can enter sales tax rate or rates you are required to charge on taxable products and/or procedures.  You can also control how and for what items those rates are charged when they appear on an invoice.

Warning: If you need to set up Sales Tax rates, you should set them up before creating any invoices, as any settings would affect only new invoices created from that point forward -- even if you create a new invoice for a past date.

Before You Begin

The first thing is to determine what are your sales tax requirements for your practice location.  Most practices know this already, and will simply need to set up ClientTracker with the correct information.

ClientTracker allows the entry of single or multiple rates.  One or two rates can be entered and assigned to different Inventory items (a.k.a. "Products" on an invoice) and Procedures, as required in your area.  Each rate can be made of up to two compound parts that will show the total tax charged for each part on invoices and reports.

All rates and their parts can be given a name of your choice, to make selection and interpretation of reports easier.

Sales Tax Options - Available to select for Products and Procedures:

Note:  Even if your state has multiple rates, you can usually enter their total as One Rate.  If the total tax in your area is made up of different rates, e.g, state, county, city, the tax reporting form guides you in specifying these amounts.

Check your state tax laws for the collection rules in your area, or check with your accountant.  Usually, you are required to collect sales tax only for the rates that apply in your area, regardless of where the client lives.  If you sell products by mail, you may not have to collect sales tax for out-of-state sales.

Tip:  The ClientTracker program has built-in examples of how your Sales Tax choices will appear on a printed invoice.  To see these, click the Set Rates button on Settings/Practice, and look at the Examples tab.


How to Set Up








To Begin: Click the Set Rates button to enter the Sales Tax Rate Setup screen.  

Review: We recommend you explore the 3 tabs on the Sales Tax Rate Setup screens, to get familiar with the process:






Optional Info for Sales Tax Report

As an optional reference, enter your tax account number in the box marked "Resale #" at the bottom which shows on the Sales Tax report.

Tip: After you have made a few sales, print out the Sales Tax report as an example for your accountant, to be sure that it will provide the totals needed when filing time comes. This can be found in the Reports/Financial area. See Reports & Marketing> Financial>Sales Tax for more info.
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Sales Tax Rate - 5 Steps to Setup

ClientTracker's sales tax system can accommodate many varied reporting requirements. Once you set up or change your rate(s) and assign a default to products and/or procedures, then this rate is used for all future invoices.

Look at the Example tab to see how the different Rates show on an invoice.

In the Sales Tax section of Settings/Practice, click the Set Rates button and follow the 5 steps. Use these steps to set up your tax rate for the first time in ClientTracker or to change an existing rate.

Step 1 - Choose Your Tax Rate

One Rate or Two Rates - Most locations will enter their rate on the One Rate or Two Rates tab because  the invoice only needs to display the tax total. This works for those who have:
-- one tax rate for products and/or procedures
-- a different rate for products and procedures
--a second rate for some items

The Sales Tax report gives the total tax collected for each rate, and from that you can fill out your taxing agency’s reporting form.  If your area has the total tax subdivided into percentage for State, County, etc, the form guides you in specifying those amounts.

Compound Rates - If your reporting agency requires an invoice to display the names and amounts of the tax parts, choose the Compound Rates  to enter tax rates.  Fill in the name for Rates 1 and 2, and set up the two parts for each, or at least two parts for Rate  1 and one part for Rate 2.  The Sales Tax report provides each of the four parts.

Tip:  Look at the Example tab to see how the different Rates show on an invoice.

Step 2 - Enter Your Tax Rate for Products and/or Procedures

The Tax Rates are referred to as Rate 1 and Rate 2.  Each has a Rate Name, and a percentage Tax Rate, and using Compound Rates, the Part Name.
Steps 3 & 4 - Choices

Select a default rate for both Products and Procedures. If no tax is to be the default, choose (none).  This will be assigned automatically as new Products and Procedures are created. If you are updating existing tax rates, it will also replace the former corresponding rate with the new one.  For example, the new Rate 1 Rate Name + Tax Rate will replace any existing Rate 1 Rate Name + Tax Rate
  • Optional:  Check the "Change all that have the other Rate" box to apply this rate to existing Products and/or Procedures that have the other Rate.

  • Optional:  Check the second box to apply the Rate to existing Products and/or Procedures that are set to (none).
Depending on your choice, the item will either have no tax charged on invoices, or the default Rate you have chosen.

Step 5 - Set the Rate

When finished, click the Set Rate button to complete the process.

Notes:
 -- For any individual Product or Procedure, you can change the default tax rate on the master list for Products and Procedures.
 -- The tax charged on all future invoices will be the new rate. Any invoices created in the past keep the old rate that was in effect at the time the invoice was created.
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Sales Tax Rate Setup - Detail

DETAIL 1 - One Rate - the most common option


Step 1 - Select One Rate as the setup option on the left.

Step 2 - Enter the Rate Name & Tax Rate for Rate 1.

-- Enter a Tax Rate either with the whole number or with 2 decimal places.  No need to enter the % sign.

Step 3 - Set the default Rate Name for new Products (either "none" or the one Rate Name you entered).

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to Products that have another Rate Name.

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to all Products currently set to "none"

Step 4 - Set the default Rate Name for new Procedures (either "none" or the one rate name you entered).

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to existing Procedures that have another Rate Name.

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to all Procedures currently set to "none"

Step 5 - Click the Set One Rate button.  Your changes will not be applied until you click this button.




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DETAIL 2 - Two Rates - no compound "parts" needed

If you have to collect two different Tax Rates, use the Two Rates option, for example, if you have one rate for Products, and another for Procedures.


Step 1 - Select Two Rates as the setup option on the left.

Step 2 - Enter the Rate Name & Tax Rate for each Rate 1 and Rate 2.

-- Enter a tax rate either with the whole number or with 2 decimal places.  No need to enter the % sign.

Step 3 - Set the default Rate Name for new Products (either "none" or one of the Rate Names you entered).

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to existing Products that have the other Rate Name.

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to all Products currently set to "none"

Step 4 - Set the default Rate Name for new Procedures (either "none" or one of the Rate Names you entered).

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to existing Procedures that have the other Rate Name.

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to all Procedures currently set to "none"

Step 5 - Click the Set Two Rates button.  Your changes will not be applied until you click this button.



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DETAIL 3 - Compound Rates - 1 or 2 rates with named parts

If your practice is required to track different parts of the tax rates, use the Compound setup.

Step 1 - Select Compound Rates as the setup option on the left.

Step 2 - Enter the Rate Name for Rate 1, plus the Rate Name & Tax Rate for its Part 1 and Part 2.  If needed, do the same for Rate 2.

-- Enter a tax rate either with the whole number or with 2 decimal places.  No need to enter the % sign.

Step 3 - Set the default Rate Name for new Products (either "none" or one of the Rate Names you entered).

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to existing Products that have the other Rate Name.

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to all Products currently set to "none"

Step 4 - Set the default Rate Name for new Procedures (either "none" or one of the Rate Names you entered).

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to existing Products that have the other Rate Name.

-- (Optional) Choose whether to apply this rate to all Products currently set to "none"

Step 5 - Click the Set Compound Rates button.  Your changes will not be applied until you click this button.




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Technical Info - Sales Tax Calculations

Invoice - ClientTracker calculates the sales tax on each item individually. This is to accommodate the states which tax some products or procedures and not other products or procedures, or have different tax rates for the items. 

Depending on your sales tax and the amount being taxed, the actual sales tax may result in 3 or more decimal places, which needs to be rounded up or down to be two places. The tax on an a ClientTracker invoice is the sum of the tax for these individual items.

If the sales tax calculation was postponed to be on the total of all taxable items, this tax might be a small amount more or less than the tax on calculated individual items. This is due to the rounding effect.

Sales Tax Report - This gives the totals of the taxable items and tax collected. From this you can fill out your taxing agency’s reporting form. If your area has the total tax subdivided into percentages for State, County, etc, the form guides you in specifying those amounts.  The actual amount owed to the state or other entity is calculated from total Taxable Products and Taxable Procedures that you enter on the form.

The Collected Tax on the Sales Tax Report may be different from the sales tax calculated on the Total Taxable.
When you fill in the tax reporting form, you'll calculate the sales tax on the Taxable Products or Taxable Procedure listed on ClientTracker's Sales Tax Report.  The result may be different from the tax you collected.  This is due to the rounding mentioned above.

Your business is collecting Sales Tax.  Your tax agency just wants to know the tax on total gross taxable sales for the time period, which can't be known at the time of each sale.
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4. Settings : Program/Defaults

Section Details - Defaults Subtab

In this section, you will find details on the following parts of the Defaults tab:

The main Settings/Program tab has five smaller tabs, called subtabs:

Defaults

Set default information for how ClientTracker will function, and what information it will show.  (See Client Default Information below.)

Financial

Choose options for invoices, 1500 forms, and use of the Register feature.  See Settings> Program/Financial>Payments on Invoices for more info.

Print

Create a custom header for use as letterhead and headers on invoices, and choose other printing options.  See Settings> Program/Print for more info.

Utilities

File management and backup options.  See Settings> Program/Utilities for more info.

Value Lists

Define the contents of drop-down lists from which field values can be chosen throughout ClientTracker.  See Settings> Program/Value Lists for more info.


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Client Default Information

Enter an optional city, state, zip code and area code to be automatically entered in new client address record.  You can enter partial information if you like; for example, you can enter "913" for a default ZIP code, and then enter the last two digits when filling out client address.






If your practice uses a client ID or  chart number, you can choose your preferred name for this system.

To use ClientTracker's Automatic Email Confirmation system, set up the following:






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Email Sending Method
Note: The sending method for email is discussed in greater detail in Communication> Email Setup>Set the Email Sending Method.













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Calendar Defaults

















Appointment Duration

Standard - The number of minutes that appears in this box is the default duration for all new appointments that are created. Set it to the duration that is most common for your appointments (you can always change it for any appointment).

Maximum - ClientTracker will alert you if an appointment is made over this duration.

Calendar View

Day View - Enter your preferred view of the Calendar when looking at a single day's schedule: Column View by Practitioner, Column View by Room, or List View

Start Time - (for Column View only) Enter the time you would like the schedule to start each day.  The schedule is programmed to automatically end each day 12 hours later.  Appointments can be made for any time; however, if they are made outside of the start and end times for the Column View, they will be visible only in List View and on printed schedules.

Reminders

Start Time - Enter a default start time for new Reminders.

Rooms

Use Room Capacity feature - Check this box to check the Room capacity each time an appointment is made.  See Settings> Practice>Create and Manage Rooms for more info.

Time Zone

Set your time zone if you plan to export appointments to other calendar applications or devices, to synchronize the times accurately.

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Startup Screen

Enter your choice for which screen you would like to see first whenever you start ClientTracker.  (Ginkgo Software recommends you shut down ClientTracker at the end of each work day, to minimize the possibility of data corruption.)

Inventory - Checking this box will notify you when ClientTracker is opened if items in your inventory need restocking.  For each inventory item you can choose an Order Level, and when your stock of the item reaches that level, ClientTracker alerts you when the program is opened.

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SOAP Note Defaults

Temperature - Values entered on the SOAP note will default to be marked as F (Farenheit) or C (Celsius).  This can be changed on any individual SOAP note.

The appearance and contents of SOAP notes can also be customized by using SOAP Temmplates.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Manage SOAP Templates for more information.


[Version 5.0] Copy products from previous SOAP
When SOAP Notes are copied for a Client's visit, you have the additional option to copy Products.  Check the box on the lower right if you also want to copy Products forward.  This choice applies to all practitioners.

This will apply to all Practitioners that have "Use previous SOAP/invoice with same Practitioner" selected for subsequent visits with the same client.  See Settings> Practice>Create and Manage Practitioners for more info.

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Password Setup & Registration Info

ClientTracker is shipped without passwords.  Passwords are optional. You can set one or two passwords: the Admin has access to every part of ClientTracker .  The Staff level cannot set or change passwords or run financial reports. Correct entry of a password will be required every time ClientTracker is opened if you set one or both passwords. 

Password Setup




Click the Password Setup button to go to the Admin Settings screen to set Admin or Staff passwords. Make sure to write down the passwords and keep them in a safe place. If you forget your password, ClientTracker support can provide you with a temporary password.






Access Privileges


If only an Admin password is set, the only way to open ClientTracker is with the Admin password, which has access to everything.  However, use of a Staff password will restrict access to the following areas:

-- Settings/Program Tab - Password Setup; Set up defaults for email

-- Finance Data - Invoice List totals, Register

-- Admin Reports - All Financial and Reconcile reports, including Sales & Profitability for inventory.

Other restrictions not noted above:

Reports
-- Inventory Valuation Detail
-- Reset Inventory Balances
-- Diagnoses Given
-- Procedures Performed

All other areas of ClientTracker would be accessible after Staff login.

Video


Changing a Password

Change a password at any time with Admin access by clicking the Password Setup button on the Settings/Program/Defaults tab.  On the Admin Setup screen, click either button to change a password. You will be asked to enter the current Admin password, and the new password (twice to confirm).

To set ClientTracker not to use any passwords, leave the new password fields completely blank for both Staff and Admin, and click OK.

Note:  If you remove the Admin password, the Staff password will also be cleared automatically.


Opening ClientTracker with Password Protection

If you have set any passwords, every time you open ClientTracker a Login dialog box will ask a password. ClientTracker knows if it is for Admin or Staff.  Other Login options are:

Lost or Incorrect Password

If you have lost or forgotten your Admin password, click  Lost Psword button in the Login box for for instructions on how to request a temporary password.

Once you receive your temporary password, open ClientTracker again and click Lost Pswrd.  In the next box, click the Reset button and enter the temporary password EXACTLY as it was received.  Next, you will be asked to enter a new password of your choice.

If anyone tries to login more than 5 times with an incorrect password, they will see a warning box with the choice to close ClientTracker or contact Ginkgo Software for a temporary password.


ClientTracker Registration Information




Click View Registration Information to see the current info, including Practice Name and Registration Code.  If passwords are set up, this can only be accessed by those with Admin privileges.

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4. Settings : Program/Financial

The Financial subtab in Settings/Program has the following options:
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Payments on Invoices









You can set default data to appear in Method field when creating payments - a time saver if this is usually the same thing.  As with all defaults, this can be changed to something else on individual invoices.

When creating payments, if you leave the Check # or Credit Card # blank, you have the option of being reminded to fill it in before continuing.  Check the appropriate box to enable these reminders.

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Display Old Invoices





Enter a date to restrict how invoices are displayed in lists throughout ClientTracker.  Leaving this blank means that ALL invoices will be displayed - which can make lists very long and slow the program's performance.  Invoices with a date before the date entered will not show on the following lists and portals:

You can always change the date (or delete it entirely) to view invoices for past dates.

Note:  Invoices with an outstanding balance will show regardless of any date entered.
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Client Screen Displays




Checking this box will display the client's account balance on the headers of client screens.  The amount shown (if any) would be the total of the amounts due from the client, and any applicable insurance.  These amounts can be viewed separately on theClients/Invoices tab.

A small "CR" will also show if the client has available credit for his/her account.

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Use the Optional Register




Checking this box enables use of the register. If it is checked, the Register tab appears when you click the Financials icon to view the main list of invoices.  Use the optional Register to track withdrawals & deposits, and reconcile bank statements for one account.
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Printing Invoices














Default Notes

The Simple and Superbill invoice types have spaces for Notes and Terms.

Display a general note - Check the box and enter text to display a default note.  Invoice notes are editable on a per-invoice basis, which you can do on the respective entry screen.

Display your Terms - Check this box to display default invoice Terms used by your practice.  Terms are also editable on a per-invoice basis.

Note:  Your text should not exceed the size of the entry fields, which represent the amount of space available on the printed invoices.

Show Practitioner Federal Tax ID Number

Check Simple invoice or Superbill invoice to display and print the Federal Tax ID Number (if any) of the practitioner for that invoice.

1500 Forms

Choose whether to print on Blank Paper, or on a Pre-printed Form.  The Pre-printed form should be the Health Insurance Claim Form approved by the National Uniform Claim Committee on 08/05.

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4. Settings : Program/Print

Details in this section include:

ClientTracker allows you to enter practice address, logo, and other information in one place, and provides flexible choices for how they will look on printed documents. If you have pre-printed letterhead, you can use that. You can change the print header settings at any time. ClientTracker ships with the default choices and placement that most closely resemble those in v3.41.  See Select and Format Your Print Header below for more info.

The Settings/Print tab is also the place to make choices about the footers of printed SOAP notes, and provides info about pre-printed envelopes.  See Footers & Envelopes.

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Select and Format Your Print Header











On Settings/Program/Print, there are two smaller tabs; each representing a choice of how you want your print headers to look throughout ClientTracker.  Selecting one of these selects the header used on the first page of print layouts for Invoices & Reports, or Letters & Forms.

Additionally, for Letters & Forms, the "second sheets" (i.e. all pages after the first page) will print with a smaller text header and no practice info.  The "second sheet" text header includes:

Note:  All ClientTracker headers extend across 8 1/2" by 11" paper, with a 1/2 to 3/4 inch margin for all sides. The first page header area is about 2 inches high.  The second sheet's header area is about 1 inch high.


Invoices & Reports - Text Header

Text header information originates from the Address Info or Split Address Info areas, depending on your choice in the Placement of address info box.

Note:  To change your Practice Name, you will need to obtain a new registration code from the Ginkgo Software web site.  Copy & paste this URL into your browser: http://ginkgosoftware.com/registration/request_code.php

On the Invoices & Reports tab, you can change your address and other practice info as it is displayed and printed on the Invoices & Reports header only, by typing whatever you want in the Address Info box, and choosing its placement within the Text Header.

Note:  The Reset Address button must be clicked the first time you enter your Practice Address and other info, or if you want to change any of that info and have it show on your invoice and report headers.

If you choose a split address placement (e.g. Middle-Split or Bottom-Split), any text changes should be made in the Split Address Info area at the bottom of the tab.

Tip:  The placement of the Practice Name and Address Info are separate, and some combinations may cause overlapping.  Choose any combination, and the results of your choices will display above.

Tip:  You can format the text in your address fields, or even format your Practice Name, and the formatting will print in your Text header.  See How ClientTracker Works> Program Functions>Formatting Text for more info.


Letters & Forms - Graphic Header

The Letters & Forms tab lets you use a graphic of your choice as a "letterhead" for the first page only of your Letters and Forms printed from ClientTracker.  The Header Preference must be set to "Graphic above" for it to be used.

Like other images and files used in ClientTracker, the source file must already be located on your computer, so its location can be referenced, or "linked" in ClientTracker.  If you move the source file, the link will be broken, but can be re-linked easily.

Link to a Graphic - Click link to your header graphic to begin.  Browse your computer to locate the graphic; then double-click it to link.

[ClientTracker Cloud 5.0]
Use the system's Browser window to locate a graphic file on your local computer and upload it to the Cloud.  See ClientTracker Cloud 5.0> Working with ClientTracker Cloud>[5.0] Working with Linked Files or Photos in the Cloud for details.

Tip:  Once linked, the graphic file path will show at the bottom of the tab. click to copy path and paste it as needed; e.g. to find that location in your computer.


Select Header Preference for Letters & Forms

The default you set here will be auto-selected in the Print Options pop-up window whenever you choose to print a Letter or Form.  You can always select another option to print.

Pre-printed stationery - Will print no header on the first page, so you can use your practice's pre-printed stationery.  Use blank sheets or additional stationery as desired for "second sheets" or additional pages.

Invoices & Reports Header - Will print the Text Header that you set up in the Invoices & Reports tab.

Graphic Header - Will print the Graphic Header that you have linked or left blank.

Tip:  It is a good idea to test-print and review your selected Print Headers - especially for Letters & Forms - before you produce any "real" communication, invoices, or reports.
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Footers & Envelopes

Footers - Check the box to show the "printed on" date & time in the footer of printed SOAP Notes.  Once selected, this info will come from your computer's system date and time.  Leave this box unchecked to NOT print this information.

Envelopes - Whenever you print envelopes, you will have a choice of using:

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4. Settings : Program/Utilities

The Utilities subtab on Settings/Practice has the following options:
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Backup
The options for Backup are described in detail in the Security & Backup chapter of this manual.

Security & Backup> Backup Your Data>Local Backup

Security & Backup> Backup Your Data>External Backup - Your Additional Location & Fire Drill

Security & Backup> Backup Your Data>Restore from Additional or External Backup
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Default Path for Files & Photos

ClientTracker allows you to link existing files and photos on your computer to client and SOAP records.  The files themselves must be stored in a special folder called "ClientTracker Files-Photos."  This folders starts out within the main ClientTracker folder and can be moved to any location on your computer or network. With basic file management skills of renaming and moving files to this folder, you can:


Setting The Default File Path

To link files or photos to ClientTracker, you must use the Default File Path.  This is set up on installation, but may need to be set for some computers after installation.  Files and photos must always be in the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder, which is located within the ClientTracker 4.0 folder on your computer.
IMPORTANT: If you choose to link any electronic file or photo to ClientTracker, it will be placed in the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder.  It is best practice to name your files according to a systematic file management protocol.  See File Management Tips below.

You can move the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder to another location at any time, but do NOT change its name.  If you move the folder, you can must reset the Default File Path in order to keep the files and photos linked to their respective clients and SOAP Notes.

To link a File or Photo:  Click the appropriate New button as described in the different sections of this Manual (see above).  Browse the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder until you find the target file, then double-click it or select and click Open.

Note: If you move the folder containing your files after they have been linked, a message will appear: "The link to this file is broken."  To remedy this, reset the Default File Path immediately to its new location, and all the links will be restored.

Note: A file or photo with odd characters like $ in its file name will not work with the ClientTracker system. Standard file name characters like a period or hyphen are acceptable.

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File Management Tips

Good file management skills are essential in this age of electronic medial records.  We strongly recommend establishing a file naming protocol that makes it easy to identify the client, guarantees unique file names, and is easy to remember for those times when you're naming files "on the fly."  Consistency is key.

IMPORTANT: File names must always be unique if they are in the same folder.

Tip:  It is helpful to name your files so they are grouped and sorted within the folder.

EXAMPLES:

To sort by last name:

To sort by chart number:

To sort by date:
Tip:  When entering dates in file names, it's a good idea to use YY-MM-DD convention so that they will be in chronological order when sorted by date.  In other words, put the year first, or May 12, 2009 (5-12-09) could sort before September 12, 2007 (9-12-07).


Warning:  If you ever receive an alert that the file name already exists, USE EXTREME CAUTION not to overwrite the existing file with the new one, or you could wind up with the wrong file linked to the wrong client. This is why unique file names are so important.

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Window Control - Zoom Level & Window Size
Customize the size of the ClientTracker, either by the Zoom or Window Size. Experiment to find the best viewing options for your computer and its screen resolution.

Zoom Settings
If you find ClientTracker's text to be too large or small, try adjusting this setting, then click the Apply button to effect the change.






When Zoom Level is set to 150%, the main window of the ClientTracker program will adjust proportionately to the larger screen objects. In other words, the entire program will appear 150% larger.

IMPORTANT:  In some Mac OS 10.6, Snow Leopard, ClientTracker's Zoom 150% setting can sometimes cause instability such as program "freezing" or "crashing."  If you experience any problems in your computer, please do not use the 150% Zoom; set it back to 100%.


Window Control
Beginning with v4.0.12,  ClientTracker  will stay the size you choose.








The Full Screen option will fill the screen so you will see blank space at the bottom and right side of ClientTracker.

Note:  The fonts and graphics are not scalable, and will not increase in size if the window size is changed.  ClientTracker is designed for the smaller window setting.  To increase the size of all ClientTracker elements, use the Zoom Settings above.

Tip:  You may also want to adjust your screen resolution (e.g. 1024 v 728 pixels), OS display settings, or even the monitor itself to find the ideal size for your monitor and viewing preferences.
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ZIP+4 Lookup









Beginning with version 4.0.20, every place where you enter a ZIP Code has a ZIP link that when clicked will open in your browser a web site.  ClientTracker comes with the current URL for the USPS ZIP+4 lookup page, so you can enter the address and find the proper ZIP+4 Code to ensure a valid address for billing insurance.
Tip:  To add a ZIP+4 Code to an already-created 1500 claim form, you must first enter it in the ZIP field of the person's Address tab, and then go to the 1500 and click the Refresh Information button.

Whatever URL you enter will be opened when you click a ZIP link elsewhere in ClientTracker.  If you use another lookup site or the URL changes, simply update it here.

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4. Settings : Program/Value Lists

Details in this section include:

Value Lists are a finite list of possible choices for entering data in a field. ClientTracker lets you customize what you see as choices in some lists. Customizable lists are located in Settings/Program, in the Value Lists tab.  For more info, see Managing Value Lists or Data Entry with Value Lists below.

The sources of Value Lists are:

  1. Permanent System Lists of choices provided by ClientTracker (e.g. payment types).  These are not modifiable.

  2. Modifiable System Lists populated from records you create and manage in ClientTracker (e.g. names of active practitioners).  These are customizable because they act like a list of whatever you have entered into that field.

  3. Modifiable Value Lists display every value you have entered into the field.  These are a pop-up menu of existing values only.  To add to the list and enter a new value into the field, select "Other..." at the bottom of the list.

  4. Custom Value Lists display alphabetically from values you enter in the Value Lists tab:

Practitioners and Providers

SOAP Types

Staff Members

Contact Types - for general contact use

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Managing Value Lists

On Settings/Program, use the Value Lists tab to access the Custom Value Lists. Simply type any values used by your practice into the respective lists; separated by a Return (Enter). The list fields are scrollable, and set to the maximum display width for the values.

Note:  Removing a value from a list does not remove it from any records where that value was used. Some values are available as search criteria in finding records, creating reports, etc. If you want to be able to find records with a certain value; it must be available on the list.

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Data Entry with Value Lists

When available for data entry, the Value Lists function in two different ways:


Optional use of the list - Drop-down List

Some value lists that allow ad hoc entry of data in the field; without using the list (e.g. phone or email type).  Ad hoc values are not added to the lists.  To enter an ad hoc value, click the field again after the list drops down.

In large lists, use the scroll bar to see more values, or you can type ahead to access values beginning with a certain letter.

This type of value list is called a "drop-down list" in this manual.


Mandatory use of the list - Pop-up Menu

Some Value Lists only allow entry of data from a pop-up menu (e.g. Inventory Type).  These you can recognize because there is no option to click the field itself -- you must select a value from the menu.  For large menus, you can scroll up or down using the small handles at the top or bottom of the menu.  After you choose one, if you re-open the menu there is a small check mark next to the value already in the field.

This type of list can be added to by selecting "Other..." and typing the new value in the small pop-up window.  The new value gets entered into the field, as well.

This type of value list is called a "pop-up menu" in this manual.

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4. Settings : Diagnosis and Procedure Codes

This section contains information about:

ClientTracker comes with standard diagnosis (ICD-9) and procedure (CPT) codes pre-entered. The Diagnosis Codes and Procedure Codes tabs in the Settings area allow you to edit these codes, or add your own codes using the New Code button. 

While some codes are provided, the actual codes you use on claims and invoices are your responsibility.



Note:   If your office charges No Show and Invalid Cancellation Fees, create a record for these in either a Procedure Codes or an Inventory. Then you can add them to a client's invoice.

As with most lists, you can click on the header text of each column to sort the visible records by that column, in ascending or descending order. The dates when diagnosis and procedure codes were updated and modified are displayed, as well as a button to delete codes. The updated date refers to the date the codes were imported into ClientTracker from the Ginkgo Software website. The modified date is when they were modified by a user.

You can also mark the diagnosis codes or procedure codes you use most frequently, and these will come to the top of lists where you choose one during data entry.

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Managing Diagnosis and Procedure Codes

To edit information in the diagnosis or procedure code List screens, you can click on the description, category, price, or any other field in a code (other than dates), and type new information. If you edit your codes or download updates, the new codes can be entered in new invoices, but previously created invoices are not affected.

The New Code button on the diagnosis code and procedure code list screens allows you to create a new code for your practice.  There are also buttons to Show All Codes following a search, and Print your code lists.





The List screens can be sorted by any column that has a sort symbol.


Use the Delete button to permanently remove a code from its list.  (Certain restrictions apply - see info on each type of code below.)


QuickFinder

You can search for specific codes with the QuickFinder at the bottom of the screen, by selecting a target column and typing the words or partial words you want to find in the description.  For example, typing "neurological" in a category search displays all records in the neurological category.




Note:  When a list is filtered by using the QuickFinder, the Print icon will print only the codes in the current found set.
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Diagnosis Code Information

For Diagnosis Codes, you can set the ICD-9 or other Code and Description that will be used when the code is selected on an invoice.  For your own information, you can optionally set Category, Pain designation, and/or Modality.  Codes can be designated "Frequent," and will sort first alphabetically in lists.




If you use certain Diagnosis Codes regularly for a type of visit, you can set default codes in a SOAP Template.  For more information on SOAP Templates, see SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Manage SOAP Templates.


Deleting Diagnosis Codes




Use the Delete button to permanently delete any single code from the list.

Note: If the code has been used on a SOAP Template or any SOAP Note or invoice (including in the future), it would not be deleted from those areas.


Tip:  If you need to delete large numbers of records, use the Select checkbox for each, then click Delete Selected at the bottom of the screen. There are also Select All and Deselect All links to assist you.

Free Diagnosis Codes
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Procedure Code Information
For procedure codes, you can set the default modifiers, quantity, price, and tax rate class If any) that will be used when the code is selected on an invoice.  You should enter your practice's price for each procedure in the Price column before generating any invoices.  For more information on setting the tax rates, see Settings> Practice>Sales Tax Overview.

Note:  A negative Price cannot be entered.Tip:  When you change the price on a Procedure Code, it will be updated on any SOAP Template or future SOAP Note on which it is being used. The same is true if you change the tax rate. (Past procedures on SOAP Notes and invoices will not change in price.)




If you use certain procedure codes regularly for a type of SOAP note, you can set default procedures in a SOAP Template.  For more information on SOAP Templates, see SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Manage SOAP Templates.


Deleting Procedure Codes


Use the Delete button to permanently delete any code from the list. 

IMPORTANT:  Procedure Codes cannot be deleted if they have been used on a SOAP Template, or on a future SOAP Note.
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Download or Import Diagnosis Codes

You can download updates to standard diagnosis codes from Ginkgo Software's Web site.  You can also import your own lists from other compatible sources.



Step 1 - Choose Source Codes

To begin, select File --> Import Diagnosis Codes from the top menu while connected to the Internet. You will be presented with a choice:

  1. Import a file that comes from Ginkgo Software.

  2. Import your own list of codes.  To be imported, a file must be in Comma Separated format (.csv), and can be located anywhere on your computer.


Step 2 (if needed) - Download Codes

A pop-up message asks, "Do you have your own Diagnosis Code list to import, or would you like to import one from Ginkgo Software?"

Note: Before downloading a new file from the Ginkgo web site, check the "updated" date for your codes. There is no need to download and install the update unless it is more recent than your current codes.


Step 3 - Select Any Existing Codes to Keep

The Update screen will show all codes, and provide an opportunity to keep the ones that you don't want overwritten with update info; i.e. custom codes that you have created for your practice.  Check the box next to each code you want to keep, and then click Continue.

Warning:  Codes not selected to keep will be deleted by the Update process.  You may want to print a list for reference, which you can do at the bottom of this screen.


Tip:  You may want to use the Print List link at the bottom of the screen to preserve any customized info before the Update process.

Click Continue at the bottom of the Update screen once you have selected any codes you want to keep, and proceed to Step 4, where you will browse your computer for the file to be imported.


Step 4 - Find and Import the Codes

In the Open File dialog, search your computer for your file.  This is a standard dialog from your computer's operating system.  You may want to change the "Files of Type" option at the bottom to locate your file.

Note:  It is strongly recommended to import only Excel or other spreadsheet files, because of their compatibility with ClientTracker. Each row in the spreadsheet will become a new record in ClientTracker. If one of the records is just column labels, you can easily delete it.

When you click Open to select a file, you will be shown a complex series of import dialog boxes.  The functions on these dialogs are advanced options not covered in this manual.

Tip: It is strongly recommended to click the default buttons without making any changes or selecting any options. It's easier to manage the data once it has been imported into ClientTracker.

If you get an error message that says "ClientTrackerDATA_1 could not be opened. (Not Found)" click OK, then Cancel.

You will return to the diagnosis codes list with the new codes isolated as a Found Set.  Once a code has been updated or imported in this way, you can edit it on the main list and use it to create invoices.

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Download or Import Procedure Codes

You can download or import procedure codes from Ginkgo Software's Web site when a newer version is available.  You can also import your own lists from other compatible sources.  This process will ADD codes to the list already in Ginkgo, and nothing will be deleted.  You can manage or delete the codes you don't want after completing the import process.



Step 1 - Choose Source Codes

To begin, select File --> Import Procedure Codes from the top menu of the procedure codes list while connected to the Internet. You will be presented with a choice:

  1. Import a file that comes from Ginkgo Software.

  2. Import your own list of codes.  To be imported, a file must be in Comma Separated format (.csv), and can be located anywhere on your computer.


Step 2 (if needed) - Download Codes

A pop-up message asks, "Do you have your own Procedure Code list to import, or would you like to import one from Ginkgo Software?"

Note: Before downloading a new file from the Ginkgo web site, check the "updated" date for your codes.  There is no need to download and install the update unless it is more recent than your current codes.


Step 3 - Find and Import the Codes

In the Open File dialog, search your computer for your file.  This is a standard dialog from your computer's operating system.  You may want to change the "Files of Type" option at the bottom to locate your file.

Note:  It is strongly recommended to import only Excel or other spreadsheet files, because of their compatibility with ClientTracker. Each row in the spreadsheet will become a new record in ClientTracker. If one of the records is just column labels, you can easily delete it.

When you click Open to select a file, you will be shown a complex series of import dialog boxes.  The functions on these dialogs are advanced options not covered in this manual.

Tip: It is strongly recommended to click the default buttons without making any changes or selecting any options. It's easier to manage the data once it has been imported into ClientTracker.

If you get an error message that says "ClientTrackerDATA_1 could not be opened. (Not Found)" click OK, then Cancel.


Step 4 - Confirm the Newly Imported Codes

After the data has been imported as new records, these will be isolated on a simple confirmation screen for your review and confirmation before they are added to your procedure codes list.










At the bottom of the screen, click Cancel to abort the import process and delete these records (in case you made a mistake), or Continue to keep them and return to the main procedure codes list.

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[5.0] Procedures Sold Report








This is accessed from the main Procedure Codes list (not the Reports area).  The report offers a choice of a list of Clients who purchased that Procedure, or a list of Invoices on which it appears.

To begin, click the Run Report link in any Procedure Code row to open The Procedures Sold Report pop-up window.  Enter a date range (i.e to and from), and choose your report by clicking the by Clients or by Invoices button.

If you choose to view by Invoices, you will have a further option to view the report results on the Invoice List screen (with all its functions), or print the results as a report.

Note:  Procedures appear on this report when they have been added to an invoice, whether or not they are paid.

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5. Calendar : The Calendar Area


The ClientTracker calendar is a system of schedules on which you can create manage client visits to your practice.   There are many ways to use it, including list or graphic views, printouts, reminders, and communications. 

Details in this section include:

For information on setting up the calendar in ClientTracker, see Settings> Program/Defaults>Calendar Defaults.


New for Version 5.0 - Visit Totals


[Version 5.0] Most Calendar screens have a display of Daily Totals, or in the case of the "All Appointments" view, a list of Date Range Totals.  These displays show the totals of Valid Appointments, Initial Visit, Birthday, Cancel Valid, Cancel Invalid, and No Show appointments for the schedule being viewed.


Visit totals are also at the bottom of printed Visit reports and schedules,





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Select a Calendar View or Date

When you first open the calendar, the current day is displayed in the default view you set in Settings/Program.  The main choices of view are:  Column View (by Practitioner or by Room), or List View (by Practitioner or by Date Range).

The Day, Week, and Month tabs allow you to switch the scope of the schedule.  This is handy for looking at upcoming or past appointments, and for seeing when to schedule new appointments.




Each view is explained in more detail below.

Select a View

Each view screen has one or two drop-down View Selectors to the right of the day and date near the top of the screen.  By selecting a view from the drop-down menu, you can choose to view the schedule as appropriate to the chosen view screen.

An appointment can be made easily in any view (see Calendar> Create New Appointments for more info).  In a List View, the appointments and reminders appear as rows of separate lists.  In a Column View, appointments and reminders appear as "bubbles" on the schedule, spanning from their start time to their end time, and displaying the client's name. Depending on the actual view screen, the room or practitioner's initials may also be shown.


Select a Date

There are several ways to select a date, all of which appear on both list or column Day views.  There are slight variations for Week or Month, which are discussed below.

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List Views

Single Day List

Select View "As a List" from the drop-down menu at the top of the column view by Day to display the calendar as separate portals of all appointments and reminders for that day. The portals can be scrolled up or down, and seen for just one practitioner or All.














