Makers of Practice Magic Psychotherapy Billing Software
Hypertext Users' Manual (Macintosh version)
This page provides you with the complete users' manual for Practice MAGIC for Apple Macintosh. (To view a Windows manual click on the words "View Windows Manual" below.) Included is a table of contents with hyperlinks that allow you to click on a subject item and jump to that portion of the manual. Assuming that you have opened this page with a web-browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, you can also use the FIND feature that your web-browser provides in the EDIT menu to look in this manual for particular subjects you are interested in. There is also a troubleshooting guide with links to relevant sections of the manual.
Click here to View Windows Manual.
Practice
MAGIC
(for Macintosh)
The Software That Counts
For Your
Psychotherapy
Practice
March, 2005
Cornucopia Software
www.practicemagic.com
P. O. Box 6111
Albany, CA 94706
510-528-7000
LICENSE: In purchasing the Practice MAGIC disk, the purchaser receives a licensed for a single person to use the program on one computer or terminal; however, if you are using an introductory copy or demonstration copy of Practice MAGIC, you are authorized to make as many copies as you like of that software and manual and to distribute it to friends and colleagues.
WARRANTY: We guarantee a full refund of purchase price of this software if purchased from the manufacturer or one of the manufacturer's authorized dealers and the purchaser is for any reason not completely satisfied with the product. Beyond this Practice MAGIC is provided "as-is" without any other warranty of any kind either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
CUSTOMER REMEDIES LIMITED: In no event will the purchaser be entitled to any amount of compensation in excess of his or her original purchase price as described above. Cornucopia Software, the distributor, and the author of Practice MAGIC shall have no responsibility nor liability to you or any other person, persons, or entity with respect to loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by use of Practice MAGIC and/or its documentation or by inability to use this product. This expressly includes, but is not limited to loss or invalidation of customer data, programs, files, equipment, business opportunity, loss of business, loss of business profits, or business interruption. The manufacturers, distributors, and authors of Practice MAGIC shall be liable for NO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, even if previously advised of the possibility of such damages.
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure accuracy throughout this book, but the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omission. No liability is assumed for damages resulting from the use of information contained herein.
TECHNICAL
SUPPORT INFORMATION
Unless otherwise indicated at the time of sale, Cornucopia Software
will, at its discretion, supply a reasonable amount of technical
support for users of the Practice MAGIC software program at no
additional charge. This support will be supplied to one individual
user, even if the software is a multi-user version. It should be
understood that technical support constitutes a major expense to
Cornucopia Software. In order to continue to provide the best
possible support for a premium product that is sold at an extremely
reasonable price, we require that the user who receives the
technical support will train any other person using that program in
its use. We also require that users will first consult the users
manual in printed or electronic form before telephoning Cornucopia
Software for support.
If support is requested from a second user, this support will be
charged to the owner of the Practice Magic software on a per
minute basis.. Specifically, if the program is used by a practitioner
and his or her office personnel, free support will be limited to one
of those people. Support for other people, including new office
staff will be charged to the owner of the Practice Magic software.
We have attempted to give instructions in this manual for
transferring Practice Magic to a new computer in the event that the
original computer on which it is installed fails or is replaced for
other reasons. It is expected that anyone replacing his or her system
will consult a computer dealer, consultant or other professional to
facilitate the transfer of programs and information from the old to
the new computer; if support is requested from Cornucopia
Software for such transfer or reinstallation, that support will be
charged to the owner of the Practice Magic software. The
telephone number for Cornucopia Software support is 510-528-
7000.
Copyright (c.) 1992 - 2004
Cornucopia Software
All Rights Reserved
The Practice MAGIC software program and this manual are the sole property of Cornucopia Software, which retains all copyrights. Any unauthorized duplication of this material constitutes a violation of federal copyright law. In purchasing the Practice MAGIC disk, the purchaser receives a licensed for a single person to use the program on one computer or terminal; however, if you are using an introductory copy or demonstration copy of Practice MAGIC, you are authorized to make as many copies as you wish of that software and manual and to distribute it to friends and colleagues. The introductory or demonstration copy will only be useful for a limited number of months, usually four. All other copies of Practice MAGIC are also time limited, usually for a period of approximately one year unless a special fee is paid for an unlimited use copy.
This manual last edited August, 2004
"Practice MAGIC" is a trademark of Cornucopia Software.
"MS-DOS" is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
"Day-timer" is a registered trademark of Daytimers, Inc.
"Apple," "Macintosh," "AppleWriter," "Imagewriter" and "Laser
Writer" and "OSX" are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
"LaserJet" is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company
"Outlook Express" is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation
"Netscape Navigator" is a registered trademark of Netscape Communications Corporation
(Page numbers correspond to
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Program License and Warranty Info . . . . . . back cover
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
How to Use This Manual . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Getting Started : OSX, Installing MAGIC . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Running Practice MAGIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Summary of Calendar and Menu Options . . . . . .. . . . 3
To Enter an Appointment in Your Calendar . . . . . . . . . 4
Scheduling Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Scheduling non-clinical appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Detailed Explanation of Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . 8
File: Save and Quit, Backup, Jump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Edit: Client/Insurance Company Info, Client Info on HCFA1500, Client List,
User Data, Add client, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 9
Display: Ahead 1 Week, Schedule Next Week,
Back 1 Week, Info about Client , Client $ Status
Sunday Appointments, Jump to New Week . . . . . .23
CMS-1500: Display/Edit CMS-1500 form, Print Insurance Form,
Print Insur. Forms For All, Add client, . . . 25
Change: Name, Time, Frequency,
Procedure, Visit #, Comment (1 sess), Comment (all). . 26
Print: Client Phone List, Statement, Insurance Forms,
Client $ Status, Address Envelopes/labels,
Statements for all, Insurance Forms for all, Calendar
(1 sheet, 1wk, 4wks), Alerts, Set Print Scaling . . . . . 27
Appt: Move, Skip, Cancel/No Show, Cancel/Terminate,
Move, Reschedule, Set Vacation Day . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Special: Set Alert, Cancel Alert, Alert Summary, Select,
Unselect, Unselect All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Deposit: Deposit Checks (Record a Payment),
Gross Income Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Program Capacities and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Appendix A: Guided Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 48
3. Schedule Appointment on the Calendar Screen
4. "Temp." and "Weekly" Appointments
6. Printing on an Insurance Form
7. Recording a Payment (Making a Checking Deposit)
9. Scheduling the Following Week's Appointments
10. Conclusion
Appendix B: Trouble Shooting Guide:
If you are having a problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Practice MAGIC combines billing and check depositing functions with a unique calendaring feature. The result is a program that makes the paperwork of running a practice almost effortless. The program maintains a record of all clinical and non-clinical appointments. Weekly, multiweekly, and biweekly appointments can be carried forward from week to week automatically. It can print a week's calendar of appointments in a variety of formats including one that replaces Daytimer calendar inserts. Together with the deposit information drawn from the program's deposit slip generating feature, the calendar gives Practice MAGIC all the clinical service and financial information to generate client/patient statements or insurance bills on a variety of forms without any further input from the user.
The appointment calendar that MAGIC creates on your screen that allows MAGIC to do your billing for you automatically can also be printed by your printer and used as a daily calendar for your practice. If you use a Daytimer, MAGIC can be configured to print a calendar in a size and format that will fit into your Daytimer wallet. You can also simply print a weekly appointment calendar on a singe sheet of paper. Take your printed calendar with you during your work week and mark in pen any changes or new appointments that you make. Then at the end of your week, run MAGIC on your computer and add these changes and additions to MAGIC's electronic calendar. Since MAGIC automatically carries forward weekly appointments, there will be very few changes for you to make. Then use MAGIC to create and print your week's deposit slip and automatically generate any statements you need for client/patients. Although your bank provides you with preformatted deposit slips, we have found that banks happily accept the clearly printed and annotated deposit slips generated by MAGIC.
Because Practice MAGIC works the way one would intuitively expect and continually displays on the screen the options available to the person using it, little written documentation is necessary, even for someone who is barely familiar with computers. This manual is intended to give you an overview of the features and uses of Practice MAGIC. There is a convention used throughout the program and the manual that will help to clarify what keys you are being asked to press: the names of keys are surrounded by pointed brackets. For instance, if you are instructed to press the "R" key followed by the "RETURN" key, the program might prompt you "Press <R><RETURN>," or "Press <R> followed by <RETURN>."
If you do not have a floppy disk drive request that Cornucopia Software send you a CD-ROM disk or request an internet address from which you can download the program.
OSX: Currently Cornucopia is currently offering a "classic" version of Practice MAGIC and an OSX version. The OSX version will not run on some computers; if yours is one of those computers, you will know immediately, because the OSX version of MAGIC will not even start up. The OSX version seems to also perform properly on most computers with Finders 8.x and 9.x.
Installing Practice MAGIC on a hard disk:
Installing from a Floppy Diskette:
1. Put your MAGIC disk into your floppy drive.
2. Click on the icon of your MAGIC disk and drag it to the location on your hard disk display where you wish it to reside.
3. Remove the Floppy disk from your disk drive. Double click on the MAGIC folder you have just created. You are now ready to run MAGIC.
4. To run MAGIC double-click on the application program Practice MAGIC or Practice MAGIC demo, depending on which you have, to enter the program.
Installing from CD-ROM Disk:
1. Put your MAGIC disk into your CD-ROM drive.
2. Double-Click on the icon of your MAGIC disk to OPEN it; If you do not already have a version of Practice MAGIC installed, drag the "MAGIC" Folder Icon from the CD-Rom disk to the location on your hard disk or Desktop display where you wish it to reside. If, however, you DO already have a version of Practice MAGIC installed (which would mean that there is already a MAGIC folder on your hard disk), open the MAGIC folder ON THE CD-ROM disk, and drag only the "Practice MAGIC" program Icon from within the MAGIC folder on the CD-Rom disk to the MAGIC folder on your hard disk or Desktop display. (Be sure you are draging to a folder and NOT to an ALIAS) If you are replacing an older copy of MAGIC, a message will appear on the screen telling you that you are replacing an older file with the same name, and verifying that in fact you want to do this (Say "yes")
3. Remove the CD-ROM disk from your disk drive. Double click on the MAGIC folder you have just created. You are now ready to run MAGIC.
4. To run MAGIC double-click on the application program Practice MAGIC, Practice MAGIC OSX, Practice MAGIC Classic, or Practice MAGIC demo, depending on which you have, to enter the program.
To run MAGIC double-click on the application program Practice MAGIC or Practice MAGIC demo, depending on which you have. Be sure that the date is properly set on your computer (The date can be changed from the control panels option of the apple menu in the top left corner of the screen) In addition to the internal memory (RAM) of your computer used by the operating system (Finder) and any other software that has been loaded prior to MAGIC, Practice MAGIC will require approximately five million bytes of RAM in order to run. You can find out how much memory is available for MAGIC by clicking on the apple in the upper left corner of your screen and dragging it to "About This MacIntosh." The resulting screen will inform you how much memory is available (Largest Unused Block) in thousands of bytes. That number must be over 5000 and is preferably 6000 or more. If you do not have enough memory to run MAGIC, you will probably see the message "ERROR 7" when you try to run it. In that case, you can reduce the amount of memory that MAGIC requires by blackening the "Practice MAGIC" icon and pulling the FILE menu down to "Get Info." Towards the bottom of the Get INFO box you can click on and change the number (in thousands) of bytes that MAGIC will use. If you lower that number, you will run the risk of having the program occasionally run out of memory and abort. One way to increase the amount of memory available for MAGIC is to remove any programs that are currently active in your computer. You can identify these by clicking on the icon in the extreme top right corner of your screen. Another way to increase the amount of memory available is to reduce the memory used by the finder. This can be done on most MAC's by holding down the SHIFT key during start up until the message "Extensions Off" appears on your screen. This may also substantially increase the speed of Practice MAGIC.