All Appointments 

The View "All Appointments" choice in the drop-down view selector will display all future, present, and past appointments in a selected Date Range; with all reminders in a separate portal.  This list will default to all appointments from 30 days ago to the current date, to save time loading what might be a long list.  You can change the Start and End dates to show any time period.














Similarities

In either List view, the Control Panel has the same five main icons as other screens in the Calendar area.  For more information on their functions, see the referenced details.




Similar Functions in Portal Rows

Appointments - Click on a portal row to open the Appointment pop-up window for the scheduled visit,

Reminders - Click on a row to open the Reminder pop-up window, or check the Done box (optional) to show the event has been taken care of.

Color Coding of Appointments - When an appointment is displayed in any view, the client name will be in a different color to signify various events.

  • Blue = Appointment falls on client's birthday.
  • Green = Initial Visit
  • Red = No Show
  • Red = Canceled Invalid (List view only)
  • Gray = Canceled Valid (List view only)
Other Similar Functions

Differences

Day List View

Tip:  List View by Day is usually best for reviewing a day's appointments, or checking in clients, as it displays all appointments for one day in a sortable portal that includes sorting by time.


All Appointments View

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Column Views

Select View "By Practitioner" or "By Room" from the drop-down view selector, and ClientTracker provides an interactive, graphical display of an appointment book, which can be viewed by Day or Week.  The left and right sides represent times of the day, and are called the "time line."  The columns can be displayed by practitioner or by room; each with its own column.  The View by Room display can also be viewed by practitioner.















If there are two or fewer active practitioners or rooms listed in Settings/Practice, only two columns are displayed.  If there are three or more listed, five columns are displayed.  The five column view can be scrolled horizontally left or right to accommodate larger numbers of practitioners or rooms, by clicking the narrow horizontal scroll button shown at left.  The button for horizontal scrolling will display only if there are more than five practitioners or rooms; depending on the selected view.

In the column views, appointments show as a gray "bubble" spanning a vertical portion of the column from start time to end time.  Reminders show as a green bubble, and any bubbles can overlap in the same column.


Note: When appointments and/or reminders overlap on a column view schedule, a small red asterisk [ * ] will show in that time slot. 


Scrolling the Column View Display

In the Day and Week views, regardless of the number of columns, the entire "page" of the calendar can be scrolled up and down in either 1 or 3 hour increments by use of the time line.


To scroll 3 hours, just click the orange triangle at the top or bottom of the time line


To scroll 1 hour, hold down the Shift key while clicking an orange triangle

Tip:  If appointments or reminders exist outside of the viewable area, the orange triangle has a white triangle inside it, as shown. 

The graphic column view starts with the topmost hour being the one selected in Settings/Program, and can be scrolled up (earlier) or down (later) until 12 midnight.

If there are more than five active practitioners or rooms, each will have its own column in the respective Practitioner or Room view, and new horizontal scrolling controls will appear.  Only five columns are visible at a time.  The columns will scroll as many as five at a time.


Printing from a Column View


In a Column View, clicking thPrint icon will open the Visit Print Menu pop-up window, from which a variety of appointment schedules can be printed, depending on the view.  See Calendar> Printing Calendar Information>Using the Visit Print Menu for more info.

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Day Views

There are a variety of Day Views that show one day's appointments and reminders only.  When you first open the calendar, it will show the current day in the view selected as the default in Settings/Program (either column or list view).  You can change the view as follows:


Select a Date

There are several ways to select a date, all of which appear on both list or column Day Views.  There are slight variations for Week or Month, which are discussed below.

Note: The green highlight color in the calendar displays signifies the selected day; that is, the day you are currently viewing/working on. In week view or month view, it is the date that will be automatically entered in the new appointment dialog box. By contrast, "Today" is highlighted in peach.

Click a day in the small "date picker" calendar on the left to go to that day.  This small monthly calendar indicates the selected day and month, and Today (if appropriate).





Use the previous [<] or next [>] arrow buttons in the Navigation Bar just above the date picker calendar to view the same day in an adjacent month.


Click the date showing just below the monthly calendar for a drop-down calendar date picker.  Or, click it a second time to manually enter the target date; then click the small magnifying glass to display it.



In the Control Panel of a Day or Week view screen, click the Prev. or Next arrow buttons to move to the previous or next day or week.




In the Month view, there are two Navigation Bars that go to the previous or next month or year.




In the Control Panel, click the Today icon to quickly return to the current day.




Note:  When on a Day View, clicking the Print icon will result in a variety of choices and formats for printing a single day's schedule of appointments and reminders. See Calendar> Printing Calendar Information for more info.
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Week View




Click the Week tab to view the schedule for a whole week in column format.  It looks much the same as a column view by Day, except that now there is one column for each day of the week (but only five columns show at a time).  The Week view is also scrollable horizontally and vertically.  Scroll left to view Monday through Friday.  Scroll right, and it shifts to Wednesday through Sunday.  Scrolling up or down with the time line works the same way (see "Column Views" above.)

The display can be viewed only by practitioner, showing one or all practitioners. Appointments and reminders for different practitioners and/or rooms may overlap in the display. (If they do, a small red asterisk will appear next to the client name.) This view is most useful when looking at a week's schedule for one practitioner.

When first accessed, the Week view will show Monday through Friday of the week containing the currently selected day, unless the selected day is a Saturday or Sunday, in which case it shows Wednesday through Sunday.  The selected day shows with green text in its black header, and the current day shows with orange text.

The Week view displays in different ways than the Day view:


From the Week view, the Print icon will print a week's schedule of appointments and reminders for the selected practitioner, in a simplified column format.

Tip:  To print a week's schedule of appointments in a variety of formats, enter the week Start and End dates in the date range QuickFinder fields on the All Appointments view.
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Month View




Click the Month tab to view the Calendar schedule for the entire current month.  The Month View looks like a standard calendar, displaying dates with only the first four appointments of the day showing. If there are more than four appointments in that day, a small blue "more" shows at the bottom of that day. Also, if there are reminders for that day, a small green "Reminders" message will show.















Clicking on a date will take you to the default Day View for that date (the default is set in Settings/Program). Clicking on the yellow dot to the right of any week will take you to the Week View for that week.

In the Functions Bar are month and year navigation bars with previous [<] and next [>] buttons to display a different month and/or year.  The month navigation bar also has a drop-down menu in the middle where you can quickly choose to view another month in the same year.

In Month view, you can display a month's worth of appointments for any single practitioner, or all practitioners (within the limitations of the display).  Use the drop-down view selector in the top banner next to the tabs.

Clicking the Print icon in Month view will print a representative calendar page, showing only the first few appointments for each day in the current month.

Tip:  To print a week's schedule of appointments in a variety of formats, enter the week Start and End dates in the date range QuickFinder fields on the All Appointments view.


Notes:

When you switch to a Day View, ClientTracker will always load the default view, which you set in Settings/Program Settings.  If needed, simply select the same practitioner from the drop-down filter in the new view as needed.

Appointments and reminders can be created from the Month View screen, but their details cannot be viewed or edited except on other calendar screens.

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Tips for Finding an Open Appointment
ClientTracker's graphical Column Views make it simple to search for open appointments broadly, or in a more focused way.

Note: The List and Month views show only scheduled appointments; not open time slots. Use the Day or Week Column Views to look for open appointments.

In the Day or Week view, you can see the columns (and their open appointments) by Room, by a selected Practitioner, or for All Practitioners.  If there are more columns than the 5 displayed, use the horizontal scroll bars (explained above) to see more.  The selected time range will stay the same as you scroll left or right through the columns.

Use the date picker calendar to go to a new day or week.

For more info about making appointments once you find an open slot, see:
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5. Calendar : Create New Appointments

There are two main starting points for creating appointments in ClientTracker.

  1. From the calendar (see below)
  2. From the Client/Personal screen (see New Appointments from the Client Record)
Other details in this section include:


Types of Appointments

Single - Create one appointment for a client

Recurring - Create multiple appointments for one client, sharing practitioner, room, start and end times, SOAP Templates, and other appointment info.  See Calendar> Recurring Appointments for more info.

Tip: See Calendar> The Calendar Area>Tips for Finding an Open Appointment for some suggestions for finding open appointments in the Calendar.


Three Basic Steps to Create a Single Appointment from the Calendar

STEP 1 - Open the Appointment Pop-up Window from one of two places:

1. In a Column View screen by Day or by Week, click the New Appt button in the Functions Panel or an empty time slot in a column to begin.

Note: A new appointment can be made in a Column View screen either by clicking an empty time slot, or Shift-click if there is already an appointment there. Ctrl-click will create a new reminder.

2. In a List View screen, click the New Appt button.

STEP 2 - Use the Appointment QuickFinder to Locate a Client


The first pop-up Appointment window you see will tell you to "start typing a name to choose a client."  Type a few letters in the QuickFinder, and the portal below will change with each keystroke to display only those clients who have the text as part of their name. 

To select any client and continue, simply click on their name.

To see matching non-client Insured persons (if any), click the blue link that appears below the clients portal, e.g. "3 matches in insured." 

Note: Insured persons are used for Client insurance policies, and cannot be scheduled for appointments. However, you can turn an Insured person into a client by selecting them in the QuickFinder to access their Detail screen.  See Clients> Client Invoices Tab for more info.

If you are sure that the person you are looking for is not displayed, click New Client to create an appointment for a new client (see Appointments for New Clients).

Click Cancel to close the pop-up window and abort the process.

STEP 3 - Enter Basic Appointment Information (see Enter Appointment Information below for more detail)

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Enter Appointment Information

Enter appointment information in the main Appointment pop-up window.  Required information is marked below with an asterisk (*).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 






Client* - Selected from the QuickFinder, client record, or created as a new client.  Click the client icon in the pop-up window's banner next to the current client's name to change the client (see example at left).

Date* - Auto-entered from the currently selected date on the calendar.  Click the date to change it.

Note: There is no restriction on how far in the future or past an appointment date can be, but if it's in the past, a pop-up message will ask for confirmation.

Practitioner* - Auto-entered from the schedule if you clicked a time slot from a specific practitioner's column to begin.  Otherwise, the auto-entry options below will apply.  Select or change the practitioner from the pop-up menu.

     Practitioner Auto-Entry Options

Room* - Auto-entered from the schedule if you clicked a time slot from a specific room's column to begin.  Otherwise, the auto-entry options below will apply.  Select or change the room from the pop-up menu.

     Room Auto-Entry Options

Start Time* - Auto-entered from the schedule if you clicked a time slot from a specific column to begin.  Otherwise, select or change the time from the pop-up menus.

End Time* - The end time will be automatically set for the default duration according to your choice in Settings/Program.  You may also select or change the time from the pop-up menus.

     Time Entry Options

Appointment Notes - (Optional) This is automatically filled with text from the client's Check-In Info from their Personal screen.  The text can be added to or edited as needed, and when printing schedules you will have the option to print the notes or not.

SOAP Template - (Not editable in the Appointment pop-up window) If a SOAP Template is set up for the chosen practitioner, it will be assigned to the appointment.  This can be changed from the SOAP note.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Manage SOAP Templates for more info.

Hide Initial Visit Flag - (Conditional) This checkbox shows only if a client is seeing the chosen practitioner for the first time.  Checking this box will hide the Initial Visit flag that appears on the calendar, printed schedules, and visit information.  See Calendar> The Calendar Area>List Views for more info.

Button Choices

Create Recurring - Apply all the current appointment information to create a series of recurring appointments.  See Calendar> Recurring Appointments for more info.

Cancel - Abort creation of the appointment without warning, and lose all information entered.

Save - Create the appointment in the schedule, and display more info and options on the Appointment pop-up window.  When you click Save, the following events will occur:

After saving, the pop-up window provides options to:

Simply click Close this Window to close the Appointment pop-up window without any further changes.

Note: In Column Views, the appointment may overlap with other appointments or reminders for a practitioner, as this is allowed by ClientTracker. If this happens, a red asterisk [ * ] will appear next to the client's name.  Use List View to see all appointments and reminders in a time slot.  See below for more information.

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Appointments for New Clients

When creating an appointment, you may know you are dealing with a new client (i.e. one never seen before at your practice), or you may need to check if they are already in ClientTracker.  The goal is to avoid duplicate entries of clients as much as possible.

ClientTracker allows you to create a new client "on the fly," without leaving the calendar area.  Simply click the New Appointment button or a slot in the calendar to access the QuickFinder in the Appointment pop-up window (see above).

If you are unsure whether a person has been seen before, enter his/her name in the QuickFinder, and see if there are any matches.  (Be sure to check for Insured matches in the blue link below the list, if you bill insurance.) 

If there are no matches, or if you are certain this is indeed a new client, click the New Client button to switch to a quick entry pop-up.

Tip: A tooltip will display additional information for each match in the QuickFinder portal. If you need to view a client record to see more information, click Cancel to close the Appointment window, then go to the Clients area and search for the client the usual way.


The New Client button will provide a small screen for entering vital information about a new client, as the the appointment is in the process of being made.

Enter at least the first and last name, and a phone number. You can enter more info in the spaces provided, or make the appointment first; then go to the new client's record to add more.

Clicking Cancel on this screen will abort both the creation of a new client and the appointment.

Note: If a new client is created from the Appointment pop-up window, clicking the Continue button creates the client record - which will remain in ClientTracker even if the appointment creation is canceled, or the appointment is subsequently deleted.

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Initial Visit

When a client is seen by a practitioner for the first time in ClientTracker:


The client's name is colored green in the Column view calendar, and either an "Initial Visit" or "IN" flag will show in other parts of the Calendar and throughout ClientTracker.




Tip:  Whenever the first appointment is made for a client, the Appointment pop-up window has a checkbox: "Hide Initial Visit Flag."  Select this, for example, for clients you have been seen before, but are scheduling their first appointment in ClientTracker.  If this is checked, the client's name will not display in green on the schedule; nor will any other Initial Visit flags show.

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New Appointments from the Client Record

Click the Clients icon in the Functions Bar, and select the client for whom you wish to make an appointment.

From the Clients/Personal tab, click the New Appointment button. This displays the Appointment pop-up window. Follow the process described above to create an appointment.

Differences are:


You can see all past, present, and future Appointments & SOAPs for a client by clicking that tab. From there, you can create a new appointment in the same way as above by clicking the New SOAP icon in the Control Panel.  This method is also available on the SOAP Detail screen.

Tip:  A SOAP Note is the same as an appointment in this regard.  Creating a new SOAP Note will begin the New Appointment process; after which you can access the SOAP Note by clicking the SOAP button in the final Appointment window.
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Double-Booking, Groups, and Overlapping Appointments

When creating or editing an appointment, a pop-up message will alert you if there are any scheduling conflicts if the same Room is used.  Reminders and appointments can be scheduled in the same time slot according to the guidelines below.


Double-Booking (or Group) Appointments - Multiple appointments for the same room, practitioner and/or time slot are possible using the following guidelines:

For each of these methods, when the Appointment window pops up, fill out the overlapping times and other info for the second appointment as usual, then click Save.


Overlapping Appointments in Column View


When a Practitioner or Room time slot has more than one appointment, one or more red asterisks [ * ] will appear at the left of each time slot.  However, only the most recent appointment made is visible in the Column view screen.

Click the time slot to open the Appointment info pop-up for the visible appointment.

Shift-click the time slot to create a new appointment beginning in that same time slot.

Hover your mouse over the time slot to see a tooltip containing info about all the appointments in any time slot.

To see all overlapping appointments in a time slot, use the List view.

Tip: To track clients who want a cancellation for certain times, create a practitioner called "Waiting List" and create appts for any client wanting an appt at that time.

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5. Calendar : Manage Appointments

The Appointment Info Pop-up Window
Details in this section include:















The Appointment pop-up window appears right after a new appointment is created, or opens when you click on an existing appointment. It displays key information about the appointment and provides access to other related functions.  

You can also open this Appointment pop-up window from both the SOAP Note list and detail screens. Click on the small yellow Notes image that is left of the appointment date (see example below). Some practices use this to identify why a client is being seen.



Throughout this manual, this is referred to as the "Appointment Info pop-up window."

Information

Many details about the appointment or client are displayed, depending on the type and conditions of the appointment.  Most information is not editable from this pop-up.  To change anything, click Edit (see Edit an Appointment below).

Tip:  Appointment Notes are auto-filled from the client's Check-In Info field on the Personal screen for every appointment. You can add a note for an individual appointment when you create or edit the appointment.

Tip:  Appointment Notes can be seen in 3 places:  in tooltips, on printed schedules and on the Appointment Info pop-up window.  You may want to put life-threatening issues in all caps to stand out.


Buttons & Links

The Appointment info pop-up window gives you several options:

Variable buttons:


Communication Buttons - There are five buttons and one blue link available for creating a communication to the client.  All of these buttons will close the Appointment pop-up window as well.

Note: An appointment confirmation email may already have been sent automatically.  If the client has a valid email, a Resend Confirmation Email link will show.  Clicking this will create a new email confirmation message and record in the client's Communication portal.


The blue Pen Nib button will take you to the Communications List screen, and show all communications for that client.


Click Close this Window to close the Appointment Info pop-up window.

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Edit an Appointment


Editing an appointment includes deleting, rescheduling, canceling, changing status, or making other changes to an existing appointment.  You can edit a past, current, or future appointment (if in the past, you will be asked to confirm the changes).

The Appointment edit window is only accessible from the Appointment Info pop-up window by clicking the Edit button, after which you can perform the following actions:

Delete the Appointment - Click the Delete button, and a message will ask for confirmation. Choose Yes, and the appointment will be permanently deleted from ClientTracker with no history.  If there is already an invoice for this appointment, you will have to void that first before you can delete the appointment.

Appointments that already have an invoice created or linked to the SOAP Note cannot be deleted.  The remedy is either to click the Unlink Invoice link on the pop-up, or go to the SOAP Note to review it and unlink the invoice from there.  See SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note>Generate or Link an Invoice from SOAP Notes for more info.

Warning:  Deleting an appointment will permanently delete any SOAP Notes associated with that appointment, which are part of the client's medical record if the client was seen.


Reschedule the Appointment - You can change any schedule parameter: date, time, room, and practitioner.  Once you click OK, the appointment will move to the new location on the  calendar.  There will be no record of the change, and you will be given the option to send a new appointment confirmation email to the client.

Tip:  If desired, make a note of the rescheduling in Appointment Notes before you save it.


Cancel the Appointment - Check Canceled Valid or Canceled Invalid and click OK, and the appointment will be removed from the Column and Month views of the calendar, but will still appear in List views and the client's Appointments & SOAPs screen; with a status of Canceled Valid or Canceled Invalid. (The client's name will be dimmed in the List views.)

Tip:  Some practices use "Canceled Valid" to indicate when an appointment was canceled by the office, or by the client within an acceptable time frame. "Canceled Invalid" is intended to be used, for example, if your practice charges for last-minute cancellations.


Flag a No Show - Check No Show and click OK, and the appointment will remain in the all views of the calendar, and will appear in the client's Appointments & SOAPs screen with a status of No Show. (The client's name will also be colored on the List view.)

Tip:  The cumulative statuses of a client's appointment history is tracked on the Client's Personal screen (SOAP Info tab), and from Reports/Templates & Marketing as the Clients' Visit & Invoice Summary.


Making Other Changes - You can always open the Appointment edit pop-up window to add to the Appointment Notes.  Be sure to click OK to save any changes. 

Tip:  Appointment Notes are auto-filled from the client's Check-In Info field on the Personal screen, or you can add to them manually.  They can be seen on the Appointment Info pop-up window, in tooltips, and on printed schedules.  A small yellow Notes icon will appear next to appointment listings if there are any Appointment Notes to read (see example below). Some practices use this to identify why a client is being seen.


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Find Existing Appointments

In ClientTracker, finding appointments is the same as finding SOAP Notes or visits.  All are synonymous as records of clients who will be or have been seen in your practice.  An appointment becomes a "visit" in terminology after the appointment time passes.  A SOAP Note is a medical record of a client visit.

To find any past, current, or upcoming visits & appointments, go to the Reports screen and run the "Find" report under Appointments & Visits. This opens the Find Appointments & Visits screen, where you can specify a variety of criteria.













You can also specify the title of the displayed results of your find, (also known as a "found set"), which will show as a sortable, editable list. From this list screen, you can choose to print the results with or without a title.


Printing Found Appointments or Visits

Before printing, you can omit any unwanted appointments/visits from the report by clicking the Omit button.  When ready, click the Print icon in the Control Panel to open a pop-up window of "Visit Print Menu" choices.  Change or delete the title of the printout as needed, then select one option:

Print as Appointments List = Like a schedule; sorted by date and time; with appointment-related information.

Note:  The appointments option is also available via the Calendar. Clicking Print from any Day view of the calendar gives you a preview of the Appointments List, which you can then print.  See Calendar> Printing Calendar Information for more info.

Print as Visits/SOAPs (sorted exactly as you see in your displayed results)

Click Cancel to abort the printing process.

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[5.0] Use of the Client Waiting List from the Calendar







In version 5.0, ClientTracker allows you to designate Clients to be on the "Waiting List" for an appointment.  There are 2 reasons, or "flags" you can use.
The controls for designating Clients to be on the Waiting List are found on their Personal screen,  See Clients> Client Personal Tab>[5.0] Client Waiting List Controls for more info.

The Waiting List Screen
Once you have a few Clients designated for the Waiting List, you can see a large, sortable list view in 3 ways.

From any Client Personal screen, click the gray Go button in the Wait List controls area.


From any Client List screen, click the multi-client icon and choose Client Waiting List from the drop-down menu.

From the Appointment pop-up window that is seen when you create an appointment, click the blue Waiting List link, and then click Manage Waiting & Follow-up List.









On the large Client Waiting List screen, you can edit the controls (shown with red text) that indicate why the Client is on the Waiting List.  You can also sort the columns to organize your list.

Waiting List Controls

Make an Appointment from the Waiting List

When you open the Appointment pop-up window to create a new appointment, you can select a Client from a small version of the Waiting List within the pop-up window.

To see this "pick list," click the blue Waiting List link.























To select a Client for the appointment, click his/her row in the list.  You will be asked if you want to remove the Client from the Waiting List, which will remove all the info in the control fields on his/her Personal screen.

Then proceed with making the appointment as usual.

Note: If you choose NOT to remove him/her from the Waiting List, you can still do it manually. After making the appointment, click the Client button in the last Appointment window to access the Personal screen and edit the Waiting List controls, if desired.


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5. Calendar : Recurring Appointments

Details in this section include:

Recurring appointments are defined as a related series of appointments, with each starting out having all the same information except for the date. Recurring appointments in a series can be defined to repeat on one or more days per week; separated in increments of one week.  This may be useful, for example, when you have a client who will be seeing the same practitioner on the same day(s) of the week; at the same time; on a regular schedule -- such as once every week.

EXAMPLE 1 - Jane Smith will be seen every Tuesday at 1pm, in the exam room.  Her insurance pays for six visits, so this would be repeated six times, at a chosen frequency of every 1 week.

EXAMPLE 2 - Bob White needs to be seen twice a week for extended treatments.  He is available on Monday and Friday afternoons only.  Schedule recurring appointments on Monday and Friday at 1pm, and repeat once a week for 4 weeks.  (A total of 8 appointments.)

EXAMPLE 3 - Mary Jones wants to be seen twice a week for a month, but is only available on Tuesday and Thursday; at different times.  Because these appointments would not share the same time, they could be scheduled as either two separate series of recurring appointments, or as one - after which some of them would be individually edited to be at different times.

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Create Recurring Appointments
Recurring appointments are made in much the same way as a single appointment.


The Recurring Appointment pop-up window works much the same as for a single appointment.  There is, however, additional information that must be added.

The date of the appointment (in the upper right of the Recurring Appointments pop-up window) is referred to as the "First Appointment Date"

Note: The Recurring Appointments pop-up window will change to show additional displays that list the appointments being made (when sufficient info has been entered), and any conflicts that may result (after Save is clicked).

Additional information required for a series of Recurring Appointments:

EXAMPLE

  1. In the Recurring Appointment pop-up window, select a client, date, time, practitioner, and room as usual.  The First Appointment Date will be the current date, or the selected date on the calendar.

  2. Set the Frequency, i.e. "Every __ weeks."  This will set the interval between recurrence of the appointments.  The number should be at least 1, which is entered automatically.  For this example, enter 2.  This field cannot be blank.

  3. Select the day(s) of the week on which you want the recurring appointments to repeat (the First Appointment Date is preselected).  For this example, select Monday and Wednesday.

  4. Set a Duration to establish the number of recurring appointments in the series by defining the time period by end date ("Or until ____"), or in weeks ("For __ weeks").  For this example, enter "for 6 weeks."

  5. After Duration is set, the "Recurring" display (example below) will list the appointments that are part of the series, based on the parameters you have chosen.  In this example, a total of 6 appointments will be made.  You can change the parameters, and the displayed list will change, too.

  6. When you click Save, a pop-up window will confirm the dates and times of the appointments that will be made.  Click Confirm to make the appointments, or Change to go back and change something.

  7. If there are any room conflicts, a warning message will appear, and you will be taken back to a display of the conflicts.  Change the room and/or dates/times to resolve the conflicts.

Recurring Appointment Notes

Once a Recurring Appointment series is saved, all its appointments are treated as single, unrelated appointments for editing purposes -- with the exception of the Delete option, for which you can choose to delete just the one appointment, or all in the series.

A small R will appear next to each appointment info on calendar and other displays throughout ClientTracker, to signify that this is a recurring appointment.

The same SOAP Template (if any) assigned to the selected practitioner will be applied to all the Recurring Appointments in a series.  Changing the practitioner may change the SOAP Template.

Tip:  Type either a number, e.g. "For 6 weeks" or a date, e.g. "Or until 7/24/2008," but not both.  Clicking either field will delete any data in the other field.

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Edit a Recurring Appointment or Series

The details of each recurring appointment are viewed in the same Appointment Info pop-up window as for regular appointments.  The entire series can be viewed by clicking the Recurring Appointment link in the pop-up window.

Each appointment in a recurring series is treated as an individual appointment by ClientTracker.  Editing recurring appointments is mostly like editing a single appointment (see Calendar> Manage Appointments>Edit an Appointment).  The following special conditions apply:


Clicking one of the above links will show a portal of all appointments in the recurring series.  This is for informational purposes only, and cannot be edited.

Recurring appointments that have a linked invoice will show with purple text in this list.  These cannot be deleted until the invoice is unlinked.

Click View List to see all the recurring appointments in the portal as a printable, sortable list, or Close to return to the previous view.




Remove an Appointment from a Recurring Series

Another link in the pop-up window, Remove from Series, will ask when clicked, "Are you sure you want to remove this appointment from its recurring series?"  

Tip:  To see a list of all appointments (single or recurring from the past, present, and future), go to the client's Appointments & SOAPs tab.

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5. Calendar : Appointment Confirmation

Details in this section include:

If enabled, ClientTracker will send an automatic email confirmation to clients, immediately after an appointment is created and Save is clicked.  The time that an automatic email confirmation is sent cannot be customized in this version.  To enable this feature,








To disable this feature, go to Settings/Program, and Set all Clients' email confirmation to Off, and make sure the checkbox for "Default: Turn on for all new Clients" is unchecked.  You can temporarily disable this feature at any time, and re-enable by selectively or globally checking the clients' Enable appt confirmation by email box.






If you need to resend the appointment confirmation email, this can be done anytime up to the day before an appointment, if the above conditions still apply.

Tip:  Use the calendar List view to send reminders to all scheduled clients a few days before their appointments.

You can keep track of when an appointment has been confirmed by entering a date in the "Confirmed" field that appears on the calendar List view, or on the Appointment Info pop-up window.  Sending or resending an appointment confirmation email will not automatically enter any date into this field; it is intended only as an optional method to be used if your practice finds it helpful.

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The Appointment Confirmation Email Template

The appointment confirmation email comes from a Communication Template that can be customized (except for the Subject line and actual appointment information, which is generated by ClientTracker as part of the email). 

To edit this template:






When the automatic sending of appointment confirmation emails is enabled, it is important to keep the following in mind:

For more information about using Communication Templates, see Communication> Templates & Segments.

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Add a Google Map to Your Confirmation Email
There is an optional Merge Field that will add a Google map to your practice address as part of the automatic appointment confirmation template.  To include this, simply add the merge field to the body of the email.
  1. Go to the Reports area, on the Templates & Marketing tab, and select the  Communications Template called "Appointment Confirmation."

  2. In the Composer screen for the Appointment Confirmation template, click theMerge Fields tab, locate your cur in the body of the email where you want the link to appear, and click "Practice Map" from the list.
Note: The merge field looks like this, %%practicegooglemapurl%%, but will convert to a URL format of your practice address, as used by Google at the time of this release. If Google changes its format, thiss may no longer work and will be fixed in a future version of ClientTracker.  DO NOT CHANGE THE MERGE FIELD TEXT.

Tip: Some email programs may not convert the text of the merge field URL into a clickable link in the recipient's email. We recommend testing by making an appointment for a "client" who has your email set up. You should also include in your template the phrase, "Note: If the above link doesn’t work, copy and paste the entire URL into your browser."

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[5.0] Send Scheduled Appointment Confirmation Email (ACE)



Appointment Confirmation Email = ACE

Note: If you have enabled ACE, ClientTracker will send it by default when the appointment is made. This section describes a new feature where you can choose to continue the default function or disable it. You can also tell ClientTracker to send the ACE 1, 2, or 3 days before the appointment.

RULES & EXAMPLES
ACE is sent to qualified recipients (clients) only.  A qualified recipient has a valid email marked "Use," and the "Enable appt confirmation by email" box checked on the Client Personal screen.

By default, ClientTracker will send an ACE to qualified recipients at the time the appointment is made (except for past or same-day appointments).  For more details about how this works, see .

Scheduled ACE is only sent for today's appts or future days.

ClientTracker will send scheduled ACE the first time you login each day, and only if you login.  If you don't login because of weekends or holidays, the next time you login ClientTracker will send any ACE that should have been sent, but only for the current day forward.

EXAMPLE 1: You have it set to send ACE 2 days before the appointment.  You are closed Saturday and Sunday, so you don't login and no email is sent on those days.  When you login on Monday, any ACE for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be sent.
    
EXAMPLE 2: You have it set to send ACE 1 day before the appointment.  There is a 3-day holiday weekend, and on Tuesday when you login, any ACE for Tuesday and Wednesday will be sent.

IMPORTANT: Open your ClientTracker first thing in the morning to make best use of the scheduled ACE feature, and close it at the end of each business day.

How to Set Up Scheduled ACE
On the Settings/Program/Default tab, see the new subtab: Appointment Confirmation Email.  This has the old choices from 4.0, and two new ones.















Send scheduled ACE [   ] days before the appt
Enter the number 1, 2, or 3 to represent how many days before the appointment you'd like the ACE to be sent.  Each day when you login, ClientTracker will find appointments that meet your criteria, and send an ACE to qualified recipients.  This may take a few seconds, and a progress screen may show temporarily, depending on appointment volume.  Click the clear link to disable this feature.

[   ] Do not send ACE when appt is made
Check this box to override the ClientTracker default, and prevent the sending the ACE at the time the appointment is made.  Optionally, you can leave this unchecked and send an ACE twice: when the appointment is made, and again on the designated day before the appointment.

[   ] Do not mark as confirmed when sent
Check this box to NOT enter the current date in the Confirmed Date field for this appointment.  Use this if you prefer to fill in that date manually.

Tip:  You can also send a batch of ACE for any single day any time you want, on the Calendar Day List View. Click the Send All Conf Email button at the bottom right of the screen, and ClientTracker will evaluate all the appointments on that day's schedule, and send an ACE to qualified recipients. This may take a few seconds if you have many appointments for that day.

You can also send a single ACE at any time from two places:

Click this button on the Calendar Day List View for each recipient

Or on the Appointment pop-up window, click the Resend Confirmation Email link

If you confirm the appointment by phone or in person, then you can just enter the date in the Confirmed field

Note:  Any scheduled ACE will be sent using the Email Sending Method you have chosen in Settings/Program/Defaults. Because multiple emails will be evaluated and sent at one time, this works best if you are using Method 2 (send email using your email provider). For more info about how to set up and test your Email Sending method, see Communication> Email Setup.

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5. Calendar : Printing Calendar Information

The Print icon in the Control Panel of all Calendar screens will print appointments in different sets and formats, depending on the current status of the Calendar.


Details in this section include:


List Views

All Appointments - Prints a schedule showing appointments within the entered Date Range for the selected practitioner, or for all of ClientTracker if "All Active Practitioners" is selected.  Uses Visit Print Menu (see Using the Visit Print Menu below).

Day View - Prints a schedule of all the appointments for the currently selected day and practitioner; or All Practitioners.  Uses Visit Print Menu (see Using the Visit Print Menu below).


Column Views

By Practitioner - Prints a schedule of all the appointments for the currently selected day and practitioner (or All Practitioners).  Uses Visit Print Menu (see Using the Visit Print Menu below).

By Room - Prints a schedule of all the appointments for the currently selected day, with a choice of printing one page for each room, or all the day's appointments sorted by room.

Week View - This will print on a static 1-page format with 7 columns for the days of the week.  Additional pages may print if the schedule is heavily booked.  Appointments are listed in time order, with minimal information about each.

Tip:  You can also use the Date Range option in the "All Appointments" view to print a schedule for any week, month, or other period.


Month View

The Month View prints in a static 1-page format that closely resembles what you see on the screen.

Calendar printouts are organized like a schedule (unless otherwise noted above), and the appointments are sorted by date and time.  The following information is on the schedule:

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Using the Visit Print Menu
Visits are synonymous with appointments in ClientTracker.  To print an appointment schedule from the Calendar, the following screens access further options in The Visit Print Menu:


Options available on this screen include:

-- Changing the title of the printed schedule from the one suggested by ClientTracker

-- Selecting the sort order (see below)

-- Choosing to print appointment notes or not





Tip: To print a day's schedule for each practitioner in your practice, select to view each practitioner's schedule in Day View, and print each schedule individually. This will save paper in case updates need to be printed for just one or two practitioners.


Appointment Schedule Sort Order

Date & Time - Prints with sections for each Date, with Reminders at the top and appointments sorted by time within each section.

Date, Practitioner, and Time - Prints with sections for each Date, with Reminders at the top of each section.  Within each Date there are subsections for each Practitioner selected, with appointments sorted by time within each subsection.

Practitioner, Date, and Time - Prints with sections for each Practitioner, with Reminders at the top of each section.  Within each section there are subsections for each Date selected, with appointments sorted by time within each subsection.

Note:  Reminders will be shown in aggregate for all practitioners in a date, or just for each practitioner; depending on the starting view and selected sort order.  Reminders for All Practitioners will show in each practitioner's section.
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5. Calendar : Calendar Reminders


ClientTracker's calendar allows the entry of custom reminders for any time displayed on the calendar.  Reminders can be created singly or in a recurring series, and edited or printed just like appointments. Ultimately, you will decide how best to use reminders for your practice.

Details in this section include:

Reminders have no function other than to appear on the calendar and printed schedules.  It is possible to mark a reminder as "done."

Tip:  Reminders can be used to show when a time slot is unavailable and why, e.g. "Lunch." However, the existence of a Reminder used in this way will not prevent scheduling an appointment, in case one is needed at that time.

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Create Reminders

From the different Calendar screens, you can create a reminder in 2 different ways:

  1. Column Views only: Ctrl+click on any time slot. (Even if it already has an appointment or reminder.)
  2. All screens: Click the New Reminder button in the Control Panel.


In the pop-up Reminder window, fill in the reminder information.

-- Date should be auto-filled, but you can change it as needed.

-- Practitioner will auto-fill if created from a practitioner column.

-- Start and End time.  Each reminder has a duration, just like an appointment. The default is 15 minutes. A reminder must have an end time in order to show up on the calendar.

-- Reminder text - This text will show on the calendar, up to the space allotted.

-- Click Cancel to abort and erase the reminder, or Save to keep it.






Saved reminders will show as a green bubble on the calendar Column Views, and as a row at the bottom of the List View. On the Month View, a green text flag, Reminders, will show if any have been created for that day. In addition, a flag will notify you if a reminder appears before or after the time range displayed on a Column View.






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Edit a Reminder
Click on a reminder in the calendar Column or List views, and a pop-up window will allow viewing & editing of any reminder information. Reminders can also be marked as Done in this pop-up window, or on the Calendar List View, and they will become dimmed in all views.

Click OK to save the reminder and close the pop-up window.  You can also click Delete to permanently delete the reminder.

Tip:  Use the edit feature to quickly "fast forward" a reminder to another date/time; even if it is in the past (uncheck the Done box as needed).
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Recurring Reminders

The rules for recurring reminders are the same as for recurring appointments.  For more info, see Calendar> Recurring Appointments.

Recurring reminders are made in much the same way as a single reminder.


The Recurring Reminders pop-up window works much the same as for a single reminder.  The only differences are that you also select the day(s) of the week on which reminders will occur, the Frequency, or increment of recurrence, and the Duration, or for how long the reminders will recur

There are additional displays that list the reminders being made (when sufficient info has been entered).


Recurring Reminder Notes

Tip:  Type either a number, e.g. "For 6 weeks" or a date, e.g. "Or until 7/24/2008," but not both.  Clicking either field will delete any data in the other field.

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Edit a Recurring Reminder

Each reminder in a recurring series is treated as an individual reminder by ClientTracker.  Editing recurring reminders is mostly like editing a single reminder (see above).   The entire series can be viewed by clicking the Recurring Reminder link in the pop-up window.

The following special conditions apply:

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Use Reminders to Block Appointment Slots

Reminders can be used on the Column View schedule as a way to "block" appointments, or to indicate unavailable time slots, e.g. Lunch.
















Simply create a Reminder in the time slot(s) that are unavailable, and it can be seen graphically on the Column View schedule.

Tip:  Use Recurring Reminders to create a series of blocked time slots, or to establish the schedule of practitioners if they reoccur in a pattern.  See Recurring Reminders above for more info.

Tip:  The Column View is the best way to view blocked appointments that are indicated by Reminders.

Note:  A Reminder will not prevent the making of an appointment in that time slot, so you can override it as needed for your schedule.


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5. Calendar : Export Appointments

Details in this section include:

From any calendar column or list layout, click the Export Appointments button to export appointments from the calendar to a choice of either .vcs (vCalendar) or .ics (iCalendar) format file on your computer's desktop. 

From there, you can use the file as you wish.  For example, you may import it into an PDA or other program where you need to see your schedule.

Note:  If passwords are enabled, this action can only be performed by someone with Admin privileges.


A pop-up window will open with a drop-down calendar from which you can select the Starting Date and Export Format.  All appointments from that date forward will be exported to a file on your desktop with the file name and type indicated.

Select a time zone to prepare the file correctly, and click Export.  The file will be created on your desktop without confirmation.

Click Cancel to abort the export process.

Tip: The first time you export ClientTracker calendar data, only do a days, in case you make an error on your first try. You may also want to make an additional "ClientTracker" calendar in your Google or other calendar program.

You can perform the Export Appointments process as often as you like.  The issues regarding how the data in the .vcs or .ics file will be handled by your other calendar program should be explained in its own documentation.  Google calendar wants the .ics (iCal) export.

Tip: If you change any info in an existing appointment in ClientTracker, and that appointment has already been exported, the changes should be updated in your other calendar upon import.  ClientTracker has been programmed to support this; however, the action may or may not be supported by your other calendar program.

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Technical Information About Exporting Appointments

For your appointments to export correctly, you must set the time zone for your practice.  Do this in Settings/Program, Calendar Defaults, or when you export the appointments.

Note:  The Time Zone for your practice needs to be updated with the change to and from daylight savings. Note:  ClientTracker only produces a .vcs or .ics file. How this is imported into other programs is not supported by Ginkgo Software. If you have any questions, consult the documentation for your other program.
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6. Clients : The Clients Area


The Clients icon  in the main Functions Bar will take you to the Client List screen, where you can quickly locate a single client from a list of all active clients.  This is also an optional startup screen, which can be selected under Settings/Program/Defaults.

This section of the manual has the following details:

The Clients Control Panel has five main icons:




Once you have accessed a specific client's record, there are five main screens in that client's area; represented by five navigation tabs:




Note:  The tab titles are gray if there is no information in them.

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The Client List Screen

This is a sortable list of all active client records in ClientTracker that is accessible by clicking the Clients List icon in the Control Panel of the clients area.  It is also the screen on which results of an Advanced Find are displayed.















Tip:  Inactive clients are omitted from this list when it first displays.  You can toggle between a list of all inactive and all active clients by using the "Show Omitted Only" command in the Records main menu selection at the top of the screen.


List Functions

Control Panel - This functions as described above.

The list is sortable by clicking headers marked with the sort symbol.  Toggle between ascending or descending sorts, and Shift+click to reset.






View Selector

On any Clients List view, click the Clients icon to open a view selector at the far left of the banner (just below the Back button).  When selected, different information about the same found set of clients will be viewable.  The four List views are also used to display the results of searches and reports.

Available views include:


Row Actions (Left to Right)


Click the Go button or the left side of a client's row (or the whole row) to see the detail, or Personal screen of any client

Click the Email icon to send an email to a client (this does not show unless there is a valid email address marked as 'Use' on the client's Personal screen)


Click Omit to remove a record temporarily from the list, for example, before printing


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Create a New Client

Click the New Client icon in the Control Panel of any client screen to open a pop-up window, where you can enter all or part of the client's name.  This pop-up window has two small QuickFinder portals that will show any existing Clients or Non-Client Insured people who match what you have typed.  This is an important step to reduce the number of duplicate entries, and to avoid having to enter unnecessary information.

Tip:  Hover your mouse over any name in a portal, and a tooltip will show more information about that person.


If you see a match, click the person's name:

Client - Will go to that client's Personal screen, where you can verify the client's identity and use the record, or click the New Client button again

Insured - Will go to the detail screen for the Non-Client Insured person, where you can click the Turn Into a Client button to use their information as a client, or the Done button to return to the Clients area.  See Clients> Client Insurance Tab>Manage the Insured Person On the Policy for more info.

If you are sure that there are no matches, you can click the Create New button at any time.  Any text you have entered will be used in the new client's name fields.

A new client record must have a first and last name, and at least one phone number to be used.

Note:  A new client can also be created "on the fly" during the creation of an appointment in the Calendar. For more information, see Calendar> Create New Appointments>Appointments for New Clients.

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The Client QuickFinder

This utility at the bottom of the Clients List screen is the fastest way to find a single client.  Its display and functions are intended to help you narrow your search, and to see more information about a single client, or a found set of clients.  For additional search criteria, or to find a group of clients matching combined criteria, click the Find Client icon in the Control Panel.  See Find a Client Using Advanced Criteria below.



Tip:  Begin typing any part of a client's name in the QuickFinder, and the list will change with each keystroke, showing all clients whose first, last, or middle names match the typed text.  The list can be sorted for better viewing of the results.

The left, or "Target" field of the QuickFinder has a drop-down menu of the column headers on the List.  Select a column from the pop-up menu, and start typing search criteria in the right field to filter the list results.

When you see the matching client(s) in the list, you can perform any of the same functions as described for the Client List above.

Tip:  To return to the full Client List after using the QuickFinder, click the (x) button at the right of the QuickFinder panel.

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Find a Client Using Advanced Criteria

Click the Find Client icon on the Control Panel, and you will be able to find one or more clients that match multiple, flexible criteria.  This is the method for creating a Birthday List in v4.0.


The Choose Criteria selections involve four decisions, or categories:


Status - Select if you want to find Active or Inactive clients, or both (all clients).  One of these must always be selected.

Criteria - Choose up to four criteria from the drop-down menu, and enter a pertinent value.  For example, the criterion "Birth Month" expects the name of a month.  Use a symbol before a value to further define or limit your results.  You can combine up to four criteria, and search for clients who match (or do not match) all of them.  Use optional search operators to define your values (see below).

Criteria Match - Check this box only if you want to find clients who DO NOT match the above criteria.

Type of Find - Select if these criteria will be a New Find, will Narrow the found set, or Extend the found set.

Optionally, you may enter Search Criteria to expand your search criteria.  See How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information>Search Tips for more info.

Tips About Finding Clients:
-- A "found set" is a set of records that results from a Find. The resulting found set will be displayed on the main Clients List screen, from which you can print labels, lists, envelopes, etc.
-- Make a Birthday List by finding clients whose birthdays fall in a chosen month. Searching on the specific DOB is not possible in this version. The DOB will show on the "Basic List," which can be printed from the Client List screen.
-- To make a reusable Birthday Letter template in v4.0 and send it as a letter or email, you would create a Communications Template, then create a new communication with multiple recipients. Clients whose birthdays fall in a specific month can be added as a group of multiple recipients. See Communication> Create Communications>Multiple Recipients for more info.


Type of Find - Use these choices to determine the effect your search will have on the previous found set (if any).

You can go back to the Advanced Find screen repeatedly, and narrow or extend your found set as often as needed.

When you are ready, click the Continue button to view the Advanced Find results.  If there are no records that match your criteria, you will get a message box, and be returned to the Advanced Find screen.

Tip:  The number of records in the found set will display on the Clients List in the Record Navigator, along with the total number of records available (e.g. 25 of 50). Another display is in the QuickFinder on the Clients List, e.g. "25 records found, in a total of 50." In addition, the results display as "Found Set 25/50" near the bottom of the Advanced Find screen.

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Client Print Menu

Click the Print icon from most client screens to open the Print Menu pop-up window, from which a variety of information about one client (or a list of clients, if you are on a List screen) can be printed.

Print Options for All Screens

Client Personal Options (available only on the Personal screen)












Financial Reports
  • Transactions - Goes to the Transactions Report setup screen, with the client already selected

  • Payment Log - Goes to the Payment Log Report setup screen, with the client already selected

Client List Options (available only on client List screens)







Note:  Printed lists include only the current "Found Set," or those clients shown on the List view at the time of printing.

Other Options (available only on client screens other than List)

Note:  When viewing the list of client Appointments & SOAPs, these print options will not be available. Instead, the Print icon will print a list of the appointments & SOAPs.

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Export Client Info or Email

Beginning with version 4.0.15, you can export a preset list of data about any group, or "found set" of clients.  In other words, the data will be exported not just for the client you are currently viewing, but for all in the found set.
Tip:  Create the desired found set with the Advanced Find feature or the QuickFinder at the bottom of the Client List, then export the data. See Find a Client Using Advanced Criteria above for more info.

The data to be exported cannot be changed, except in the export file you create.  You can edit your export file any way you choose, and that's not part of ClientTracker's functions.


How To Export Client Data
  1. On the top Main Menu, select File, and then Export Client Data
  2. A new window will open, "Export Records to File"
  3. Select the type of file you wish to export to, its name, and location
  4. Click Save to create the file and export the data
Tip:  The export file has a lot of columns of data, and one row for each client. Delete the columns you don't need to use in your export file to protect patient privacy.


How to Export Client Email

Exports all client records in the current found set as a tab-separated or other type of file.  Choose the location and type of file in the dialog box that opens.  The file will contain only client names and email marked "Use" (if any).
  1. On the top Main Menu, select File, and then Export Client Emails
  2. Follow steps 2-4 above


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Manage Families

The Manage Families icon in the Control Panel takes you to the Families list screen, where you can view all families in ClientTracker, create a new family, or access other details about families. See Clients> Client Personal Tab>Manage Client Families for more detail on family functions.

Tip:  The Manage Families functions are often more meaningful and direct when accessed from a specific client's record. 
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6. Clients : Client Personal Tab

The Client Personal tab contains fields for all usual personal information: name, address, date of birth, social security number, gender, and so on.  You should fill out this screen as completely as needed for your practice.  ClientTracker uses this information for sorting information and generating reports.

Index of Fields and Functions on the Client's Personal Screen:


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Client Identifiers

Name

Prefix - Optional prefix available for communications (user-defined list)*

First, Middle, Last Name - Used throughout ClientTracker

Category

This is an optional, user-defined list* used for sorting or finding clients

Client ID

If you choose to use a Client ID, a field and label of the name you entered will appear next to Category.  After that, you can enter the value manually in the space provided for each client.  To set this up, see Settings> Program/Defaults>Client Default Information.  If you haven't set this up, you won't see it.

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Client Addresses

Clients can have multiple addresses, but only one can be designated as Primary.  The first address tab, called Primary Address, shows the address that will be used for communication -  including labels and envelopes.  To create this first address, click in any field or click the +New button.

Tip: a default city, state, and zip can be set up for all new clients in Settings> Program/Defaults>Client Default Information.


The second address tab shows the primary, plus any additional addresses entered for that client.  It will change its title to show how many addresses there are.  This second tab is invisible until there is at least one address.  The addresses are stacked in a portal like a strip of film, and can be scrolled up or down if there are more than two.

Note: When marked as Primary, any address info (even if incomplete) will print for chosen labels and/or envelopes. Tip:  Beginning with version 4.0.20, you can click on the ZIP link, and a web site will open for looking up the ZIP+4 Code based on the Client's address. You can edit the URL of the web site in Settings area, on the Programs/Utilities tab.

The first address created is automatically marked as the Primary and Insurance address, and can only be unmarked or switched to another address on the second tab.  When an address is designated for insurance use, it will be used on insurance policies and/or 1500 forms.

When there is no primary address at all, the first tab will say, "Primary Address Needed."   This is intended to be an alert during check-in or editing a client.

The Location field shows a user-defined list of descriptors, such as Home, Work, etc.  ClientTracker adds to this list a "bad" tag  [xBADx], which can be used to mark an address as bad, or  not to be used.  Choosing this tag will result in an alert on the tab that says, "BAD ADDRESS."  A xBADx or incomplete primary address shows on the Client List in italics for an additional alert.  It will, however, print on your invoices.

To delete an address, click the delete button on the second tab.  An address marked as primary cannot be deleted, but it can be designated xBADx.

Tip:  Your practice will decide how to best manage addresses and other client contact information, using the tools provided by ClientTracker.  For more tips, see Suggestions for Managing Unusable Client Contact Info below.

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Client Phone Numbers










Client phone numbers are displayed on a portal in the Phone - Email tab.  A row for the first phone number is automatically created for a new client, because at least one phone number is needed for a client to be valid.  Click the +New button to enter additional phone numbers.

Tip:  Phone numbers should be entered in the format 123-456-7890 for best display in ClientTracker, The area code can be set up to enter automatically. See Settings> Program/Defaults>Client Default Information.

The first phone number created is automatically marked as the Primary and Insurance phone number, and can be unmarked at any time.  A phone number designated as primary cannot be deleted. 

When a phone number is designated for insurance use, it will be used on insurance policies and/or 1500 forms.  When there is more than one phone number, you can choose which one to mark as primary, and which to use for insurance, by checking the boxes on its row.

There is a drop-down menu for each Phone Type, where you can choose from a list you set up, or click again in the field to enter an ad hoc descriptor.

Tip:  Do not list any phone numbers that you or the client do not want to be called.  Phone numbers in this portal show throughout ClientTracker, and "do not use" numbers can be stored in the Notes field, if desired.

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Client Email





When you create a new client, there is a blank row for their email.  Enter a Description, and when you click the Email Address field, a small pop-up box will open for data entry and validation.  After entry, the email address will be checked for validity according to common standards for email.  See Communication> Email Setup>Email Address Validation for more info.

IMPORTANT:  You can mark an email address as "Use" or uncheck the box to designate it as "do not use."

Tip:  You can keep as a placeholder any email that is determined to be invalid, e.g. to await further information, but you cannot mark an invalid email as "Use."


Enable Appointment Confirmation by Email

Check this box to enable a client to receive automatic email confirmations of scheduled appointments. If this is enabled, a confirmation email can be sent automatically at the time an appointment is made.  See Communication> Email Setup>Set Up Automatic Email Appointment Confirmation for more info.

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Suggestions for Managing Unusable Client Contact Info

Address

ClientTracker provides a "xBADx" value for Address Location (or Description), which will show a "BAD ADDRESS" flag on the client's Personal screen.  When mail is returned or an address is unusable, mark its Location as xBADx to alert your staff.






Note:  Do not change the xBADx value once it is entered, or it won't show the alert.

Other, optional things you might want to do:

  • If the xBADx address is marked as Primary, uncheck it so it won't be printed.
  • Add a note to the Check-in Info field, which will be used for appointment notes and can serve as a reminder to get a new address from the client.


Phone Number

If a phone number is unusable, we recommend you remove it from its place, and perhaps save it in the Notes field.  Optionally, you can enter into the Phone Type whatever you want, e.g. "BAD," or some other value of your choosing.  The value lists for client or company Phone Types are on Settings/Program/Value Lists.

If a Phone Number still exists in the portal, it displays in tooltips.  You may want to simply delete unusable phone numbers.  You can uncheck the Primary designation for any or all phone numbers, but be aware that ClientTracker uses the primary phone number in printed Appointment Lists and list screen displays.


Email Address

Only email addresses marked "Use" will be used in ClientTracker, according to your chosen email sending method.  There is a separate email validation process to reduce the chance of an email bounce-back due to formatting.  See Communication> Email Setup>Email Address Validation for more info.
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Client Practitioner & Invoice Defaults

Setting client defaults on the Defaults tab is optional, but can make data entry and processing faster.  Whenever a default is applied, it can be changed if needed.


Invoice Type - Select  Simple, Superbill, or 1500 as the type of invoice that will be generated for a client.

Practitioner - Select the practitioner who will see this client most often.  The practitioner will be automatically designated when the client makes an appointment, unless it is made directly on another practitioner's schedule.

The client will also show on that practitioner's list of assigned clients.  If the practitioner is inactivated, the default will remain in effect until changed.
Note:  A practitioner cannot be deleted if he/she is designated as the Default for any client. You would have to first remove these defaults before you can delete a practitioner.

Non-taxable products (for resale) - check this box, and taxes will not be added to any products added to invoices for this client.

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Client Photo

If you have a picture of your client on your computer, you can add it to the client record by clicking the +New Photo button at the top of the Photo tab.

Note: Before you link the photo, name it properly for placement in the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder.  This folder is found in the Default File Path located in Settings/Program/Utility. See Settings> Program/Utilities>Default Path for Files & Photos

When you click +New Photo, it opens the "Please choose a photo" pop-up window and shows the contents of the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder. Select the desired photo.  If it is not in the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder already, a pop-up message will ask you if you want to move or copy it to its new location.

[ClientTracker Cloud 5.0]
Use the system's Browser window to locate a graphic file on your local computer and upload it to the Cloud.  See ClientTracker Cloud 5.0> Working with ClientTracker Cloud>[5.0] Working with Linked Files or Photos in the Cloud for details.


Click the Delete button to delete the photo link.  This removes the link, but does not delete the actual photo file from its location on your computer.

To replace an existing photo with a new one, simply click the +New Photo button and repeat the process.  The new link will override the old one, and the original photo will remain in its folder.

Photos can also be added to specific client SOAP Notes.  For more information, see SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note>Link & View Photos from a SOAP Note.

Warning:  The photo will no longer display if you: rename the photo, move the photo outside of ClientTracker Files-Photos folder, or move the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder. The remedy for the latter is to reset the Default File Path in Settings/Program/Utilities, or relink the photo.  See Settings> Program/Utilities>Default Path for Files & Photos for details.

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Client Referrals

The Referrals tab has two small subtabs inside it: Referred By for tracking information about who referred this client, and Referrals Made to show other clients that have been referred by this client.


Referred By tab

There are four fields for entering optional information about how the client was referred to your practice.

Client - Clicking this field will open a pop-up QuickFinder window, where you can choose another client from your practice who referred this client.  This information is intended for processing Thank You communication and reports.

Provider - Click this to select the referring provider from a list of those who are already entered in ClientTracker.  Click the Edit List link if you need to add a new Provider.  This information is also intended for processing Thank You communication and reports.

Note:  When using a provider for a referral, their information may used in other areas of the program. For instance, the referring provider's license number is required for 1500 forms.

When either a client or provider is entered in the Referred By tab, a small TY Letter needed link will appear under their name.  Click this to generate a Thank You letter or email at any time, or you can choose to run a report to show all clients or providers who need Thank You letters on Reports/Templates & Marketing.  This link will change to show the date a Thank You letter or email was sent, and will open the letter when clicked.  See Communication> Marketing with Communications>Send a Referral Thank You Communication to a Provider or Communication> Marketing with Communications>Client Referral Thank You for more info.

Note:  A new Thank You communication will always include the names of all eligible referred clients, i.e. those who have not yet been included on a Thank You for that referrer. You can choose which clients to include in the Thank You (see above).

After a Thank You has been sent for a referring Client or Provider, the blue link under their name changes to: TY Sent (date).  Clicking on this will show the completed communication.  For more info on functions regarding completed communications, see Communication> Create Communications>Completed Communication.


Referrals Made tab


This subtab shows a portal of clients that have been referred by this client.  The total number shows in the tab title.

Click the portal row or gray Go button to access the record of the referred client.

The date a TY Letter was sent will show automatically.  You can also enter this date manually to override ClientTracker's handling of referrals needing a Thank You letter.  For example, you may enter a date for a thank you made outside of ClientTracker, and this will show on the Referred By tab, under the name of the referring person.


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Client Files

Client files are actually "file links" because ClientTracker links to a file that already exists on your computer.  These file links are stored on the client Personal screen, in the Files tab.  If you have the application for a file, you can click a linked file in ClientTracker and open it in its application. You can view a PDF or view and edit a word processing document.

Note: Before you link a file, name it properly for placement in ClientTracker Files-Photos folder. This folder is found the Default File Path located in Settings/Program/Utilities. See Settings> Program/Utilities>Default Path for Files & Photos


To add a file to the Files portal, click the +New File button. This opens to the "Please choose a file" pop-up window and shows the contents of the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder. Locate the file, or click Cancel to abort the process.  You can store a link to any type of file.

If you select a file that is not in the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder, Default File Path folder, a warning message asks you if you want to move or copy the file to its new location.

[ClientTracker Cloud 5.0]
Use the system's Browser window to locate a graphic file on your local computer and upload it to the Cloud.  See ClientTracker Cloud 5.0> Working with ClientTracker Cloud>[5.0] Working with Linked Files or Photos in the Cloud for details.

The Files Portal

After adding a file link, the name of the file shows in the Files portal. 

  • To see file details in a tooltip, hover your mouse over the small Go button to the left of the file name.

    • Click this button to access the File Link pop-up window, where any information such as notes about the file can be managed.

      • Choose to enter an optional category (e.g. letter, lab report, form, etc.) and/or a brief description of the file.

      • Write any Notes you need for the file, which will show in the tooltip described below.

      • Click Replace File Link to re-open the Please choose a file pop-up window, and browse your computer's file directory for another file, which will replace the existing file as a link.

      • Click Done to save the file link and any additional info.

  • The file name in the list serves as a link to the actual file.  A tooltip shows its filepath.  If you click the file name, the file will open in its parent application so you can view it, change it, etc.

  • Click Complete List to view all of the file links for this client in a sortable list.

To delete a file link, click the small delete button to the right of the file name.  This will delete the link to the file, but will not delete the actual file from your computer.

Warning: The file will no longer be linked, if you rename the file, move outside of the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder or move the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder to a new location.  The remedy is to reset the Default File Path in Settings/Program/Utilities, or relink the file.  See Settings> Program/Utilities>Default Path for Files & Photos for details.
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Manage Client Families

When a parent or spouse pays for treatment for another family member, it can be useful to organize clients into families in ClientTracker.  Payments on Account entered under one family member can be disbursed to invoices for other family members.  The Family tab on the Client Personal screen enables you to manage families.  A message in italics will tell you whether a client has been added to a family, and any family members will show in the list below.  Click the row of any family member to view their Personal screen.

A list screen of Family records can also be reached by clicking the Manage Families icon in the Control Panel.

To add a client to a family, click Add to an existing Family, or Form a new Family under the portal to begin.


Add to an Existing Family - This displays a list of families to choose from.  Click a row to select, or click Cancel to abort.  You can also Form a New Family if you don't see the right one.

When a client is added to an existing Family, any available credit can be used for that client's invoices.  See Clients> Client Invoices Tab>The Payments On Account Subtab for more info.

Form a New Family - This opens the Families screen, and creates a new record to be filled out.


























Tip: To quickly access families, use the Manage Families icon on the Control Panel of client screens, or the Edit Family link that appears on the Family tab after a client has been added to a family.

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The Communications Portal

The Communications Portal on the right side of the client's Personal screen shows a sorted list of all communications created for which that client is a recipient.

The portal is sorted to show Pending communication first (light orange highlight); sorted by the Date last modified.  Completed communication is grouped next; sorted by Date completed.  The Type column shows an icon representing what kind of communication it is: a Letter, Form, Email, or Phone call.  Hover your mouse over a row to see the first few lines of the communication. 

Click on any row to view the communication, based on its status.

Pending - Go to the Compose screen to edit or complete the communication.

Completed - Go to the Info screen to view, reprint, resend, or edit the communication.

Just above the Communications portal are four of the Comm Panel buttons, to create a new Letter, Form, Phone, or Email for the client.

Click the Complete List link to view all the client's communications in a sortable list.

When a new client record is created, any Communication Template marked as auto-create will be made, and added to the Communications portal as Pending - to serve as a reminder. 

For example, ClientTracker includes System Templates for the Receipt of Privacy Practices form and the Consent to Treatment form.  It is assumed that your practice needs to have these forms signed by each new client.  For more information on Communication Templates, see Communication> Templates & Segments>About System Templates & Segments.

For complete information about how to manage communications in ClientTracker, see Communication> The Communications Module.


Date HIPAA Forms Signed

HIPAA requires all patients to sign separately for the Privacy Notice and Consent to Treatment.  These can be combined on one form or you can have two separate forms.  ClientTracker provides a Communications Template for each; which you can modify for your use.   When your  client signs for both of these, enter the date in the lower right corner of the client’s Personal screen.   If you have existing forms that you use for your clients to sign, when you get all required documents back signed you would enter the date signed.

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Client Notes, SOAP Info, and Personal Data

Client Notes

There is a large field for notes about any client, in a Notes tab just below the Address.  In addition, you can add text to the Check-In Info field, and this will be added to the appointment notes whenever an appointment is made for that client.


SOAP Info


The SOAP Info tab displays statistics and other information about each client's SOAP history, including:

Information about the client's next appointment
Date, SOAP Type, and Chief Complaint for the client's last appointment

Number of appointments Kept, Canceled (both valid and invalid), and No Shows.


Personal Data

Enter personal data about the client that will be used in other places throughout ClienTracker, such as:


[Version 5.0] Client Alerts & Demographics

In version 5.0, the lower part of the Client Personal screen is divided into 2 new areas.  Functions with an asterisk (*) are the same as for 4.0, and are described above.

Alerts

Demographics

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Client Action Buttons

The Comm Panel and three other buttons can be found at the bottom of the client's Personal screen.

Comm Panel - This will create a communication with the current client as a recipient, or show a list of all communication for that client.

New Appointment - This creates a new appointment for the client, and prompts you for the date and duration of the appointment.  The practitioner listed on the Defaults tab is used for the appointment; otherwise one would have to be selected.

New Invoice no SOAP- This is useful for creating invoices that are not related to an appointment, such as for products only.  To generate an invoice for an appointment, it is better to do so from the Appointment pop-up window or the SOAP Note itself.

Delete this Client- Will permanently delete a client record after confirmation, if the following conditions are met:

Tip: It is wise to manage clients by making them Inactive instead of deleting them. Only clients who have never been seen should be deleted, and then only if there is no chance of them coming back, or if you do not need to save any information entered. Deleting a client is permanent. Inactivating them gives you the option of reactivating them later, and saving data entry time.  An inactive client will not show on many lists, or will appear with their name in gray.

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[5.0] Client Waiting List Controls








In 5.0, you can manage a Waiting List for Clients who want or need an appointment in the future.  This section describes the controls on the Client Personal screen for adding a Client to the Waiting List and how to enter accompanying information.  For more info on how the Waiting List works, see:
Waiting List Controls

For more info about using the Waiting List to make appointments, see Calendar> Manage Appointments>[5.0] Use of the Client Waiting List from the Calendar.

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6. Clients : Client Insurance Tab

The client's Insurance tab is the place to add one or more insurance polices for the client, and to fill out information used on the client's insurance forms (1500s) for those policies.

This sections contains the following details:
























The Insurance tab is organized into helpful sections:

(1) Select Policy – This shows a list of all insurance policies created for the client. If you select one from the list, the information for that policy appears on the right.

(2) Edit Policy for (Name of Policy) – This is a blank area for clients with no insurance policies.  When you create a policy, it shows information about the "Insured" and the insurance company for the policy selected in (1).

Note:  In these instructions, "Insured" is used as a noun to represent the policyholder on the insurance card; not as an adjective.  The Insured can be a client or non-client.

The information is divided into sub-sections.
Information to be used for all policies (from the client's record) shows on the lower left.

For more info on creating 1500 claim forms, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Invoices.
Tip:  A good practice is to create insurance polices for clients before creating claim forms (a.k.a."1500s"). This will save time and ensure the correct data is in place.

Self-Pay vs. Insurance
This is a small, optional feature that does not affect any billing.  Marking one of these choices will display an initial on appointment screens and printouts in the Calendar.
To blank out the field and display nothing, select one or the other and then press Delete on your keyboard.
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Information for All Policies
The lower left of the screen shows client (patient) info that will be used on all insurance policies  including:
Note:  If the Date Signed field is empty, a message will say, "Patient Signature Needed" on this screen, and on any 1500 claim forms created for the client.
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Adding and Editing Insurance Policies

Add a New Policy

To add an insurance policy to a client record, click on the New Insurance Policy button, then select an insurance company by clicking its name in the "Select Insurance Company" pop-up window that appears.  You can type all or part of the name in the QuickFinder to filter the list. 

Tip:  If the desired insurance company does not show in the list, you will need to create it before proceeding by clicking the small blue link in the pop-up window just beneath the QuickFinder portal. After setting up the new insurance company, use the Back button to return to the client's Insurance tab, and select the new company as above.

Once selected, the insurance company's information will show in the Company Contact Info section.  Continue by filling out the Policy 1500 Info and optional Policy Details (see below.)
The display of some information for a policy may be affected by preferences set for the Insurance Company.  For example, the Insured's address may display as "Same" if the client is also the Insured, or the info might display in all caps.  This can be changed on the Insurance Company record.


Edit an Existing Policy


To edit an insurance policy, click on the policy name in the portal under (1) Select Policy.  Active policies show in blue and inactive policies in gray.  When you select a policy, it will move to the top of the portal and be highlighted in yellow, as shown.  The right side of the screen (2) will show the information for the selected policy, where you can edit the information as needed. 


Tip:  To avoid losing information, it is often preferable to mark policies inactive if they are not to be used any more.  Deleting is permanent.
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Policy 1500 Information
Prepare the policy for use in auto-filling 1500 claim forms by completing the left column of section (2).


Box 6 - Patient Relationship to Insured

-- Selecting "Self" will fill the boxes referring to "Insured" with info from the client record

-- Selecting anything else will open the Select Insured pop-up window, from which you can select a client or other person to be used as Insured, or create a new Insured record (see Manage the Insured Person On the Policy below for details)

-- Depending on the insurance company preferences, the Insured info might say "Same" or be in all caps.

Box 1a - Insured's ID Number: the ID # of the person who holds the policy or the dependent patient if they have been issued a unique identifier by the insurer

Box 4 & 7* - Insured's Name & Address: the person who holds the policy

Box 11 - Policy Group or FECA

Box 11a* - Insured's Date of Birth

Box 11b* - Employer's Name or School Name

Box 11c - Insurance Plan Name or Program Name
-- Enter information from the insurance card or policy of the insured person.

Note:  Sections marked with an asterisk above will auto-fill from the source indicated in Box 6. The info is not editable in these fields; however, clicking Box 4 or 11a will open the record of the Insured.

Box 11d - is there another Health Benefit Plan?
Box 13 - Insured's or Authorized Person's Signature
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Manage the Insured Person On the Policy
On the Client's Insurance tab, if Box 6 is clicked to be anything other than Self, a QuickFinder pop-up window opens, where you can select the insured person (a.k.a. "policyholder") from a portal of:

Type in any letters to filter the list, and click on a name to designate that person as the "insured" on the client's insurance policy.  The information used to fill Box 4 address would be from their address (if any) that has been designated as "Insurance."

If the required person is not on the list, click Create New to add a new Insured record, or Cancel to close the pop-up window.

To view a list of all Insured people, click the Non-Client Insured List link in Box 7.

Note:  In these instructions, "Insured" is used as a noun to represent the policyholder or person on the insurance card; not as an adjective.


Non-Client Insured Records

ClientTracker provides the option to create records of people who are not clients; whose info will be used solely in the role as Insured.  One Insured record can be used on as many client insurance policies as needed.  When you click Create New, the screen to "Enter info for new Insured" looks very similar to a client's Personal screen, but naturally focuses only on information that is needed for the 1500 claim form.

Note:  A Non-Client Insured person may be part of the client's family, but is different from a Family Member in ClientTracker. The former are just used for insurance purposes, while the latter must also be a client so they can share payments. See Clients> Client Personal Tab>Manage Client Families for more info.


















Fill out the Insured's name, address, phone numbers, date of birth, and gender – all of which function like those for a client, and will be used on the 1500.  Optionally, you can add email addresses to facilitate contacting the Insured if any questions come up.

Tip:  Beginning with version 4.0.20, you can click on the ZIP link, and a web site will open for looking up the ZIP+4 Code based on the Insured's address. You can edit the URL of the web site in Settings area, on the Programs/Utilities tab.

On the right is a list of Insurance Policies for which this person is designated as the Insured. You can edit this information as needed; however, keep in mind:
Info entered into the Insurance Policies tab will be used on the specific policy for the client named in that policy's area.  Scroll up or down to view multiple policies using the Insured's info.  When all info has been filled in, click Save to finish.  Clicking Cancel will abort the creation of a new Insured, and return you to the client's Insurance screen.

To delete an Insured record, click the Delete button on the lower right of the Insured screen.  The Insured must not be used on any client Insurance Policies.  To delete an Insured record that is used on policies, first click the Go button for each policy, replace the Insured on the client's policy with the correct information or click clear next to Box 6, (thus removing the Insured from that policy), and then click the Back button to return to the Insured.


Using the Insured on the Client Insurance Screen

Once an Insured has been selected or created, the information pertinent to a 1500 will show in the boxes on the client's Insurance screen.  Click the Insured info (e.g. name & address area in Box 4) or Edit Insured to open the Insured screen for viewing or editing.

To change to a different Insured person for any Client Insurance Policy, simply click the Box 6 area as other than Self, and the Select Insured pop-up window will reappear.  Click on any name, and that person's Insured info will replace whatever was there.  Remember to also change the other information: Box 1a Insured's ID Number, and most of the 11 boxes.


Turning an Insured Record Into a Client

During creation of a new client, if you see a new client is already in ClientTracker as an Insured record, you should use the info already entered to create a new client record.  This is important to retain the link between the client's Personal info and that used for 1500 claims as the Insured.

To find a Non-Client Insured person, go to any Client's Insurance tab and click the Non-Client Insured List link to access a sortable list.  From there, click the Turn into Client button on the right of their row, and the Insured info will be transferred to a new client record, and the former Insured record will be deleted.  Any Client Insurance Polices on which that person was used as Insured will still be connected to the new Client record.
In addition, the link between the Client with the Insurance Policy and the new client created from an Insured record will be updated, so that the Insured info links to the new client record.

Tip:  If you first create a new client, and realize that they are also in ClientTracker as an Insured record, go to the Insurance tab for the Client using them as Insured, and follow the instructions above to delete the obsolete Insured record for that person. Then re-select the Insured to be the new client record.
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Policy Details
At the top of the right column in section (2) are details about the selected policy:

Policy Name - Defaults to the name of the insurance company.  Change it as needed.

Active – This must be checked for the policy's insurance company to show in the pop-up menu of available policies on the 1500 form data entry screen.  You may choose to have inactive policies for an insurer that remains active; or vice versa.






The rest of the fields are optional - you may use them for your reference:
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Insurance Company Information
Information for the Insurance Company is displayed when a policy is selected.  A small indicator informs whether the company is Active or Inactive.


Also displayed in portals are phone numbers and email contacts. These are for reference only, and can be edited on the portal rows, or on the Insurance Company record by clicking the blue link, Edit.

For information on adding or editing insurance company information, see Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies.







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6. Clients : Client History Tab

The Client's History tab shows information about a client's history in subtabs:
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Initial History

This screen can be used to record the client's medical history, medications, allergies, and so on. If you need a paper copy, click the Print button in the upper left. To add notes to the client history, click on any area and type.  This screen can be accessed via the client's History tab.














There are optional fields for you to enter the date the client history was taken, or updated.

Click Customize This Form to edit the standard text that appears on the History/Initial tab for new clients.  This text will be used to create a new, blank History form for each new client, but will not change those created before you make these changes.

Note: Your changes to the History form do not affect any existing SOAP Notes, because the info is part of the client's permanent record.  The History tab can be accessed from any SOAP.

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Clinical History
The History/Clinical tab has three portals that display separate lists of all the SOAP line items used for a client, e.g. diagnosis codes, procedure codes, and products.  They show a cumulative record of everything entered in ClientTracker, so they will show if the same line item has been used more than once.  The portals themselves are not functional, except that you can scroll up or down each list to get an idea of any usage patterns.






















To display the portal contents for a specific time period, enter the Start and End dates in the Date Range fields at the top of the tab.  The portal contents can be printed by clicking the Print link at the top.  You can also run other reports to monitor a client's clinical activity:
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[5.0] Private History








This tab is provided as a place to put optional, private information about a Client.  It is not available to print from ClientTracker, to protect the Client's privacy.