When Practice MAGIC runs for the first time, a dialog box will appear asking you if this is the first time you are running Practice MAGIC. (If you run the older version of MAGIC, instead of the dialog box, a file display box will appear on the screen and you will be asked to click on Practice MAGIC in the box and then the OPEN button. Click on Practice MAGIC demo if you are running the demo.) The next screen you will see will give you a few instructions about entering your name and address. Click on "OK" to continue. Then you will be presented with several screen pages of information about you, the "user". Fill in the information on each line, and then press <RETURN> to proceed to the next line. Several entries may be unclear from the prompt. For instance, leave the lines "User code" and "Printer code re. carriage returns (0/1)" blank. For "printer type code," enter "2" for Apple Imagewriter I or II, and "3" for Apple LaserWriter, StyleWriter or other Apple-compatible printers. The information lines asking the minimum top and left margins that your printer is capable of are critical to printing accurately on insurance forms like the HCFA1500. These will be filled out automatically by a routine called "SET PRINT SCALING," which is an option in the program's PRINT menu. For most printers, you will later need to run the "SET PRINT SCALING" option in your PRINT menu before your printer will accurately fill out forms. Once these minimum margin values are set by that routine, you can adjust them by returning to the present EDIT screen using the program's EDIT menu and selecting "USER DATA." If printing is too high, you will then need to decrease the top margin (line 20 in Userdata) in 1/12 inch increments. If it is too far to the right, increase left margin (line 18). When you have entered all the information you wish, click on the close box or use the FILE menu. The information you have entered will be saved automatically. Next you will be informed that MAGIC is loading calendar files and then (the first time the program is used) an instruction notice will appear indicating how to fill out the blank calendar that is about to be displayed.
The calendar screen is the first screen that will appear in subsequent uses of Practice MAGIC. From the calendar screen, appointments can be filled in by clicking on the appropriate appointment hour. Type the first nine characters of the last name, the first several letters of the client/patient's last name followed by a period, or the two letter initials of the client/patient ("name code"). (Do not put periods or spaces after the letters in initials.) You will then be asked for additional information about the client/patient. Placing "&" in the name code for couples or families being seen conjointly (i.e. "A&R" or "A&RS") will cause MAGIC to automatically generate the C.P.T. procedure code for couples therapy. If you are seeing more than two people in a family conjointly, use the initials of only two. Although appointment slots are initially set for even hours, if your appointment is not on the hour, you can indicate the exact appointment time by clicking on "time" in the CHANGE menu (or <Command-T>) and entering the exact appointment time or just ":" followed by the number of minutes after the hour. If you change to a time that is not on the hour, you will notice that the physical location of that appointment box on the screen will shift accordingly. Procedure codes can also be changed by clicking on PROCEDURE in the CHANGE menu or <Command-P>. Clicking on an appointment that is already scheduled and overwriting it with another appointment will cause the previous appointment to be eliminated and replaced with the new appointment unless you have designated the original appointment as a regular weekly appointment, in which case it will be automatically scheduled for the following week..
SUMMARY OF CALENDAR AND MENU OPTIONS:
To edit your calendar:
<Command-B> Will show the previous week's appointments.
<Command-A> Will show the following week's appointments.
<Command-N> Will automatically schedule the following week's appointments.
<Click> Click on the appointment slot you wish to fill out or edit.
To enter a client/patient appointment in the calendar:
MAGIC displays a 6 day week calendar of hourly appointment slots. To view Sunday's appointments, select "Display Sun Appts" from the "Display" menu. The Saturday appointment column on the screen will be replaced by a Sunday appointment column. To again view Saturday appointments, select "Display Sat Appts" from the "Display" menu. (When printing the week's calendar, only the weekend day that is displayed on the screen will be printed.)
To schedule an appointment, click on an appointment slot on the calendar screen and enter the initials of the client/patient (no periods) or last name of the client/patient you are scheduling for that time. You may also type the beginning letters of the last name followed by a period. Many people choose to ignore the time of the appointments and just use the calendar as a streamlined data entry mechanism, making a list of appointments on the appropriate days similar to keeping a "day sheet." If MAGIC does not recognize the name or initials you enter (because they are not in the client/patient list),, the program will ask if the initials are correct. If they are, press <RETURN>. You will then be asked for the client/patient's last name if you have only entered initials in the appointment calendar. If you do not want to record this client/patient in MAGIC's client/patient list, click <CANCEL>. If you wish to record the client/patient in the client/patient list, enter the last name of the client/patient. After entering the last name, you will be prompted for more information about the client/patient (first name, home and office telephone numbers). If you want MAGIC to use the actual last name as the code, place an asterisk at the end of this response. If you did not originally enter a two to four letter code for this client/patient in the calendar, a name code will be automatically assigned consisting of the first letters of the client/patient's first and last names. If that abbreviation represents a duplication of an existing code or if the last name represents a duplication, the new code will be followed by a number to set it apart from the duplicate. Names of Insurance Companies will be automatically preceded by "@". If the name code you give is different than the one that would be automatically generated by the program, the program will insert a backslash (\) followed by your code after the information it places in the client/patient list. You can change the name code by editing the client/patient list (EDIT menu); however, if you do this you must also change any appointments in the calendar in which that code was used, or MAGIC will no longer recognize those appointments.
If the appointment you schedule is the first for that client, MAGIC will assume that the appointment is "IRREGULAR" or "TEMP," that it is not going to be held with that patient at the same time each week ("WEEKLY"). By editing the userdata file you can change the default so that MAGIC assumes the appointment will be held with that patient at the same time each week ("WEEKLY"). Weekly appointments are shown on the calendar in bold while TEMP appointments are shown in a different color and are not bold.
If you inadvertently press
a key while in the calendar screen and there is a client code at the location of the
cursor, the client code will disappear. You can restore the original entry by backing up
the cursor with the backspace key so that the character(s) you have just entered no longer
appear and then pressing <RETURN> or clicking on another appointment box. The
original appointment will be restored.
To schedule a group, type the word GROUP. A code of "GP:" will be assigned to the group and you will be asked to give the codes (two letter initials) of the group members. If you later want to add or remove group members, you can do this by editing "GROUP" in the client/patient list. If GROUP already refers to another group, and you wish to begin a new group, add a number, i.e. "GROUP2" or "GROUP5." A simple way to verify the group you have scheduled is the one you intended is to place the cursor on the group appointment in question and press the fourth option in the DISPLAY menu, and a list of client/patients will appear at the bottom of the screen.
When a new group is scheduled, the program now asks you to list the members of the group and if one or more members are not recognized the program asks about the new member(s) and adds them to the client/patient list. When printing billing statements for group members, you can now place the cursor on the group appointment, select "Statement" from the "Print" menu, and statements will be printed for all group members. To print a statement for a single group member who is not also seen individually, place the cursor on a blank appointment slot and select "Statement" from the "Print" menu, giving the client's name or code when the program asks for it. This method of entering groups ensures that all group members' names or codes correspond exactly to how they are listed in the client/patient list. If a member drops out of the group, his name needs to be deleted from the list of members in the client list for that group. Similarly, if a new member is added, his name must be added to the list of the names in the client list, followed by a comma. If you are experiencing problems with clients not being found or recognized check to be sure that every character of the name you are looking for corresponds exactly to the way it was entered in the client list and calendar. The procedure code defined for the group session will become the code used for each of the members of the group for that appointment. The fee for that procedure will be taken from the fees stipulated in each group member's individual information file; there is no information file for the group itself, so the "Edit Client Information" function will not operate when a group appointment has been selected.
Scheduling Non-clinical Appointments:
Placing a period before an appointment description in an appointment hour indicates to MAGIC that this is not a clinical appointment. These appointments will not be checked against the client list, and will appear on the screen in a different color.
FILE "File" to Exit program, saving changes, Exit with Backup, Display a different Calendar week.
EDIT "Edit" to edit user information; edit list of clients/patients; edit client/patient information in a list or on an on-screen HCFA1500.
DISPLAY "Display" to move calendar ahead one week, back one week, schedule the following week automatically, or see information about a client/patient.
CMS-1500 Redundantly provides in one place all the functions that would be required by someone only interested in filling out CMS-1500: Add client, Display/Edit CMS-1500, Print, & Print All.
CHANGE "Change" to change name, time, frequency, procedure code, visit number, or comment for the appointment identified by the cursor.
PRINT "Print" to print client/patient list, statements, insurance forms, envelopes (or labels), calendar.
APPT "Appt" to cancel, skip, move, reschedule or terminate appointment at cursor location or designate a vacation day for therapist.
SPECIAL "Special" to set a visit number at which you would like Practice MAGIC to alert you when you schedule that appointment. (This function is often important for managed care situations in which reports are due periodically.) Also used to select or unselect clients/patients for print functions.
DEPOSIT "Deposit" to fill out and print check deposit slips.
MENU OPTIONS (DETAILED EXPLANATION):
Used to exit the program. Choosing "QUIT" will save any changes you have made automatically. You can also click on the calendar close box to exit MAGIC.
"Jump to New Week" to display a week of the calendar that is not necessarily near the week that is currently displayed."Jump to New Week" to display a week of the calendar that is not necessarily near the week that is currently displayed.
"Version Number" indicates what version of Practice MAGIC you are running. This entry appears in light gray and does nothing if you click on it.
"Save and Quit" to exit the program, saving all information you have entered. After selecting this option you will be asked if you want to make a backup of the files that you have altered in this session of running MAGIC.
For the backup process, you will need a floppy disk entitled MAGIC Backup. You can create this by inserting a blank disk in your floppy drive and formatting it. Before the format process begins, you will be asked to title the disk. Usually it is adequate to simply type MAGIC BACKUP and this title will replace the default title, Untitled; however in some instances it may be necessary to click on the work Untitled and then when it turns black, type MAGIC BACKUP.
When you click on the calendar screen close box to exit MAGIC you will be given four options: to simply exit, to return to the calendar screen you just left, to return to a different calendar screen by typing in a new date, or to backup your data and exit. If you choose to backup your data before exiting by clicking on Backup and EXIT, MAGIC will backup any client information files that you have edited or updated and any calendar months that were loaded into MAGIC during this running of MAGIC. During the backup process MAGIC will also backup the client/patient list, the check deposit information and the userdata file. These will be copied to a floppy disk entitled MAGIC BACKUP. If no floppy disk by this name is found, MAGIC will invite you to insert it or to cancel the backup process.
Retrieving Backed Up Data: To retrieve
backed up information, simply select the client file (".pat") or calendar file
(".cal") you want from your Backup disk by blackening it with one click and drag
it to the INFO sub-folder in your MAGIC folder. You should be given a prompt warning you
that a newer file already exists; if so, respond "OK." It is a good idea to have
more than one BACKUP disk and rotate them.
Displaying a different portion of the calendar (Jumping):
As described above, one of
the four options MAGIC offers you after you click on the calendar close box to exit MAGIC
is to return to a different calendar screen. To select this option type the date
(mm/dd/yy) of the calendar page you wish to display, and click on OK. MAGIC will
then display the calendar week for whatever date you indicated, provided it is not beyond
the expiration date of your copy of Practice MAGIC.
Used to update information in the client/patient list, to edit information about a client/patient/insurance company, or about you, the user (therapist). The following options appear:
"Client (Patient)/Insurance Info" Includes client/patient's name (or insurance company's name), address, payments, diagnosis, balance, insurance information. Most of this information need not be filled in unless you need MAGIC to fill out detailed insurance forms like the HCFA1500. Any line can be left blank.
If you have clicked on a client/patient appointment in the calendar when this function is selected, that client/patient's information will be accessed. Since insurance companies do not appear in your calendar, you will need to first click on a blank appointment slot in the calandar before editing insurance company information. If you have clicked on a blank spot in the calendar and you then select the first entry in the EDIT menu, you will be prompted for the name or initials (code) of the client/patient or insurance company you wish to edit information about. (Codes for insurance companies always begin with an "at" sign ["@"].)
To edit this information file, click on the line to be edited and make any changes you desire. Press <RETURN> to end the edit on that line or click on another line. Scroll for more data. Click the close box to save your changes and return to the calendar.
Finding an Entry: The process of entering client information includes several features to help you locate the lines on which to enter information. Once you have accessed the information edit screen for a particular client (select "Client Info" in the EDIT menu) or for Userdata (see below), each time you select an information line by clicking on it, the number of that line appears at the top of your screen. If that line of information corresponds to an information box on the revised HCFA1500, the number of that box is also given at the top of your screen. If you have a specific box that you need MAGIC to fill in, for instance "9b," you can locate the appropriate information line on your screen by selecting "Find Info for HCFA box No." and then typing 9B followed by <RETURN>. The screen will jump to the appropriate line. If you need to change some information you've already entered, and want to find the line on which it was entered you can use the same search feature. For instance to change the "relationship to insured" from "self" to "spouse," you would select "Find Question" from the SEARCH menu followed by typing SELF and the <RETURN> key and the cursor will jump to the line that contains the word "self." If there are more than one lines containing the word "self," and you have located the wrong one, again select "Find Question" from the SEARCH menu followed by the <RETURN> key to locate the next line containing "self."
In addition to the search feature, MAGIC makes it easier for you to select information lines that you may need to fill out by attempting to evaluate your responses and placing asterisks in front of those information lines that seem to be important to be filled out. For instance, if you indicate that there is a second insurance plan, the line that asks the name of the second insurance company will have an asterisk placed in front of it to draw your attention to that question.
When entering ICD9 diagnostic codes (lines 7. 8, and 9) you can find a code by typing a question mark optionally followed by part of the code description and the list of ICD9 codes will be displayed in a scroll box with the code you described highlighted. Click on a category and the box will display the codes in that category. Click on a code and that code will be automatically filled in in the ICD9 information box you are editing. At any time you can exit the DSM display by clicking outside the display box. The currently highlighted item will be transferred to your response box.
Response Conventions Used by MAGIC: Questions involving a portion of a fee that a client/patient pays (copay) or an insurance company pays may be answered in one of four ways: decimal, fraction, percentage, or fixed amount (above $1). For example, a copay of $20 on a fee of $80 could be indicated by ".25", "1/4", "25%" or "20".
When filling out patient
data, if the patient has two insurance companies some entries will be different for each
company. In most cases the data line specifies which company it refers to. However, in
others "Primary Ins\Secondary" or "Prim.\Sec." on the information line
will indicate that information for both primary and secondary insurance policies (if
different) should be included on the same response line separated by a back-slash. In
these cases enter the information for the primary insurance policies followed by a
backslash and then the information for the secondary insurance company all on the same
line. If there is no relevant information for the primary insurance, begin the information
relevant to the secondary insurance policy with a back-slash. If you want the information
you give to apply to the primary carrier but not the secondary carrier (if there is one),
then end the entry with a back-slash. Where there is no secondary carrier, no back-slash
is necessary.
"Miscellaneous Information" Lines: If you have "selected" a number of client/patients, and then chosen "Fill out ins form" MAGIC will fill out the insurance forms for each of these client/patients in turn. If MAGIC needs an insurance form fed into the printer that is other than the HCFA1500 it will stop and prompt you to insert that insurance form. Because some insurance forms ask for different information than others, we have included four miscellaneous lines in the client/patient information file for idiosyncratic information. The default response on these lines is "Misc. #" followed by 1, 2, 3, or 4. You will know if an insurance form makes use of the miscellaneous lines because when you first try printing the form "misc. #n" (where "n" is 1, 2, 3, or 4) will print in the place where some particular information is asked for that should then be entered on the miscellaneous #n line in the client information line. If, for instance, "Misc. #3" is printed in a box on an insurance form that MAGIC fills out, it means that whatever information that box requires should be placed in the client/patient information file on line 74, which is the third miscellaneous information line.
This situation also occurs on statements when the client name (line 14) is not the same as the name of the responsible party for payment (line 1) In that case the client's address (lines 2 and 3) would not necessarily be the same as the address of the responsible party, so MAGIC takes the mailing address for client statements from the third and fourth miscellaneous information lines. If no information has been placed in the third and fourth miscellaneous information lines, and the client/patient name (line 14) and responsible party's name (line 1) do not match (excluding order) the program automatically fills in the third and fourth miscellaneous information lines with the address that appears on lines two and three.
Stipulating Fees for Clinical Procedures: There are ten procedures listed in the client information file, including one that you can define any way you want. This last one need not even be a number, but can instead be a descriptive phrase like "Case Consultation." If there is no five digit code in the procedure description but instead a word description, the statement MAGIC prints will include the short descriptive phrase in the procedure column. This is equally true of line #47 of the client/patient information file which is the individually user-defined code that varies from client to client. For each procedure you are asked to input your fee. These procedure lines are the same as appear in your USERDATA file and the fees that appear in your USER file are automatically transferred to each client information file that you create. These fees can be changed in any client information file at any time. If you want to indicate a "standard" fee as well as an "adjusted" fee as requested by many managed care companies, you can do this by typing the standard fee followed immediately by a greater than sign (">") followed by the adjusted fee. MAGIC will print both fees on your statements, the standard fee on insurance forms, and use the adjusted fee in financial calculations to determine what is actually owed. If your insurance form calls for the exact number of minutes that you see the patient rather than a range, follow the fee amount immediately by a colon (":") and then the number of minutes you see the client for this procedure. On the HCFA1500 form column E of box #24 (Units of Service) defaults to "1", however this number will be effected by the above procedure of adding a colon followed by a number. If the number after the colon is less than 20, that number will appear in column E of box 24 when the corresponding procedure is used.
MAGIC defaults to standard C.P.T. codes adopted 1/1/98. For individual psychotherapy, (90806, etc.) and hos-pital visits (90818, etc.) you can specify the number of min-utes (as described above) and the code will print accordingly. Similarly you can specify "interactive psychotherapy" and/or "medical eval. and management services" by terminat-ing the fee line for that procedure with "I" or "M" respectively, or "IM" for both. For example, "135:75 IM" would be printed as "90815" if it were entered on line #38, and would be printed as "90829" if it were entered on line #43 (Hopital Visit). The original code (90804, 90806 or 90818) will display on the bottom of the calendar screen when you click on these appointments. To view the actual procedure code at the bottom of the screen after clicking on the appointment, select "Rest of Info Line & Fee" from the DISPLAY menu.
Designating User-definable Procedure Codes: The six User-definable Procedure Codes that are designated in the user information list (accessed by selecting "User Info" in the EDIT menu) take the form of a procedure description followed optionally by "@" and then the fee amount excluding the dollar sign. If the fee is specified in this way it becomes the default which is transferred automatically to the client information files. The procedure description can consist of a five digit C.P.T. code alone, a five digit C.P.T. code followed by a descriptive phrase, or just a short descriptive phrase. If the five digit code is present, a printed statement for a client/patient for whom this procedure was performed will read "C.P.T." followed by the five digit code in the "procedure" column. If there is no five digit code, the statement will include the short descriptive phrase in the procedure column. This is equally true of line #47 of the client/patient information file which is the individually user-defined code that varies from client to client. (Note that if any of these user-defined codes are not CPT codes, that program will assume that this is not a client and will not put the word "client:" on statements.)
In the event that one of
these user-defined procedures is being performed with a client or patient and the fee for
that person is not the standard fee, an alternative fee can be indicated in the client
information file for that person on lines 111 through 116, which ask for the fees for the
six user-defined codes specified in the user information file. The client information file
will display as a default any fees indicated for those procedures in the user information
file. These six procedures are displayed when "Userdef'd" is selected in the
"change procedure" dialogue box ("J") that appears when
"procedure" is selected from the CHANGE menu..
Unlimited Individually-defined procedures, fees, copays: In addition to the User-defined Codes described above, the "change procedure" menu also offers you an unlimited option to type in unique procedure codes and fees for particular visits. The option of entering a fee and an adjusted fee separated by ">" is also available for User-defined Codes as it is for standard procedures (described above). In addition a separate copay can be defined for a particular visit or procedure by following the fee (adjusted fee) amount with ">>" followed by the copay amount. This is useful if there are certain visits or procedures that are not covered by insurance and must by paid fully by the client. If the copay in this case is defined as the entire (adjusted) fee, this procedure will not be included when insurance forms are printed.
Non-Cllinical Procedures: In
addition, if that individually user-defined code is descriptive without a C.P.T. code,
MAGIC will assume that this is a consultation or some other non-medical service and the
words "Client:" or "Patient:" that normally appear in front of the
client/patient's name at the top of the statement will be omitted. If, for example, the
procedure is "Case Consultation" performed with another practitioner, the
statement for this person will not refer to him or her as a client or patient.
Billing for Non-Client/Patient Professional Activities: In certain circumstances you will want to eliminate the words "client" or "patient" from statements, as in the case of professional supervision, consultations and certain other services that may be performed with other professionals or people who you are not treating clinically. To omit "client" (or omit "patient") designate a user defined procedure in the client/patient's file (line #47) or user information list (lines 59-64) as other than a number. For instance you may put the words "Clin. Consult." on line #47 and that phrase will appear in the procedure column of this person's statement, and his or her name and address will appear on the upper portion of the statement without the word "Patient:" or "Client:" before it.
Reduced or Adjusted Fees: MAGIC has the
ability to designate a reduced or "adjusted" fee for a client/patient in
addition to your customary fee. This is done by placing a ">" (greater
than sign) after the fee amount in the client information file followed by the reduced
fee.amount. This designation can be made in the corresponding fee in the user information
list and it will be automatically transferred to client information files. For instance,
the entry after "Initial Evaluation" might read "120>100" to
indicate that your standard fee for this procedure is one hundred and twenty dollars but
that you are charging a reduced fee for this client/patient of one hundred, which may for
instance be the fee you have contracted for with this person's HMO. If the insurance form
for this client requires a statement of the number of minutes of the procedure, the entry
might read "120>100:60" to indicate the additional information that the
procedure was 60 minutes. When the insurance form prints, the larger number (in this
example, 120) will be used to fill out the form. However, when statements or receivable
reports are printed, the lower number will be used as the actual ("adjusted")
amount of the fee. Statements will show both the actual fee and the "adjusted
fee." This was included because many managed care companies request that they be
billed for your full fee, even though it is understood that you will only be paid a
reduced portion of that fee. NOTE that whenever a ">" sign appears in any fee
in a client's information file, MAGIC assumes that adjusted fees may be involved and so it
prints a column on the statement for "adjusted fee" even if no procedure
containing this designation in it's fee definition actually appears on the statement.
Deductibles:
One way to handle deductibles is to create an appointment in your calendar for the client
in question and edit the procedure code of that appointment, selecting "User
defined" and typing "Deductible" for the procedure definition. Then set the
fee for that "procedure" to the amount of the deductible. It will print on
statements as "Deductible" with the appropriate charge. Another way to handle
deductibles is to set the client's copay at 100% and bill through the visit in which the
deductible is fulfilled. Then, before printing the next statement, set the copay to the
correct amount.
Entering Initial Financial Data: When first using MAGIC, you will need to transfer existing financial information to MAGIC so that your statements accurately reflect the client/patient's history. MAGIC makes this easy for you by asking you at the time you first introduce a new client/patient if you want to regularly this client/patient, his insurance company (if any), both or neither. Then MAGIC will ask this client/patient's $ balance (money he or she owes you) as of the end of the day before this client/patient's first appointment in MAGIC's calendar. If you indicated that you want to bill this person's insurance, MAGIC will now ask you the client/patient's copay, the portion of his or her bill that is not covered by insurance. If there is no insurance involved this number is "1" which is the default. Otherwise, you can enter the portion in any of a variety of forms: a decimal (like ".25"), a fraction (like 1/4"), a percentage (like "25%"), or a dollar amount greater than one (like "$10.00"). If the copay is anything but "1" you will be asked the balance owed by this client/patient's primary insurance carrier as of the above date. Finally you will be asked for the client/patient's street address and then city, state, and zip. These questions supply MAGIC with the information it needs to begin keeping your billing records for this client/patient. They are all optional and can be skipped by simply pressing <RETURN>. You can always go back and edit any client/patients client information at a later time, adding this information.