You can also enter Private Notes about a Client on any SOAP Note, when applicable to any presentation.  See > for more info.

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6. Clients : Client Appointments & SOAPs Tab

The Appointments & SOAPs tab shows you a list of appointments and SOAP Notes for the client, with the appointment date and time.  Remember that an appointment and SOAP Note are the same record, but have different uses in ClientTracker.

Appointments & SOAPs List

When the Appointment & SOAPs tab is clicked, all of a client's appointments and SOAP Notes display as rows, with the most current dates first.  The list can be sorted by Date, Chief Complaint, SOAP Type, Practitioner, Status, or by Invoice number.

Control Panel Actions




The New SOAP icon will create a new appointment and a new SOAP.  Because a SOAP note comes from a client visit, an appointment needs to be made for ClientTracker to function properly.  Fill in the Appointment window pop-up, and click Save to display the SOAP button, which will take you to the new, blank SOAP note.

The Find SOAP icon will take you to the "Find Appointments & Visits" screen, where you can enter detailed criteria to find any visit, including those for other clients.

The Show All SOAPs icon will reset the list to show all SOAP Notes for the current client; sorted by date and time.

The Print icon will print a list of the currently displayed appointments & SOAPs, [5.0] In version 5.0, you have a choice of printing a list, or printing all the Client's SOAP Notes from this button.


Appointments and SOAPs List Actions








Clicking on the appointment bubble will open the Appointment pop-up window for any visit. 


Click the Go button or row to see a detailed view of any SOAP note (blank, partially completed, or completed).


Click Omit to remove a record from the list temporarily; e.g. to print only selected visits.
 


If there are any photos or files linked to a SOAP note, the respective icons will show


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6. Clients : Client Invoices Tab

The client's Invoices tab is the place for entering Payments on Account made by clients or family members.  Basically, if a lump sum payment is received to be applied to old balances from several invoices, this is the place to do it.  If a payment is received for one specific invoice, you should enter it on the invoice.

Details in this section include:
The client's Invoices tab shows a screen with two large subtabs:






















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The Invoices & Statements Subtab
The Invoices & Statements subtab shows a summary of all invoices for this client, including  Date, Invoice #, Type, Total, Status,and  amount Due.  To view an actual invoice, click the invoice # blue link.  For a more detailed view of this list of invoices, click the Complete List blue link at the bottom of the portal.

















Buttons on the left side of the subtab print statements, invoices, and reports.
Other Statement Functions

Date Last Statement Sent - Fills in automatically when you print a statement, and can be edited as needed.  This date can be used to find clients on the Clients List.

Statement Notes (optional) - Whatever you type here will show on the printed Statement.  The space available on the printout is limited to the size of this entry field.

Tip: You can also print statements from the invoice list for a found set of invoices. This can include multiple clients with their paid and unpaid invoices.


[Version 5.0] Print Invoices in a Variety of Sets and Formats
In the Print Options section to the left, choose which invoices you want to print and how you want to print them.  Your choices correspond to the invoices displayed on the Invoices & Statements subtab.


All = All invoices for this client; paid or unpaid

Unpaid = All Unpaid invoices (with any balance due from Client or Third Party)

Selected = Only the invoices you select from the list on the right, by checking the box on the left of each row.



Print Formats - buttons available
[Version 5.0] Payments & Adjustments Tab























This tab displays a list of all the Payments and Adjustments made for a client on any invoice.  The most recent ones are displayed first.  The columns are not sortable.
Tip:  To print a log of Payments and Adjustments for any Client, and for any date range, use the Payments & Postings Log found in the Reports area.

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The Payments On Account Subtab
Click on the Payments on Account subtab to view the screen for entering and distributing payments made on client accounts.  Payments on account ("POAs") can be used in any situation where one payment is used to pay for more than one invoice.  On this screen the amount due is separated out into amount due in total, and amount due from the client.  This is necessary where third party payer claims are concerned.

The Payments On Account panel at the top of the subtab shows all payments made to the account, the remaining balance available to distribute. You can use the balance available to pay any outstanding invoices listed beneath the panel.





POAs can be distributed across families.  For example, if Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson are in the same family, a POA can be entered in Homer Simpson's record and distributed to invoices for both Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson; from their respective Invoices screens.  There is a small portal at the lower left showing the members of the client's family (if any).





At the top of the screen, the Balance Due is shown.  Also displayed is the total Credit Available for this client (or the shared amount for a family if the client is a member of a family).  The Credit Available is the total of all POAs that remain to be distributed to invoices.
Tip:  You also can pay an invoice directly by clicking on the invoice row and entering the payment in the invoice's Payment Palette.  This is a simpler process and should be used whenever a payment applies to just one invoice.  See Invoices & Payments> Payments, Adjustments, & Credits>Using the Invoice Payment Palette for more info.

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Use the Payment Palette to Enter Payments on Account
To enter a new payment on account (POA) for the client (i.e. one that is intended to be distributed to multiple invoices), click the New Payment button in the upper left area of the Payments on Account subtab.


Enter information about the payment into the boxes in the "Payment Palette," or Payment on Account box, that appears beneath the button.

If Credit Card is chosen as the payment Method, additional fields will appear to enter more info.

Click Cancel at any time to close the Payment Palette, and any info entered will be cleared.



Note:  POAs are credited to the client's account in general, and can be applied to invoices as needed. If the client is a member of a Family, all client POAs are pooled for that Family.
Other credit card blanks:
Note:  ClientTracker does not process credit card transactions at this time, so the credit card boxes are for recording a credit card transaction processed using another means, such as with a swipe machine, or over the telephone.

Once you have confirmed that all information in the Payment Palette boxes is complete and correct, click the Apply button at the bottom of the box.  This adds the payment as a credit on the client's account.  If you want to cancel the process, click the Clear button (this will permanently delete all info in the boxes).
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Manage Payments On Account
Once a payment on Account (POA) has been entered, it will show in the top row of the POA portal, highlighted in yellow.  This is the "selected POA."  Just beneath the selected POA is a small 2-row portal of all POAs available for that client. 

POAs with remaining funds to distribute will sort first.  To select any POA, use the small scroll handles on the far right of the portal to locate the POA, then click its row and it will move to the top and be highlighted as the selected POA.

Note: POAs that have been fully distributed (i.e. have no funds to distribute) cannot be selected, but you can view their details with the [i] button.

The following actions can be performed with the selected POA:

Payment On Account Details

This screen shows the original info about the POA, any funds remaining, and a portal of "what was done with it" - in the form of distributions used to pay invoices, or refunds.  The portal has plenty of lines available, but most POAs will need just a few.  You get here by clicking on the [i] button at the left of a POA record.




















Things you can do on this screen include:
Delete - This will delete the distribution or refund, and change the remaining funds for the payment.  This will also affect the client's balance due, and the Total Due of the invoice to which the POA was distributed.
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Distribute a POA to Invoices
To apply funds from a payment on account (POA) to an invoice or invoices:

Step 1 - Select the POA you wish to distribute
Click on the payment to select it, and it highlights in yellow and moves to the top.  If the client has multiple POAs with funds to be distributed, select and distribute them one at a time.

Step 2 - Allocate payment amounts for invoices

Type the payment amount into the "Allocated Payment" box on any invoice(s) you want to pay.  Next to each box is a button labeled [+]. Clicking this button will automatically enter a choice of:
(a) The full amount due from the client for that invoice, up to the amount remaining in the selected POA.
(b) If the Copay box is checked to the right of the [+] button, one or two payments will be made to the invoice.  One if the amount is equal to the amount of the Copay for the client Insurance Policy selected for that invoice. Two if the amount is greater than the copay: one for the copay and one for the remainder of the amount. (For versions 4.0.15 and greater.)

Continue entering allocated payments until the POA has no more funds, or the available invoices are all paid.  You may leave the POA partially distributed.

Note: The Client column under Balance Due includes the amount due from the client in red numbers, when applicable.  This will reduce as POA funds are distributed to the invoice.

Step 3 - Check the total
The "Total Allocated" box is the sum of all amounts entered for all invoices.  This sum will not be more than the Amount Available for the selected POA.

If you need to clear all Allocated Payments, click the Clear All link at the bottom.


Step 4 - Distribute the Allocated Payments
Click the Distribute button, and all Allocated Payments entered from the selected POA are applied to the corresponding invoices.

If you want to distribute another POA repeat steps 1 through 4.  (The next POA with available funds will auto-select.)  You can partially or completely pay any number of outstanding invoices in this manner, up to the total amount of credit from POAs in the client's account.
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Issue a Refund from a Payment on Account

Any Payment on Account (POA) that has a remaining balance can have all or part of that balance processed as a refund.

In any POA row, click Ref. to open the Issue Refund pop-up window.



















You will be offered the option to print a receipt with a place for the client to sign.

After a refund has been issued, it can be viewed on the POA Details screen (see above).  The date can be changed, but all other info is non-editable.  If needed, the entire refund row can be deleted from the portal on the POA Details screen, by clicking the small delete button at the right of its row.

Tip:  If you are using the Register, a corresponding manual Withdrawal entry should be made in the amount of the refund. This is not done automatically by ClientTracker.
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7. SOAP Notes : Overview

The following details are in this section:

The SOAP Note (aka Chart Note) is an integral part of a client's medical record. This is the place to enter all clinical and other info about the client's visit. It is also the link between a client and the invoice resulting from this visit.

ClientTracker automatically creates a SOAP Note for all appointments. An Appointment contains the initial SOAP info: date, time, and practitioner. So first is the appointment, then the visit, then the SOAP Note containing all the details of the visit.  They are one and the same record in ClientTracker.

Any time before, during or immediately following a scheduled appointment, the practitioner can fill out the SOAP Note by:

Frequently-used templates for SOAP Notes can be set up, so that the clinical details, procedures, etc. will be automatically created to be used as a starting point for a new visit.  Of course, the information on any SOAP can always be edited, and can even be saved as a new template. For more information, see SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates.

From the SOAP Note screen, many actions related to a client visit can be performed.

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The SOAP Notes List

There are two ways to view a list of SOAP Notes.

(1) By clicking the Appointments & SOAPs tab for any client







(2) By performing a "Find" in Appointments & Visits or the "Visits with No Invoice" report on the Reports tab



The list screen displays the selected SOAP Notes, with their appointment dates and times.  Functions on this screen include:




Other options are available in the Control Panel area of the Function Bar:

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Create a SOAP Note

A SOAP Note is created:


Create a SOAP Note with the New SOAP Icon


The appointment information is integral to a SOAP Note, so that must be made first.  On the SOAP Note or SOAP list click the New SOAP icon and create the appointment info for this SOAP.  After the appointment has been made, click the SOAP button from the Appointment Info pop-up window.  


Create a SOAP Note from an Invoice

If an invoice was made without an appointment, a SOAP Note may need to be generated later.  For example, if the invoice was created from the client's Personal screen with the New Invoice No SOAP button, or from the New Invoice icon in the Control Panel of the invoice area, a linked SOAP Note can be created by clicking the Create SOAP Note button on the upper right side of the invoice.


Auto-Fill a SOAP Note from a SOAP Template

When a new SOAP Note is created, it is auto-filled with information from several sources that make it easy and very flexible to customize the client's medical record.

Tip:   To create a completely blank new SOAP Note each time an appointment is made, remove all information from the Default SOAP Template and do not assign any other templates to practitioners.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates for more info.
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Find a SOAP

There are two main methods for finding one or more SOAP Notes:


1) Click the Find Visit icon on the Control Panel of a SOAP Note or list of appointments and SOAPS

2) Run the "Find" report for Appointments & Visits on the Reports tab

Tip:  If you're looking for one particular SOAP on a known date, look for the appointment on the Calendar, and click the SOAP button on the Appointment Info pop-up window.  If you know the client, click the Appointments & SOAPs tab and locate it on their list.

On the Find Appointments and Visits layout, you can search by a variety of criteria.  For more info, see Calendar> Manage Appointments>Find Existing Appointments.  Once the search results are displayed in a list view, click the row (avoiding the appointment bubble), and the SOAP Note will open.

One other way is to run the "Visits with No Invoice" report on the Reports tab, which is intended to let you view a SOAP Note from the resulting list if necessary, and generate invoices as needed.

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Delete a SOAP

Warning:  A SOAP Note has information required to be retained under HIPAA regulations. Once a SOAP is deleted, it cannot be restored.


To delete a SOAP, use the  Delete This SOAP button on the main SOAP screen in the lower right corner.

Remember these important considerations when deleting a SOAP Note:

Tip:  To delete a SOAP Note that is linked to an invoice, first either Unlink the invoice using the link in the upper right of the SOAP Note detail screen, or delete the payments from the invoice itself.  See Invoices & Payments> Payments, Adjustments, & Credits for more info.
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7. SOAP Notes : Fill Out the SOAP Note

Details in this section include:

A SOAP Note can be filled out anytime after an appointment is made - even after it has passed.  The practitioner can access the SOAP Note, or detail screen, in three ways:

1) Click on the SOAP button in the Appointment Info pop-up window that opens from a calendar appointment.

2) Click a row in the list from the client's Appointments & SOAPs tab, or from the list resulting from a search or report.  After accessing the detail screen, click the Record Navigator buttons to move forward or backward in the sequence of SOAP Notes.

3) After an invoice has been created, click the Go to SOAP Note button on the upper right side of the invoice.  For more info on creating a SOAP Note from an invoice, see SOAP Notes> Overview>Create a SOAP Note.

Information is added to the SOAP Note by use of a SOAP Template, typing into the fields of the detail screen, clicking the anatomical chart, or linking other information to it.  Each of these is explained below.

There is no "Save" button on the SOAP Note.  Information is saved automatically as you move from field to field, or go to a different tab or area of ClientTracker.














Parts of a SOAP Note

The SOAP Note detail screen is set up with layers of tabs to move quickly to different parts of the note.  The default order for these tabs, i.e. which one shows on top, is set for the SOAP Template from which the note originated.


Main Tabs - These allow quick access to other areas of client information, including Personal, Insurance, History, and Invoices.

Side Tabs - Different areas of the SOAP Note are accessed by tabs that run vertically along the right edge of the SOAP Note.
-- SOAP, or clinical information, can be entered by using the Acupuncture, Anatomical, or General tabs.

-- Link information to the SOAP Note or create communications related to the visit from the Photos/Files tab.

-- Use the Templates tab to manage the SOAP Template of origin for this SOAP note or view a previous SOAP Note for reference or to apply to the current SOAP.

Sub Tabs - These give access to the different parts of a Side Tab, i.e. Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan.


Appointment information is displayed at the top of the SOAP Note, just under the client's name.  Clicking this appointment bubble opens the Appointment Info pop-up window, from which you can click Edit to change the appointment info.  Changing the practitioner, room, or other appointment information also changes it for the SOAP Note, but not for any linked invoice.

To the right of the appointment info is a button to Generate Invoice, or if one has already been generated or linked, it says: Go to Invoice.  Use this or the Link / Unlink controls to manage the invoice to which the SOAP Note is linked.  A SOAP Note can be linked to only one invoice.  For more info, see SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note>Generate or Link an Invoice from SOAP Notes.



At the bottom of the SOAP Note are the familiar Comm Panel buttons for creating a communication to the client.  The Type field (a.k.a. "SOAP Type") has a pop-up menu of choices that you can manage in Settings/Program/Value Lists, or by clicking the Edit List link.


The Delete This SOAP button is in the lower-right corner.  See SOAP Notes> Overview>Delete a SOAP for important information.




Default Main Tab - At the bottom of the SOAP Note screen [Version 4.0] or on the SOAP Control Tab found on the main Files-Photos tab [Version 5.0], you can designate the Main Tab you wish to view first when you come to the SOAP Note screen.  This choice overrides any choice designated on the SOAP Template.

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SOAP Note Data Entry

The five main data entry areas of the SOAP Note screen are accessed via the vertical side tabs along the right edge of the screen.  Three of these tabs are divided into four main areas: Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan. These three tabs are different views (depending on your preference) for entering similar information about the client's visit and can be used interchangeably.  Preferences as to which tab shows on top can be set in the SOAP Template of origin. (See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates for more info.)





Tip:  You can format the text in a SOAP Note; in any field that accepts text.  Your formatted text will transfer to the printed SOAP Note.  See How ClientTracker Works> Program Functions>Formatting Text for more info.

Acupuncture Tab – The Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan areas are divided into four sections, or panels, on a single tab.  If needed, use the clear links to clear all data from all text fields in that section.

Keyboard Shortcuts for entry of Line Items
On each invoice and SOAP screen, use key strokes to bring up the QuickFinder for Diagnosis & Procedure Codes and Products.  To be reminded of this on each screen, at the top menu, look at Records, Choose New... and then the little menu:

  • Ctrl+Shift+D to enter a new Diagnosis Code
  • Ctrl+Shift+P to enter a new Procedure Code
  • Ctrl+Shift+G to enter a new Product item
*Note:  If the billing will be done on a 1500 claim form, it only displays a limited number of four diagnoses and six procedures from one or more linked SOAP notes. See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Invoices for more info.















Anatomical Tab – A large, detailed, graphical anatomical chart makes it easy to enter Objective notes for specific areas of the body, and the other Subjective, Assessment and Plan areas are also available.


General Tab – The Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan areas each have larger fields and are divided into subtabs.  Otherwise, the information that can be entered is the same as for the Acupuncture tab.

Tip:  Diagnosis codes, procedures, products, TCM (points needled), and other SOAP Note information can be set up as part of a SOAP Template to be auto-entered for various types of visits.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates for more info.
















Photos/Files Tab – Use this tab to link photos and files to a SOAP note (see SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note), or to create the Suggested Communications for the visit. 


Use the delete button to remove a suggested communication from the portal, if it is not needed.
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[5.0] Additional Data Entry Shortcuts









User-Defined Value Lists on the SOAP Note
Click a Pulse field to enter a value manually, or click the little arrow at the right of the field to open a customizable value list, aka "drop-down list."  The drop-down list shows any custom values you want; in any order.

Click "Edit..." to open a small value list pop-up window and add, subtract, or reorder your values.

PULSE ENTRY TIPS

Tip:  A hyphen on a row by itself will create a separator line in the list.

Tip:  When the drop-down list is open, you can type ahead to select any value and press Enter to enter it into the field.

Tip:  Click the field itself (shown below), not the little arrow, to add a value that you don't want to keep on your list.






Note:  A separate drop-down list with similar action is available in the Points Needled list, on the "TCM" tab (or whatever you have named it), on the main Acupuncture tab.

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Apply a Previous SOAP or SOAP Template

See SOAP Notes> Copy Previous SOAP and Auto-Fill>Best Practices to Automatically Copy a Previous SOAP for more info.
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Auto-Fill a SOAP Note

See SOAP Notes> Copy Previous SOAP and Auto-Fill>Apply a Previous SOAP or SOAP Template for more info.
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Print SOAP Notes

SOAP Notes and lists of SOAP notes can be printed in various ways in ClientTracker.


From the Print SOAP icon on the Control Panel on the SOAP Note detail screen, SOAP Notes will print only the data from the note in a prearranged format; not as a graphical representation of what you see on the screen.



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Print Preferences for SOAP Notes

Beginning with version 4.0.15, you can customize some aspects of how your SOAP Notes will print in the Plan section; both individually and as a default.

On the Files/Photos tab of any SOAP Note is a smaller tab of controls for print preferences:














To keep the system defaults printed by ClientTracker automatically, do nothing.  To revert to the system defaults after you have made changes, click clear all. 

To customize a label for all your SOAP Notes, type a value under Your Custom Defaults, and it will automatically load into the This SOAP Only column, too.  You can also type a unique value under This SOAP Only to make a label for just this one SOAP, and it won't affect other SOAPs.

Where to find the items for which you are changing labels:
Choose to Print Info On the SOAP Note
ClientTracker will print a label on the SOAP Note for different items added on the entry screen, e.g. adding 2 Products will result in a label "2 Products Sold" and an abbreviated list of the products.  The text of these labels can't be changed, but you can choose to print them or not.

Print on SOAP Note
The default is that all the boxes are checked to print on All SOAPs and This SOAP.   Uncheck a box to NOT print the info.  You can also choose to print or not for just This SOAP.
Tip:  You can see the changes in Print Preview before you actually print.


[Version 5.0] There are additional choices in the "Print on SOAP Note" section re the new Private Notes field.  Check to print this on all SOAPs or just This SOAP.  Leave unchecked and the Private Notes will not print.

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[5.0] Manage the Practitioner Signature

First Set Up Practitioner Signature and Preferences
Signatures are managed for each individual practitioner; on their Detail screen.  See Settings> Practice>Create and Manage Practitioners

Mange the Practitioner Signature on the Printed SOAP Note
Go to the Files-Photos tab to access the SOAP Control subtab.  Under "Print Signature & Date" you can do the following:

1. Enter a Date that the SOAP was signed, which will appear on the printed SOAP for Signature On File or Scan choices.

2. Override the default practitioner signature choices for this SOAP only, by selecting a different option.  A preview of what the signature will look like on the printed SOAP appears below.

You have 4 choices for how the practitioner signature can appear on printed SOAP Notes:
  1. Default (all choices blank): A signature and date line (to be signed manually after printing)
  2. SOF - Same as above, with the phrase "Signature On File" where the signature would go
  3. Scan - A scanned graphic of the practitioner's signature (aka "electronic signature")
  4. No Sig Line - Completely blank, showing nothing at all

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[5.0] Private Notes








Private Information
Use this field to enter sensitive information about the client that you want as part of your SOAP Notes database, but may or may not want to print.  This is an additional safeguard of the patient's privacy.

On the Acupuncture tab, the Private Notes tab is found behind the Intake tab, in the Subjective area.














On the General tab, the Private Notes tab is found on the Subjective subtab, with an option to Hide the notes from view.




Note: To prevent private information from printing, check the box on the Print Preferences for SOAP Notes tab, found on the main Files-Photos tab.  See Print Preferences for SOAP Notes above for more info.

There is also a separate Private History field on the Client History screen, which is unrelated to any individual SOAP.  See Clients> Client History Tab>[5.0] Private History for more info.

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[5.0] Free Form SOAP








For those who want to chart electronically with minimal interface, the Free Form SOAP Note allows you to create plain text or formatted SOAP Notes that include nothing else but what you enter into the field.

To access the Free Form SOAP Note, click the vertical General tab on the right of the SOAP and choose Free Form SOAP vertical tab on right

Tip: Use this field for practice types or services other than Acupuncturist.  You can set this as a Default Main Tab if you always want to see this field first when you come to a SOAP Note.  See above for more info.

To print, click the Print button to open the Visit Print Menu pop-up, and click the "Free Form SOAP choice.


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[5.0] Client Instructions Handout








An optional field on the SOAP Note lets you compose instructions of any length, to be printed out after the visit and provided to the client.  This field can contain any text that you want, and can be formatted in many ways.




















Tips, Ideas, & Data Entry Shortcuts:
Printing the Client Instructions
When you click Print for a SOAP Note, you have a choice to print just the SOAP Note, the SOAP Note + and Client Instructions, or just the Client Instructions alone.

Note:  The Client Instructions contents will copy forward, along with other SOAP info, if that option is set up for the Practitioner.

SOAP Template
Client Instructions also appear on SOAP Templates, where you can enter info that will be the same for all clients for whom that template is used.  Anything you enter in the SOAP Template will be copied when it's applied to the SOAP.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>[5.0] Template of Client Instructions for more info.

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[5.0] Formula Label for the SOAP Note







Design and Print a Formula Label
For those who use groups of Products regularly as constituent ingredients for a "formula" prescribed for a patient or Client, ClientTracker offers a system to set up and customize a label that can contain any information you want.
































Formula Labels are made on a SOAP Template or SOAP Note, and have your basic info created in the Settings area.

Settings
Options to set up custom text to be used on Formula Labels are in the Settings area, on the Program tab.  Go to the smaller subtab Print, then choose Labels.

For your convenience, on the Labels subtab you can set up the initial format and text to be to be used as the building blocks for all Formula Labels.  A label usually has 4 parts. 
Part 1 - Your practice information, including name, address, phone, and even fax, email, and/or web site.  All of this info is copied from the Practice tab of Settings when you click the Reset Practice Info button.  From there, you can add or remove text, format it, or customize it in any way for use in formula labels.

Part 2 - Visit (SOAP) Information - A label for a prescribed formula needs the date of the visit, and the names of the Client and Practitioner.  These are not set up in Settings, but are options for the SOAP Note.  See below for more information.

Part 3 - Ingredients of a formula are the Products added to a SOAP Template or SOAP Note.  See below for more information.

Part 4 - Additional Information of your choice.  You may want to include an Expiration Date and/or Instructions for Use on your formula label.  Enter and format in Settings any repeatable information you'd like to add to your labels.
Create a Formula Label
To open the Formula Label pop-up window, click the Formula icon on the Products tab (Acupuncture or General view).

On the Formula Label pop-up window, design the label text and formatting you'd like to be printed on a label.  You can enter predetermined text, and/or freely type in your own text.  Elements can be entered anywhere in the space provided, and can be made larger, smaller, and/or moved around to suit your needs.

Click the small blue arrow (or whole box) to enter a block of text at your cursor position.
Practice Information - from the Settings controls for a Formula Label

Ingredient Info - all Products added to this SOAP Template in the order they appear, including Quantity, Unit, and Name.

Tip:  You may want to enter a Product item in Inventory that acts as a "title" for the formula. See XXX for more info.

Custom Information - from the Additional Information area of the Settings controls for a Formula Label.

BUTTONS ON THE POP-UP

Close - Save whatever is entered and close the pop-up

Copy Label Text - Copies the whole contents of the label so you can paste it into another program, for example one where you already have label printing set up.

Print - Offers a preview of how your label will look, and a Floating Preview Palette for printing.

Note:  The Formula Label text will print on whatever printer you choose from your computer's list of available printers. It will print on plain paper or a label loaded in your printer. ClientTracker just sends the print info out; where it winds up is a function of the printer you choose and paper or label you load into the printer.

The Formula Label is programmed to print on a label that is up to 4 inches wide, and up to 4 inches deep.  If your label is smaller, adjust the text and formatting in the Formula Template pop-up so that it will fit.

Generate and Print a Formula Label from a SOAP Note
When a SOAP Template is applied to a SOAP Note in any way, the label information is copied and ready to use in the context of that Client's visit.
Apply a SOAP Template Formula to an existing SOAP
The SOAP Note's Templates tab (vertical tab on the right side) has a list of SOAP Templates.  Those designated as a Formula Template have dark blue names and the formula icon.  When the Apply link is clicked for any SOAP Template in the list, you have the option of copying all information from the SOAP Template, or just the Products.

Warning:  When you apply an entire SOAP Template to a SOAP Note, it will overwrite any existing information.

Tip:  Applying just the Products from a SOAP Template is a quick way to add a group of Products that constitute a formula.

To open the Formula Label pop-up, click the Formula icon on the Products tab (Acupuncture or General view).

The Formula Label pop-up associated with a SOAP Note is very similar to the one for a SOAP Template (see link below); with one additional option:

IMPORTANT: When a Formula Label is made from a SOAP Note, it becomes part of that "medical record," and is stored with all other SOAP Note information.

Information on the Formula Label will be copied to the next SOAP Note for that Client (with the same Practitioner), just like any other SOAP info.  This can be a big time saver; however, care must be taken to ensure that the label information is correct for each visit, if applicable.

Tip: To view a Formula Label for a past SOAP Note, click the Formula icon found on the Products tab to open the pop-up window.

Insert Product Info as Text in Client Instructions
There is a quick shortcut to enter info about the Products on a SOAP Note into the Client Instructions, where you can edit, format, or copy it for other use.  See [5.0] Client Instructions Handout for more info.

Make a Formula Label Template on a SOAP Template
SOAP Templates can be used as "Formula Templates." and you can also manage a "Formula Label" from there, which acts as a template for all SOAP Notes made from that SOAP Template.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>[5.0] Create and Print a Formula Label from a SOAP Template for more info.

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7. SOAP Notes : Copy Previous SOAP and Auto-Fill


Details in this section include:

IMPORTANT CHANGES IN VERSION 5.0
Warning: If you delete a practitioner record and re-enter it, ClientTracker will not recognize this as the same practitioner, so the auto-fill functions will not work, or in 5.0, using the  Copy Previous SOAP button will also not work.  You can always go to the Templates tab and apply a previous SOAP manually according to the rules below.


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Auto-Fill a SOAP Note
When you make an appointment, ClientTracker will auto-fill its SOAP Note from a previous SOAP or SOAP Template, based on designated templates on the practitioner's Detail screen.  The previous SOAP Note will be indicated on the Appointment window, just beneath the Room.

[Version 5.0] IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE
in version 5.0 of ClientTracker, The previous SOAP is not evaluated and copied until you go to the SOAP on the day of the visit.  This prevents an inappropriate "previous" SOAP from being copied, for example, if you had made the appointment far in advance, and/or it was part of a series of Recurring Appointments all made at the same time.  You can always apply a previous SOAP on the Templates tab, or by using the Copy Previous SOAP button (see [5.0] The Copy Previous SOAP button below).


Each practitioner has a template designated for Initial Visits or Subsequent Visits with the same client.  For  latter, you can choose to "Use previous SOAP/Invoice with same Practitioner."

See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Default SOAP Templates for Practitioners for more info about setting up the designated templates for a practitioner.

For each practitioner, ClientTracker is shipped with the Default SOAP Template preselected.  You can keep this designation, or create new templates and assign them.

Tip:  To make a blank SOAP Note for new appointments, create a completely blank SOAP Template and designate it a practitioner. The Default SOAP Template comes as a blank and can be edited. See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates for more info about SOAP Templates.

When the appointment is made, a SOAP Note is stored in the program for that visit.  Click the SOAP button in the Appointment window after the appointment is made to view or work with the SOAP Note.  If the template or previous visit had line items such as diagnoses, procedures, or points needled, these will be auto-filled on the new SOAP Note.

[5.0] Remember, in version 5.0 this does not happen until you go to the SOAP Note on the day of the visit, or click the Copy Previous SOAP button (see [5.0] The Copy Previous SOAP button below).

Products are not auto-filled from a template or previous SOAP Note in 4.0.  These are auto-filled in version 5.0.

Tip:  Once you are working with the SOAP Note, you can always overwrite it with info from a previous visit or SOAP Template. See SOAP Notes> Fill Out the SOAP Note>Apply a Previous SOAP or SOAP Template for more info.

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Best Practices to Automatically Copy a Previous SOAP

In v4.0, a client's previous Diagnosis and Procedures can be copied automatically to the next Invoice.

Important Points
Two Methods to Generate SOAP Notes

There are 2 different methods to generate a SOAP Note.

    From an Appointment
   New SOAP button
When you use the New SOAP button, you are presented with the Appointment pop-up window.  This is because an appointment and SOAP are always connected, even if you don't use the Calendar in ClientTracker.
Best Practice if you create Appointments and/or SOAPs
You can access a SOAP from two main places:

1. the Appointment Info Pop-up
Click on the appointment in the calendar and click the SOAP button

2. a SOAP/Visit list (for example, the Client Appointments & SOAPs tab)
Click the center of any row to access the SOAP Note.

The previous SOAP will copy at the time the appointment is made.  If you make a series of Recurring Appointments, all of them will copy whatever is the previous appointment at that time.  When you get to the later appointments in the series, this may be outdated info, and can be easily replaced with the most current previous SOAP info.  See Best Practices to Automatically Copy a Previous SOAP below for more info.
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[5.0] The Copy Previous SOAP button

The Copy Previous SOAP button is a powerful tool that can make filling out a SOAP Note much faster.  With this power comes responsibility to use it only when appropriate, and to be careful not to overwrite any information you are required to save for HIPAA compliance.

The Copy Previous SOAP button is located near the top of the SOAP Note detail screen, next to the Personal tab.  It does not appear or function if:
Warning: If you delete a practitioner record and re-enter it, ClientTracker will not recognize this as the same practitioner, so the Copy Previous SOAP button may not show at all, or may not work as expected.  You can always go to the Templates tab and apply a previous SOAP manually.

When you click the Copy Previous SOAP button, a pop-up window with the same name opens, showing a summary of the previous SOAP's date, chief complaint, and Diagnosis and Procedure Codes.  ClientTracker considers a client's previous SOAP Note to be the most recent one from a previous date with the same practitioner.

Tip: To see complete detail on a previous SOAP, look on the Templates tab.  See Apply a Previous SOAP or SOAP Template below.

Options on the Copy Previous SOAP pop-up window include:
How the Previous SOAP Note Gets Copied
When you click Copy from Previous in the pop-up window, all the data fields from the previous SOAP Note will be copied to the current one, including Client Instructions and Formula Label, if any.  Line items including Diagnosis & Procedure Codes, Products, TCM (Points Needled), and Communication Reminders will also be copied.  Any linked files or photos will not be copied forward.

NOTE: 

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Apply a Previous SOAP or SOAP Template


Templates tab – Use this tab to apply info from this client's previous SOAP Notes, or to apply a SOAP Template to this SOAP Note.


Previous SOAP Notes





Note: In 4.0, Products from a previous SOAP will not be applied to the current SOAP. However, any existing Products on the current SOAP will be kept when a previous SOAP is applied.  EXCEPTION: In version 5.0, previous Products will be applied.

SOAP Templates


The SOAP Templates portal highlights the row of the template of origin for the current SOAP Note. It shows the SOAP Template type and whether it is the Initial or Subsequent default SOAP Template for the practitioner of record.

Click Apply to overwrite the information on the current SOAP with information from the SOAP Template.

Click a row in the portal to view or edit the SOAP Template.  Any changes made to the template of origin in this way will not be applied to the current SOAP Note, unless the Apply function is used.

The colored boxes show default SOAP Templates for the practitioner of record.  These are changed only on the Detail screen of the practitioner, which is accessible by clicking the practitioner's name just above the portal.

See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates for more info.

Warning:  Using the Apply function will permanently overwrite any existing information on the current SOAP Note, and cannot be undone.  There are confirmation messages to help prevent accidental loss of data.


Rules regarding the Apply function:

Tip:  The first few times you use the Apply function, we recommend you first save the current SOAP Note as a temporary SOAP Template.  That way, if you make a mistake, you could always revert to the original data (except for Products) by applying the saved template.


To save the current SOAP Note as a SOAP Template, click the Save This SOAP as Template button just above the portal of previous SOAPs.

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7. SOAP Notes : Link Information to the SOAP Note

Details in this section include:

The SOAP Note is a record of one client visit and all the events or information associated with it.  ClientTracker supports the association of additional information -- even files stored elsewhere on your computer system -- by linking them all in a display on the SOAP Note itself.  Information linked to a SOAP is not printable with the SOAP Note details, but a notation, e.g. "2 photos linked to this visit" is printed.

As a  medical record, the SOAP and its linked information can encompass the entire cycle of information related to a client visit, including forms filled out ahead of time or brought to the appointment, clinical evaluations, photos, and documents done during the visit, billing records, and follow-up such as lab results, consults, or patient diaries.

The following information can be linked to a SOAP:


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Generate or Link an Invoice from SOAP Notes

An invoice shows all the diagnoses, procedures, and products (a.k.a "line items") from that SOAP Note, whether the invoice is created new or linked to a SOAP Note.  Line Items are shared by SOAP Notes and invoices, so a change made in one place will show and print in the other. 

A new invoice can be generated for a SOAP from three places:

Unless the client has a default invoice type, you are asked which type of invoice you want to create (i.e. Simple, Superbill, or 1500).  For more info on invoice types and creating an invoice, see Invoices & Payments> Manage Invoices.


Link an Invoice to a SOAP Note


You can also link a SOAP to an existing invoice that resulted from another SOAP.  This way, it's possible to bill for several visits on one invoice, as governed by the rules below.


On the SOAP Note detail, click Link, which appears just below the Generate Invoice button.  If an invoice is already linked to the SOAP Note, the button says "Go to Invoice (number)," and below that, Unlink.  When you click Unlink, the invoice is checked for payments or credits before unlinking.  If an invoice has payments or credits, the SOAP Note cannot be unlinked.

When you click Link, a list appears of all qualifying invoices for the client (see below).

If a SOAP Note is already linked to an invoice and you want to link it to another invoice instead, first click Unlink, which will unlink the SOAP Note (if allowed by the rules below).  The link will change to Link, and you can proceed as described above.

To manage multiple SOAP Notes that are linked to an invoice from the perspective of the invoice, see Invoices & Payments> Simple & Superbill Invoices.