Changing financial information can also be done by clicking on that client/patient's appointment and then dragging the EDIT menu to "client info" to edit data for that client/patient. The most critical data to fill in are the insurance company's current balance, the client/patient's current balance (balance forward) and the last date that deposits were considered in calculating these balances ("Date of last deposit considered in balances") You are actually prompted to give two date prompts. The first (line #11) asks for a month, day, and year preceding the client/patient's first appointment that you wish MAGIC to produce statements or bill for. This date is automatically updated every time you print a statement and ask that the client/patient's financial data be updated. The other date is on line #16, the last deposit date that was used in the calculation of the client/patient's current balance ("Date of last deposit..."). Any deposits subsequent to that date will be assumed to be additional payments to be considered in the current statement. This date is also automatically updated. Any time this date is changed a warning appears that the program is clearing certain financial history data. This means that any data that the program has stored about this patient's payment and balance history will now be assumed to be inaccurate, as well as the patient's balance forward.
If you would like to include previous aging information about the client's account, fill in the financial information requested at the end of the client information list. Each amount should reflect the total amount due as of the corresponding date minus all payments that have been made since that date. The earliest date should be the lowest on the screen. (Consequently, the amount must decrease with each succeeding earlier date.)
The final information that is often essential is the insurance company or companies' outstanding balance(s) if insurance is involved. A simple way to think about all these figures is to make Practice MAGIC's information accurate up to the date you activate Practice MAGIC. Then give Practice MAGIC the appointment and deposit information it requires from that date forward and let MAGIC do the rest.
"Client/Patient HCFA1500 Info" The EDIT menu also displays the option of displaying the HCFA1500 form on the screen so you are able to click on the appropriate boxes and fill them in. This information will then be automatically transferred to the client information file. When you finish editing click the close box or select Save Edits from the FILE menu. On-screen ICD9 help is also available. It works exactly as described under "Edit Client/Patient Info."
Some CMS-1500 boxes are not displayed on the screen. For instance, in most states Medicare requires psychologists to place the modifier "AH" and LCSW's to place the modifier "AJ" after the procedure code and Masters Counselors to place a "Z9" in box #24D. If "MEDICARE" is selected in CMS-1500 Box #1, MAGIC will automatically place the these codes after the procedure code if the procedure is one of MAGIC's nine standard procedure codes other than "psychological testing," which does not require it. If the code is user-defined or individually-defined, you will need to add those letters yourself when you define the procedure. The preceding does not apply, however, if colon (":") is placed at the end of the data on line number 14 of the USERDATA file (which normally just contains the code for whether you are using your Soc. Sec. # or your Employer ID.#) followed by any two characters; this will cause those two characters to be printed as a modifier after the C.P.T. code on CMS-1500 forms that are designated for Meidare or Medicaid. Placing an explanation point ("!") after those two characters on line #14 will cause those characters to be printed as a modifier after the C.P.T. codes on ALL CMS-1500 forms, even if not for Medicare.
MAGIC fills out the service date fields at the bottom of the CMS-1500 form (Box 24) using information from the MAGIC calendar. Times will also be filled in after dates-of-service; however, these will not be printed when the CMS-1500 form is printed. You can also add to or modify these dates. All new dates-of-service will be automatically written into the MAGIC calendar. If no time is specified for these service dates, the earliest available time slot on the designated dates will be written to.
"Client/Patient List" The "client/patient list" lists all the insurance companies you have entered followed by the names and phone numbers of all your clients/patients in alphabetical order. When you enter an appointment with a client/patient code that is not already on the list you will be asked if you wish to add this name to the client list. If you do, you will be prompted for more information which will ultimately appear in this list. This list can be edited at any time. You can also edit information for individual clients by clicking on that client's code in the client list and selecting "Client Info" from the EDIT menu.
Names of insurance companies must be included in the client/patient list. This will occur automatically as insurance companies are written into client information files (see below) where the names of primary (line #29) or secondary (#67) insurance carriers is requested, or as checks from the insurance companies are entered.
Another way to add a name of an insurance company (or of a client/patient) to the client/patient list is to use the EDIT "client list" function described above. Do this by clicking on the first blank line in the list and then entering the necessary info. When entering insurance company names in the MAGIC client/patient list, you should avoid using commas in the name, because when MAGIC fills out labels or envelopes, it will print the name only up to the first comma.
To edit a line containing an insurance company name, click on the part of the line to be edited and make any change. Then press <RETURN> or click on another line. A dialog box will be displayed that will allow you to edit information for that company. Click on and move the scroll box on the right side of the screen to display more clients from the list. Click on the close box to return to the calendar.
Delete Client Name: You can delete a client/patient from the list completely by deleting just the client/patient code (on the left side of the screen) and then pressing <RETURN>.
WARNING: If you change the client/patient code here, all previous appointments and deposits in which you used a different code for that client/patient will not be recognized when you do a statement or insurance form.
Designating Client/Patients as "Inactive:" Select a client by clicking on the right side of a line in the list containing the client's name. Then press <Return>, and a dialog box will appear listing the client's name and telephone numbers in an edit box, and the client's billing instructions. In addition there will also be five buttons, including <OK> and <CANC>. The buttons will offer you the option of closing the client's account if it is active or activating it if it is not already active. Another button allows you to indicate that the client is to be excluded from the printed list of clients produced by the "Client List" option in the PRINT menu on the main MAGIC calendar screen; if the client is already excluded from the printed list the button will offer you the option of restoring the client to being included in the printed list.
Printing the Client/patient List: Selecting the "Client List" option in the PRINT menu on the main MAGIC calendar screen provides a handy printed reference list of your currently active clients/patients and their telephone numbers that can be quite handy when you are out of your office and need to return a telephone call.
Changing
Client/Patient Billing Status: Designating Specific Client/Patients for Regular Billing:
To designate certain client/patients for monthly or otherwise regular insurance billing or
client statements, edit the client/patient list (from the "EDIT" menu on the
calendar) and click on the right side of the line containing this client's name. Then
click on the button that says "Change Billing Instructions" When entering new
clients, MAGIC will automatically prompts you to disignate your billing preference for the
each new client. When you select "Print statements for all" or "Insurance
forms for all" from the PRINT menu, MAGIC will ask you if you if you indeed want to
do this for all active client/patients or just for the ones you have designated for
regular billing statements or insurance billing.
"User Data" "User Data" includes all information that is particular to the individual user including default values that are transferred to each client/patient. information file when it is created. These defaults can of course be modified for each client/patient as described in the above section. User Data information includes therapist's name, addresses, phone numbers, bank account number, ID number, fees. Also includes information about the desired size of the calendar you may wish to print, and information about the printer being used. The heights and widths initialized in this file are for printing the calendar and filling out forms. It is currently set to print a calendar that will fit in a 5" Daytimer wallet, however it may be necessary for you to make some changes in these settings to customize for your printer and your particular needs.
When you run MAGIC for the first time, this data will be requested. It can be modified at any time using the EDIT menu and selecting "USER DATA." To edit in this data after selecting "Edit User Data," click on the line to edit and then edit. Complete your edit by pressing <RETURN> or clicking on another line. You can scroll to see other pages of information. Click on the close box to return to the calendar. The options for "Printer type code" are those explained in the second paragraph of the section, GETTING STARTED, at the beginning of this manual. It comes preset to "3" which is what it should be for almost any printer except an imagewriter, which should be a "2."
Line 39: HCF-1500 Template: On line #39 of the USER DATA file you are asked to name the HCFA1500 template you prefer to use. The default is simply named "HCFA1500." Whatever you place on this line will be transferred to lines #101 and #102 of every new client file automatically. If certain clients' requirements are different than others you can edit the client's information file and change lines #101 or #102. All the MAGIC files that end in .FRM are templates for insurance forms. All of those that begin with HCFA are templates for filling out the HCFA1500 form. For most people the template named HCFA1500.FRM is satisfactory, but for some clinicians it is not. For instance replacing HCFA1500 with HCFAALT will cause box #29 on the HCFA1500 form to be filled out with the client's copay requirement rather than simply 0. By playing with the different templates provided you may find one that especially suites your needs, but for most people the default HCFA1500 template is satisfactory. In box #31 on the on-screen CMS-1500 there is a question: "Print today's date in the signature box? [Y/N]" If you change your answer to this question, the CMS-1500 template will be changed automatically and you will be offered the option of making the newly chosen template the default for new clients. Answering "Yes" to this last query will cause the User Data information on line #39 to be changed. You can also change the name of the CMS-1500 template yourself. For instance replacing CMS1500 with CMSALT will cause box #29 on the CMS-1500 form to be filled out with the client's copay requirement rather than simply 0. (NOTE that this is NEVER required by insurance companies.) By playing with the different templates provided you may find one that especially suites your needs, but for most people the default CMS-1500 template is satisfactory.
Line 53: Default "Signature on File" Message: Practice MAGIC normally places "Signature on File" automatically in boxes #12 and #13 of the CMS-1500 form. If you would like to change the default, you can do so by editing line #53 of USER DATA. The first character on line #53 indicates (Y or N) whether you would like first appointments for new clients to be designated as "REGULAR WEEKLY" or "IRREGULAR" (also referred to as "TEMPORARY.") If there is a colen that follows the first character, everything after the colen is the information you would liked placed in boxes #12 and #13. (These two elements will be separated by another colen if they are different from each other.)
Select FONTS and font SIZE: To select a printer font (for printers other than the ImageWriter), select USER DATA from the EDIT menu and when the user information screen appears, scroll down to line #57. (Each time you click on a line, the line number will appear at the top of the screen.) Line 57 offers you 6 print fonts. Selecting any of them other than "Generic" will activate a high quality print routine. Statements will print in the font you selected and HCFA1500 forms will be filled out in a high definition Courier font. You can specify the point size of the font that you would like printed on the heading lines of statements by beginning lines one through six of the USER DATA with a looping bracket, the point size you want for that line, and a closing looping bracket. For instance: {18} would produce an 18 point font.
Procedure Descriptions on statements: By answering the question on line #24 of the User Data file Y or N you can indicate whether you want to include procedure descriptions on statements in the heading under PROCEDURE or just the C.P.T. Code. Unless you answer "N" a description of up to eighteen characters will appear after the five digit code. If you want descriptions of your USER DEFINED PROCEDURES to appear, you will need to follow the C.P.T. code you select by a space and then a description of up to 18 characters. Extra characters will be ignored.
Definable Screen
Colors: To modify screen colors, edit entry #26 in your user data file
(<Command>+<U>). Type any character followed by pressing <RETURN> or
clicking on another edit line. A box will be displayed containing ten colored rectangles
and a rectangle that reads "Return." These are the ten colors by MAGIC in
various screens in the program. To replace any of these ten colors with another, click on
the rectangle with that color. The MacIntosh Color Picker will appear on your screen with
the color you just selected to edit. There are two methods of color picking, one by
adjusting three selection bars, and the other by clicking on a point in a colored circle
and selecting darkness using a lightness/darkness selection bar. You can switch between
the two by clicking on "More options" and then selecting the appropriate icon
from the side bar that is displayed. NOTE that when you use the circle method, the circle
initially appears BLACK, until you lighten it by using the lightness/darkness selection
bar.
"Add New Client/Insur. Co." adds to your client list, creating new client information files that MAGIC can later access when doing billing for those clients. Magic will assume the date of illness and the "first seen" dates to be the date before the cursor position on the calendar. This date will appear on the eleventh (last date billed) and sixteenth lines (last deposit considered) of the Client Information Data Entry Screen and on other lines as well; however these two lines have a critical effect on keeping accurate financial records and should be corrected on that screen if it is wrong. If, for instance that date is after the actual first date seen, the first appointment will not show up in billing statements.
"Ahead 1 Wk" and "Back 1 Wk" are used to display the next week or the next prior week on the screen.
"Schedule Next Week" will forward your appointments to the week following the week currently on the screen. Can be used to update a week already scheduled or to schedule a week that is currently blank. All weekly appointments will be forwarded. Biweekly appointments will have a notation (>>) placed in their time slot in off weeks if no one else is scheduled. Temporary appointments, those which do not reoccur each week or every other week at the same time, will be indicated by "TEMP" and will not be forwarded. Skipped or moved appointments will be indicated by ">". This function can be repeated for a week that has already been scheduled. During the scheduling forward process, the program will pick up and alert you to scheduling conflicts and visit numbering inconsistencies.
The term "TEMP" is used to refer to appointments that are not carried forward automatically from week to week. They may be one-time appointments, appointment reschedules or appointments of client/patients who's hour varies from week to week. Weekly, biweekly and multiple time per week appointments are assumed to be fixed appointments, appointments which repeat each week at the same day and time. Practice MAGIC automatically schedules these appointments for successive weeks when the "Schedule Next Week" function (<CMD>+<N>) is used. When a clinical appointment for a new client/patient is scheduled, it is automatically set for "TEMP." To change it to WEEKLY or some other frequency, (or to change "weekly" to TEMP), select "Frequency" from the "CHANGE" menu (<CMD>+<R>) and select the frequency you desire. To permanently change the appointment time of a client/patient who comes regularly at a stable appointment time, use the "MOVE" option (<CMD>+<J>) from the APPT menu. In using this option, the frequency of visits for this client/patient will be preserved. If a new permanent appointment time is scheduled without using the MOVE option, MAGIC will assume that this is an extra appointment being scheduled for this person, perhaps, for instance, an emergency visit. MAGIC will automatically schedule the appointment as TEMP. This will create minor problems if what you intended to do was really to permanently reschedule (MOVE) the appointment, because you will then have to change the frequency of visits for the new appointment, and the old appointment will still be rescheduled each week at the old time. That will require you to TERMINATE the old appointment time (<CMD>+<X>). Using "SKIP APPT" would not work to eliminate the old appointment because it would cancel the appointment for one week only and automatically reschedule it for the following week.
"Rest of Info Line & Fee" and "Previous Info" are used to look at the comment line of a client/patient you have clicked on. If the comment extends off the screen, click on "Info about client/patient" to see the comment. "Previous Info" will again show you the beginning of the line.
"Client $ Status" is identical to "Check $ Status" under the PRINT menu.
"Display Sunday Appointments" The MAGIC Calendar screen displays six days of the week at any given time, Monday through Friday and either Saturday or Sunday. Tos display or schedule Sunday appointments when Saturday appointments are currently displayed in the right column of the calendar screen, select "Display Sunday Appointments" from the DISPLAY menu. When Sunday appointments are currently displayed, this same menu entry will switch the display back to Saturday appointments.
"Jump to New Week" to display a week of the
calendar that is not necessarily near the week that is currently displayed. This option
performs the same function as the "Jump" option under the
MAGIC calendar screen FILE menu.
If you do not have the CMS-1500 capability built into your current version of Practice MAGIC (there is no "CMS-1500" menu on the calendar page) you need to purchase and download the upgraded Practice MAGIC for an upgrade fee of $39.95. You can order the upgrade from www.practicemagic.com/orders.html) The following are instructions for it's use:
Instructions for Transitioning to the CMS-1500 Form from the HCFA-1500:
The two templates (see paragraph above) for the CMS-1500 form which will be automatically written to C:\MAGIC\INFO on you hard disk are called "CMS1500.FRM" and "CMSALT.FRM." If you replace "HCFA1500.frm" as your "Insurance Form Template" with either of these forms, they will format your output to conform to the CMS-1500. The "CMS1500.FRM" template will automatically place a zero in box 29, as our HCFA-1500 template has been doing for years. You can alternatively select "CMSALT", which will cause MAGIC to calculate the copay for the visits being billed and place that number in box 29. In the case of MAC, you will need to copy the two files, "CMS1500.FRM" and "CMSALT.FRM" from the folder created when you unstuff the downloaded file to the INFO subfolder in you MAGIC folder residing on your desktop. (The files will be copied automatically for Windows).
IMPORTANT: After upgrading to the CMS-1500 version, for each pre-existing client, you will need to replace "HCFA1500.frm" as your "Insurance Form Template" with either CMS1500 or CMSALT; these CMS-1500 templates will format your output to conform to the new CMS-1500 form. NOTE THAT CHANGING THE INSURANCE FORM TEMPLATE TO CMS1500 DOES NOT CHANGE THE ON-SCREEN INSURANCE FORM. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL OR CALL US TO TELL US THAT CHANGING THE TEMPLATE DOES NOT CHANGE THE FORM UNTIL YOU HAVE TRIED PRINTING A FORM. In addition lines 50, 51 and 109 of each client file should be edited as well as line 40 and 41 of the USERDATA file. Line 110 of the client file now fills in box 33b, Line 50 now fills in 24j (top) and line 51 fills in box 19 which is commonly designated for the therapist's taxonomy number. Line 109 fills in box 32a and 32b and line 61 fills in box 17 a&b. Lines 40 and 41 of the USERDATA file in the NPI number (33a) and the default for the NPI number of the place of service for new clients.
WE HAVE RECEIVED MANY SUPPORT CALLS BY PEOPLE WHO ARE FINDING BOX 24J (lower portion) IS BEING FILLED OUT WITH THE INFORMATION FROM BOX 33A. If the NPI of the Billing Provider(agency) is different from the NPI of the Rendering Provider (therapist), both NPI numbers should be placed on line #40 of userdata AND IN BOX 33A OF THE ON-SCREEN INSURANCE FORM separated by a forward slash ("/"). If you do not want anything to print in lower 24J, just begin Box 33A (AND LINE 40 OF USERDATA) with a forward slash ("/") followed by your NPI#. In general all entries on the on-screen insurance form that ask for two possible pieces of data, as for instance box 17a&b (on line 61) and 32a&b (on line 110), can be filled out with both pieces of data separated by a forward slash. If no forward slash is included, the entire entry will be printed in both places. If nothing follows the slash, the place on the form that is filled out by that second piece of data will be left blank. If nothing precedes the slash, the place on the form that is filled out by that first piece of data will be left blank. The new form template will place the therapist's name in box 31 one line higher than the therapist name was printed on the old HCFA-1500. IF YOUR COPY OF MAGIC WAS PURCHASED OR DOWNLOADED PRIOR TO APRIL in 2007, you may need to download an updated copy in order to for the instructions in this paragraph to work (call Cornucopia)
The MAGIC on-Screen insurance form will look the same as when you were filling out HCFA-1500 forms (if you ever were). The "CMS1500.FRM" template will automatically place a zero in box 29, as our HCFA-1500 template has been doing for years. You can alternatively select "CMSALT", which will cause MAGIC to calculate the copay for the visits being billed and place that number in box 29. In the case of MAC, you will need to copy the two files, "CMS1500.FRM" and "CMSALT.FRM" from the folder created when you unstuff the downloaded file to the INFO subfolder in your MAGIC folder residing on your desktop. (The files will be copied automatically for Windows, although NO PROMPT WILL BE DISPLAYED THAT THE TEMPLATES ARE NOW SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED).
NPI: Before using the CMS-1500 forms, you will need to enter your and National Provider Identification ("NPI") number. Do this by selecting "User data" from the EDIT menu. Scroll down and click on line 40 and enter your NPI on that line (see above if your Billing NPI is not the same as your Rendering NPI). If you have a separate National Provider Identificationspace for your place of service, you can enter that on line 41.
PINs: If an insurance company requires that you use a specific provider number, like a PIN, authorized by that company and distinct from the NPI, input that number on line 50 and line 110 of the CLIENT information file for that particular client (also accessed from the edit menu). (see above if your Billing PIN is not the same as your Rendering PIN) Information for both Primary and Secondary insurance can be entered on line 50, separated by a backslash. Line 51 should be empty unless you want something to print into box 19 (some insurance companies are asking for the taxonomy number to go there) The "ID Qualifier" number that is required for non-NPI identification numbers should come before the actual identification number, and be followed by several spaces. Some examples of "ID Qualifier" numbers can be found in the user manual connected to this website. Simply click on "online manuals" on the left side of this web-page, and then utilize the "find" or "search" function of your web browser to locate the first instance of "ID Qualifier" in the manual. The "find" or "search" function is usually accessed by control-F or control-S. On line #109 of the client information file, if required, you should enter the NPI of the Place of Service; this is not the same as the Provider NPI! 109 can also handle the other I.D. of the place of service by putting both on line 109 separated by a forward slash. If you want 32a and 32b to be blank, you will need to delete the information on line 109. If you do not want 32b filled out, be sure that line 109 ends with a forward slash.
Switching from HCFA-1500 to CMS-1500: Then to utilize the CMS templates, for any given client, highlight an appointment of that client on the MAGIC calendar, or click on an open appointment slot, and select "Client Info on HCFA" (or "Client Info on CMS-1500" if you have a later version of MAGIC) from the Edit Menu, scroll to the bottom of the on-screen insurance form, and then change the letters "HCFA" in the box labeled "MAGIC Insurance Form Template" to "CMS" so that instead of reading "HCFA1500," for instance, it would read "CMS1500". NOTE THAT CHANGING THE INSURANCE FORM TEMPLATE TO CMS1500 DOES NOT CHANGE THE ON-SCREEN INSURANCE FORM. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL OR CALL US TO SAY THAT CHANGING THE TEMPLATE DOES NOT CHANGE THE FORM UNTIL YOU HAVE ACTUALLY TRIED PRINTING A FORM.
PINs: If an insurance company requires that you use a specific provider number, like a PIN, authorized by that company and distinct from the NPI, input that number on line 50 of the CLIENT information file for that particular client (also accessed from the edit menu). The "ID Qualifier" number that is required for non-NPI identification numbers should precede the actual identification number, and be followed by several spaces and then the ID number itself. Here are examples of "ID Qualifier" numbers you may need to use:
0B State License Number.
1B Blue Shield Provider Number.
1C Medicare Provider Number
1D Medicaid Provider Number.
1G Provider UPIN Number
1H CHAMPAS Identification Number.
EI Employer's Identification Number.
G2 Provider Commercial Number
LU Location Number.
N5 Provider Plan Network Identification Number
SY Social Security Number.
X5 State Industrial Accident Provider Number.
ZZ Provider Taxonomy
Box 29: With the old HCFA-1500, box 29 was obsolete and unused for years. With the CMS-1500, for reasons beyond our abilities to comprehend, this box has been reactivated. Since Practice MAGIC keeps a running balance of charges and payments, and does not associate each payment with a specific service, the program can not calculate box 29 accurately. Those practitioners who feel compelled to place an accurate number in box 29, will need to settle for the calculated copay on the relevant visits to be placed in box #29 as "amount paid." For newer versions of Practice Magic, by clicking "no" to the question in box 29 on the on-screen cms-1500, you will instruct MAGIC to change the insurance template from "CMS1500" to "CMSALT" which will calculate the copay for the visits being billed and place that number in box 29. For older versions, you will need to change the name of the insurance form template yourself. Note that neither we nor any of our customers have ever encountered an insurance company that had any interest in knowing how much of the client's copay had been collected to date.
Shortcomings of CMS-1500 Template, when run without program update:
Diagnosis Designators: 2007 versions of practice magic will handle diagnosis designators in box 24E as required by the CMS-1500 directions; namely, the numbers, must have no punctuation or spaces between them. Older versions of Practice MAGIC not updated for the CMS-1500, however, will continue to place, as between the diagnosis designator numbers, even when using the CMS-1500 templates.