Rules Governing Linked SOAP Notes and Invoices

Tip: For a "ledger style" invoice, i.e. a number of SOAPs are linked to one invoice, AND your client pays in full for each visit. Create a phony Product for just one cent, $0.01. Add this to the first SOAP this on the invoice. Do NOT have the client pay this one cent. Keep this one cent item on the invoice until the last visit for the "ledger style" invoice has been linked, then delete it.
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Link Files to SOAP Notes

ClientTracker supports linking external files to SOAP Notes.  These can be lab reports, documents, email text files – virtually any file on your computer.  A link, or reference, is made to a file that already exists on your computer, after which it can be opened and viewed in the parent application.  There is a separate method for attaching and viewing digital photos (see Link & View Photos from a SOAP Note below).

[ClientTracker Cloud 5.0]
Use the system's Browser window to locate a graphic file on your local computer and upload it to the Cloud.  See ClientTracker Cloud 5.0> Working with ClientTracker Cloud>[5.0] Working with Linked Files or Photos in the Cloud for details.

Files linked to a client's SOAP Note will not show in the list on the client's Personal tab.  To see a complete list of the files for any SOAP Note, click the blue Complete List link above that portal.

Note: The photo will be placed in the Default File Path when you link it. If it is not in the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder already, a pop-up message will ask you if you want to move or copy it to its new location. See Settings> Program/Utilities>Default Path for Files & Photos

The first time you do this in ClientTracker, you will have to browse your computer file directory to locate the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder, located in the main ClientTracker v4.0 folder.  After that, the Insert File dialog should open to that folder automatically.

If you select a file that is not in the Default File Path folder, a warning message will tell you that it must be moved to the folder before it can be linked.


The File Link Process

On any SOAP Note, click the side tab, Photos/Files.  In the center section of the tab is a portal for adding and viewing File Links.


To link a file to the SOAP Note, click the +New File button above the portal.  From there, the process is the same as adding a file link to the list on a client's Personal tab.   From the Insert File pop-up window, browse your hard drive and choose a file associated with the current SOAP Note by double clicking it, or selecting it and clicking Open.  Click Cancel to abort the File Link process.



Warning:  Do not change any of the information in the Insert File pop-up window, especially the box that says "Store only a reference to the file," which is checked automatically.


The File Link Portal

In the center of the Photos/Files tab is a scrollable portal of all files that have been linked to the SOAP Note.


Click the delete button on the right to delete the file link.  This does not delete the actual file on your computer.

The File Link Pop-Up Window


When a file has been linked, its icon, name, and other optional info will appear in this pop-up when the Go button is clicked on the SOAP Note portal.

The following additional functions are available here:

-- Click the file icon to open it in its parent application (i.e. the program that created it).  If the parent application is not available on your computer, the file cannot be opened.

-- Choose an optional Category from the pop-up menu to classify the file, or select "Other..." to enter a new value and add it to the menu.

-- Enter a brief description and/or notes about the file link, which will show in the tooltip on the File Link portal and print on the SOAP Note details.

-- Click Replace File Link to browse your computer again, and replace the file link after confirmation.

-- Click the Delete button to delete the file link.  This does not delete the actual file on your computer.

Note: The contents of files linked to a SOAP Note are not printed with the SOAP Note details, but a message will be printed if there are any, e.g. "2 Files Linked to This Visit" along with each file's category, notes, and filepath.

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Link & View Photos from a SOAP Note

To link a viewable photo to a client's SOAP Note, click the New Photo button on the Photos/Files tab of the SOAP Note detail screen.  Browse your computer file directory to locate the photo.  This process is the same as for linking a file - see above for more info.

[ClientTracker Cloud 5.0]
Use the system's Browser window to locate a graphic file on your local computer and upload it to the Cloud.  See ClientTracker Cloud 5.0> Working with ClientTracker Cloud>[5.0] Working with Linked Files or Photos in the Cloud for details.

Note: The photo will be placed in the Default File Path when you link it. If it is not in the ClientTracker Files-Photos folder already, a pop-up message will ask you if you want to move or copy it to its new location. See Settings> Program/Utilities>Default Path for Files & Photos


After linking a photo, use the portal, "Photos Linked to This Visit" to enter optional photo details, or perform other functions.


After linking, a thumbnail photo image will show in the portal.  


To see a larger view of the photo in a pop-up window with larger fields to enter data, click the Go button

To delete a photo, click the delete button to the right of the photo details, or the Delete button. This does not delete the actual photo from your computer.

Note:  Photos linked to a SOAP Note are not printed with the SOAP Note details, but the info is printed if there are any, e.g. "2 Photos Linked to This Visit," along with category, notes and filepath.

Note:  ClientTracker creates a link, or reference, to the actual file's location on your hard drive or another computer on your network  The link will break if you change the name or location of the file itself, or any of the folders containing the file.  For more info about managing file reference locations, see Settings> Program/Utilities>Default Path for Files & Photos.

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Create & Link Communication

The contents of the Suggested Communication portal on the Photos/Files tab are Communication Templates -- created from the SOAP Template of origin.

The Communication Templates listed in the portal are suggestions for the practitioner to create communication (e.g. a questionnaire) related to the visit.  Unlike photos and files, however, the communication is not automatically linked to the SOAP Note.


Simply click the row to create a communication for the client from the Communication Template listed.  Enter an optional Created date in its row, to show it was done, or use the delete button to remove it from the portal.

This may be a useful system to remind practitioners to have the client fill out forms for certain types of visits, or to send the client a follow-up communication.

To best use this system, follow these steps:

1. Create a Communication Template to be used during a certain type of client visit

2. Create a SOAP Template for that type of visit or go to existing SOAP Templates.

3. On the Template Settings tab, where it says "Communications for This Template," click New and select the Communication Template from the drop-down menu in the new row added.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Designate Communication Templates for more info.

4. From the practitioner's Detail screen, assign the SOAP Template to be used for initial and/or subsequent visits.   See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Default SOAP Templates for Practitioners for more info.

5. When an appointment is made, the practitioner's default SOAP Template will be assigned automatically, and the Communications Template will show as a link in the portal of the Photos/Files tab on the SOAP Note detail screen.


Notes to Consider

A SOAP Template can also be applied directly to the SOAP Note anytime, which would overwrite any existing info on the SOAP Note and replace it with that of the SOAP Template; including its Suggested Communications.  This is done on the Templates tab of the SOAP Note detail screen.

A communication created in this way will show in the Communications portal on the client's Personal screen.  It can be started, saved as pending, and completed just like any other communication in ClientTracker.  For more info, see Communication> Create Communications, or Communication> Templates & Segments.

Here are some ideas for linking completed communication to the SOAP Note:

In all the above ideas, the resulting files can be linked to a SOAP Note.  Of course, these are subject to the capabilities of your own computer software and hardware.

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7. SOAP Notes : [5.0] Manage Formulas for the SOAP Note








Beginning with version 5.0, the SOAP Note has a number of flexible new features to manage herbal formulas composed of ingredients.

Details included in this section
Management of Herbal Formulas
A systematic approach to managing and tracking formulas of constituent ingredients is possible in version 5.0.  The components may include:
A Suggested Herbal Formula System
  1. Create an Inventory item for each ingredient in a formula.  Set up the Unit so indicate measure; e.g. grams.

  2. Create an Inventory item for the Formula Title. Add Instructions for use that can be copied to Client Instructions when the formula is prescribed.

  3. Set up a master template for the Formula Label. Go to Settings/Program/Print/Labels, and format your practice info and additional info as you want on your labels.  Maximum label size is 4 inches square.

  4. Create a Formula Template as a SOAP Template. It can be part of a SOAP template or have just the Formula template. Add the ingredients or "Products", including the Formula Title "product."  You can also set up Client Instructions for that formula.

  5. Manage a Client's formula on the SOAP Note:
  • Apply a Formula Template with just Products on the SOAP template to a SOAP Note that is already filled out. 

  • Click the Formula icon on the Products tab of the SOAP to open the pop-up Formula Label window, and compose/print your label.

  • Ctrl+click on the Go button for the product used as a Formula Title to copy its instructions, and paste them in the label and/or Client Instructions.
Advantages of This System

-- Track your Clients who received a formula by running the Product Sold Report for the item used as a Formula Title.

-- Flexibly create Formula Templates, and adjust the ingredients and amounts after they have been copied to the SOAP Note.

-- Compose detailed, formatted Client Instructions from your templates, Formula Title items, and/or even use the QuickClips feature, and print as a handout.

-- The Formula Label and Client Instructions are retained with the SOAP Note as a clinical record.  On the printed SOAP Note, only the "products" are shown.

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[5.0] Formula Label for the SOAP Note








Design and Print a Formula Label
For those who use groups of Products regularly as constituent ingredients for a "formula" prescribed for a patient or Client, ClientTracker offers a system to set up and customize a label that can contain any information you want.

































Formula Labels are made on a SOAP Template or SOAP Note, and have your basic info created in the Settings area.

Settings
Options to set up custom text to be used on Formula Labels are in the Settings area, on the Program tab.  Go to the smaller subtab Print, then choose Labels.

For your convenience, on the Labels subtab you can set up the initial format and text to be to be used as the building blocks for all Formula Labels.  A label usually has 4 parts. 
Part 1 - Your practice information, including name, address, phone, and even fax, email, and/or web site.  All of this info is copied from the Practice tab of Settings when you click the Reset Practice Info button.  From there, you can add or remove text, format it, or customize it in any way for use in formula labels.

Part 2 - Visit (SOAP) Information - A label for a prescribed formula needs the date of the visit, and the names of the Client and Practitioner.  These are not set up in Settings, but are options for the SOAP Note.  See below for more information.

Part 3 - Ingredients of a formula are the Products added to a SOAP Template or SOAP Note.  See below for more information.

Part 4 - Additional Information of your choice.  You may want to include an Expiration Date and/or Instructions for Use on your formula label.  Enter and format in Settings any repeatable information you'd like to add to your labels.

Create a Formula Label on the SOAP Note
A Formula Label can be created on the SOAP Note using one of three methods:
  1. Copy Formula Label information from a SOAP Template before you begin charting.
  2. Copy just the Products from a SOAP Template or Formula Template; at any time.
  3. Add Products to the SOAP Note and compose your Formula Label from scratch.

Method 1. Copy Formula Label Information from a SOAP Template
When a SOAP Template is applied to a SOAP Note in any way, the label information is copied and ready to use in the context of that Client's visit.  This also overwrites everything else on the SOAP Note, so it's best to do this at the beginning (before you start charting).

Method 2. Copy just the Products from a SOAP Template or Formula Template
The SOAP Note's Templates tab (vertical tab on the right side) has a list of SOAP Templates.  Those designated as a Formula Template have dark blue names and the formula icon.  When the Apply link is clicked for any SOAP Template in the list, you have the option of copying all information from the SOAP Template, or just the Products.

Warning:  When you apply an entire SOAP Template to a SOAP Note, it will overwrite any existing information.

Tip: Applying just the Products from a SOAP Template is a quick way to add a group of Products that constitute a formula.

Tip: After Products have been added to a SOAP Note, go to the invoice to move them up or down to change the order. (You need to generate an invoice first.)  See XXX for more info.

Method 3. Add Products to the SOAP Note and compose a Formula Label
First, add all the Products to your SOAP Note that comprise the formula, and adjust the Quantity as needed.

To open the Formula Label pop-up window, click the Formula icon on the Products tab (Acupuncture or General view).


On the Formula Label pop-up window, design the label text and formatting you'd like to be printed on a label.  You can enter predetermined text, and/or freely type in your own text.  Elements can be entered anywhere in the space provided, and can be made larger, smaller, and/or moved around to suit your needs.

Click the small blue arrow (or whole box) to enter a block of text at your cursor position.
Practice Information - from the Settings controls for a Formula Label

Ingredient Info - all Products added to this SOAP Note in the order they appear, including Quantity, Unit, and Name.

Tip:  You may want to enter a Product item in Inventory that acts as a "title" for the formula, and allows you to store instructions for use.  See [5.0] Use Inventory items as Formula Titles below for more info.

Visit Info enters the Date and names of the Client and Practitioner associated with that SOAP.

Custom Information - from the Additional Information area of the Settings controls for a Formula Label.

BUTTONS ON THE POP-UP

Close - Save whatever is entered and close the pop-up

Copy Label Text - Copies the whole contents of the label so you can paste it into another program, for example one where you already have label printing set up.

Print - Offers a preview of how your label will look, and a Floating Preview Palette for printing.

Note:  The Formula Label text will print on whatever printer you choose from your computer's list of available printers. It will print on plain paper or a label loaded in your printer. ClientTracker just sends the print info out; where it winds up is a function of the printer you choose and paper or label you load into the printer.

The Formula Label prints on a label that is up to 4 inches wide, and up to 4 inches deep.  If your label is smaller, adjust the text and formatting in the Formula Label pop-up so that it will fit.

IMPORTANT: When a Formula Label is made from a SOAP Note, it becomes part of that "medical record," and is stored with all other SOAP Note information.

Information on the Formula Label will be copied to the next SOAP Note for that Client (with the same Practitioner), just like any other SOAP info.  This can be a big time saver; however, care must be taken to ensure that the label information is correct for each visit, if applicable.

Tip: To view a Formula Label for a past SOAP Note, click the Formula icon found on the Products tab to open the pop-up window.


Insert Product Info as Text in Client Instructions
There is also a quick shortcut to enter into the Client Instructions all the Formula Label, or just info about the Products on a SOAP Note.  After entering, you can edit, format, or copy it for other use.  See SOAP Notes> Fill Out the SOAP Note>[5.0] Client Instructions Handout for more info.


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[5.0] Use Inventory items as Formula Titles







Introduction: This is a suggested process only or devise your own process.  The advantages of this process are:
Tip:  Use the title item's instructions for short text blocks that will fit on your label. For longer, detailed, or formatted instructions, use the Client Instructions in a SOAP Template designated as a Formula Template.
How to Create a Formula Title item
Leave most everything blank except the Item's name, type, and instructions. You may want to start the name with "Formula" or something so they all group together in your pick list (aka QuickFinder) and other lists in ClientTracker.

Leave the Unit and Sale Price blank, and make the Tax? none. Mark it as a non-Inventory item.

Fill in the Instructions field with text you'd like to copy and use on a SOAP Template or SOAP Note whenever that formula is prescribed.
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[5.0] Use SOAP Templates as Formula Templates







In 5.0, you can designate a SOAP template to be used as a Formula Template.  See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>[5.0] Create and Print a Formula Label from a SOAP Template for more info.
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7. SOAP Notes : SOAP Templates


Details in this section include:

ClientTracker provides a time saving function of designing and managing templates you use most often in your practice. You can easily apply one to your SOAP Notes.

Default SOAP Template

ClientTracker comes with one SOAP Template:  "Default SOAP Template."  This template is blank except for its name, type and description.  Leave it blank if you do not want to work with this feature. Otherwise, edit this template to suit your needs.  If you don't assign any Defaults to a practitioner, this template is automatically used.

Tip:  If you don't use ClientTracker's SOAP Notes, you can still use SOAP Templates to set up "Invoice Templates," with different combinations of Diagnosis and Procedure Codes to create an invoice based on a practitioner's preferences or the type of visit. See Use SOAP Templates as Invoice Templates

Warning:  Please avoid the use of the word "default" in any SOAP Type values you create. This word is best be reserved for the Default SOAP Template alone.


How SOAP Templates Are Applied

The hierarchy for automatic application of SOAP Templates is as follows:

  1. If a practitioner has no SOAP Templates designated, the Default SOAP Template will be applied automatically by ClientTracker.

  2. If a practitioner has NOT seen a client before and has a designated template for Initial Visits, this will be used.

  3. If a practitioner HAS seen a client before, and has a designation for Subsequent Visits, this will be used.

Tip:  If your practice does not want to use SOAP Templates and requires only a blank SOAP Note for client visits and invoices, leave the Default Template blank or clear any information you may have added.


To get to the SOAP Templates List, click the SOAP Templates button from

To get to the SOAP Templates detail screen, click:


The SOAP Templates List

The SOAP Templates list is sortable by Name, SOAP Type, Active, or Date Modified.  The Control Panel has icons to create a New Template, Show All templates, or Print a list of the templates on your screen. Click a row to view the detail screen for any template, which looks and behaves in most ways just like a SOAP Note.  The main differences with a SOAP Template are:

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Manage SOAP Templates

Create SOAP Templates

There are three ways to create a new SOAP Template:


1) Go to any screen in the SOAP Templates area and click the New Template icon in the Functions Bar to create a completely blank SOAP Template



2) From the SOAP Template detail screen, copy the existing SOAP Template by clicking the Duplicate Template icon in the Functions Bar.



3) From any client's SOAP Note on the Templates tab, click the Save this SOAP as Template button.

Note:  When saving a SOAP Note as a new SOAP Template, any Diagnoses, Procedures, TCM (Points Needled), Products, Files, and Photos in portals will NOT be copied to the new SOAP Template.  These would need to be added for the new template.


Delete SOAP Templates

To permanently delete any SOAP Template you have created, click the Delete this SOAP Template button on the lower right of the SOAP Template. 

Tip:  You may find it more convenient to make a SOAP Template inactive by unchecking the Active box on the Template Settings tab, and it will no longer show on drop-down lists. Deleting a SOAP Template is permanent and may lose a lot of work. IMPORTANT: The Default SOAP Template cannot be inactivated because it is used by ClientTracker.


Rules about deleting SOAP Templates:

  • The Default SOAP Template provided by ClientTracker cannot be deleted

  • When a SOAP Template is deleted, any of the line items added to the template (e.g. Diagnoses, Procedures, or TCM) will also be deleted

  • A SOAP Template cannot be deleted if a practitioner is using it (see the portal of "Practitioners using this template" on the Template Settings tab)

    • To fix this, click any practitioner name to go to their details page and remove the designation by selecting another template (choose the Default SOAP Template if no other is wanted)

    • Deleting a SOAP Template does not affect any SOAP Notes that have already been made from that template, so you may want to check for any future appointments using that template on each practitioner's schedule
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Set Up SOAP Templates for Use

SOAP Template Info

The SOAP Template detail screen is arranged very similar to a SOAP Note.  Fill out the details for a typical visit, much as you would for an actual SOAP Note.  You may want to enter reminder text, or notes about what to do.  See SOAP Notes> Fill Out the SOAP Note for more info.  The top of the SOAP Template screen can be used to enter information about the template itself:




Tip:  Use the SOAP Type field to group SOAP Templates by intended use, discipline, therapy, or even practitioner, after which they can be sorted on the list screen.


Template Settings Tab













Default tabs for this Template - Select which side tabs and subtabs will show for SOAPs created from this template.

About this Template - Make sure the Active box is checked, if you want to use the SOAP template.  Uncheck this box if you no longer want a SOAP Template to appear in any drop-down lists (instead of deleting it).  You may also:

Note:  For a new SOAP Template, the portal of "Practitioners using this template" will be blank. To designate a new template for use by one or more practitioners, go to the Settings/Practice portal of practitioners. See Default SOAP Templates for Practitioners for more info.

Communications for this Template - Assign ClientTracker Communication Templates (i.e. forms, letters and emails) to any SOAP Template, as a reminder to create them for a client.  See Designate Communication Templates below for more info.


Acupuncture, Anatomical, and General Tabs

Tip:  You can format the text in a SOAP Template; in any field that accepts text.  Your formatted text will transfer to SOAP Notes made from the Template.  See How ClientTracker Works> Program Functions>Formatting Text for more info.

These tabs work the same way as they do for a SOAP Note, with the following exceptions:

Tip:  Changes to a SOAP Template are saved automatically as you go, and it is available for immediate use.
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Designate Communication Templates

You can also designate Communication Templates to be linked to a SOAP Template.  These serve as a reminder of "suggested communication" that may need to be completed as part of a visit. These entries provide a quick way to create them.

Note:  The reminders are not actual communications, but links to create one from a chosen Communication Template.

Link Communication Templates to SOAP Templates









On the Template Settings tab of the SOAP Template, under "Communications for this Template," click the New button to create a blank row.

Select from the drop-down list of available (active) Communication Templates.  The category of each shows in brackets.

Click the Go button to view or edit the contents of the Communication Template.  A tooltip shows the contents of the communication if you hover your mouse over its name.

Click the Remove button to remove a Communication Template from the portal.  (This does not delete the actual Communication Template.)

Note:  When you link a Communication Template to a SOAP Template in this way, the Communication Template cannot be deleted from ClientTracker until this link is removed by using the Remove button above.

When a SOAP Template is used for a SOAP Note, the Communication Templates will show in a portal on the Photos/Files tab, from which the actual communications can be created for the client as needed.

Once created, the resulting communications are not linked to the SOAP Note or SOAP Template, but will show in the client's Communications portal on their Personal screen. 

Tip:  Completed communications can be saved as a file and linked to specific SOAP Notes.  For more info, see SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note>Link Files to SOAP Notes.

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Default SOAP Templates for Practitioners

Practitioners have specialties and preferences. With ClientTracker, you can cater to these preferences by choosing a SOAP Template as the default for all client initial visits for that practitioner, and for all subsequent visits.

Tip:  The choices for a practitioner are automatically set to the Default SOAP Template until you change them. The Default SOAP Template is blank until you edit it.

Access the practitioner's detail screen from the portal on Settings/Practice.






Tip:  The Automatic Duplication feature can be "turned off" by selecting a blank SOAP Template (that you have set up in advance) for a practitioner's subsequent visits.

Note:  Default SOAP Templates for practitioners are applied only at the time the appointment is made, or at the time an invoice is made if the invoice was created without an appointment.

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Use SOAP Templates as Invoice Templates

SOAP Templates can be used as "Invoice Templates" if you choose to create invoices without SOAP Notes or if you create appointments and do not fill out SOAP Notes.  Set up one or more SOAP Templates according to the instructions in this section, and set them for use by practitioners for different types of visits.

Note: SOAP Templates do not have products line items. Products are not applied to invoices from a previous SOAP Note or template. They have to be added to a linked SOAP Note or on the invoice itself. To use a previous invoice's products, you can duplicate the invoice.

From Appointments
Every appointment has a SOAP Note automatically created with the defaults for each practitioner. This includes the Diagnosis and Procedure Code line items. These line items are shared by an appointment and any invoice created from it.  This sharing of line items enables you to set up "Invoice Templates" to be used as you see fit.

When an invoice is generated from the Appointment pop-up window or SOAP Note, the Diagnosis and Procedure codes and Product line items for that SOAP Note will be used on the invoice.  Just as a SOAP Template can be used to create much of the info on a SOAP Note, it can also be used to generate the Diagnosis and Procedure Code line items on an invoice.

Tip:  Even if you don't fill out the SOAP Notes in ClientTracker, you may find it useful to link them as "blanks" to an invoice.  By doing this, you can access the Templates tab of the SOAP Note, and populate the invoice with line items from any past SOAP Note or SOAP Template.

From Invoice with No SOAP
Create this from a client's record using the New Invoice, no SOAP button or from New Invoice icon in the control bar of any invoice screen.

Diagnosis and Procedure Code line items for an Invoice with No SOAP

On the practitioner's Detail screen, you can choose how the Diagnosis and Procedure Code line items will be applied to an invoice created with no SOAP.  The choice you make will be reaffirmed in the "Generate Invoice with no Appt" pop-up, and you'll have the chance to change it there.

No line items - Will create a blank invoice.

Line items from the selected default - Will apply the line items from the practitioner's default, either the SOAP Template or previous Invoice No SOAP.

Choose when the invoice is created - This sets no default, and you can choose at the time the Invoice No SOAP is created.

These choices show on the "Generate Invoice with no Appt" window, and can be confirmed or changed before you create the invoice:


Other info:

See SOAP Notes> Fill Out the SOAP Note>Apply a Previous SOAP or SOAP Template for more info on the Templates tab of the SOAP Note

See Designate Communication Templates above for more info on the defaults for practitioners and SOAP Templates.





Note:  When you create an Invoice No SOAP and the practitioner is set to "Use previous SOAP/Invoice with same Practitioner," the Diagnosis and Procedure Codes line items will be copied from the previous Invoice with No SOAP, not the invoice which was made from previous appointment/SOAP note.
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[5.0] Template of Client Instructions

An optional field on the SOAP Template lets you compose instructions of any length, to be copied to any SOAP made from that template so it can be printed out after the visit and provided to the client.  This field can contain any text that you want, and can be formatted in many ways.





















Tips, Ideas, & Data Entry Shortcuts:
Note:  Whatever you put in the Client Instructions field on the SOAP Template will copy to all SOAP Notes made from that template, where it can be further refined or edited as needed. The Client Instructions on the SOAP Note can also be printed. See SOAP Notes> Fill Out the SOAP Note>[5.0] Client Instructions Handout for more info.


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[5.0] Create and Print a Formula Label from a SOAP Template








Design and Print a Formula Label
If your office use groups of Products regularly as constituent ingredients for a "formula" prescribed for a patient or Client, ClientTracker provides a system to set up and customize a label on the SOAP Template that can contain any information you want.  This can then be copied to any SOAP Note by applying the template.  Avery 5164 (4" x 3 1/3") is the most popular size.




























Note:  Formula Labels are made on a SOAP Template or SOAP Note, and can have your basic info created in the Settings/Programs/Print area.

To designate a SOAP Template as a Formula Template, check the box at the top of the Template Settings tab.  The formula icon will appear next to it, and on all lists where this SOAP Template appears.

Formula Label Settings
Options to set up custom text to be used on Formula Labels are in the Settings area, on the Program tab.  Go to the smaller subtab Print, then choose Labels.

Use the Labels subtab to set up the initial format and text to be to be used as the building blocks for all Formula Labels.  A label usually has 4 parts. 
Part 1 - Your practice information, including name, address, phone, and even fax, email, and/or web site.  All of this info is copied from the Practice tab of Settings when you click the Reset Practice Info button.  From there, you can add or remove text, format it, or customize it in any way for use in formula labels.

Part 2 - Visit (SOAP) Information - A label for a prescribed formula needs the date of the visit, and the names of the Client and Practitioner.  These are not set up in Settings, but are options for the SOAP Note.  See below for more information.

Part 3 - Ingredients of a formula are the Products added to a SOAP Template or SOAP Note.  See below for more information.

Part 4 - Additional Information of your choice.  You may want to include an Expiration Date and/or Instructions for Use on your formula label.  Enter and format in Settings any repeatable information you'd like to add to your labels.
Create a Formula Label
FIRST, add your ingredients, aka Products, on the Herbs/Formulas tab, in the order you want them to be listed.  The order can be changed on an invoice (after the template has been applied to a SOAP Note.)

NEXT, open the Formula Label pop-up window by clicking the Formula icon on the Herbs/Formulas tab (Acupuncture or General view).

The Formula Label pop-up window can be opened whether or not you have designated the SOAP Template as a Formula Template.

On the Formula Label pop-up window, design the label text and formatting you'd like to be copied to a SOAP Note derived from this SOAP Template.  You can enter predetermined text, and/or freely type in your own text.  Elements can be entered anywhere in the space provided, and can be made larger, smaller, and/or moved around to suit your needs.

Tip:  You can also use the Client Instructions part of a SOAP Template to store and format information to be given to the patient regarding this formula. This may save space on the label. See SOAP Notes> Fill Out the SOAP Note>[5.0] Client Instructions Handout for more info.

Click the small blue arrow (or whole box) to enter a block of text at your cursor position.
Practice Information - from the Settings controls for a Formula Label

Ingredient Info - all Products added to this SOAP Template in the order they appear, including Quantity, Unit, and Name.

Tip:  You may want to enter a Product item in Inventory that acts as a "title" for the formula. See SOAP Notes> [5.0] Manage Formulas for the SOAP Note>[5.0] Use Inventory items as Formula Titles for more info.

Custom Information - from the Additional Information area of the Settings controls for a Formula Label.

BUTTONS ON THE POP-UP

Close - Save whatever is entered and close the pop-up

Copy Label Text - Copies the whole contents of the label so you can paste it into another program, for example one where you may already have label printing set up.

Print - Offers a preview of how your label will look, and a Floating Preview Palette for printing.

Note:  The Formula Label text will print as ONE LABEL on whatever printer you choose from your computer's list of available printers. It will print on plain paper or a label sheet loaded in your printer. ClientTracker just sends the print info out; where it winds up is a function of the printer you choose and paper or label you load into the printer.

The Formula Label prints on a label that is up to 4 inches wide, and up to 4 inches deep.  If your label is smaller, adjust the text and formatting in the Formula Template pop-up so that it will fit.

For more info on how the Formula Label is used on the SOAP Note, see SOAP Notes> [5.0] Manage Formulas for the SOAP Note>[5.0] Formula Label for the SOAP Note
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[5.0] Use SOAP Templates as Formula Templates

In version 5.0, a SOAP Template can be designated as a Formula Template, by checking the box found on the Template Settings tab.

When you check this box, the Formula icon appears next to it.  The icon also appears on the SOAP Template list view, and on the small list of SOAP Templates seen on the SOAP Note (Templates tab).

How to Set up a Formula Template
Consider how you will use the template before you set it up.  When you Apply a template from the SOAP Note (on the Templates tab), you are offered 2 choices:
  1. Apply the entire template -- this overwrites every field on the SOAP Note with information from the SOAP Template.

  2. Copy just the Products -- this will copy ONLY the data related to a Formula Template:
  • The items in the Herbs/Formulas list, replacing whatever might already be there.

  • The Formula Label data, replacing whatever might already be there.

  • Client Instructions - due to the amount of work that might be invested, if there is any text in the Client Instructions of the SOAP Note, you will be asked to confirm before overwriting.  See SOAP Notes> Fill Out the SOAP Note>[5.0] Client Instructions Handout for more info.

If you plan to Apply the entire template, you may want to fill out the fields on the SOAP Template to reflect other clinical elements of a visit where that formula would be prescribed.  For example, a formula used for fertility could include clinical questions, reminders, and even forms related to the fertility workup.

Tip: If you Copy just the products, and there is other info on the SOAP Template you want to use without overwriting all the fields on the SOAP Note, go to the SOAP Template and copy the info, then use the Back button to return to the SOAP Note and paste it.

How to Enter Formula Ingredients
First, select the item you are using as a Formula Title, if you have one set up.  See SOAP Notes> [5.0] Manage Formulas for the SOAP Note>[5.0] Use Inventory items as Formula Titles for more info.

Next, select each item in the order you want it to appear on the SOAP Note, i.e. as a list of ingredients.  Ingredient lists are traditionally in descending order of prevalence; in other words, the ingredients that make up the greatest percentage of the formula are used first.

Tip: Herbs/Formulas added to a SOAP Template or SOAP Note cannot have their order changed without deleting them and re-entering. On the SOAP Note, however, you can make an invoice on which the items can easily be reordered, if desired. It saves the most time if you set the formula ingredients in proper order from the beginning.Tip: You can make inventory items that are not really sold, but are used as standard ingredients in a formula, such as water, coloring, or flavoring. You may or may not want to mark these as "non-inventory" items.

About Price
The Price can be changed on a SOAP Template to reflect the pricing for your Formula.  For example, you can have an item with a price for when you sell it individually, and when you use it in a formula, you want one price for the entire formula; not individual prices for each item.

To revert any item's Price to whatever is current, remove all data so the field is blank, and click in a neutral space to see the change.

About Quantity and Unit
The Quantity and Unit of an item will appear on a Formula Label, and can be edited on the SOAP Note if the formula is adjusted or custom made for a patient.  Quantity appears on the SOAP Template and SOAP Note.  "Unit" refers to unit of measure, e.g. grams, teaspoons, etc., and is set up on the Inventory item.  If you have one ingredient that varies as to its unit of measure, create an item for each type of unit.

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8. Invoices & Payments : The Financial Area






The Financial area is where Invoices are created and managed.  It is also where you access the Register, if you have chosen to use it in the Settings/Program/Financial tab.

This section will introduce you to the screens and functions available in the Financial area. Details in this section include:




When you click the Financial icon from any Functions Bar, you see a list of all invoices and two tabs: the Invoices tab and the (optional) Register tab.

Note:  The Register tab is not visible if you have not enabled use of the register in the Settings/Program/Financial tab.  See Invoices & Payments> Using the Register for more info.


The Invoices List Screen






















Clicking the Financial icon or Invoices tab (from the Register) displays a list of all invoices in ClientTracker that are later than the archive date.  Use the scroll bar on the right side of the window to move through the list.
Control Panel Options:

New Invoice - Creates a new invoice by opening a pop-up QuckFinder to select first a client; then an invoice type.  See Invoices & Payments> Manage Invoices for more info.
Tip: If you use SOAP Notes, the best way to generate a new invoice is from a SOAP Note related to a client visit, as described in SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note>Generate or Link an Invoice from SOAP Notes. If you don't need the invoice associated with a SOAP Note, click this New Invoice button on the Control Panel.  An invoice generated in this way has a button allowing you to create a SOAP Note any time you wish.

Find Invoice - Goes to the Find Invoice screen, to search for one or more invoices by your choice of criteria.  See Invoice Types below.




Show All Invoices - Resets the list to show all invoices (after the Archive Date; if any), sorted by invoice number.




Print - Opens an Invoice Print Menu pop-up window, with options for printing for the invoices showing in the list (i.e. the current Found Set).

     Print Options:
  • Optional Title - You may change the title if you choose to print as a List.
  • Invoice List - A simple report listing the invoices and information from the List screen.  (An optional title can be entered for the report.)
  • Individual Invoices - Prints a complete invoice for each row of the List screen; according to type.
    • Note: There is no Floating Preview Palette for this option, and you will be prompted to change paper in your printer if the print job includes a 1500.
  • Client Statements - Prints a statement for each client appearing on the List screen.
  • Insurer List - Prints a list of invoices for one Insurer, with billing info. You should perform a Find for the Insurer's invoices first.
  • Client Envelopes & Client Labels - Select an option to print plain or pre-printed envelopes; or mailing or shipping labels for each client appearing on the List screen who has a valid address.

Other List Functions:

Click the client icon to go to the client's Personal screen.



Omit an invoice temporarily from the list (i.e. to not include it in a printout) by clicking the Omit button at the far right of the row.


Note: Invoices can be voided or deleted. See Invoices & Payments> Manage Invoices>Voiding or Deleting an Invoice for more info.

As in most lists, you can click on the column headers to sort the currently visible records by that category.  One click of the header text sorts by that category in ascending order; a second click sorts in descending order.  Shift + click on the header will remove the sort.

To view totals for invoices, click the Show Totals button at the bottom of the screen.

Note:  If passwords are enabled, the Show Totals option is available only to the Admin user.

Use the QuickFinder at the bottom of the list to narrow the visible list of invoices based on criteria you select.  For more info see How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information>Finding Records with the QuickFinder.

Insurance Billing Made Easy: A Step by Step Guide

Interested in better understanding how insurance billing works?  Considering billing insurance in your practice but don't know where to start?  Or perhaps you feel like insurance billing is just too complex and overwhelming?  A devoted ClientTracker user, Rebecca Hurwood, is determined to demystify insurance billing with her ebook - Insurance Billing Made Easy: A Step by Step Guide for Acupuncturists and CAM Providers.  If you haven't checked it out, please visit the book website at www.insurancebillingmadeeasy.com - special offers available!

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Find Invoices





Clicking the Find Invoice icon in the Control Panel of the Financial area takes you to a utility screen where you can enter simple or complex criteria to search for invoices.

Tip:  Use the QuickFinder at the bottom of the Invoice List screen to perform fast, simple searches such as by Invoice Number.





















The Find Invoice screen will show the last criteria used during your current session.  If you log off ClientTracker, the criteria will be reset to the system defaults the next time you log on.  The default criteria are shown in green in these instructions.  Click Reset at any time to restore the default criteria.
When you have entered all desired criteria, click Find to display the results on the Invoice List screen.  If no matching invoices are found, a message will tell you that, and leave you on the Find Invoices utility screen to try again, or click Cancel to abort.
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Invoice Types

Information about an invoice is entered on its Detail screen.  Some information may be automatically generated for an invoice; for example, diagnoses, procedures, and products from a SOAP Note.  ClientTracker will default to apply the line items from a client's previous invoice, if no other information is primary.

Note:  Depending on the size of your computer monitor, you may need to scroll down to see all of an invoice Detail screen. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the main window to see the bottom portion of invoices.


Simple invoices are for accounts paid directly; not involving insurance companies.

Superbill invoices are for accounts to be paid partly or completely by insurance companies, and have additional fields for insurance information.  This is often the type of invoice a practice would print for a client to seek reimbursement from their insurance.

1500 invoices or claim forms (formerly known as "CMS-1500") are a federally standardized form for filing insurance claims for medical services.  Instead of entering diagnosis and procedure descriptions, codes are used to designate items.  ClientTracker makes this easier by allowing you to select diagnoses and procedures from a list, and then filling in the appropriate code.  Always enter insurance account information for clients before creating 1500 forms.

Tip:  You can change the type of the invoice at any time by clicking one of the Change Invoice buttons near the top of any invoice Details screen.  Certain restrictions may apply - see the links above for each type.   You can also set a default invoice type for a client.

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Invoice Settings

Invoice Number

The beginning invoice number is set when you register ClientTracker.  It cannot be changed thereafter.  Invoices can be voided or deleted, with the following effects on the numbers.