One too many PINs: In most cases you will not be using a separate, insurance company assigned PIN number; your NPI will be the only ID# required. If you do, however, assign a PIN number for a particular client, that PIN number will print above the NPI number on each visit line in which there is a visit. Unfortunately, unless you are running a version of Practice MAGIC that is customized to the CMS form, an extra PIN# will also print on the first visit line that is blank. This probably won't be a problem, and it will not occur if no PIN# is assigned or if there are six visits being billed on the particular form.
Please note: The old form required three lines of printing in a one-inch space. The new form requires printing accurately six lines in a 1 inch area in order to accommodate the national provider identifier, which appears redundantly in many places throughout the form. We anticipate that some of our users will experience difficulty aligning the software and their printer to this form. Other than for new owners of practice magic, we will charge for assistance in aligning your printer a minimum of $39.95. See instructions in this manual for the first time you print on a form or PRINTER NOTES in this manual if you would like to do it yourself.
CHANGE This menu allows you to change information you have entered for a client/patient. Click on the client/patient whose data you would like to change and access the CHANGE menu or click on a time when no one is scheduled and access the CHANGE menu. If no one is scheduled, you will be asked the name or client/patient code of the client/patient whose information you would like to change.
"Name" To change the name of the client/patient, click on the "Name" option. You will be prompted to enter the correct initials and press <RETURN>. You may enter any initials. WARNING: This function will not check to make sure that the initials you give are in your client/patient list. The change will not be made in the client/patient list. Previous appointments and deposits will not be recognized when you do billings.
"Time" To change the time, use the "Time" option. This would not be used to move the appointment to a different day on the calendar, but would be used to change the time from 1:00 to 1:30 or 7:00 to 9:00 on the same day, for example.
"Irreg. Appointment" To change the frequency with which the client/patient is seen, click on the "Frequency" option. Click on the number of times per week the client/patient will be seen or Click on BIWEEKLY or TEMP, if it is a temporary appointment, one which does not reoccur regularly at the same time each week. Another way to change an appointment to temporary is to drag the mouse to "Irreg Appt" on the CHANGE menu. An alternate way to switch from temporary to "regular weekly" is to drag the mouse to "Reg weekly appt" on the CHANGE menu.
"Procedure" To change the client/patient's procedure code, click on "Procedure". You will be given different options for the type of procedure. Click on the letter of the correct procedure or type in the procedure number. If you select "J: user-defined," you will be offered seven choices, the first being the user-defined procedure designated on line #47 of the client information file (listed in the dialog box as "Indiv. user def'd"), and the other six being the procedures you defined on lines 59 through 64 of your user information list.
If the procedure for this
session is not one of the nine procedures listed in the initial menu, and it is not one of
the 7 user-defined procedures, you can type the five digit number of the procedure at the
"change procedure" menu. If you wish to use a descriptive designation of the
procedure without a number, you can do this by typing a space followed by the description.
You can designate the fee for that procedure by following the number or description with
an "@" followed by the fee, for instance "Parents with oldest
child@90." If you do not include the fee on this line, MAGIC will ask you the fee.
"Visit #" To change the visit number, click on "Visit #". Visit numbers are normally handled automatically so that this function is rarely used.
"Comment (all sess.)" To change or add
to the comment, use either "Comment (1x)" or "Comment (all sess.)"
depending on whether you want the comment for the current session or whether you want it
to appear for all sessions.
Print allows you to print the client/patient telephone list, statements, insurance forms, accounts payable, envelopes, labels, and/or the calendar. Before printing, be sure that you have informed MAGIC about the type of printer that you have. In the User Information file that you can access from the EDIT menu you are asked to give the "code" for your printer. The answer to this question should be "2" if you are using an Imagewriter printer and probably 3 if you are using any other printer. If your answer is "3" and you print a calendar or statement, the print is unlikely to turn out to be the desired size of 6 lines per inch and 10 characters per inch. To print onto preprinted forms like the HCFA1500 the printer's output must conform to these specifications. This problem is automatically solved by MAGIC for Imagewriter printers, however if you are using another printer (code "3") you mayl need to change the proportions of the output of the printer by selecting the last option in the PRINT menu, "Set Print Scaling." This utility is run automatically when you first run Practice MAGIC and it is usually not necessary to run it ever again, unless you install a new printer.
NOTE: If when you print you
get an "insufficient memory" error message, you do not have enough RAM to print
without using BACKGROUND PRINTING. To correct this problem, when the PrintMonitor or PRINT
Dialog box appears select background printing (For some printers this is not the default.)
"Client/Patient List." This will print all your clients/patients in approximate alphabetical order with their phone numbers.
"Statement(s)." To print statements for clients: If you have selected a number of clients using the SELECT function in the SPECIAL menu statements for all of these will be printed when "Statement(s)" is selected. Otherwise, a statement will be printed for the client whose appointment is presently highlighted. If no one is selected and you have clicked on a blank appointment slot, the program will ask for whom the statement is to be printed. This is particularly useful if you are reprinting a statement of a client who has not been scheduled on your calendar recently. The default ending date for a statement is the date the cursor is on. For each client, the default beginning date for a statement is the first date after the last statement was printed and saved. If more than one client is selected, the location of the cursor when the PRINT menu is accessed will determine the default end date for all.
Note: Practice MAGIC offers you the option of updating client financial records whenever a new statement is displayed or printed. The "Beginning Balance" reflected in the client statement is the balance at the end of the last statement for which UPDATE was requested. MAGIC does not automatically update a client's financial information at the time a deposit is recorded. The deposit is not reflected until the next statement or receivables report or $ status report is generated.
Select FONTS and font SIZE: To select a printer font (for printers other than the ImageWriter), select USER DATA from the EDIT menu and when the user information screen appears, scroll down to line #57. (Each time you click on a line, the line number will appear at the top of the screen.) Line 57 offers you 6 print fonts. Selecting any of them other than "Generic" will activate a high quality print routine. Statements will print in the font you selected and HCFA1500 forms will be filled out in a high definition Courier font. You can specify the point size of the font that you would like printed on the heading lines of statements by beginning lines one through six of the USER DATA with a looping bracket, the point size you want for that line, and a closing looping bracket. For instance: {18} would produce an 18 point font.
Statement Format Options: Statements normally print with the therapist's name, two lines of professional information, address and phone number at the top center of the page followed some lines later by the client/patient information at the left of the page. If the therapist opts to use preprinted stationery and so indicates in the USERDATA file (by selecting USER DATA on the EDIT menu), the therapist's information will not be printed at the top of the page and instead the indicated amount of space is skipped to allow for the preprinted letterhead. The user is also asked in USERDATA to indicate if he or she intends to send out statements in window envelopes. If so, indicate the number of inches from the left edge of the paper that you want the client/patient name and address to be printed so that it will fit in the addressee window of the envelop. This number will be used as well to position the insurance company address that is printed at the top of all insurance forms. If any non-zero number is typed in response to this question, Practice MAGIC will assume that the statement is to be sent in a window envelope and will alter the position of the addressee accordingly. In addition, the therapist's name, professional information, and phone number will be omitted. Only his or her address will be printed, and this will appear at the left margin of the page (about an inch from the edge of the page). In this case, the therapist's name and professional information will appear instead at the bottom of the statement.
One of the option prompts MAGIC offers you before you indicate the beginning and ending dates of a statement is to "omit payment list." If you choose this option, the list of checks you have received and deposited for this client will not be printed on the statement.
Bill to: You will notice that the phrase "Bill to" appears on some statements instead of "Client:". This occurs when the information on line 1 of the client information does not correspond exactly to the information on line 14. The only difference should be that one is last name first and the other is first name first. If the two lines do not correspond exactly, MAGIC assumes that the client on line 14 and the responsible party on line 1 are different people so the program prints the statement billing the responsible party and using the information contained in the two lines labeled "miscellaneous information #3" and "miscellaneous information #4" as the address for the responsible party. If "Bill to" is appearing and you do not wish it to appear, check the client information file and make these two lines correspond exactly, which is what they will do automatically when you set up a new client file. If you do not alter one of these lines after the client is first introduced to MAGIC you should not see "Bill to" on your statements. If MAGIC finds "consultation" or any other procedure that is not a CPT code in the user-defined procedure in a client's information file (line 48), it assumes that the services are being provided to someone who is not a client, so neither "Client:" nor "Bill to:" are printed on the statement.
Correcting Financial Info or Previously Generated Statements: Statements that were printed and saved ("updated") with errors must be corrected in order for the client's financial record to be accurate. When printing a statement or displaying an on-screen financial status report for a client/patient, MAGIC displays a list of the beginning dates of previously saved statements or reports. If you click OK, MAGIC will use the fee and balance information currently in the client's file in generating the next statement. If instead you select one of these previous beginning dates as the beginning date for the statement you are now printing, MAGIC will offer you the option of using the fee structure for this client originally used in generating that statement (Default) or to use the fee structure currently in the client's information file. Regardless of which option you select, any changes you have made to your deposit record or appointment information for the period of this statement will be reflected in the new statement. (If you are trying to change a fee that was charged, first edit the fee schedule in the client's information file and then when you get the above prompt instruct MAGIC to use the "current" fee schedule.) The default ending date for a statement when you've selected a beginning date from a previous statement will be the ending date of that previous statement.
Selecting the default ending date for the statement you are now regenerating will ensure that the statement period for this statement will exactly match that of the statement you originally generated with this beginning date. If, however, you select a different ending date and there were originally more than one statement generated during the period of the statement you are now printing, and there were fee or copay changes in any of those statement periods, these changes will be reflected in the statement you are now generating; however, in this case, you will not be offered the option of saving the new results. If there are no fee or copay changes you will be offered the option of updating the client's information file. If you opt to update the file, the statement you have just generated will be treated as the last statement generated for this client, so that the default for the next statement you generate for this client will be where that one leaves off. Unless you accept the default, MAGIC will not permit you to save ("update") any changes you are making to this statement. In that event, to make the client's financial data current, you will need to regenerate subsequent statements for this client through the present.
If fee changes occurred and you are not permitted to update the client information file from the present statement, you should regenerate the statement selecting the same beginning date but using the default ending date. Then choose the option to update the client's information file, make any fee changes necessary to the client's information file, and regenerate subsequent statements.
If you choose any other beginning date for your statement other than the ones that are suggested, the program will warn you that changing the beginning time of the statement will cause some financial data to be inaccurate, and that it will temporarily erase all financial history for this client/patient generated subsequent to that date. This temporary erasure will become permanent if you respond "Yes" to the question about updating financial information for this client/patient. (Although the results would be unpredictable and certainly inaccurate you can cause the history to be left intact by clicking on <CANC> in response to the warning message).
Customized Messages on Statements: On line #117 of the client/patient information file you can now include a message that will appear on the statements Practice MAGIC prints. For emphasis and clarity, we have also added a printed line of information to appear on statements after the account aging information that simply reads "Amount now due from Client: " or "from Patient: ." This "Amount now due" line can be suppressed, if you wish, by beginning line #117 with a reverse slash. The customized message from line #117, if you designate one, will appear immediately under the "Amount now due" statement line. Line #118 in the client file can contain a dunning message if you wish. This message will replace the above message automatically on statements if an account is more than 30 days behind in payment. If you want a different message for accounts that are 60 and 90 days overdue, you can specify a second dunning message by placing it after the first message on line #118 and separating the two messages with a reverse backslash. If line #118 begins with a reverse backslash, the message on line #117 will be printed until the account is 60 or 90 days overdue. The default for these messages (lines #117 and #118 of the client information files) can be specified on lines #65 and #66 respectively of the User Data File. To specify two dunning messages, place them both on the same line (#118 or #66) separated by a backslash.
Update Client $ Information: You
will be asked before MAGIC begins printing if you want to update the financial information
for this client. If you answer positively to this question the program will record the
financial information resulting from the present billing as well as the last appointment
and deposit dates considered in the present billing; future billings will begin
automatically where the present billing leaves off. If you answer negatively, none of the
above information will be altered. When you print statement for more than one statement
period, you will not be given the option of saving (updating) any changes.
NOTE: The program records information from each time the client/patient financial information is updated. If you want a full 90 day aging to appear on statements, you should plan on generating statements no more often than monthly.
"Statements for all." To print statements for all clients. A statement will be generated for only those clients/patients you have seen, who have a balance owing, or whose payments need to be updated. To interrupt this process (abort printing) before it is completed, press the <ESC> key.
"Fill out insur. form." Fills out insurance forms for all clients, if any, previously selected using the SELECT function in the SPECIAL menu. If no clients were selected in this way, a form will be filled out for the client whose appointment is darkened, or if this appointment slot is blank MAGIC will ask you to designate a client/patient. If you are printing with a laser printer directly onto an insurance form, be sure to remove any perforated tabs, so that the form will be a true 8.5 by 11 inches. Otherwise, the printer may be unable to fill out the entire form. Independent of the type of form, MAGIC will print the name of the insurance company in the top inch of the form so that if you are printing batches of forms with envelopes or labels it will be clear to which label each form belongs. The default position for the insurance company name and adderss is four inches from the left edge of the paper, however, if you have window envelops and want the address to fit into the window, you can fill out line #22 of the user information file with the exact indent that you would like for your window envelops. This indent setting will apply to both CMS-1500 forms and to statements. To interrupt this process before it is completed (abort printing), press the <ESC> key.
Practice MAGIC is capable of filling out a variety of insurance forms. Each form is represented on your MAGIC disk by a file (template) which tells MAGIC where to put information on the form. We are continually adding new insurance form templates to Practice MAGIC. These templates are identified by ".frm" appearing at the end of their file names. These include a number of HCFA1500 templates (HCFAalt, HCFAalt2, etc.), two that always fill box 29 with a "0" and two that put in the copay that was due from the client/patient on the visits listed on the form. Forms containing an ampersand ("&") in their name, like HCFA150& use a slash as a separator for visit dates when they are printed on the form. You will probably never need to use any of the HCFA1500 form templates other than HCFA1500.frm in your work with MAGIC, however you may want to experiment with the others to see the differences. (Planned addition) To fill out a CMS-1500 without dates, given an ending date of "00/00/00."
In preparation for the year 2000, HCFA began requiring the dates in box 24 on the CMS-1500 to be printed as a single eight digit number of the form "mmddyyyy" with no separations between month day and year. Practice MAGIC now prints in this format in box 24 (unless you place a "^" before the name of the insurance form on line #101 of the client information. - i.e. "^CMS-1500"). You can still, at your option, type a two or four digit year in the various boxes that ask for dates. If you give a four digit year, MAGIC will print the date in the new eight digit format. If you give a four digit year, MAGIC will print it in the traditional format. If you utilize the four digit year anywhere on the form, MAGIC will use the new format in the signature box (box #31) when it prints the current date.
Some of the insurance forms call for information that is not specifically requested by MAGIC in the client/patient data screen. To accommodate peculiarities of different forms, four numbered "Miscellaneous" data lines have been added to the client/patient data screen. When you print an insurance form, if the program prints "Misc #1" in a box, the information called for by that box should be placed on the MAGIC client data line labeled "Miscellaneous Data #1" and similarly for #2, #3 and #4.
For each client/patient the default insurance form is the HCFA1500, however you can specify in the client data file any other insurance form that MAGIC can fill out. If you have "selected" a number of client/patients, and then chosen "Fill out ins form" MAGIC will fill out the insurance forms for each of these client/patients in turn. If MAGIC needs an insurance form fed into the printer that is other than the HCFA1500 it will stop and prompt you to insert that insurance form.
"Fill out insur. form for all." To fill out insurance forms for all clients/patients. To interrupt this process (abort printing) before it is completed, press the <ESC> key.
"Check $ status." Checks the services rendered and the status of all payments by the clients/patients previously selected. This is equivalent to printing a statement for the client/patient(s) however all information is displayed on the screen instead of printed. It will check their previous balance, see how many appointments they have been seen, and see what payments have been made by them. Those clients who have a balance owing will be printed.
"Receivables Report (for all)." Prints a summary of the financial situation and activity for a particular period for all active clients/patients or just those whose payments are not current. Amounts due from Insurance companies are also indicated.
To Report on all clients or patients with a particular insurance company: To check the status or print statements or forms for all clients currently being seen who have a particular insurance company, select an empty appointment hour, click on the Print menu and drag to Check $ Status. MAGIC will inform you that no client has been selected and will ask you to input the client code or last name of the client. Type the code of the insurance company you are interested in (beginning with "@") and click "OK." Then proceed just as if you were checking a client's payment status or printing a statement or form.
"Address Envelopes/Labels." To print envelopes or labels for clients/patients previously selected. If your envelopes do not have preprinted return addresses, you can indicate in the user file that you want return addresses printed (the 11th question). MAGIC provides for printing addresses onto envelopes directly or onto one inch labels, either one or three across. This is the twenty-first item in the userdata file. It can be accomplished by responding to a prompt at the end of the statement printing process, or by selecting the "Address Envelopes" option from the PRINT menu.
While most laser printers take envelopes lengthwise from the right side of the paper tray, some laser printers take them lengthwise from the center of the tray; for these it is necessary to place the letters M after the 3 on line # 25 of the USERDATA information so that the line will read 3M. If your printer takes envelopes from the left side of the tray place L after the 3 so the line reads 3L. Normally, MAGIC will stop and prompt you before each envelope is printed so that you can select Landscape mode by clicking on the icon that represents the piece of paper turned sideways. Clicking on this causes the printer to print in landscape mode which is necessary if envelopes are fed lengthwise. Placing an S after the 3 so that line #25 reads 3S will cause the program NOT to prompt before each envelope is printed (If your envelopes feed across like short sheets of paper and you do not need to be prompted). Placing P after the 3 on this line will cause the printer to prompt you with the printmonitor or print dialog box before any sheet of paper or envelope is printed so that you can select the paper tray you wish to print it from.
"Calendar: 1 Sheet." Prints out the week displayed on the screen on a single sheet of paper.
"Calendar: 1 Week." The format of single or multiple week calendars is designed so that by stapling along the middle line and cutting along the outside dotted lines you can create a multi-page calendar of a size of your choice that can be used as a substitute insert for the calendar you have been using in the past (for instance, DAYTIMER).
Calendar Print Options: If you specify a calendar page size that is larger than 3.9 inches in width, MAGIC will now leave a one inch margin on the left side of the page for those practitioners who keep a looseleaf calendar and need room to punch holes. In addition, if the width is specified as larger than 4 inches, MAGIC will automatically shift print formats so that calendar pages will be printed one-to-a-sheet rather than the two-to-a-sheet format that allows for saddle stitch stapling into booklet form.
"Calendar: 4 Week." Same format as above. Prints out the week before the current week displayed on the screen, the previous week, and the following two weeks.
Preparing Daytimer Insert: 1 and 4 week calendars can be adjusted to any page size by editing the calendar height and width in the "userdata" options (EDIT menu). When it prints, each sheet will print as a double page with a border that must be cut. There will be a center line to staple on so that the sheets can be assembled and bound together in "saddle stitch" fashion. There will always be one or two blank sheets at the back of the calendar for inserting into the pocket of the Daytimer wallet.
"Alert Summary" Prints to the printer a list of the Alerts scheduled for all clients seen within the past four weeks of the selected appointment.
"Set Print Scaling" Adjusts the margins, print size and spacing of non-ImageWriter printers so that printing on forms will be accurate. When you select this option, your printer will print two boxes, and a horizontal and vertical line on a piece of paper. You will be asked by MAGIC to measure the distances to the top and side of the printed page of the two black boxes, and the lengths of the two lines, and report these measurements in inches as a decimal or fraction. "2.5" or "5/2," for instance, both mean "two and a half inches." MAGIC will then use that information to adjust the printer output. If the print spacing is correct on one part of the page but gradually further off the further away from that spot you look, simply repeat this process, adsusting the line length until it is exactly accurate. The horizontal and vertical positioning can be adjusted by editing lines 18 and 20 of the USER DATA (accessed from the EDIT menu). Increasing the minimum top margin causes the print output to be higher on the page. Increasing the minimum left margin causes the print output to be further to the right on the page.
Appointments can be canceled in several different ways. Begin by placing the cursor on the appointment to be canceled. The use one of the following three functions:
"Canc/No Show" "To cancel an appointment and charge the client/patient, click on "Canc/No Show." After using this option, you will be asked whether there is a charge associated with the cancellation. Click <1> for no charge, <2> for normal charge, or <3> for reduced charge. If you click <3>, you will be asked the amount of the charge. As with the "Skip" option, this appointment will automatically be rescheduled for the following week if it is a weekly appointment. See "Skip" (below) for methods of canceling an appointment without automatically rescheduling it for the following week.
"Skip (No Charge)" To cancel an appointment without charging, click on "Skip." When this option is chosen, a client/patient who is seen weekly will automatically be rescheduled for the customary time the following week. If you do not want this appointment scheduled for the following week, change it to "Irreg" (from the CHANGE menu) before "Skipping" it or "Move Perm" or "Cancel/Terminate" it (see below). Clicking on an appointment that is already scheduled and pressing <DEL> has the same effect as the SKIP function. Clicking on an appointment that is already scheduled and overwriting it with another appointment will also cause the original appointment to be eliminated, and if it was WEEKLY it will be automatically rescheduled for the following week unless it is visit #1. The newly written appointment will replace the appointment that it overwrites.
"Cancel/Terminate" This option is used when you will no longer be seeing this client/patient in this time slot. If the client's time slot is simply being changed, use the "move" option. If the client/patient is entered at a date following the date on which you terminate him, you will receive a warning. If your intention is to cancel rather than terminate him there is no problem; otherwise you will need to terminate him at this later date also.
If you are scheduling clients/patients as "Regular Weekly," you will find "Cancel/Terminate" to be a convenient command to prevent appointments from being automatically scheduled for the following weeks. It does not mean you've stopped seeing the client.
"Vacation day" To schedule a day of vacation for the therapist, place the cursor on the day and time where the vacation begins. Click "Vacat Day" in the APPT menu. "VACATION" will appear in the appointment slots for the rest of that day. To schedule a vacation for a week, do the same thing for each day of that week. All appointments will be canceled during that day from the selected appointment time until the end of the day. Selecting "Canc Vacat" when an appointment time has been clicked on that reads "Vacation" will cancel the vacation hours scheduled for that day from the selected appointment time until the end of the day.
"Move (perm)" and "Resched (temp)" These options are used to change an appointment time. To move or reschedule an appointment, click on the appointment you wish to move. Use "move" if the change is permanent or "resched" if the client/patient's appointment will be changed only for the current week. When MAGIC makes a temporary reschedule, it simultaneously schedules the client/patient for the following week at his customary time. If you do not want it forwarded, terminate the client/patient. Move the cursor to the new location for that appointment and click. The appointment will be placed in that time period.
When a time slot displays "permanent moved" or "terminated" at the bottom of the screen, any weekly appointment that is filled in for that slot for the week before will not be automatically carried forward and scheduled in subsequent weeks.
An alternative way to move or reschedule an appointment is to point the cursor at the space to the left of the appointment (the area between two columns of appointments), press the mouse button and drag the appointment until the mouse arrow points within the desired appointment slot for the rescheduled or moved appointment..
"Set
alert" This function can be used to notify the therapist when a final
appointment is for a specific client/patient or when the therapist needs to prepare a
report for the client/patient's insurance company. To set an alert, place the cursor on
the client/patient you wish to be alerted for. If it is not the last scheduled appointment
for this client/patient, you will get a message at the bottom of the screen saying you
must set the alert at the last scheduled appointment. If it is the last scheduled
appointment, you will need to input the session number (preceded by "#") or date
(mm/dd/yy) for which you want to be alerted. If you want to indicate both a session number
and a date so that you will be alerted whichever one comes first, do so by typing in the
session number and date separated by a space or backslash (\). You will also be prompted
to add a note explaining the alert. When the designated session number is scheduled or an
appointment is scheduled past the designated date, the computer will beep and provide you
with a reminder message. Clicking <CANC> on the "Alert" dialogue box will
take you back to the calendar and no action will have been taken. Any other option
automatically cancels any ALERT that may have been previously scheduled for that
client/patient.