Note:  Other invoice settings are available on the Settings/Program/Financial tab.

Oldest Display Date in Invoice List

If you accumulate many invoices in ClientTracker over time, you may not want to show old invoices, and display only those past a certain date.  To do this, enter a date for "Do not show invoices created before."

  • This setting affects all places where a list of invoices display, including the Client/Invoices, Clearinghouses' E-Billing, and Insurance Payments screens

  • If this field is empty, all invoices in ClientTracker will show as appropriate

  • If you perform a Find or use the QuickFinder, the Oldest Display date will be ignored

  • Invoices with outstanding balances will show regardless of the Archive Date
Tip:  You can also filter the Invoice List screen on a temporary basis using the QuickFinder, or producing a report of invoices for a certain date range.


Payments on Invoices

Select a default Method, and each time you enter a payment on an invoice, it will auto-fill your choice.  The pop-up menu of choices is a system value list and cannot be edited.

You can also set ClientTracker to remind you to enter Check # and Credit Card # when entering those methods of payment.


Printing Invoices

There are two kinds of Default Notes you can customize to appear on invoices.  The printing of the text is limited to only what fits in the visible entry boxes.






















Display a general note - This can be edited on each invoice, and can contain any message you like, i.e. "Thank you for using Gentle Touch Acupuncture."

Display your Terms - This is also editable on each invoice, and is intended to display payment terms.

Show Practitioner Fed Tax ID # - Check a box to print this number in the headers of a Simple or Superbill invoices.

1500 Forms - Choose to print the 1500 claim form on blank paper, or a pre-printed form.
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8. Invoices & Payments : Manage Invoices

This section has details about creating or generating invoices, and other details as follows:

Generate an Invoice

The usual order of generating an invoice is:
  1. Create an appointment for a client in the Calendar.  This automatically creates a blank SOAP Note for that client.  For more info, see Calendar> Create New Appointments.

  2. After the appointment is made, access the SOAP Note for that visit by clicking the SOAP button in the Appointment pop-up window.  From the SOAP Note, you can generate an invoice for that treatment by clicking the Generate Invoice button.

  3. OR, you can click the Generate Invoice button direct from the Appointment pop-up.  If an invoice has not been generated yet, you will be offered the option to do so.
This is the best practice, as ClientTracker links together the appointment date, the SOAP Note, and the invoice, making it easy for you view the SOAP Note pertaining to an invoice (or vice-versa).

IMPORTANT:  Any Diagnosis & Procedure Codes and Products (a.k.a. "line items") are shared by the SOAP Note and Invoice, and will appear in both places.

     Notes:
Tip:  Enter all insurance companies and policies for your clients in their Insurance tab before creating invoices.  This will ensure all the up-to-date info is available from the invoice's point of view.  See Clients> Client Insurance Tab for more info.


Other Ways to Generate an Invoice

From the list of all Appointments & SOAPs in a client's record, you can easily see which appointments need an invoice.  Click the Generate link that appears on the far right to begin, and select an invoice type from the pop-up window.  For more information on the client's Appointments & SOAPs List screen, see Clients> Client Appointments & SOAPs Tab.

To create an invoice not linked to any SOAP Note:
The client's default invoice type will be used (from their Personal screen, on the Defaults tab).  Otherwise, you will be asked to select from three types of invoices: Simple, Superbill, or 1500.  Choose the type of invoice you need, and it will be generated with the client's personal and insurance info (if any) and displayed on the corresponding Detail screen.


Filling Out an Invoice

Some of the information on an invoice may be entered automatically from the records of a client, insurance company, insurance policy, and SOAP Note.  This may also come from the previous invoice for that client.  (See below for details.)

Often, an invoice needs to be supplemented or filled out manually.  The methods for filling out an invoice are different based on the type.
IMPORTANT:  An invoice does not need to be "saved" when it's complete.  ClientTracker automatically saves all information on an invoice when you print it, or go somewhere else.
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Automatic & Duplicate Invoice Entry

Invoices can be set up for clients so that much of the same information is entered each time.  Invoices share their diagnoses, procedures, and products (collectively known as "line items") with SOAP Notes.  When a SOAP Note is generated from a SOAP Template, the corresponding invoice -- once generated or linked -- will share the same line items.

Using this sharing system, there are several different methods to create a new invoice with the same line items as a client's previous invoice -- either before, during, or after the SOAP Note is filled out.  There is also a method to duplicate any invoice for the same or different client, which may be done without a linked SOAP Note.
Tip:  The Automatic Duplication feature can be "turned off" by selecting a blank SOAP Template (that you have set up in advance) for a practitioner's subsequent visits. For more info, see SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>Default SOAP Templates for Practitioners.
Warning - Applying a previous SOAP Note will overwrite all existing information on the current SOAP Note and replace the line items on its linked invoice.





Duplicate Invoices

Duplicating a qualified invoice will create a new invoice (for the same or different client), with all the same line items and other information from the original -- except for payments and insurance info.  Naturally, any new invoice would add the new charges to a client's account.
Note:  If the diagnoses or procedures have been edited, the edits will be duplicated on the new invoice.  Appropriate discretion should be used when duplicating invoices.

Once duplicated, the new invoice and its line items will all have the current date, and it behaves just like any other invoice.  You can edit the line items or other information as needed, print, and make payments.  An invoice created in error can be deleted or voided.  See Voiding or Deleting an Invoice below for more info.
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Voiding or Deleting an Invoice

ClientTracker allows you to void or delete an invoice that has been generated, according to certain rules.  Once an invoice has been voided or deleted, it cannot be restored.  You would have to generate another invoice instead.


To void or delete an invoice, begin by clicking the Void this Invoice button on the lower right of its Detail screen.


Rules for Voiding an Invoice
If the invoice qualifies for voiding or deleting, a message will ask for confirmation of your action.  Click Delete or Void to confirm.  If you choose to void the invoice, you will be asked to enter an optional text note or "reason" for future reference.

Voiding or deleting an invoice will cause the following things to happen:
For voided invoices only:
Note:  When accessing the Invoice List screen via the Financial icon in the Function Bar, or Invoice List icon in the Control Panel, voided invoices will not be included in the list.


Find Voided Invoices
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Send an Invoice by Email
Beginning in version 4.0.17, you can attach an electronic file to an email.  You need to have PDF software to save a ClientTracker invoice printout as a PDF, or a scanner to scan a printed invoice.
Step 1 - Create a PDF
  1. Click the Print icon for the invoice
  2. Click Print when you are ready to save the image you see in the Floating Preview Palette.
  3. In your computer's Print dialog box, select the option for Printer to be "Print as PDF" or other, similar option.  
  4. Choose the location to print (Save) the PDF and name the PDF file.
You may need to experiment with your own computer's printer set up or PDF software settings to determine the best choices.  This is not a ClientTracker function.

Tip: To easily name the PDF file, hold the Shift key down when you click on the invoice Print button.  This puts data in the Clipboard that you can paste when it is time to name the PDF in #4 above.  The pasted data will look like this: INV 2370 8-29-11 Smith, John $210, and you can edit it as you like before you save the PDF.

Tip:  When you save the PDF, make a note of its location, or create a special folder for all invoice PDFs and name it clearly.

Step 2  Attach the invoice to an email - Use your own email program, or use the Attachment tab for an email sent from ClientTracker.

Track an Invoice Sent by Another Email Program

If you don't want to use ClientTracker to directly email an invoice to a client, you can track an email sent outside of ClientTracker.

1. Create an electronic file of the invoice, either as a PDF or scanned image.

2. Generate an email in your own email program (outside of ClientTracker) and attach the invoice.

3. Create a record of the communication in ClientTracker. 
4. If desired, you can attach the electronic invoice file to the client's record.  However, all invoice's for a client are tracked at each client's Invoices tab, so this is a bit redundant.
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Best Practices for Copying Previous Invoices
Important Points
Two Methods to Generate Invoices

As there are 2 different methods to generate an invoice, there are two different "memories" for what line items show up on an invoice, depending on how the invoice is generated.  This is designed as a convenience, and cannot anticipate all the variables in actual use.

    From an Appointment/SOAP
   New Invoice, No SOAP
The Invoice No SOAP function is designed to be used rarely: for those times when an invoice is needed without an actual patient visit; e.g. when a patient walks in just to buy herbs. The Invoice No SOAP function should be only if you do not use ClientTracker's Appointments or SOAP functions.
Tip: You can turn a "No SOAP" invoice into an Appointment/SOAP invoice by using the Generate SOAP button.  An existing Appointment/SOAP cannot be linked to a "No SOAP" invoice.

New Invoice Best Practice if you create Appointments and/or SOAPs
You can generate an invoice from two main places:

1. the Appointment Info Pop-up
Click on the appointment in the calendar and click either:
2. a SOAP/Visit list
Click the Generate link at the end of the row. Get to the list via:
 IMPORTANT:  This method will copy the Diagnosis and Procedures from the last invoice made from an appointment/SOAP.  It will ignore any invoice made with the Invoice No SOAP method.

Overall, it is best to pick one method of creating invoices and stick with it.

New Invoice Best Practice if you do not use Appointments and/or SOAPs
1. Generate the invoice from the Client's record. Click the Invoice, No SOAP button
2. On any invoice screen, click the New Invoice icon in the functions bar.

IMPORTANT:  This method will copy the Diagnosis and Procedures from the last invoice made from an Invoice No SOAP.  It will ignore any invoice made with Appointment/SOAP method.

Practitioner Settings
For ClientTracker to copy any info from a previous SOAP or invoice, your practitioners need to be set to "Use previous SOAP/Invoice" for subsequent visits.  If a SOAP Template has been selected for this setting, its line items and other info will be used instead.
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8. Invoices & Payments : Simple & Superbill Invoices

This section discusses how to enter data and manage Simple and Superbill invoice types.  Some of the information also applies to the 1500 invoice type, as well.  Details in this section include:
Simple invoices are for accounts paid directly, not involving insurance companies.

Superbill invoices are for accounts to be paid partly or completely by insurance companies, and have additional fields for insurance information.

Note:  Some functions on a Superbill are not available on a Simple invoice.  These are explained below.  Otherwise, these instructions apply to both types.

Simple type invoices are similar to Superbill invoices except that Simple invoices do not have spaces for insurance company, policy number, and date of birth at the top, or the practitioner's name, license number, or signature line at the bottom.

Superbill Top Section







Invoice Information
Superbill Only - If the client has an active Insurance Policy, the first one in their list will be added to the invoice.  The client's DOB and Policy # will also show if they have been entered.  If they have no active Policy, this area will be blank.
Note: In v4.0, a client's DOB will print on a Superbill invoice only if there is an insurance policy selected for that invoice. The reason for this is to comply with HIPAA, which has evolved since v3.41 was released, and encourages minimizing the exposure of Protected Health Information. The DOB is usually only needed for an insurance claim.
    -- To make the DOB show for a Self-Pay client (i.e. one with no Policy), see Show DOB on a Self-Pay Invoice below

Tip: If you need the client's DOB to show for a particular claim, you can create and assign a mock policy such as "self pay" or "auto accident."

SOAP Note Access

The right side of the Detail screen has a number of controls.  At the top is a button that allows access to the SOAP Note(s) linked to the invoice (if any).
Note:  Creating a SOAP Note from the invoice is treated like making an "appointment" for the client, and as such, the date of the Procedures are used as the appointment date. The date can be changed in the Appointment date as needed, which would change the dates of any line items. Creating a SOAP Note from an invoice with multiple dates is not possible.


Change Invoice Type

In the Change Invoice panel are buttons giving you the option of changing the invoice type at any time, with the caveat that there can be no more than 4 Diagnosis or 6 Procedure Codes on a 1500 invoice.  Changing the type will take you to the appropriate Detail screen.
Note:  Changing the invoice type to a 1500 may require double-checking the accuracy of the information, especially if you are billing for more than one date.


Insurance Payer Information (Superbill only)

If the invoice will be partially or fully paid by an Insurer, click the Insurance Payer checkbox to display the small control panel.

-- Date Claim Sent - This fills automatically when e-billing is used, or you can enter it manually.  This is important, because many invoice functions in ClientTracker are not possible after a claim has been sent for payment.  The date can be removed if necessary.

-- Total Expected - This amount calculates from the total of just the procedures entered on an invoice, minus any Copay amount for the client's insurance policy.  You may also enter a manual amount in the field, as long as it does not exceed the invoice Total Due.  Click the underlined Total Due to revert to the calculated amount.  This is used as a guideline when entering insurance payments.

-- Check the Final Insurance payment made box when appropriate (optional)


Payments

Payment on Account - Click to enter a payment for the client (on the Payments on Account subtab of their Invoices screen).  This would be used for a payment that is considered a pre-payment, or not associated with the current invoice.  For more info, see Clients> Client Invoices Tab>The Payments On Account Subtab.


[Version 5.0] When a client has a credit available in their Payments On Account area, the Payments on Account button will have a red label, underneath which the amount of credit available will show in red.


Insurance Payment (not available on Simple invoices) - Click to enter a payment from the  insurance company of record for the invoice (on the company's Payments tab).  This would be used to enter a payment that is not associated with just the current invoice.  For more info, see Insurance & Billing> The Insurance Payments Screen>Manage Insurance Payments.

Payment Palette - To enter a quick payment for this invoice, begin typing in the small tabs and fields provided in the blue Payment Palette.  For more info, see Invoices & Payments> Payments, Adjustments, & Credits.


Voiding or Deleting an Invoice

Click the Void this Invoice button at the bottom right to void or delete an invoice.  Certain rules and restrictions apply.  See Invoices & Payments> Manage Invoices>Voiding or Deleting an Invoice for more info.

Tip:  The five Comm Panel buttons are available on the lower left of invoice Detail screens to create a communication for the invoice's client of record. See Communication> Create Communications>The Comm Panel for more info.
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Diagnosis Codes

Note:  Simple invoices do not have a portal to enter Diagnosis Codes.








Near the top of Superbill invoices is a portal for adding Diagnosis Codes.  Click the New button and pick from the QuickFinder pop-up by clicking the row of the desired code.  You can narrow the portal list by typing part of any diagnosis into the QuickFinder.  Click Edit List to manage your list of Diagnosis Codes in ClientTracker.  See Settings> Diagnosis and Procedure Codes>Diagnosis Code Information for more info.

Power User Tip:  Use Ctrl+Shift+D to enter a new Diagnosis without using your mouse.  (On a Mac use Command+Shift+D)

Tip:  Hover your mouse over an item in the QuickFinder pop-up to see more details about the item, such as Vendor and Current Average Cost. Designate items as "Frequent" to make them appear at the top of the list for faster entry.

Click the small Expand button to see a larger portal of diagnoses.  After you have selected a diagnosis, you can click in its row to change the description, if needed.


[Version 5.0] To change the order of the line items on the invoice, click the gray up/down arrow for a row (next to the delete button) and drag it to its new location.  Use the Expand button to access more than 4 rows at a time.


Note:  The date of a Diagnosis can only be changed from the SOAP Note or appointment. For convenience, the Appointment pop-up window is accessible by clicking the Date field.

You can enter as many Diagnosis Codes as are needed (up to 30), and they will all show on the printed invoice.  Use the scroll bar at the far right of the portal to view more than four codes.  Diagnoses can also be entered for different dates, if the Superbill is intended to represent multiple client visits.
Note:  If you want to change a Superbill type invoice to a 1500 type, there can only be a maximum of four diagnosis codes.  The remedy is to reduce the number to four or less by deleting the extra line items.

To delete a diagnosis code that has been added, click the red delete button at the right of its row.

[Version 5.0] If you have more than one item and want to delete all of them, click the blue Delete All link above the delete buttons.


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Procedures

To add Procedure Codes to a Simple or Superbill invoice, click the New button and pick from the QuickFinder pop-up by clicking the row of the desired procedure.  You can narrow the portal list by typing part of the description in the QuickFinder.  Click Edit List to manage your list of Procedure Codes in ClientTracker.  See Settings> Diagnosis and Procedure Codes for more info.

Power User Tip:  Use Ctrl+Shift+P to enter a new Procedure without using your mouse.  On a Mac use Command+Shift+P.


Click the small Expand button to see a larger portal of Procedure Codes.  After you have selected a procedure, you can click in its row to change or enter information about that item (see below).

You can enter as many Procedure Codes as are needed (up to 60), and they will all show on the printed invoice.  Use the scroll bar at the far right of the portal to view more than four codes.


[Version 5.0] To change the order of the line items on the invoice, click the gray up/down arrow for a row (next to the delete button) and drag it to its new location.  Use the Expand button to access more than 4 rows at a time.


Note:  If you want to change a Superbill type invoice to a 1500 type, there can only be a maximum of six Procedures.   The remedy is to reduce the number to six or less by deleting the extra line items.








Information for Each Procedure Line Item

Procedure Date - This is the date the procedures were performed. This is auto-entered to be the same date as the invoice, but can be changed (if there is no linked SOAP Note) by picking from the drop-down calendar.
Note:  If the invoice is linked to one or more SOAP Notes, the procedures are presumed to have been performed on the date of the client visit, and can be changed by going to the SOAP Note, or by clicking the Date field to open the Appointment pop-up window.

Description, Code, and Modifier - These all auto-enter from the selected Procedure Code, and can be edited as needed (except for Code).

Quantity - New procedures are given a quantity of "1" by default, which can be changed to a positive or negative number (but not zero).  The Quantity is multiplied by the Price ea. to calculate the Amount.

Price ea. - The set price is entered from the selected procedure, and is multiplied by the Quantity.  The Price ea. itself cannot be edited.

Discount - Enter an optional line item discount in decimal numerals, or a whole number with a percent sign (%).  The discount cannot be greater than the Amount.  See Invoice Discounts below for more info.

Warning:  Changing any line item Qty, Price, or Discount info after an invoice has been paid in full will alter the Invoice Total, which could result in a Total Due that requires further adjustment.

To delete a Procedure Code that has been added, click the delete button at the right of its row.  This will permanently delete any changes entered for that line item, and will reduce the invoice total.

[Version 5.0] If you have more than one item and want to delete all of them, click the blue Delete All link above the delete buttons.

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Products

Use the New button to add any Products which were sold to the client, by picking from the pop-up QuickFinder.  The list of products your practice sells, if applicable, is managed in the Inventory area.  Click Edit List to access this area.  See Inventory> Inventory Setup for more information.

Power User Tips:  Use Ctrl+Shift+G to enter a new Product without using your mouse.  On a Mac use Command+Shift+G.


Click the small Expand button to see a larger portal of Products.  After you have selected a product, you can click in its row to change or enter information about that item (see below).

You can enter as many products as are needed (up to 60), and they will all show on the printed invoice.  Use the scroll bar at the far right of the portal to view more than four.


[Version 5.0] To change the order of the line items on the invoice, click the gray up/down arrow for a row (next to the delete button) and drag it to its new location.  Use the Expand button to access more than 4 rows at a time.


Tip:  ClientTracker will track the inventory levels of products you sell, and automatically remove products sold from the amount On Hand. It can even alert you to re-order when your products in stock reach a chosen level. See Inventory> Inventory Setup>Beginning Inventory for more information.








Information for Each Product Line Item

Date - The date the Products were sold.  You can change this using a drop-down calendar if the invoice is not linked to a SOAP. 
Note:  If the invoice is linked to one or more SOAP Notes, the products are presumed to have been sold on the date of the client visit, and can be changed by going to the SOAP Note, or clicking the Date field to open the Appointment pop-up window.

Description, Sold By - These enter from the selected Product, and cannot be edited on an invoice.

Quantity - New products are given a quantity of "1" by default, which can be changed to a negative or positive number (but not zero).  Entry of decimal numbers up to 5 characters is supported.  The Quantity is multiplied by the Price ea. to calculate the Amount.

Price ea. - The set price is entered from the selected product, and multiplied by the Quantity.  However, the Price ea. itself cannot be edited.

Discount - Enter an optional line item discount in decimal numerals, or a whole number with a percent sign (%).  The discount cannot be greater than the Amount.  See Invoice Discounts below for more info.

Warning:  Changing any line item Qty, Price, or Discount info after an invoice has been paid in full will alter the Invoice Total, which could result in a Total Due that requires further adjustment.

To delete a Product that has been added, click the delete button at the right of its row.  This will permanently delete any changes entered for that line item, and will reduce the invoice total.


[Version 5.0] If you have more than one item and want to delete all of them, click the blue Delete All link above the delete buttons.


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Invoice Discounts

Discounts can be given to the Procedures and/or Goods line items on invoices in two ways.

1. Enter a line item Discount.
2. Enter a global discount for all line items in a portal.




No Charge Invoice

A No Charge Invoice is defined as one that has charges but no payments, and the Total Due is zero.  An alert message "NO CHARGE INVOICE" will show next to the Invoice Total, but not on any printed invoices.  A No Charge Invoice is accomplished in two ways:



Tip:  You can run a report to find all No Charge Invoices in ClientTracker. See Reports & Marketing> Invoices>No Charge Invoices.

Warning:  Changing a discount after an invoice has been paid in full will alter the Invoice Total, which could result in a Total Due that requires further adjustment.
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Enter Multiple Dates of Service on an Invoice

When you generate an Invoice, ClientTracker assumes you are also using SOAP Notes.  ideally, generate an invoice from an appointment or its SOAP Note whenever possible.  The invoice and SOAP Note will share the "line items," e.g. Diagnoses, Procedures, and Products.

You can link multiple SOAP Notes to an invoice, and the invoice will show all the line items with the dates of their respective SOAP Notes.  When an invoice is generated from, or linked to a SOAP Note, the dates of service are the dates of the respective SOAP Notes (aka appointments), and can only be changed from SOAP Note.  This preserves the integrity of the billed services with the actual clinical procedures performed.
Invoice No SOAP - If you create an invoice with no SOAP Note, the first time you try to change the Date of a line item you will see a warning advising you to first create the SOAP Note (if you intend to).  If you don't use ClientTracker's SOAP Notes, or do not want to link a SOAP Note to the invoice, you can choose Edit Date and change the date to be what you like.
Tip:  New line items created on an invoice will be the same as the date of the invoice. If you want to add new line items to an existing invoice "ledger style," change the date of the invoice first.

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Sales Tax and General Invoice Info

Sales Tax on Invoices

All Procedure Codes and Products can have sales tax rates assigned to them in their respective source records, or be designated non-taxable.  The sales tax (if any) will calculate on the invoice as aggregate subtotals of all taxable line items in the Procedures and/or Products sections; inclusive of any different rates.  The sales tax displays just below each section, and before their respective Subtotals.



A summary of the different rates and their respective totals displays on the invoices near the Total.  You can override the taxable status of all procedures or products for the current invoice only by checking one or both of the No tax boxes.

Sales tax rates are designated for your practice on the Settings/Practice tab.  See Settings> Practice>Sales Tax Overview for more info.

Note:  In order for tax calculations to be correct, you need to set up tax rates for Products and Procedures before creating the invoice.   If the tax rates for an item need to be changed, the item will have to be deleted and re-added to the invoice to show the changes.


Invoice Subtotals and Totals

The invoice is automatically totaled as you add procedures and products.  There is a subtotal for each of the Procedures and Products sections.  Taxes are added to the subtotal to make the Invoice Total (before Payments).

Below the Payments section is the Total Due, which is the total of the invoice minus any payments that have been entered.  See > below for more info on entering payments.


Invoice Notes and Terms

There are two areas for adding notes to an invoice.

1. The tabs labeled Printed Notes and Private Notes are located near the bottom of the invoice, and each behaves differently.


Printed Notes are auto-filled from default text you set up in the Settings/Program/Financial tab, and can be edited for each invoice (up to the space allotted).  As the name suggests, these will be printed on the invoice.

Private Notes are for your practice's use and will not be printed on the invoice.

2. Terms are located near the top of the invoice, and are also auto-filled from default text you set up in the Settings/Program/Financial tab, and can be edited for each invoice (up to the space allotted).  These will show on the printed invoices, as well.  For more info, see Settings> Program/Financial>Printing Invoices.




Practitioner and Signature (Superbill only)

On Superbill invoices, there is a signature line on the lower left, showing the name and license info of the practitioner of record for the visit. 




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Printing Invoices





Click the Print icon in the Control Panel of any invoice Detail screen to print just that invoice.

To print multiple invoices, there are two options:
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Show DOB on a Self-Pay Invoice

In v4.0, a client's DOB will print on a Superbill invoice only if there is an insurance policy selected for that invoice.  The reason for this is to comply with HIPAA, which has evolved since v3.41 was released and encourages minimizing the exposure of Protected Health Information.  The DOB is usually only needed for an insurance claim.

If you need it for a particular patient, you can create and assign a mock policy such as "self pay" or "auto accident."  This is a workaround suggestion, and not an orthodox way of using ClientTracker.  But there should be no harm at all when using it to make the DOB show on a Superbill.
  1. Go to the Insurance area and create a mock "New Company" with a name of your choice, e.g. "Self Pay."  No other info is needed, unless you want to add Notes about how to use this mock company.

  2. Go to the client(s) who need to have their DOB show, and create a New Policy on their Insurance tab.  Select the mock company you created.  No other details are needed unless you want Notes or other Policy Details.

  3. When you create a Superbill for a client, the first Active Policy in their record will automatically be selected at the top of the invoice.  There only has to be a Policy for the DOB to show.
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[5.0] Manage Practitioner Signature on the Superbill







Practitioner Signature is only available on the Superbill type invoice.

First Set Up Practitioner Signature and Preferences
Signatures are managed for each individual practitioner; on their Detail screen.  See Settings> Practice>Create and Manage Practitioners

You have 4 choices for how the practitioner signature can appear on the Superbill.
  1. Default (all choices blank): A signature and date line (to be signed manually after printing)
  2. SOF - Same as above, with the phrase "Signature On File" where the signature would go
  3. Scan - A scanned graphic of the practitioner's signature (aka "electronic signature")
  4. No Sig Line - Completely blank, showing nothing at all

Signature Control
At the bottom left of the entry screen is a preview of what the signature area will look like on the printed invoice.  To change the settings for this invoice, click the Signature Control tab to the left.  On this tab you can:
Note:  The date in the signature line (if any) is the date of the invoice. This can be changed as needed. See Products for more info.
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[5.0] Checkout Info to display on an Invoice







Checkout info is a message about an individual Client that will appear on all invoice entry screens.  Use this to alert or remind about an issue that applies to checkout; for example, using funds in a Payment On Account to pay for a specific type of procedure, or to ask for a payment.

Enter and manage the Checkout Info on the Client's Personal screen, in the Alerts section.  On an invoice entry screen, the text will show in red just above the Payments section.  Checkout info will not print on any invoice.

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8. Invoices & Payments : 1500 Invoices

In ClientTracker, the 1500 is referred to as an "invoice."  It is printed on a form called the "1500," or "Health Insurance Claim Form," version 08/05.  For this reason, it is commonly referred to as a "claim form" by many insurers and clearing houses.  The 1500 Detail, or Data Entry screen is designed to look like the form.

Details in this section include:

Note: Complete Instructions for how to fill out the 1500 claim form can be found at this URL:
http://www.nucc.org/images/stories/PDF/claim_form_manual_v4-0_7-08.pdf


Preparing to Fill Out a 1500

To save you time and typing, 1500 invoices are generated with a number of items filled in for you (if you have entered the information ahead of time).  To move around the enterable areas of the form, we suggest using your mouse; not the Tab key.  For more info, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips.

Warning:  A 1500 invoice will be rejected by most payers without complete and accurate information. ClientTracker is set up to facilitate the entry of this info before a 1500 is generated and submitted for payment.  For more info, see Insurance & Billing> Tips for E-Billing with the 1500>Insurance Company Tips.

Here is a summary of information that should be completed before generating a 1500:

If you click on some areas of the form, you are prompted to go to the relevant area in the program to change the information.  This prevents discrepancies between information in the client record or client's insurance accounts records and the 1500 form.  You can also go to these areas using the Insurance Company and Client's Insurance Account buttons at the top of the form.

Tip:  If you change anything about the client's insurance account, you may need to refresh the data on invoices created before the change was made. To do this, click the Refresh Information button at the top of the invoice. If you are experiencing any issues involving old data showing on invoices, give this a try first.  (if you use this button you will lose your current found set and wind up working with just the current invoice.)

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The 1500 Screen Controls




The 1500 screen is divided into two main tabs.
  1. 1500 - Laid out just like a 1500 form, with additional buttons and controls.

  2. Details - Access to 1500 details like line items and the Payment Palette related to the client visit(s) that are linked to the 1500 invoice.  See below for more info.

The Functions Bar of a 1500 invoice has the same choices as a Simple or Superbill invoice.

Printing the 1500 Invoice


The Print icon will print a 1500 claim form when the 1500 tab is open.  Before printing 1500 forms you can choose whether to print on blank paper or preprinted forms as a default.  This is done in the Settings/Programs/Financial tab.  Most companies accept either.

Note:  If the Details tab is open  and there are Products on the invoice, the Print icon will print the information shown on that tab as a Superbill invoice. See The 1500 Details Tab below for more info.

If you are printing on a pre-printed form, and find that your printer is not properly aligning the printed text with the form blanks, you can use the Adjust Printer Alignment link at the top of the page.  It prompts you to enter incremental numbers in a pop-up window to shift the printout horizontally or vertically until it is correct.  See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>Print Options for the 1500 for more info.


Saving the 1500 Form

ClientTracker automatically saves information entered on the 1500 invoice, or form.


Other 1500 Functions

Insurance Company - When you create a 1500 invoice, the first active Insurance Policy in the client's list (on their Insurance screen) will be auto-selected, and the address of the insurance company will show.  See Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies for more info.

Client's Insurance Policy - Use this button to access the client's Insurance screen, or to view the insurance policy being used for this 1500.  This would be the first policy marked Active on the client's Insurance screen.  The insurance company issuing this policy is the "insurance company of record" for the 1500.

Insurance Company Detail - This will display the Detail screen of the insurance company of record for the 1500.

Insurance Payer settings and invoice info- See The 1500 Details Tab below, about the Details tab.

Other Functions

Refresh Information - Use this button to update information on the 1500 after it has been updated in any of the source screens, i.e. insurance policy, client or insured info, etc.

Note:  If you use the Refresh Information button, it will update ALL the info linked to the invoice to be whatever is current.   It will also isolate that invoice from any found set you were working with, so you will lose your found set.

Go to SOAP Note - This takes you to a single SOAP Note that is linked to the invoice.  If multiple SOAP Notes are linked, it displays as "Go to x SOAP Notes," with "x" being the number of invoices.  Multiple invoices are displayed on a list from which you can choose which SOAP Note to look at.

E-Billing - This button takes you to the E-Billing screen of the clearing house assigned to the insurance company of record for the 1500.  See Insurance & Billing> E-Billing for complete instructions on this process.

Change Invoice - At any time, you can click a button in this small panel to change the 1500 to a Simple or Superbill invoice type.

Void this Invoice - Use this button at the bottom right of the 1500 to void or delete the entire invoice.  The same rules apply for voiding a 1500 invoice as for Simple or Superbill types; with the addition that a 1500 cannot be voided or deleted if it has been sent as a claim.  See Invoices & Payments> Manage Invoices>Voiding or Deleting an Invoice for more info.

Comm Panel - At the bottom left of the screen are buttons to generate a communication with the invoice's client as the recipient.  See Communication> Create Communications for more info.

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The 1500 Details Tab

The Details tab is where payments and adjustments are entered for a 1500 invoice.  It also provides a place to view a summary of charges, discounts, and taxes related to the invoice.  It is the only place to enter Products, although these do not show on the 1500 claim form.


Insurance Payer Information
The Invoice Display

The Diagnoses subtab shows a portal of the Diagnosis Codes that have been entered for the visit, and a display of how they will be printed on the 1500.  You can enter any codes by clicking the New button; however, the 1500 will display and print only unique, non-duplicate codes.  See Filling Out the 1500 Claim Form - Visit and Diagnosis Info below for more info.

The Procedures subtab displays a portal of the Procedure Codes that have been entered for the visit.  You can add, edit, delete, or enter discounts for Procedures on this portal.

Warning: Any changes made to the Procedure or Diagnosis Codes on these portals (except discounts) will also change the corresponding information on the 1500 claim form and SOAP Note of origin.

The Products subtab displays any products purchased during the client visit.  If you need to enter products separate from the visit(s) from which the 1500 is generated, it is a better practice to enter them on a separate invoice.  For more info, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>Entering Products on the 1500.

Tip:  Often, when referring to the 1500 as an invoice, the Diagnosis Codes, Procedure Codes, and Products are called "line items." Line Items for more than one visit - even on different days - can be combined on one 1500.  See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>Entering Procedure Codes on a 1500 for more info.

Tip:  When the invoice has Products and you are on the Details tab, the Print icon in the Control Panel will print a Superbill invoice with all line items on the invoice, including products.

The other controls and displays on this tab are similar to those found on a Simple or Superbill invoice.  For more info about the discount and sales tax displays, see Invoices & Payments> Simple & Superbill Invoices>Sales Tax and General Invoice Info.


Invoice Payments


Payments are entered using the Payment Palette and managed on the Payments portal, just like the ones on the Superbill invoice.  For more info, see > .  This system is the best way to enter payments received for a single invoice.

To enter payments made by a client for multiple invoices, see Clients> Client Invoices Tab>Distribute a POA to Invoices.

To enter payments made by an insurance company for multiple invoices (or claim forms), see Insurance & Billing> The Insurance Payments Screen>Manage Insurance Payments.

Tip:  To have the total of payments made on the Payments tab show in box 29 (Amount Paid) on the 1500 form, see the instructions for that box below in Filling Out the 1500 Form - Practice & Practitioner Info.
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Filling Out the 1500 Claim Form - Patient and Insured Information

The 1500 tab of this invoice Detail screen is set up to look just like the 1500 Health Insurance Claim Form.  Each area of the 1500 claim form is numbered.  The numbered areas are referred to as "boxes."  As mentioned above, much of the form is intended to be auto-entered from preexisting, or "source" information.

The auto-filled information from other sources cannot be edited in most areas of the 1500 screen.  These areas have a thin blue border on the entry screen, and the Sources of their info are described below.  If these areas are clicked, a message will ask you if you want to go to the source screen to change anything.  If you do go somewhere else, click the Back button in the Functions Bar to return to the 1500 screen.  Click the Refresh Information button if you have changed any source info, so it will be updated on the 1500 form.

Note:  All of the information on the 1500 is important, but ClientTracker provides special reminders for critical info.  If blank and needing to be filled in, the data entry fields on the form will show as a solid pink box.





Box 1 - Type of Health Insurance
Source = The insurance company's 1500 tab of preferences on its Detail screen
      -- See Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies>The Insurance Company Detail Screen for more info


Boxes 1a, 4, 7, and 11a-c - Insured Information
Source = Policy info on the client's Insurance screen, and the Insured's Detail screen.

The Insured's phone number must be checked as "Insurance" to show in its area of Box 7.

      -- See Clients> Client Insurance Tab>Manage the Insured Person On the Policy for more info







Boxes 2, 3, 6, and 8 - Patient Information
Source = The client's Personal screen, and/or the Policy info on their Insurance screen.








Tip: The patient's Address and Phone Number must be checked as "Insurance" on their record to show in this area.
      -- See Clients> Client Personal Tab>Client Addresses for more info about addresses
      -- See Clients> Client Personal Tab>Client Phone Numbers for more info about phone numbers


Box 9 - Other Insured Information
This can be filled out, if required, as related to coverage from a second insurance program. Once entered, this data is auto-filled in subsequently created 1500 forms for the same client, and can be changed at any time.  See also 11d below.





Box 10 - Patient's Condition
Enter information here about factors related to the client's condition.












Box 11d - Other Health Plan
Source = Policy info on the client's Insurance screen; or manually check this if the client is covered by a second health benefit plan.  If yes, the insurance company may also require info in Box 9.






Boxes 12 and 13 - Signature on File?
Source = Client and Policy info on the client's Insurance screen
      -- See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>Boxes 12 and 13 - Authorized Signatures for more information
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Filling Out the 1500 Claim Form - Visit and Diagnosis Info

Physician or Supplier Information

Note:  The bottom half of the 1500 can also be referred to as the "visit information," as it pertains to one or more client visits.  Remember, an invoice can be linked to more than one SOAP Note.  For more info, see SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note>Generate or Link an Invoice from SOAP Notes.



Boxes 14, 15, 16, and 18
These should be filled out manually, as applicable, with information related to the client's current illness or condition.

Boxes 17, 17a, and 17b - Name of Referring Physician or Other Source
Source - This is auto-filled with the name of the provider in the client's Personal screen, on the Referrals tab.  If this is blank, you can pick from a pop-up menu of active referral providers in ClientTracker.  This list can be managed by clicking the Edit List link.


Boxes 19 and 20 - Reserved for Local Use
These are provided on the form for your own use, and can be filled in manually as needed.


Diagnosis Codes






Box 21, lines 1-4 - Diagnosis Codes
Source - These would typically be auto-filled from the Diagnosis Codes from the client's previous invoice.  You can manually enter up to a maximum of four unique Diagnosis Codes on a 1500 by clicking the New button, and choosing from the pop-up QuickFinder window.  Click the Edit List link to manage the list of Diagnosis Codes. 

ClientTracker displays the description of the code in italics for your reference only.  It doesn't print out or get submitted electronically, only the numerical codes is submitted, as the official instructions specifically say  "Do not provide narrative description in this field."

Note: If multiple SOAP Notes share a Diagnosis Code, or if a duplicate code is entered more than once, it will be displayed only once on the 1500 tab, printed form, or electronic billing file for Box 21.

Tip:  Go to the Details tab to access an editable portal of all Diagnosis Codes entered. Codes can be entered on either tab. See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>Entering Diagnosis Codes on a 1500 Invoice for more info.

To delete a Diagnosis Code, click the small delete button that appears to the left of its line number on the 1500 tab. This takes you to the Details tab; click on the right of its portal row on the Details tab.  This also deletse the Diagnosis Code from its linked SOAP Note.







Boxes 22 and 23 - Information related to Medicaid (if applicable)
If these boxes need information for billing, you can enter it manually.
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Filling Out the 1500 Form - Procedure Codes & Info

Box 24 - Procedure Codes

Source - Like Diagnosis Codes, the procedures for a 1500 would typically be auto-filled from those on one or more linked SOAP Notes, or from the client's previous invoice.  You can enter up to a maximum of six procedures on a 1500; from one or multiple client visits.  These will show as lines in Box 24 of the 1500, with additional info required that can only be entered there.  For more detailed info, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>Entering Procedure Codes on a 1500.

You can manually enter procedures for the client by clicking the New button (in Box 24a), and choosing from the pop-up QuickFinder window.  Procedure information can be edited on the 1500 tab or Details tab, but the 1500 tab is more comprehensive.
Click the Edit List link (in Box 24d) to manage the list of Procedure Codes.

To delete a procedure, click the small delete button that appears just below a line number on the 1500, or on the right of the portal row on the Details tab.  This will also delete the procedure from its linked SOAP Note.












Specific areas for each procedure can be edited in Box 24 (all enterable except as noted):

Tip:  At the bottom of the form, in the area marked "Defaults for boxes," you can enter default data for 24b, 24c, 24h, or 27, to be entered in future 1500 forms.  For more info, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>1500 Invoice Defaults for Selected Boxes.

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Filling Out the 1500 Form - Practice & Practitioner Info

Miscellaneous Info




Box 25 - Federal Tax ID Number
Source - Settings/Practice information

Box 26 - Patient's Account Number
Source - If you use a client ID or patient account numbers, the number assigned to the client will auto-enter here.  See Clients> Client Personal Tab>Client Identifiers for more info.

Box 27 - Accept Assignment?
This is left blank in most cases (see your 1500 instructions for more info).  If needed, you can check either "Yes" or "No," and these will copy forward for the next 1500 for that client.  Or set the default (in the gray area below Box 31) if you always want it to be "Yes" or "No."


Invoice Totals




Box 28 - Total Charge
The calculated total of all charges submitted on the 1500 in Box 24f.  This cannot be edited.  To change the total, adjust the Default for units in 24g or the way 24f works for the insurance company.




Box 29 - Amount Paid - The amount the patient and/or other insurance carrier has paid to you already for these services.  By default, this box is blank to handle the different circumstances of when you submit the 1500. 

To display an amount in this box, scroll down a little bit to the Defaults area and see  "This invoice only: Box 29"  below the form. Click in "Show payment"  field to choose one of the following:
Box 30 - Balance Due
Calculated as the difference between Box 28 and Box 29.  This cannot be modified.

Practice & Practitioner Info

Box 31 - Signature
Source - The name of the Default practitioner for the client is auto-entered in this or if the 1500 invoice is linked to a SOAP Note, the practitioner for that visit.

The name and license number of the practitioner of record shows just above the signature line.  Click the practitioner's name to view their Detail screen.  Click the Toggle button to choose a display for the signature line itself:

Tip:  Click the blue link practitioner name to see their Detail screen.  To change the practitioner for the 1500, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>Changing the Practitioner on a 1500.

Note:  The date shown in Box 31 is the date of the 1500 invoice.  Click it to use a pop-up calendar to change the date, if necessary.


Box 32 - Service Facility Location
This is the name and address of the facility or place where the treatment was performed, and the NPI number associated with the facility.  All the information in Box 32 auto-fills from the data filled in Settings/Practice tab.

 For a different name or address, click in each of the fields to enter different data.  For the next 1500 for this same client with the same practitioner, this manually entered data will be remembered. To make the practice address show again, click the Reset link.

IMPORTANT  Starting January 2012, the new HIPAA 5010 rule requires the zip to have all 9 digits.

Box 32a - This will auto-fill with the Practice NPI.  If you click in the field and type something, this will replace the Practice NPI for that invoice only.

Box 32b - If the client's insurance company requires a different qualifier and ID for the facility, this can be manually entered. 
Source - The 2-character qualifier can be entered on the Detail screen of the insurance company, for auto-entry as a reminder.

Source - The practice address is filled in automatically, or you can manually enter address information. If you change the practice address, click the Refresh Information button.  


Box 33 - Practitioner who performed the services







Source - This is auto-filled with either the practitioner or the practice name, address and NPI. To auto-fill for the practitioner: on the practitioner's Detail screen,  check the box "Use practitioner's insurance address."   If the practitioner has two or more  addresses, make sure the correct address has the "Insurance" box checked.  Starting January 2012, the new HIPAA 5010 rule requires the zip to have all 9 digits.

Note: Starting January 2012, most insurance companies will require your 1500 to follow the new HIPAA 5010 regulations for Box 33. The Billing Provider must be as follows:

-- If you do business as a corporation, this must be your corporation's name, address and NPI. For most practice's this will be the same as the Practice, Box 32, NPI.  The Practitioner's NPI will still show in Box 24J

-- If the practitioner performs the services and will be paid does business an independent, non-incorporated individual, then the Practitioner's name, address and NPI may be used. 


You have a variety of choices for how information is displayed in Box.33:
Box 33a - NPI Number for the practitioner of record for the 1500 is the default only if you have checked the box "Use practitioner's insurance address"on the practitioner Detail screen.  If you toggle the name for Box 33 to the Practice, the practice NPI displays.

Box 33b - Other number for practitioner that an insurance company may require
Source -  By default this contains the license number for the practitioner preceded by 'OB', which designates the state license number, IF you have set this to be filled on the insurance company's 1500 tab. Not all insurance companies require this.  Other numbers can be entered here manually and will appear on future 1500 forms for that client.
Tip:  Information entered into these boxes will duplicate for the same client when seeing the same practitioner, if you have feature this set up.  See Invoices & Payments> Manage Invoices>Automatic & Duplicate Invoice Entry for more info.
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Sending the 1500 for Payment

When the 1500 is complete and ready to be sent for payment, you have two choices:



1. Electronic billing using a clearing house can be initiated for a single 1500, or in a batch.  Click the E-Billing button at the top of the 1500 data entry screen to get started.





2. Printing the 1500 and mailing it to an insurance company is also an option.  With the 1500 tab showing, click the Print icon and follow the prompts.


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8. Invoices & Payments : 1500 Data Entry Tips

Details in this section include:

Use Your Mouse to Move Around the 1500 Data Entry Screen

If you use the Tab button on your keyboard to move around when you get to the 1500 data entry screen, it takes you to the first enterable field: Box 10b to enter the Place (state).  Continued tabbing takes you to the rest of the enterable boxes, then on to each line of the frequently used Boxes for 24.

The tab doesn't start with Box 1a or Box 2 because these areas, or fields, are not enterable on the 1500 screen.  The data is filled in automatically from other sources in ClientTracker.  If you do use the Tab key, you must use your mouse to check or uncheck boxes -- you can't tab into a checkbox.

For fastest data entry, use of your mouse is recommended on the 1500 data entry screen.
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Insurance Billing Made Easy: A Step by Step Guide
Interested in better understanding how insurance billing works?  Considering billing insurance in your practice but don't know where to start?  Or perhaps you feel like insurance billing is just too complex and overwhelming?  A long-timeClientTracker user, Rebecca Hurwood, L.Ac., is determined to demystify insurance billing with her ebook - Insurance Billing Made Easy: A Step by Step Guide for Acupuncturists and CAM Providers.  If you haven't checked it out, please visit the book website at www.insurancebillingmadeeasy.com - special offers available!
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Entering Diagnosis Codes on a 1500 Invoice

A 1500 invoice can have a maximum of four unique Diagnosis Codes.  These usually come from the SOAP Note for the visit that is being billed for on the 1500.  If there is more than one SOAP Note linked to a 1500, or if a code is entered more than once, any duplicate Diagnosis Codes will show only once.  Any of up to 6 Procedures can be "pointed" to a Diagnosis Code in Box 24e. 






Use the New button on the 1500 or Details tab of the data entry screen to enter a Diagnosis Code.  The new code gets added in numerical order of the Code in lines 1-4 of Box 21; shifting the position of any existing ones.  In other words, the lowest code number would be in Line 1, the next in Line 2, etc.  This may cause any existing 24e diagnosis pointers to be changed or invalid, so it's a good idea to recheck the Box 24e pointers if you add any Diagnosis Codes after Procedures have been entered.

Once added, some information about a diagnosis can be edited, or the entire code deleted, but only on the Diagnosis portal of the Details tab.  If you click the Delete button to the left of a code in Box 21 of the 1500 tab, you will be taken to the Details tab, where you can also add new codes.  Above the Diagnosis portal is a display of how the codes will appear on the 1500.  All codes added will show in the portal; with up to 4 unique codes allowed on a 1500.














To create a new Diagnosis Code or change an existing one and enter it on a 1500, first click Edit List and add the new Diagnosis Code on its List layout.  Click the Back button when finished, and use the New button to re-add the edited code.
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Entering Procedure Codes on a 1500

The 1500 allows for six Procedure Codes per form in the six lines of Box 24.  A 1500 is most often used for a single SOAP Note (or visit), with all the procedure codes having that same date.  If the 1500 invoice is linked to multiple SOAP Notes, it could represent up to six visits if each visit had only one procedure code, or 3 visits with 2 procedures, or any combination.  It is your choice -- up to the limitations of the form.











Note:  Procedures can have different information edited, from the 1500 tab or the Details tab.  They show the same procedures; however, the info on the 1500 tab pertains to the 1500 Claim Form, and on the Details tab is more practice-oriented information.















Box Notes re Procedure Codes on a 1500 invoice from Multiple SOAP Notes

24a - If the 1500 is not linked to any SOAP Notes, you can edit the "Date To" to combine identical procedures performed over multiple, consecutive days.  This is an advanced billing technique, and we strongly recommend consulting the 1500 Instructions.
24a (pink area) - Just above the dates, you can manually enter additional information about the procedure, as required by the Insurer.

24b - Place of Service is a 2-digit code.  ClientTracker provides 11 (office) and 12 (home) as codes in a drop-down list.  You can enter any ad hoc value to add to the list.  The complete list can be found at http://www.cms.gov/PlaceofServiceCodes/Downloads/posdatabase110509.pdf

24c - Emergency Services will toggle as "Y" (Yes) or blank.  Enter a "Y" if the procedure was performed as an emergency service.  You can set "Y" as a default for all 1500s at the bottom of the screen.

24d - The Procedure Code is entered automatically and can only be changed on your Procedure Code list.  Modifiers are optional, and may be stored with the Procedure Code (on your list) so they get entered automatically.  or, you can enter or edit them manually here.  For more info on Modifiers, see the full 1500 instructions at: http://www.nucc.org/images/stories/PDF/claim_form_manual_v4-0_7-08.pdf

24e - Diagnosis Pointer is a set of numbers 1 through 4, in any combination, which indicate for which diagnosis the procedure was performed.  ClientTracker offers a drop-down list of various combinations for your use.

24f & 24g - See Boxes 24f and 24g - Unit or Multiple? below

24h - EPSDT Family Plan will toggle as Y (Yes) or blank.  Enter a Y if the procedure was performed for EPSDT. You can set "Y" as a default for all 1500s at the bottom of the screen.

24i - This optional, 2-character qualifier auto-enters from the record of the Insurer of record for the SOAP Note.  This can only be manually changed on the 1500, and the auto-enter can be set up or changed on the Insurer's Detail screen.

24j - will show information about the practitioner of record for that SOAP Note, if it is has been entered on the practitioner's Detail screen.  For more info, see Settings> Practice>Create and Manage Practitioners.

24l (pink area) - This is a place to manually enter another ID for the rendering practitioner, as required by the Insurer.  See your 1500 instructions for more info.

Multiple SOAP Notes are linked to a single 1500 invoice by using the small Link control on the upper right of the SOAP Note entry screen, below the button that says Generate Invoice, or Go to Invoice.  For more information, see SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note>Generate or Link an Invoice from SOAP Notes.

See also Creating a SOAP Note from a 1500 Invoice below for more info.
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Entering Products on the 1500

Most insurance companies do not reimburse for products or herbs. If they do, they will want a specific Procedure Code -- e.g. for moxibustion sticks used in a procedure.

You can enter enter products sold by your practice in the Inventory area of ClientTracker.  How you do this is completely up to you, and what works best for your practice.  The resulting list of these products is available when creating an invoice.  For more info, see Inventory> Inventory Setup.















A 1500 invoice is usually generated from a SOAP Note.  If there are any Herbs/Formulas in the Plan area of the SOAP Note, these will appear on the Details tab of the 1500, in the Products portal.  You can have an unlimited number of products in this portal, just like on the Simple or Superbill invoices. 

IMPORTANT:  If you click the Print icon from this tab, you will print a Superbill invoice; including all the diagnoses, procedures, and products. For more info, see Invoices & Payments> Simple & Superbill Invoices>Products.

If you are creating a 1500 invoice without a SOAP Note, you have a choice of either creating a separate Simple invoice for the sale of products or adding them to the Products portal in the Details tab of the 1500, by use of the New button.  We recommend creating a separate Simple invoice, as it helps to keep the payments very clear.
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Creating a SOAP Note from a 1500 Invoice

It is usually advisable to create the SOAP Note first, record the clinical findings, and add diagnoses, procedures, and products sold from there.  However, there may be times when you have filled out a 1500 without a SOAP Note, and want to create one.




The primary method is to click the Create SOAP Note button near the top of the 1500.

Diagnoses, Procedures, and Products are shared by invoices and SOAP Notes.  If you have added any of these to a 1500, they would be added to the SOAP Note as well.

If the procedures on a 1500 have been performed by more than one practitioner, these would all be changed to the practitioner of record for the entire invoice, which will become the practitioner of record for the SOAP Note as well.  After creating the SOAP Note, you can return to the 1500 and change the practitioner for any procedure by clicking box 24j.


Information for Billing Multiple Dates on One 1500

If you have entered Procedures with different dates in Box 24, you cannot create a SOAP Note from the 1500.  The button says No SOAP Possible, and if you click it, you will get a message saying this is not possible.  If you enter procedures with different dates on a 1500 that has no SOAP Note yet, you will receive a one-time warning that the SOAP Notes should be created first 9if you want one), and the procedures entered separately on each SOAP Note.  Then, each SOAP Note can be linked to the 1500, using the method described in SOAP Notes> Link Information to the SOAP Note>Generate or Link an Invoice from SOAP Notes.
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Copay & Expected from Insurer & Client

The Insurer Payer panel was created to clearly track and report on what is expected and paid from the insurance company versus the client.  On the 1500, the most complete info can be found at the top of the Details tab.  This was designed for when you expect money in from an insurance company, and therefore would most often be used on the 1500.




The Insurer Payer box is checked automatically when a 1500 invoice is created.   You can change that at any time.  On the Superbill, you can also manually adjust this box.  Changing the invoice type to Simple will uncheck the Insurer Payer box.

The Total Expected and amounts are automatically set to be the total of Procedures, less any Copay.  Products are calculated to be due from the Client.  You can manually adjust the "due" amounts in several ways:

The amount "Due from Client" will reflect any Copay that is entered on the Insurance Policy of record for the invoice.

When you create a new client payment in the Payment Palette and click the Copay box, any Copay amount in the Insurance Policy will fill in automatically.  Fill in the Method, Amount, and any other desired Payment fields as usual.













The Transaction Log report in its Detail printout shows what is Due from the Client and from the Insurer.  Both the Detail and Summary views show the grand total due from Client and from the Insurer.


Showing the Co-pay on the 1500 Form

Box 29 is the place to show any patient payments on a 1500.  Most insurance companies don't want to see a number in this box (contact your payers to find out exactly what they want).  If needed, you have several choices as to what would show here.




At the bottom of the 1500 Data Entry screen is a light blue Defaults area.  Set your preference here for how Box 29 displays for the current invoice only. 
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Print Options for the 1500

Blank or Preprinted 1500 Forms

You can choose whether to print on a blank sheet of paper or preprinted forms.  Go to the Settings/Program/Financial tab, and select an option.
Tip:  If you choose preprinted forms, you can check the box in Settings, and ClientTracker will remind you to load the forms in your printer each time you print a 1500.


Save As an Electronic File

If you have PDF software, you can print the image of the 1500 form with data as a .PDF file.  You should select the option above for Blank paper, and when your print dialog shows, select the option to print as a PDF instead of using your printer.


Adjust Printer Alignment




















DO A TEST:  First try adjusting the paper tray in your printer and print on blank paper to see how it prints.  Superimpose the printout on a pre-printed 1500 so you don't waste forms.  (Or make copies of an actual form and use those for testing.)  Your printer may also have other alignment controls you could try.

To adjust the printout in ClientTracker, click the Adjust Printer Alignment link near the top of the 1500 Data Entry screen, and a pop-up window will open.  Enter whole numbers only in the boxes to move the printed data horizontally or vertically on the page.

The system defaults for these settings are different for Windows or Mac:
Windows Defaults
  • Horizontal = 16 (about 3/8" left)
  • Vertical = 20 (about 1/2" down)
Mac Defaults
  • Horizontal = 18 (about 3/8" left)
  • Vertical = 11 (about 1/4" down)
Horizontal Settings
Left - The printed data cannot be moved farther left than zero.
Right - Enter a number no greater than 36 to move the printed data to the right.

Vertical Settings
Up - Enter a number no less than zero to move the printed data higher on the page.
Down - Enter a number no greater than 64 to move the printed data lower on the page.
(Note: Mac systems may not print well with a number over 20)
Tip:  Repeat the TEST above to see the effects of the changes.
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Boxes 24f and 24g - Unit or Multiple?

Boxes 24f and 24g - EXAMPLE





Multiple method - For example in the graphic to the right, we see charges for 2 units of a procedure, which are $145 each. In the Multiple method of calculation, box F shows the unit cost ($145) multiplied by the number of units (2) or $290.





Unit method - This example also shows charges for 2 units of the same procedure.  Now box F shows the unit cost, $145, rather than unit cost times the quantity. The total at the bottom will add up correctly either way.



Tip:  To set how box 24f works for the insurance company of record, scroll to the bottom of a 1500 form and click the white box next to "24.F Charges preference," to toggle between "Unit" and "Multiple". You can also change this on the insurance company's Detail screen.

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1500 Invoice Defaults for Selected Boxes

For procedures entered on SOAP Notes, or on the 1500 invoice, the display fields for Boxes 24b, 24c, 24g, and 24h will be blank unless you have set up defaults on the bottom of the 1500 Data Entry screen.




Select from the appropriate pop-up menu to enter a value that will be used for all procedures that display on a 1500 invoice.  Changing these will not affect any invoices already created, but would take effect on the next invoice.  Of course, the values can always be edited for each Procedure Code line, on the 1500 Data Entry screen.

Box 27 is intended for government claims only (e.g. Medicare, CHAMPUS, etc.), to indicate that the Service Provider agrees to accept assignment under the terms of the insurance program.  Leave this blank if you do not bill government programs.  For more information, see your 1500 instructions.
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Provider Taxonomy - Boxes 17a and 32b

If you need to enter "provider taxonomy," this can be done in 2 places on the 1500.

Referring Provider Box 17a
If you have a Referring Provider that you only use with a Provider Taxonomy code, enter the code on the Referring Provider detail, in the field provided.  Click the drop-down list to choose "ZZ" and enter the code as Identifier #.

Service Facility Location Information - Box 32b
Enter this manually on the 1500 by clicking the field and selecting "ZZ Provider Taxonomy" from the drop-down list.  This value will copy forward to the next 1500 for the same client/provider.


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California Workers Compensation Tips

Note: Billing requirements of various payers and programs may vary and change with time.  Check with your payer to confirm what is needed for your claims. Ginkgo Software provides information here, it is up to you to insure it is correct for each insurance company.

Date of Service
Box 10d or 19 "For Local Use Only" may be used to enter a date of service for Worker's Compensation claims.  Check with your payer to find out their specific requirements.

Rendering Provider ID aka "Provider Taxonomy"
In the pink section of a procedure in Box 24, click in the Box 24i, and choose ZZ from the list of Qualifiers.  Then in the pink section, click in Box 24J to enter your provider ID.

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Manual Date Claim Sent





If you mail claims instead of e-billing, you can manually enter the Date Claim Sent on the either tab of the 1500, and ClientTracker will perform the following actions:

-- A message "(Date Claim Sent) mailed to (Insurance Company)" is entered as a new line at the beginning of Private Notes.

-- If you delete this date, the Private Notes remain unchanged, and you may edit them as needed.

-- If there is no Insurance Company selected for the claim, a warning message will appear.

When you click, it first puts in "today's" date.  The next click puts you in the field to put in a date of your choice.  If you printed more than one 1500, then use the Next button in the Function Bar to quickly go to the next 1500 to fill in that date sent.



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Changing the Practitioner on a 1500

The practitioner of record for the 1500 can only be changed on the 1500 if it is not linked to a SOAP or appointment.  Otherwise, you would change the practitioner in one of those screens.




To change the practitioner, click the field below box 33, and select from the pop-up menu of active practitioners.

Note: If there are practitioners for any Procedures that are different than the invoice's practitioner of record (in Box 24j the Procedure row), these will need to be reconfirmed after this process.
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Boxes 12 and 13 - Authorized Signatures

To submit claims on the 1500 form, you need two authorized signatures (besides the practitioner's).





Box 12 - Patient’s or Authorized Person's Signature
The patient’s or authorized person’s signature indicates there is an authorization on file for the release of any medical or other information necessary to process and/or adjudicate the claim.

If this has been done and recorded in ClientTracker, this box shows "Signature on File," and the date the client signed, from lower right corner of the client’s Insurance screen.  If this says "Patient's Signature Needed," click the box to access the client's Insurance screen and make the necessary changes.  be sure to click Refresh Information when you return.

This is recorded on either the client's Personal or Insurance screen.  See Clients> Client Insurance Tab>Information for All Policies for more info.

Box 13 - Insured's or Authorized Person's Signature
The insured’s or authorized person’s signature indicates that there is a signature on file authorizing payment of medical benefits on the insurance policy.

This is specific to each individual insurance policy, and is tracked on the client’s Insurance screen in area 2 at the bottom in the bottom of the screen.  No date is needed, just click the check box.
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Address and Phone Numbers on the 1500
ClientTracker is very flexible in how you can designate and enter the address and phone numbers that will appear on a 1500.

Address (Client, Insured Person, and Practitioner = "source records")
The address that will show on a 1500 needs to have its little Insurance box checked.  When there is only one address entered, this box will automatically be checked.  If you add more than one, or uncheck that box, you will need to designate which address to use, and refresh the information on any Client Insurance Policies and 1500s where that address will be needed.







Phone Numbers
Phone numbers also have an Insurance checkbox, for the same purpose.  In addition, the 1500 requires an Area Code.  If a phone number is entered without an Area Code, it will be incompletely applied and the Area Code box will turn pink.  (Required fields that need data show as pink on the 1500 entry screen.)





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8. Invoices & Payments : Payments, Adjustments, & Credits

Tip:  It is best to enter payments for a single invoice on the invoice itself.

Details in this section include:
All payments made on an invoice show in a portal at the bottom of the each of the invoice types: Simple and Superbill invoices and the Details tab of the 1500.  Payments are entered for an invoice in three ways:

1. From the Payment Palette, where a payment is entered for just the current invoice.

The Payment Palette is on the lower right of the invoice Detail screen, and is labeled "New Payment" or "Edit Payment" depending on the task.  (Example at left)

2. From the client's Invoices screen Payment On Account (POA) tab, where a payment can be entered and distributed to multiple invoices for that client. 

The Payment on Account button on the right side of the invoice Detail screen takes you to the client's record to make a POA.  See Clients> Client Invoices Tab>The Payments On Account Subtab for more info.

3. From an insurance company's Payments tab, where a payment can be entered and distributed to multiple invoices for different clients.

The Insurance Payment button on the right side of the invoice Detail screen on a Superbill and 1500 only takes you to the insurance company's record to enter a payment.  See Insurance & Billing> The Insurance Payments Screen>Manage Insurance Payments for more info.


Insurance Payer Information Superbill and 1500 only


Click the Insurance Payer? checkbox to open the small panel, shown at left.

Date Claim Sent - This fills automatically when e-billing is used, or you can enter it manually when you mail it.

Total Expected - This amount calculates automatically from the total of the invoice, minus any Copay amount entered for the client's insurance policy. Click in this field to change it to a different amount.

The amounts due from the insurance company and client will display at the bottom of the panel, and in the Status field of the invoice List screen

Check the Final Insurance payment made box when appropriate (optional)

Note:  The Insurance Payer panel shows automatically at the top of both tabs of the 1500 invoice.


Deleting a Payment from an Invoice


To delete a payment, click the delete button at the right of its row in the Payments portal.  Deleting a payment is subject to the same rules as editing.  See Editing an Invoice Payment below for more info.
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Using the Invoice Payment Palette

Making Payments & Adjustments to an Invoice


To begin, select a tab of the Payment Palette based on the source of the payment.  Your choices are: Client, Adj. (Adjustment), Other, and Insurer.  The Insurer tab shows only on the 1500 invoice or on the Superbill if he Insurance Payer box is checked.

Client tab - These instructions are for all the tabs, unless noted.

Date - Click the blue underlined Date to enter today's date, click it again to put in the date of the invoice. A 3rd click blanks our the date, for your entry. Or click the icon to select from a drop-down calendar.

Method - Choose Cash, Check, Credit Card, EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) or Gift Cert.  If Credit Card is chosen, additional entry boxes will appear below.

Copay - The Copay checkbox will show next to Method only there is a selected insurance policy, and it has a Copay set up.  See Clients> Client Insurance Tab>Policy Details for more info.

Note:  If the client is making a copay then always check the Copay box.  This is important because it affects the way ClientTracker calculates the payment.  You may also also want to enter an amount in the 'Total Expected' box on the right side of the screen (see above).  This amount should be the total amount due minus the client's co-pay amount, and minus any Products or other items that would not be covered by insurance.
Amount - Click the blue underlined Amount to enter the Total Due at the bottom of the invoice.  Or, you can enter any amount up to the invoice Total Due.  A warning will appear if you exceed this amount.  The Amount should be a positive number.

Check # - Optional, unless you have selected in Settings/Program/Financial to be prompted to enter this. Displays on the Deposit Slip.

Note - Optional - This will show in the Details column of the Payments portal
IMPORTANT: When all payment information has been entered, click the Apply button, and it will be transferred to a new row in the Payments portal of the invoice, to the left. The Clear button will remove all information entered in the Payment Palette. If you move away from an invoice before clicking Apply, any info entered here will be cleared.


Adj. tab  Adjustments

Use this tab for entering adjustments to the invoice that are not payments; e.g. a Write-off or No Charge Invoice.  The functions are the same as for the Clients tab, except as noted below.

Adj. Type - Select Comp, Trade, or Write-off from the pop-up menu. (this list cannot be modified).  Enter an amount as a positive number, and it will be subtracted from the Total Due and appear in the Payments portal when Apply is clicked.

No Charge Invoice - Clicking this will enter 100% global discounts for Products and Goods on the invoice.  See Invoices & Payments> Simple & Superbill Invoices>Invoice Discounts for more info.


Note:  If you want to make a payment using available credit, or to enter a prepayment, click the Payment on Account button.



Other tab

If the source of the payment is someone other than a client or insurance company in ClientTracker, (e.g. a fund, a parent, friend or caregiver), use this tab to make a payment.

The functions are the same as for the Clients tab; except for Paid by.
Paid by- The name of the person or entity making the payment. The payment will appear in the Payments portal when Apply is clicked. This name also shows on the Deposit Slip and Payments Log.

Insurer tab (Insurance) -- Superbill & 1500 only

Entering a payment from an insurance company here.  The functions are the same as for the Clients tab; except as noted below.
Payer - Preselected as the insurance company for the policy assigned to that invoice.

Method - Only Cash and EFT methods are possible for an insurance payment.
Note:  The Ins. tab does not show on the Simple invoice, or if there is no Insurance Payer selected for the Superbill invoice.
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Editing an Invoice Payment

Once a payment has been entered via the Apply button on the Payment Palette, it becomes part of the invoice.  All payments made directly on the invoice or distributed from a POA will show in the Payments portal, which is not editable.

To edit a payment, click the small Edit link at the right of a portal row.  This will load it into the Payment Palette, where it can be edited.  After making changes (subject to the rules below), click Apply to save the changes, or Clear to leave the payment the way it was.



IMPORTANT RULES

The following rules apply when editing payments:
Note: If you are using the Register, editing a credit card or EFT payment amount will not change the amount that was automatically entered into the Register. You would need to make a corresponding adjustment in the Register and reconcile the corrected amounts.

Warning:  Changing any Payment info after an invoice has been paid in full will alter the Invoice Total, which could result in a Total Due that requires further adjustment.  Changes to a payment will also affect the Balance of a client's account.


When you edit a payment for an invoice that has the Insurance Payer box checked, ClientTracker will recalculate the amounts "Due from" the Client and Insurer in the Insurance Payer panel.  If the edited payment amount is more than what is "Due from" the Client or Insurer, a detailed message will offer you the option to:
  1. Revert the payment to be what is Due (in case you entered a larger amount by error)
  2. Adjust the amount "Due from" the Client and/or Insurer

Tip: You can always manually adjust the Total Expected from the Insurer, to recalculate the "Due from" amounts and rectify any discrepancies.


To delete a payment, click the delete button at the right of its row.  Deleting a payment is subject to the same rules as editing.

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Invoice Reductions and Credits

Definitions:
Note:  It is not possible to enter a payment, make an adjustment, or enter a discount for more than the Total Due, so the only way to achieve a negative Total Due on an invoice is through reduction of Procedures or Products (a.k.a. "line items") on the invoice.


About Reductions




Note: When using the Duplicate Invoice icon to create a new invoice for this or another client, no negative line items will be duplicated.  Nor will negative line items be carried forward to the client's next appointment on the SOAP Note or on a SOAP Template generated from a SOAP Note.


About Credits








How to Generate a Credit


When an invoice has a negative Total Due, the Generate Credit button will be visible at the bottom of the entry layout.

Click Generate Credit, and a confirmation message will show.  Confirm by clicking Generate, or Cancel to abort.

Tip:  To immediately distribute or refund a POA created with a Credit, click the Payments on Account button above the Payment Palette.

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Handling Refunds and Returns

Refunds

Refunds can only be issued to a client from the Invoices tab of the client's record, on the Payments on Account tab.  For brevity, a Payment on Account is often referred to as a "POA" in this manual.  A  POA can be created on this screen or from the Generate Credit button on an invoice.

Returned Products

The optimum way is to process one or more returned items is on the original invoice on which the item(s) were sold. This way you have a history on the invoice and its SOAP of what transpired.  You can create a new invoice and put a negative line item; however, this is not the recommend way.

On the original invoice, enter a new Product line item with a negative number in Qty equal to the quantity of that item being returned (see below).  Both the negative quantity  and the Amount show as blue text with a pink background.








Note:  The Amount Expected from the Insurer (if any) may need to be adjusted after a refund or return. ClientTracker will recalculate this when an invoice's Total Due is adjusted; however, there may be a Copay or other factors that affect the amount actually due from the Insurer and Client.

Tip:  If a Return results in a negative Total Due, that can be made into a Credit for the client. See Invoice Reductions and Credits above for more info.
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Handling Insurance Overpayments

In those rare cases when an Insurer makes an overpayment and you need to make a corresponding adjustment, this can be handled directly on the invoice.
  1. Go to the invoice and open the Adj. tab

  2. If the Insurance Payer box is checked, the pop-up menu for Type will have an additional choice: Overpayment.  Select this and enter the amount of the overpayment as a negative number.

  3. Enter Notes or other info as needed

  4. Click Apply, and the Overpayment amount will show as a negative payment on the invoice, which will increase the Total Due.
Tip: If you need to refund the overpayment amount, you can handle that separately outside of ClientTracker, or if you use the Register you can create a manual entry there.
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8. Invoices & Payments : Using the Register

Details in this section include:
ClientTracker has a very simple Register that tracks deposits and payments for one bank account.  It can be reconciled with the account's bank statement. It prints two reports: a list of payments and deposits and a list of Income and Expenses sorted by Category.  It does not have a Balance Sheet.
This feature is of value for some people. Others will want to keep their records in a full-fledged accounting program. There are no plans to expand the ClientTracker register beyond its current limited functions into a full fledged accounting program.







To enable use of the Register, go to the Settings/Program/Financial tab, and click "Use the Register."  Automatic Register entries will be made by ClientTracker only if this box is checked.


The Financial area will display the Register tab if you have enabled use of the Register.


Note:  This is not a full fledged accounting program.  It tracks one checking bank account. At this time, it can only track deposits and credit cards from the day you activate it; not any earlier payments.

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The Register Area

























The main Register screen is set up like a checkbook register, with the most recent enties made at the bottom.  When you click the Register tab from the Financial Area, you will go to the bottom of this screen with the entries sorted by date.  New entries are added in date order at the bottom.

Functions and information on this screen:


Register Control Panel


New Entry - Creates a new manual entry with today's date, at the bottom of the Register screen.




Find Entry - Goes to the Find Register Entry screen, where one or more entries can be found and displayed as a "found set" on the main screen for printing or processing.  See Manage Register Entries below for more info.



Show All Entries - After working with a found set of entries, click this icon to revert the Register to show all entries.




Print - Offers a choice of printing:
     -- a chronological list of the currently displayed withdrawals and deposits, or 
     -- a report of Income and Expenses sorted by Category



Reconcile - Begins the process of reconciliation.  See Reconcile the Register below for more info.
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Manage Register Entries

How Register Entries Are Created

Automatically with Method = Deposit

1) When a deposit is made using the Deposit Slip report in the Reports area.  Running this report will create a single entry in the Register equal to the amount of the deposit, which should reconcile with your bank statement.

2) Whenever a payment is entered as a client or insurer Payment on Account (POA).

3) Whenever a credit card or EFT payment is entered on an invoice
Note:  Automatic Register entries can be edited manually until they are reconciled. Any changes made in the Register entry will not be reflected in the Payment(s) of origin; or vice-versa.

Manually with Method of Your Choice

4) Click the New Entry icon to create an entry directly in the Register


Editable Fields in a Register Entry

Date - If you manually create an entry, the current date is auto-entered. You can change this as needed with the drop-down calendar.

Method -  Choose a description of the type of entry from the non-editable pop-up menu.  You can choose any combination of Method with other entry info, but each Method is usually for a Withdrawal (W) or Deposit (D).
Payer/Payee - You can manually enter the name of the Payer (for a Deposit) or Payee (for a Withdrawal) in this field.  This may be also be filled for you by an automatic entry.

Category - This field indicates your choice to categorize a transaction, such as income, interest accrued, rent, and so on. Note that there is a Report that will sort Withdrawals and Deposits by Category, so this could be a good way to set up useful information.
Memo (optional) - You can enter notes in this blank. ClientTracker may enter information here when automatically adding entries to the register; e.g. after printing a deposit slip.

Withdrawal - Enter an amount in this column for funds withdrawn or paid out.  Withdrawals appear in red text.

Clr - This is a control for reconciling or "Clearing" entries.  When you click this blank field, a "C" will appear, indicating an entry has cleared the bank.  Click the "C" again to clear it.  You may want to use this function to mark all checks that have cleared when your bank statement arrives.

Note:  When you reconcile the Register, an "R" appears in the Clr column for every entry that has been reconciled. Clicking an "R" will give you the option to un-reconcile the entry.

Deposit - Enter the amount of a deposit or funds received. Deposits appear in green text.

Balance - The balance column will show a "running balance," or the balance after each entry.  This will only show if you click the link at the bottom of the screen,*Click to see Balance.
Delete - You may delete any Register entry, depending on the status of the Clr column:
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Reconcile the Register

Tip:  Reconciling the Register with your bank statement is a process that should be done from start to finish and not interrupted for best results.

This function lets you enter the ending balance from your bank statement in the register, and add bank fees and subtract interest accrued to make the balances equal. After the reconciliation process, you can also generate new entries that are missing from the Register, or correct errors in entries if necessary.
Have your current bank statement handy to begin.


Part 1 - Statement Entry

1.  Click the Reconcile button in the Control Panel, and in the successive pop-up boxes, enter:
Note:  Some of the items above can be edited at the bottom of the Reconciliation screen, up until the Reconcile button is clicked to finish the process.














Part 2 - Reconciliation

2.  On the Reconcile screen, click the "Cleared" box for all entries that appear on your Statement, or click the Mark All Entries Cleared button and unclick the ones you don't see.  As you click each item, it shows as "C" and its amount is added or subtracted from the Cleared Balance at the bottom of the screen.
3.  Click Cancel to finish later, or Reconcile if completed.  If you cancel, you will be given the choice of clearing or keeping any entries marked as "C."


Part 3 - After Reconciliation

4.  If you choose to Reconcile, you will return to the main Register screen, where all the cleared items will be marked with an "R" for reconciled. 

Note:  If the entry was made from an invoice Payment or POA, once it is marked "R" for reconciled it cannot be edited or deleted from other places in ClientTracker.  You can click the "R" on the Register entry to blank the Clr column; after which the Payment or POA (or the Register entry) can be edited or deleted as necessary.

Warning: The Register entry amount is not connected with the amount of its invoice Payment or POA of origin. If you make a change in one place; it is not made in the other. Care must be taken to keep Register entries and Payments reconciled.

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9. Insurance & Billing : Insurance Companies




This section contains the following details:

ClientTracker is set up with the assumption that if a practice is receiving payments from insurance companies, then most likely it submits 1500 claims to the insurance company for reimbursement.

Whatever your practice's preference, there is a method in ClientTracker to handle it.  For best results, you should conform your practice's billing procedures as much as possible to work with ClientTracker.

For more information on how the insurance claim form, or "1500" works in ClientTracker, consult the following areas of this manual:

For the most complete information, consult the 1500 instructions published by the National Uniform Claim Committee.

The Insurance Company List Screen













Click the Insurance icon in the Functions Bar to access the Insurance Companies List screen.  All the main screens in the Insurance Area have three button choices in the Control Panel:

List Screen Functions

Sort the records in the list by Company Name, Clearing House, or Active.

For each row (insurance company) in the list...


Click the Payments button to view the Payments screen (see Insurance & Billing> The Insurance Payments Screen for more info)

Use the QuickFinder to Find a Company

The QuickFinder at the bottom of the screen will narrow the list based on Company name.  Simply type a few characters in the oval to see those that match.  For more info, see How ClientTracker Works> Finding Information>Finding Records with the QuickFinder.

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The Insurance Company Detail Screen















The Insurance Company Detail screen has two large subtabs on the right.  Use these to toggle between the Company information on the Detail screen, or Payments for that company.



For more info on Insurance Company payments, see Insurance & Billing> The Insurance Payments Screen.

On the left side of the Detail screen, enter company name.  All new companies are marked as Active.  Only active companies will show in lists used elsewhere in ClientTracker to select an insurance company.

Note:  For greatest flexibility in billing, marking an Insurance Company inactive does not prevent you from using any client policies for that company, or performing other company tasks, such as processing payments. It simply makes it so the company does not show on the list from which new policies can be made.

There are 3 separate subtabs for Address, Phones, and Email of contact persons, or departments within the company.  For best results, click the New button in each tab, and enter information for the same Description/Contact in each new row. 

Tip:  Enter the same Description/Contact for the Address, Phone, and Email of the same contact person to match up your portal entries, which are sorted by Primary first; then alphabetically.

Enter any Notes you want, just below the Address tabs.  If a proper URL ( for example, http://websiteaddress.com ) is entered in the Website field, clicking on the Go button to the left will open that website in your browser.

In the Payments & Clearing House box, select the Payment Type most often received from this insurance company: Check or EFT.

Note:  For more info on using a Clearing House for E-Billing, see Insurance Company E-Billing and 1500 Info below.


Delete an Insurance Company


To delete a company, click the Delete this Insurance Co. button at the bottom right of the screen.


A company cannot be deleted if any of the following are true:

You can inactivate the company instead (uncheck the Active box), or modify any invoices or policies using that company before deleting the company record.

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Insurance Company E-Billing and 1500 Info


If you do electronic billing, or "E-Billing" as it's called in ClientTracker, select a Clearing House from the Payments & Clearing Houses box. This will cause all invoices associated with this company to appear in E-Billing batches created for the selected clearing house.

Tip:  To avoid unnecessary complication, it's best to designate a primary clearing house before creating insurance companies. See Insurance & Billing> Clearing Houses>Manage Clearing Houses for more info.

If you change the clearing house with which an insurance company is associated after invoices have been created for that insurance company, you can update those invoices that have not yet been submitted to reflect the new clearing house by using the Update existing unsent invoices link. This will cause existing, unsent invoices for this company to appear in the next E-Billing batch for the new clearing house.  Invoices that have already been sent will not be affected.

Required 1500 Information


On the right side of the Detail screen are two large subtabs.  The 1500 subtab contains information needed to correctly fill out a 1500 according to the company's preferences.  If any fields are not filled in, an alert message will show above the subtab.  Information in these fields will be used to fill the corresponding Boxes on the 1500.

IMPORTANT: You should always contact an insurance company directly to find out what are their 1500 preferences, and other billing information.  For more info on the 1500, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Invoices.

Box 1 - Select the type of insurance company this is.

Boxes 4 and 7 - Select the preferred method for displaying the Insured's name, address, city, state, zip, and phone number, if the Insured (or policyholder) is the same as the client.  A company may prefer that your claims:

-- Spell out the same data from the client's record
-- Display just the word "Same" in the space for the Insured's Name, Street, and Phone Number
-- Show no data (blank)

Boxes 24f and 24g - This selection relates to how the company interprets boxes 24f and 24g on the 1500 form; i.e. whether box 24f is the item cost, or the item cost times the quantity (box 24g). In other words, if the number in 24g is more than 1, what does the company want in 24f?

-- Unit - the amount for one unit (e.g. the price for one procedure), or
-- Multiple - the amount of a single procedure multiplied by the number in 24g
For more info, see Invoices & Payments> 1500 Data Entry Tips>Boxes 24f and 24g - Unit or Multiple?.

Boxes 24i, 32b, and 33b - Fill in the 2-character Qualifier only if required by the insurance company.  (They have to tell you what they want.)  A drop-down list is available with some of the known qualifiers.

Note:  If any data is entered in these fields, they will auto-enter in the corresponding box(es) on the 1500 for that Insurance Company.

Just below this area, you can choose how to display all text on printed 1500 claims. 
-- AS ALL CAPS means each letter will be in its capital form
-- as Entered means it will print as you type it
This choice will also affect how you see the information displayed on the client's Insurance screen, the 1500 Data Entry screen, and of course the printed claim form.

GRP Number - This is optional info you can store for a company as needed.  It is not used anywhere else in ClientTracker.

Note:  If you change any insurance company information for the1500, changes will affect future claim forms, but not those already generated.  To reflect your changes on an existing 1500 form, use the Refresh Information button on the 1500 Data Entry screen.

After entering insurance companies, you can assign one or multiple insurance companies to your clients, and fill out the clients' insurance forms.  See Clients> Client Insurance Tab for more info.

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Insurance Company Client Policies

The Client Policies subtab displays a portal, or list, of all clients who are set up with policies from this company, along with their the Policy and Group numbers that would be used on the 1500.  Any client whose policy is inactive will show in gray.  You can perform the following actions on this list:

-- Click the Go button or client name to view or edit the policy on the client's Insurance screen

-- Edit 1a. Policy # or 11. Policy Group #.  These will also change on that client's Insurance Policy.  See Clients> Client Insurance Tab>Policy 1500 Information for more info.

-- Click the Client List link to view an expanded list of all clients who have policies with that company


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9. Insurance & Billing : The Insurance Payments Screen

The Insurance Payments screen is the place to manage payments made by an insurance company, especially when the payment is for more than one invoice. 
Details in this section include:

There are three ways to access an insurance company's Payments screen:

Click on the Payment button on the Insurance company List screen, or


Click the the Payments tab on the insurance company's Detail screen, or



From a Superbill or 1500 invoice, click the Insurance Payment button on the right side, above the Payment Palette


The Insurance Payments Screen






















This screen functions similar to the Payments on Account tab in the Clients section.  Payments that have funds available for distribution are in the dark blue area near the top, and outstanding invoices for this company show in the large portal below.  On the lower left is displayed a small portal of unsent claims (i.e. invoices with a blank Claim Sent Date).

Under the New Payment button in the upper left, the total of undistributed Funds Available for this company is indicated.

Note:  For invoices to appear on this list, they must
-- be either 1500 claim forms or Superbills that have the Insurance Payer box checked
-- be unpaid
-- be sent to the insurance company
-- have the both client's insurance policy and the insurance company selected at the top of the 1500 or Superbill.


Tip:  Click the Complete List link under the large portal to see all invoices for that Insurance Company on the Invoice List screen.  Click List Unpaid Invoices to see the same list in an expanded view.
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Manage Insurance Payments

Enter a New Payment


To enter a new insurance payment, click the New Payment button in the upper left area of the screen.  Enter information about the payment into the boxes in the Payment Palette that appears on the left of the screen.

Date - Click on Date to auto-enter the current date, select a date using the drop-down calendar, or enter a date manually.

Method - Select Check or EFT (electronic funds transfer) as the method of payment.

Amount - Enter the payment amount.

Check Number - Enter the check or EFT number here.

Note - Use this to enter optional information, which will show in the Payments portal list as "Details."

Once you have confirmed that all information in the Payment Palette is complete and correct, click the Apply button at the bottom.  This adds the payment to the short Payments portal at the top of the screen.  If you want to cancel the process, click the Clear button.


View a Payment






The Payments portal at the top of the screen shows all payments entered on this screen from this company.  It does not show Insurance payments made on individual invoices.  The portal shows the remaining balance Available for distribution.  Use the funds available on a payment to pay any outstanding invoices listed below in the Invoices box.  To see more payments in the portal, use the small scroll handles on the right.

Insurance Payment (Detail)





















A full Detail view will show the history of distributions made for that payment, including the date, invoice, amount, and client it was processed for.

Functions on this screen include:

Use the Delete button to completely remove a distribution (this will change the amount due from insurance on the invoice to which the distribution was made).


Edit a Payment

To edit a payment, click the Edit link, and the payment will load in the Payment Palette if it qualifies for editing.  Otherwise, a message will show explaining why it cannot be edited.
Delete a Payment


To delete a payment, click the delete button at the far right of the row.  You can only delete payments that have not had any distribution of funds.

Note: There method to refund a payment from an insurance payer, like there is for a refund for a client. You can delete the payment (first deleting its distributions, if any). 

If a company claims it overpaid on an individual procedure or whole claim, then use the option available on an individual invoice for handling insurer overpayments.  See Invoices & Payments> Payments, Adjustments, & Credits>Handling Insurance Overpayments for more info.
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Distribute an Insurance Payment

A large portal of Unpaid Invoices appears below the smaller portals of Payments.  The columns in the portal can be sorted by clicking a column header.  To apply funds from an Insurance Payment to one or more invoices:

Step 1 - Select the Payment you want to distribute
Click on the Payment to select it. It will be highlighted in yellow and move to the top.  If the company has multiple Payments with funds to be distributed, select and distribute them one at a time.










Step 2 - Allocate payment amounts for invoices
Type or auto-enter the payment amount into the "Allocated Payment" box on any invoice(s) you want to pay. 

Tip:  Next to each box is a button labeled [+]. Clicking this button will auto-enter the full Amount Expected from the insurer for that invoice -- up to the amount remaining in the selected Payment.
Continue entering Allocated Payments until the selected payment has no more funds, or the available invoices are all paid.  You may leave the payment partially distributed if desired.

Note: The "Expected" column under Balance Due includes the Amount Expected from the insurance company in red numbers, when applicable.  This is controlled on the invoice.




Step 3 - Check the total
The "Total Allocated" box is the sum of all amounts entered for all invoices for distrubtion from the selected payment.  This sum will not be more than the Amount Available for the selected Payment.

If you need to clear all Allocated Payments, click the Clear Allocated link at the bottom.

Step 4 - Distribute the Allocated Payments
Click the Distribute button, and all Allocated Payments entered from the selected Payment will be distributed to the corresponding invoices in their respective Payments portal.

To distribute another Payment repeat steps 1 through 4.  (The next Payment with available funds will auto-select.)  You can partially or completely pay any number of outstanding invoices in this manner, up to the total amount of Funds Available for that insurance company.

Delete Distributions

Once made, distributions of a payment can be deleted by clicking the [i] button on the payment row (see Manage Insurance Payments above).  They cannot be deleted from the invoice itself.


Insurance Overpayments

In those rare cases when an Insurer makes an overpayment that needs to be adjusted, do this on the individual invoice.  See Invoices & Payments> Payments, Adjustments, & Credits>Handling Insurance Overpayments for more info.

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9. Insurance & Billing : Clearing Houses

Details in this section include:
A clearing house is a company that accepts batches of insurance forms in electronic format and then submits them to the appropriate insurance companies for you.  ClientTracker is compatible with three clearing houses: Office Ally, Apex EDI, and American Specialty Health.  You can add additional companies and process e-billing batches for them; however, their e-billing formats have not been verified by ClientTracker.

This section provides info about how to Manage Clearing Houses.


Steps to Work with a Clearing House in ClientTracker

Outside of ClientTracker:
  1. Set up an account with a clearing house you want to use, and determine their preferences for receiving electronic submissions.
  2. Check that you are able to access your clearing house account via their website.
Within ClientTracker:
  1. Assign the clearing house to one or more insurance companies that use it.  See Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies>Insurance Company E-Billing and 1500 Info for more info.
  2. Prepare several 1500 invoices, or claim forms for clients who use the insurance company.  See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Invoices for more info.
  3. Create an "E-Billing" batch file to upload (i.e. send electronically) to the clearing house.  See Insurance & Billing> E-Billing for more info.
Note:  You can assign only one clearing house to any insurance company.  If you do insurance billing it is a good idea to enter clearing houses (and designate one as Primary) before entering insurance companies or clients in the system.






The Clearing House List Screen

To see a list of clearing houses, click the Insurance icon (above) in the Functions Bar.  There are tabs on the right where you can toggle between a list of Insurance Companies or Clearing Houses. (See Insurance & Billing> Insurance Companies for more info on Insurance Companies.)

From the Clearing Houses List screen, you can do the following:

Control Panel
Other Functions

Click the E-Billing button to process a batch of "E-Billing" claim forms for a company


Click to Omit a company temporarily from the list


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Manage Clearing Houses
On the Clearing House Detail screen is divided into three main areas:
  1. Company and Contact information
  2. Web viewer and company web site information
  3. The E-Billing tab (see below)

























Company and Contact Information
There are 3 separate subtabs for Address, Phones, and Email of contact persons, or departments within the company.  For best results, click the New button in each tab, and use the same Description/Contact for each new row. 

Tip:  Enter the same Description/Contact for the Address, Phone, and Email of the same contact person to match up your portal entries, which are sorted alphabetically.


Web Viewer and Login Information

If there is a particular page on the clearing house's website that you use to log in, you can paste the URL into the Website field, in the format: http://websiteadress.com.  The web site will display in a window above, which is a functional browser you can use to view and navigate the company's web site.

Click the Go button next to the website URL to open up that web page in your designated browser (outside of ClientTracker).  Boxes for Login ID and Main Password are also available if you wish to store your login credentials for the clearing house website.

You may also enter a number for Minimum Invoices per Batch, if the company has set a minimum.





E-Billing - Click the E-Billing tab to create an electronic billing batch to be sent to a clearing house.  See Insurance & Billing> E-Billing for more info.


Delete a Clearing House

If a clearing house has NEVER been used for any E-Billing, or assigned to an insurance company, you may delete it using the Delete this Clearing House button on the lower right.

IMPORTANT:  If you stop using a clearing house, you may not want to delete the clearing house record, but instead uncheck the Active box to make it 'inactive.'  It will no longer appear when you create EFT batches.  Deleting a clearing house once it has been associated with insurance companies can cause data integrity problems.
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9. Insurance & Billing : E-Billing

The E-Billing screen is the place to process a batch of claims, or invoices, to be sent to a clearing house for payment.  This section contains the following details about E-Billing:


The E-Billing screen for each clearing house is in the Insurance area.  For your convenience, there are several ways to reach this screen:


Click the E-Billing button on any clearing house's row of the List screen


Click the E-Billing button on a 1500 invoice


The E-Billing Screen




















There are 3 sets of tabs on the right side of this screen:


The two main tabs in the banner will toggle between the List screens for Insurance Companies and Clearing Houses



The Company tab below will take you to the Detail screen for the current clearing house


Claims to Send

The Claims to Send subtab is a list of all client 1500 invoices, or claim forms, available to be included in the next batch.  Click a column header to sort the list, or Shift + click to unsort.  For a 1500 to appear on this list, it must meet the following criteria:

For details on using this tab to send an E-Billing batch see Create an E-Billing Batch File below.




Note:  Claims with a status of "Blank" or "Incomplete" will show in gray on the Claims to Send tab. These cannot be selected to be sent with an E-Billing batch.  See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Invoices for more information.

Tip: To view an expanded, printable list of claims you are sending, first sort the list on the Claims to Send tab. Then click any blue invoice number, e.g. 1234 to view that invoice. Then click Invoice List to see all the invoices that were on the Claims to Send tab. From the Invoice List screen you can click Print to make a variety of reports.  (You can also do this from the Claims Sent tab, although there will be more old invoices there.)

Claims Sent

To review or resend invoices that have been sent via past E-Billing batches, use the Claims Sent tab.  Click a column header to sort the list, or Shift + click to unsort.  Claims that appear on this list have a Date Claim Sent.

If for any reason an invoice needs to be resent in a new batch, clicking the Resend link on its row causes it to transfer to the list of invoices in the Claims to Send list.

Tip: See above for how to view or print a list of Claims Sent.
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E-Billing Setup

Before you can create a batch of 1500 claims to send, you will need to have a clearing house assigned to one or more insurance companies.  Click the Insurance Companies tab or Insurance icon in the Function Bar to view a list of companies.  In the right column of the list is the assigned clearing house. To change the clearing house for an insurance company, click its row in the list to access its Details screen; then assign a clearing house at the bottom of the screen.

Other information that should be set up before E-Billing is possible include:

Once a clearing house is set up and assigned to insurance companies, and some 1500 invoices (i.e. claim forms) have been created for clients having a policy with these companies, then you are ready to create and send an E-Billing batch file.  Some practices do this weekly, some even more frequently. The process involves two steps:
  1. Create an E-Billing batch in ClientTracker and save it as a file to your computer.

  2. Go to your user account on the clearing house website and upload this file.

Tip:  It is best to have an account already set up with a clearing house before you process an E-Billing batch in ClientTracker.  You should contact the clearing house directly and find out what are their guidelines for accepting electronic files.

IMPORTANT:  Your practice and practitioner addresses should be entered as a single line (without a return) for optimal transfer to the e-billing text file.

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Create an E-Billing Batch File

Step 1 - Access the E-Billing Screen

There are three ways to begin the process of creating an E-Billing batch file:
A list of all eligible invoices that have not yet been sent appears.  This is a list of all 1500 invoices, i.e. claims with a blank Date Claim Sent. It also includes claims that have been designated for Resend.  Incomplete claims (i.e. those without any charges) show as dimmed in the portal, and cannot be selected.












Use the small scroll bar on the right side of the list to scroll up or down the portal if necessary. You can also sort the columns by clicking the headers to group the invoices.


Step 2 - Select Claims to Include in the Batch

Under Balance Due, the total due for the invoice is indicated (Total) as well as the amount expected from the insurer/third party (Expected). The status, date the claim was sent (if there was a prior submission) and name of the insurance company are indicated. If you need to view or edit an invoice on its 1500 Data Entry screen, click the underlined invoice number, e.g. 901. To return to your E-Billing batch, click the Back button.

Check the box on the left of any invoice to include it in the batch, or use the Select All or Deselect All links at the bottom to make the job quicker. 


Step 3 - Create and Save the Batch File

When you are satisfied that the batch is complete, click the Create Batch File button to the left of the portal.  You will be asked to choose a name for your batch file.  The first part of the file name is automatic: "ClientTrackerv4_"  Type the remainder of the file name using no more than 12 characters.

Tech Note: The e-billing file created is a .txt file. In previous versions of ClientTracker, this was a .tab file. This new format is more universally accepted, and has the advantage that you can open the file and look at the data (but don't change anything there!)

File Naming Tips:
Click OK, and a "Browse for Folder" (Windows) or "Finder" (mac) box lets you designate a location for the batch file.  It's a good practice to create a dedicated folder or folders in an easy-to-find location on your computer for storing batch files.  ClientTracker "remembers" the location of your last file to make this easier.  Click Save, and wait until a confirmation message appears.

Note:  The invoices you selected for the batch transfer to the portal in the Claims Sent tab, and now have the current date in the Date Claim Sent field.  A note is also added to the Private Notes field on the 1500 Data Entry Screen, on the Details tab. This serves serves as a log of each time you have created a batch file to send via E-Billing, plus other notes you may enter as needed.


Step 4 - Upload the Batch File to the Clearing House

Now go to the website for your clearing house by clicking the Company tab, and the Go button next to the website address, if you have entered one.  Once you have logged in to the clearing house's web site, upload the batch file according to their directions. This is not a ClientTracker function.  When you upload the file, you will need to locate the same file you saved in the previous step. If you encounter any problems with the web site or uploading the file, contact the clearing house for help.
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Resending 1500 Claims and Batch Files

IMPORTANT:  If there is a problem with the clearing house's web site, or you think you uploaded a Batch File correctly but they did not receive it, contact the clearing house directly.

To resend a Batch File that has already been created, simply log on to the clearing house web site and re-upload the same file that you originally uploaded.  You do not need to create a new Batch File unless it has been corrupted or the clearing house tells you to.


Recreate and Resend a Batch File

To locate the invoices comprising a Batch File, go to the Claims Sent tab on the E-Billing screen, and click the column header for Date Claim Sent.  This should group all the claims whose Data Claim Sent matches the date in the name of the original Batch File.  You may need to scroll down or sort the list to locate the grouped claims if they were in the distant past.





To recreate a Batch File (i.e resend the invoices), the first task is simply to move the invoices from the Claims Sent tab back to the Claims to Send tab.  To do this, click the Resend link for each invoice one at a time.

Next, follow the instructions above for creating a Batch File.  The date of this resend will be automatically noted the Practice Notes field of each invoice.  You can see this on the 1500, the Details tab.

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Insurance Billing Made Easy: A Step by Step Guide

Interested in better understanding how insurance billing works?  Considering billing insurance in your practice but don't know where to start?  Or perhaps you feel like insurance billing is just too complex and overwhelming?  A devoted user of ClientTracker, Rebecca Hurwood, is determined to demystify insurance billing with her ebook - Insurance Billing Made Easy: A Step by Step Guide for Acupuncturists and CAM Providers.  If you haven't checked it out, please visit the book website at www.insurancebillingmadeeasy.com - special offers available!
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9. Insurance & Billing : Tips for E-Billing with the 1500

Insurance Company Tips

Other details in this section include:

Insurance Company E-Billing Tips

Some tips for successful billing using the 1500 invoice, or claim form:
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Office Ally Tips

Office Ally is a very commonly used clearing house for e-billing.  It is free to you the provider.  Office Ally submits the claims to the insurance companies and makes a few cents for each claim submitted. First, you must have an account set up with Office Ally, telling them your "vendor" is ClientTracker. They will also ask you to spend an hour with them for a training on their system.   Once that is done, you're all set. 

These tips are current as of the ClientTracker version 4.0 release date, but may change at the discretion of Office Ally.
  1. Double check each invoice that all the necessary fields are filled in before submitting the Batch File to Office Ally.  Box 11 must be filled in.  Box 33 must be the Practitioner's name, not the Practice name.

  2. The name of the Batch File MUST contain the word ClientTracker in the name. When you create an e-billing batch file in ClientTracker, does this automatically.

  3. Best to send one Batch File a day to Office Ally.  One ClientTracker user reports that sending more than 75 invoices at a time can cause corruption.

  4. You should receive an email from Office Ally acknowledging the Batch File.  If you don't receive an email, check that they have your correct email address.
  • The email will say all is well or that one or more 1500s have a problem. 
  • You can go to your account in Office Ally and make the necessary changes there without having to resend them from ClientTracker.  However, then you should also make these changes in ClientTracker.
  • A 1500 can be rejected for any number of reasons, including missing data, or wrong Diagnosis or  Procedure Codes.
Possible causes for rejection usually involve one of the above steps not being completed correctly.  Please double-check that you have completed the above steps before contacting Office Ally or ClientTracker support.
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1500 Claim Form Tips for E-Billing

The success of E-Billing depends on the 1500 being filled out correctly so that the data is organized properly in the Batch File.  See Invoices & Payments> 1500 Invoices for more info.

Box 10 - make sure this has an entry

Box 17a & Box 17b (Optional) - If you have created the referring provider and entered his or her NPI and license number these automatically fill in as follows:
Create the referring provider from one of the following:
  1. Client's Personal screen, on the Referred By tab, click on the Edit List link to see a list of all Referring Providers.

  2. From the Settings/Practice screen, click on the Referring Provider List button at the bottom right.
Box 32a Facility NPI - This fills in automatically from the Facility NPI field on the Settings/Practice screen

Box 32b (Optional) - The odds of this needing to be filled are very rare.  However, if needed, you can enter what you want directly in that field.  Once you entered it for a client, it will automatically fill in the next 1500 created for that client.

Box 33 - Although you can use the Toggle button to have either the Practitioner or the Practice name here, the best option is usually to have the Practitioner's name.

Note:  For Office Ally, you must have your Practitioner name here for the 1500 claim to be processed correctly.

Box 33 Address - There are two addresses that can show in area 33 on the 1500 form.  You can choose which one to show by clicking the Toggle button just to the right. The source addresses are:
  1. The practice address - this is set in Settings/Practice
  2. The practitioner's address - this is set in the Practitioner's Detail screen; accessed by selecting from the Practitioner subtab on the Settings/Practice screen
Box 33a Provider NPI - This is required, and automatically fills from the Practitioner's NPI

Box 33b - By default, when nothing is filled in on the insurance company record, the data for Box 33b is pulled from the Practitioner's license # which is stored in the Practitioner's record. ClientTracker automatically puts a 0B in front of the license # as required.  If 33b is coming up with just the 0B, have you filled in the Practitioner's license # ?

Some Blue Cross and Blue Shield policies may require their PIN # to show up in Box 33b.  The PIN # and the Qualifiers can be set up automatically by entering them on the 1500 tab of the company's Details screen.  When these data are filled in, they are the first default for Box 33b.
Note: For Office Ally, they automatically pull the number from 33b and insert it in Box 24J in the pink shaded section above the NPI number.

You can also enter specific data in this area of the 1500 entry screen. Once you have entered it for a client, it will automatically fill in the next 1500 created for that client.
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Submitting a 1500 to Multiple Insurance Companies

If a client has multiple policies with more than one insurance company, you may need to submit the same 1500 invoice (i.e. claim form) to multiple companies.  This can be done by printing the 1500 and mailing it, or by E-Billing.  The following is only a suggested process - your own office procedures may be different.

EXAMPLE: Client has 2 insurance companies, Primary and Secondary.

Setup - On the Client Insurance screen, you should enter each policy's info separately by clicking the + New Policy button on the left, filling in the Policy 1500 Info, and adding optional Policy Details as needed.  See Clients> Client Insurance Tab>Adding and Editing Insurance Policies for more info.
Tip:  You can enter a unique Custom Policy Name for each policy, labeling one Primary, another Secondary, and so on. Use the Notes field to enter specific requirements or billing instructions for the policy.

Step 1 - Bill the Primary and Process Payment
  1. Make a 1500 invoice, file the claim with the Primary, and make payments on the invoice using Primary funds from the Payment Palette on either the insurance company's Payments screen, or on the invoice itself

  2. Go to the invoice and change the Insurance Policy at the top to Secondary, and be sure to click the Refresh Information button.
Tip: It's important to process the payment from Primary while it is still the insurance policy of record for the 1500.  Changing the policy and company to Secondary will "move" the 1500 to the new insurance company and clearing house's respective lists of invoices.


Step 2 - IF you need to bill the Secondary via a Clearing House:
  1. On the 1500 invoice, delete the Date Claim Sent at the top

  2. Click the E-Billing button to go to the Clearing House E-Billing screen

  3. Find the invoice in the Claims to Send tab

  4. You may now send the invoice alone, or with others that need to be sent in a Batch File

Step 3 - Process the Secondary Payment
  1. When payment comes in from the Secondary company, make sure the Secondary company's policy is designated on the 1500 invoice.

  2. Enter the Secondary payment on the Payment Palette of the 1500, or go to the Insurance Company Payments screen and distribute it there.
Note:  When multiple companies are involved, the amount expected from Insurer for the invoice will represent the total amount expected from all  the multiple companies. This amount will reduce as each company's payments are entered.
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10. Inventory : Inventory Setup




ClientTracker provides a robust inventory management system, including inventory levels, classification of items sold, sales tax, vendors, inventory transactions, and reports.

To access the Inventory area, click the Inventory icon in the Functions Bar.

Details in this section include:

Note: In version 5.0, there are many new features that facilitate management of formulas and their ingredients, including templates and labels. See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>[5.0] Use SOAP Templates as Formula Templates for more info.

The Inventory List Screen













The Inventory List screen shows a summary of items in your inventory.  Unlike many List screens in ClientTracker, you can edit most of the fields in the list by clicking on the field and typing new information, or selecting from a pop-up menu.  The item row currently selected is highlighted in yellow.

When accessed via the Inventory or the Inventory List icons, it will show all Active items, sorted in the following order:

  1. Frequent items
  2. Inventory items (non-inventory items sort last)
  3. Alphabetical order of Item Name

Buttons in the Control Panel include:

Other functions on the Inventory List screen include:

There is also a QuickFinder panel at the bottom of this page, allowing you to search for items by some of the column header values.

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Inventory Detail

Clicking the arrow on the left side of each item row on the Inventory List screen switches to a detailed item view for that item.  All items in the current found set can be viewed without leaving this screen, by clicking the buttons in the Record Navigator.















Data fields in bold below can also be edited on the Inventory List screen.

Note:  A negative Sale Price cannot be entered.

The Product Sold Report button will show a list of all clients who have ordered this item, and how many.


Inventory Control Panel

Click an icon in the Control Panel to access these functions:

To permanently delete any item that has not been sold, click the Delete this Item button in the lower right of the Detail screen.

Warning:  An item that has been sold in ClientTracker cannot be deleted. If you no longer sell the item, and don't want to include it in the QuickFinder or drop-down lists, uncheck the Active box to make the item inactive.


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Status & Quantity





This area of the Inventory details screen displays quantitative information about the item including the Total Sold and the number On Hand, which are calculated by ClientTracker from Inventory Transactions (see below) and other data you enter.

Quantity (Inventory Level information)

Total Sold = The calculated total number of items added to an invoice to date (even if the invoice is not paid).  This can be a decimal number if that is how you sell the item on invoices.

On Hand = The calculated quantity currently remaining in stock.  This is calculated from inventory transactions added or subtracted manually, and the quantities on invoices that are automatically subtracted.  This can be a decimal number if that is how you sell the item on invoices.

Reorder at (Optional) = Enter a quantity at which the item needs to be re-ordered.  Entry of decimal numbers up to 5 characters is supported.

Tip:  When the quantity On Hand is at or below the Reorder level, an alert will show at the top of the details screen: Time to Order!  The number will also show in bold red on both the Detail and List screens.  An option is also available on the Settings/Program/Defaults tab, to show an alert when ClientTracker is opened for items that need reordering.  See Settings> Program/Defaults>Startup Screen for more info.

Ideal Qty (Optional) = This is intended to hold the ideal, or optimal quantity you wish to have in stock.  For example, this number minus the Qty On Hand would tell you how many of an item to order.  

Beginning with version 4.0.22, the Quantity section of an Inventory item includes a calculation Suggested Reorder, which is simply the amount On Hand subtracted from the Ideal Quantity.

Tip: You can print out a Reorder Worksheet by Vendor. On the Vendor's detail screen, click Print and a new Print Options pop-up window appears. Click the "Reorder Worksheet" to print a list of all items for that Vendor, showing the current Quantity calculations with a column on the right to write down the quantity you wish to order.

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Beginning Inventory

Entering a New Item

All you need to sell an item in ClientTracker is the name and price.  However, if you want to track the inventory levels, run reports, and keep track of applicable sales tax, it pays to set up an item properly from the beginning.

Note:  ClientTracker uses Inventory Transactions, along with products sold on invoices, to calculate the Quantity and information in Reports. See Inventory> Inventory Transactions for more info.












Start by filling information in the "Make Transaction" area at the top of the section.

1.  Select to Add the transaction

2.  Enter the Quantity to be added

3.  Enter the Cost per unit of the individual item

4.  The current Date will enter automatically.  You may change it as needed.

4.  Select a Reason for the transaction from the pop-up menu (e.g. New Stock).

5.  (Optional) Enter Details about the transaction, e.g. "beginning stock."

6.  (Optional) indicate the person the transaction was Entered By.

7. If you will be entering similar info for other items, leave blank the checkbox "Clear info for next transaction."

When all information is complete, click the Make Transaction button, and the first entry will be made in the Transaction History portal below, and will update the Quantity on Hand.

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Non-Inventory Items

ClientTracker ships with several non-inventory items and their related "vendors" already provided, as a suggested way to manage miscellaneous charges your office might need to include on invoices.  These charges are most easily managed as "products" that are grouped by "vendor" so you can enter additional info about them and group them on lists.  For non-inventory items, Quantity and order levels usually do not apply.


Non-inventory items are designated simply by unchecking the Inventory Item checkbox, which is automatically checked for any new item.  On the Inventory List screen, these items will sort last unless designated as Frequent.  Also, the Item Name of non-inventory names is in italics, and they have no Quantity or Cost info.

ClientTracker provides these basic non-inventory items and vendor groupings:

Vendor                                Product                                .
Shipping & Handling            Shipping Charge

Returned Payments            Returned Check Fee
                                           Returned Credit Card Fee

Vouchers                            Gift Certificate

Tip:  You may delete these without affecting ClientTracker's performance, or you can edit and customize them, or even add more "vendors" and "products" to suit your needs.

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Export Inventory Data
Beginning with version 4.0.20, you can export a preset list of data about any list, or "found set" of Inventory items.  In other words, the data will be exported not just for the item you are currently viewing, but for all in the found set.
Tip:  Create the desired found set with the Advanced Find feature or the QuickFinder at the bottom of the Inventory List, then export the data. See QuickStart Guide> Basic ClientTracker Functions>Tooltipsfor more info

The data to be exported cannot be changed, except in the export file you create.  You can edit your export file any way you choose, and that's not part of ClientTracker's functions.

How To Export Inventory Data
  1. On the top Main Menu, select File, and then Export Inventory Data
  2. A new pop-up window will open, "Inventory Export Options"
  3. Select the export option (see below)
  4. Select the type of file you wish to export to, its name, and location
  5. Click Save to create the file and export the data

Inventory Export Options

Inventory Items - Exports preselected data about the items in the current found set (i.e. those appearing on the List).

Tip:  Create a found set first, and sort it as needed. Your sort order will be the order in which the items are exported.

Items Sold - Exports preselected data about the Products line items sold in the date range entered.  Only data about the items in the current found set will be exported.



























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Optional: Working with Bulk Inventory
ClientTracker allows the entry of fractions of a unit of an Inventory item, so it is possible to manage bulk quantities that are sold that way.  Exactly how you choose to do this is up to you; however, the following example may be helpful.

EXAMPLE:

You have an item that is purchased in bulk quantity, for example a 100 gram package.  You would set this up so the unit reflects that you sell it by the gram.
If you need to make an adjustment to the Quantity on Hand due to physical inventory count, use Make Transaction to enter the difference.

Fractional quantities will be tracked in Reports.  Up to 5 characters will show, including the decimal point.

Note:  ClientTracker does not support combining Inventory items into pre-made "formulas." Look for this capability in a future version.
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Optional: A Method for Using Formula Templates

Make Product or "Formula" Templates

Note: These instructions are intended for use with version 4.0. With version 5.0 and higher, there is a built-in method for creating and managing Formula Templates, labels, and more. See SOAP Notes> SOAP Templates>[5.0] Use SOAP Templates as Formula Templates for more info.

For those who sell a lot of products at once, i.e. prescribe a formula or list of herbs, you don't have to select them laboriously on an invoice each time the formula is prescribed.

In v4.0, Products cannot be added to SOAP Templates, but you can use the following workaround