"Cancel alert" To cancel an alert, place the cursor on the client/patient the alert is scheduled for and click "cancel alert" in the SPECIAL menu.
"List all Alerts" Displays a list of the Alerts scheduled for all clients seen within the past four weeks of the selected appointment.
"Select" Use this function to select one or more clients/patients for whom you wish to print statements, check on payments, or print envelopes. Place the cursor on an appointment of the client/patient you wish to select and click "select." (command E) The code(s) for the client/patient(s) selected will appear in a list at the bottom of the screen. You can then go into the PRINT menu and use any of the options offered. All clients/patients selected will be processed by the PRINT function you select.
"Unselect" To unselect a client/patient, you can place the cursor on an appointment of the client/patient that has already been selected and click "unselect." This option will only be available when the client/patient has previously been selected.
"Unselect all" Unselects all clients/patients previously selected by using "select."
"Deposit Checks:" Filling out a deposit slip is the way you record a client payment in MAGIC. Combining these two operations in this way saves you the trouble of recording client payments twice, once on a ledger and the second time when you fill out a bank slip to deposit the check. When you select the "Deposit Checks" optioin, a new menu screen will appear with the following options:
<I> to Input checks for deposit. Pressing or clicking <I> allows you to enter any checks you may have for deposit. Clinical, non-clinical, and insurance checks may be deposited together as well as cash, as they are indicated differently. You will be prompted for the amount of the check. Input the amount, followed by <RETURN>. You will then be asked for the Payor. If the check is from a client/patient, you can enter the last name of the client/patient, the client/patient code (as you use in the calendar), or an abbreviation of the last name followed by a period (the first three or four letters, for example). Press <RETURN> to end this entry.
You should not use this option if you have already entered and saved a checking deposit for the same day for which you are currently depositing. If you want to record an additional check(s) for the same day, you would first need to click <R> from the Check Deposits menu and RETRIEVE the deposit you already saved for that day and then <A> to add the additonal check(s). If you don't first retrieve the saved deposit and you attempt to save the new checks separately under the same date as the original deposit, MAGIC will warn you that you are about to replace the earlier deposit with the new one, and if you choose to procede the earlier deposit information will be lost.
Entering Different types of checks:
If the check is non-clinical, start the Payor entry with a period, followed by the payor.
If the check is from an insurance company, start the Payor entry with "@", followed by the name of the company or an abbreviation you wish to use. You will be asked how many clients/patients this check is for. If it is for just one client/patient, enter the name (or initials) of the client/patient when prompted. If it is for more than one client/patient, you will be asked the amount of the check that is for each client/patient and then the name of the client/patient associated with each amount. This will insure proper credit to each client/patient on their statements.
If you are depositing cash, enter the amount as usual, but begin the Payor entry with "$", followed by the client/patient code. Unless you have indicated "Y" in the User Data file next to the question about including cash in bank deposits, these entries will not be include, and if exported to a check writing program like Quicken, the cash amounts will not be calculated into the deposit total.
Credit Adjustments: The option to place a credit "adjustment" (to a client/patient's balance) in a deposit by putting a plus sign ("+") before the name or code of the client/patient (payor) is for those clinicians who wish to maintain the same fee schedule for all their client/patients. In this way, a client/patient who does not pay the full fee can be billed at the full fee and then given a credit adjustment. The credit adjustment does not appear on a deposit slip and is not counted as income in deposit TOTAL displays or in the program that prints the end of year report of deposits, however it does appear as a credit on the client/patient's statements.
To input an adjustment for an insurance company, when you are doing a deposit, begin the "Payor" line with "+" just like you would an adjustment for a client and then type the code for the insurance company, usually four characters beginning with "@". The program will then ask for the name of the client or patient to be credited with this insurance
To complete the deposit, enter zero as the amount of the next check. You will be returned to the deposit menu.
<A> to enter Additional
checks. If you have already entered and saved your deposit, you can add additional
checks to this deposit by pressing <A>. You will be asked for the amount and Payor.
Enter zero as the final amount to be returned to the menu.
<E> to Edit check entries. This feature will allow you to change the amount of a check or the name of a check if you have made a mistake. After pressing <E> you will see a list of amounts and payers from your current deposit. Using the arrow keys move the cursor to the line you wish to edit. When you are done editing the amount, press <RETURN> to edit the comment.(Click on the part of the line to edit.) The symbols that appear in the right side of the screen for insurance checks are codes that indicate to MAGIC which company is paying and how much is being paid for which client/patients. Changing this information could cause payments to be inaccurately credited. Use the close box or FILES Menu when you have completed editing.
<P> to Print and total listing. Pressing <P> will print the current deposit with the amounts and names of each check, followed by the total of all checks. Unless otherwise directed, MAGIC will omit cash receipts from this listing.
<T> to Total non-professional checks separately. Pressing <T> will print the clinical and nonclinical checks separately, showing the amounts and names of each check. Both the clinical and nonclinical checks will be totalled separately, and there will be an overall total as well.
<C>
to edit Client List. See the description of this function
in the EDIT menu under Client/Patient List.
<D> to print a Deposit slip. Pressing <D> prints the deposit information including your name and account number, followed by a listing and total of the checks. Unless indicated otherwise in the USER DATA information file, cash receipts will be skipped on this listing.
<S> to Save deposit information. The file to which it will be saved will be identified by date. The default will be the present date. For example, on December 12, 1994, if you wish to save a file using the default, you would respond to the date dialog box by simply clicking on "OK" and the date 12/12/94 would be used as the deposit date.
If you use Quicken or one of many other money management programs that can import information from Quicken, you can indicate at the appropriate prompt in your USER DATA the path of the folder or subdirectory containing your Quicken or money manager files, and Practice MAGIC will automatically write a file called MAGICDEP.QIF to that directory every time you save checking deposit information in Practice MAGIC. This file will of course be overwritten with new information the next time a MAGIC deposit is saved.
In inputting deposit information in MAGIC for checks representing non-clinical income, place a period at the beginning of the "payor" information line (as described above). Placing a colon (":") in that line after the name of the payor will cause the rest of the line to be placed in the Quicken "description" space for that check, while everything before the colon will be considered a subcategory of the category "Non-clin" representing all non-clinical check income.
To import this deposit information into Quicken, use the IMPORT function in Quicken's first (left-most) pull-down menu. (For MAC this is in the first pull-down menu. If you have not instructed MAGIC to place the MAGICDEP.QIF file onto the Quicken subdirectory or folder, you will have to indicate to Quicken where to find the MAGICDEP file.
If you are importing from another money manager program other than Quicken, that program must have the capability of importing information from Quicken. Most popular money management programs do have that capability. Since MAGICDEP.QIF is identical in format to a file that would be produced by Quicken for export to another program, simply follow the instructions given by the manual of your money management program for importing information FROM Quicken.
WARNING: If two deposits are saved before exporting the information, the second save will cause the first MAGICDEP.QIF file to be overwritten with the information from the second deposit. If, after importing the second deposit information to Quicken, you wish to import the first deposit as well, you must return to MAGIC, retrieve that deposit data and save it again before importing.
<R> to Retrieve a deposit file from disk. If you want to edit or delete a deposit file that has already been created use <R> to retrieve the file you want. You will be asked if you want a directory. The current date is the default date.
Use the FILES menu or close box to return to the calendar. If you have deposit data that has not been saved you will be asked if you want to save it.
This item on your DEPOSIT menu will generate a sorted and subtotaled summary of all your deposits for a designated period in any given year sorted by payor and totalled, with subtotals for each payor. You can sort by actual payor so that all payments from each insurance company are grouped together, or you can sort by client/patient. To print a report of earnings, select "Income Report" from the "Deposit" menu and then click on "Generate Report" Follow the prompts. The program asks you for the year of the data to be reported. Then you will be prompted to input the numbers of the beginning and ending months you wish the report to cover. If you want a single month's income, answer the prompt for the ending month with the same response that you did for the starting month. For instance May would be "5-5". When MAGIC finishes generating the report you will be instructed to "Press <RETURN>." After you do this, click on OK to view the report you have just generated and then, if you wish, select PRINT from the FILE menu to print the report. To return to MAGIC's calendar screen, select "Return to Calendar" from the FILE menu and finally click on <Return to Calendar>.
Only the first 4 characters of the payor's name are considered for sorting purposes. The receipts from each client will be separately subtotaled. The is also written to disk in the form of a text file named "DEPOSITS.##" where ## represents the last two digits of the subject year of the report. The report is in a simple text (ASCII) format that can be loaded by any popular word processor and edited .
PROGRAM CAPACITIES AND LIMITATIONS:
The program requires that the Macintosh have a minimum of five million bytes available in internal memory (RAM) after the operating system (Finder) is loaded in order to operate. (An older version of the program is available that requires only one million bytes of RAM. For practical purposes, this mean s that the computer must have at least two million bytes of internal memory in order to accommodate the operating system and Practice MAGIC together.) Practice MAGIC can be customized to fill out nearly any insurance form. It allows up to 2000 deposit items per billing period; the length of billing period is determined by user. It accepts 660 active clients/patients and it normally will not work past a preset date without an update. To include more than 660 clients, you need to delete some inactive clients from your client/patient list using the "Edit Client List" item on the EDIT menu. Client information files for inactive clients are maintained in the MAGIC INFO folder under the name of the clients code followed by ".pat" until you reuse that client code and then the information file is renamed to the first initial of the first name followed by a "-" and then the first five letters of the client's last name and a numeral and ".pat". For instance, "S-Freud0.pat"
Appendix A
PRACTICE MAGIC TUTORIAL SESSION
(for Macintosh)
Although Practice MAGIC is menu driven and simple to use even for those with very little computer experience, the following tutorial may be helpful because it will give you a sense of the logic behind the program and it will give you the confidence that with Practice MAGIC you will be able to handle your psychotherapy billing with ease.
If you do not have a hard disk drive, make a copy of the Practice MAGIC disk by formatting a disk and then copying all of the icons from the magic disk to the new disk. (Do not work from the MAGIC disk.) Then skip to "Running Practice MAGIC."
Preparing to run MAGIC from a hard disk:
1. Put your MAGIC disk into your floppy drive.
2. Click on the icon of your MAGIC disk and drag it to the location on your hard disk display where you wish it to reside.
3. Double click on the MAGIC folder you have just created. You are now ready to run MAGIC.
Now click on the application program Practice MAGIC or Practice Magic demo, depending on which you have, to enter the program.. (If "ERROR 7" appears on your screen, you do not have enough memory available to run MAGIC; in this case, consult the section entitled "GETTING STARTED" in your Practice MAGIC Manual for possible solutions to this problem.
Before printing on a form with any printer other than an imagewriter, it is necessary to adjust the print size of MAGIC's printer output. To do this, MAGIC will automatically run a utility to "Set Printer Scaling" the first time you run the program. The utility should not need to be run again unless you get a new printer, in which case you can run it by selecting , "Set Printer Scaling" from the Practice MAGIC Calendar screen PRINT menu. .Click "OK" and "Print" respectively in the printer setup dialog boxes that appear. Your printer will print a vertical and horizontal line one page. Measure these lines carefully with a ruler. Then answer the two questions that MAGIC asks about the length of these lines. (You will need to repeat this process when you reinstall MAGIC after running this tutorial.)
The next screen you will see will give you a few instructions about entering your name and address. Click on "OK" to continue.
The screen you now see is from the USERDATA file, a file of data that MAGIC maintains about you, the user. Enter your name and address at this time. The squiggly brackets you see on each of these lines contains a designation of the font size in which each line will be printed. If you want one or two title lines to appear under your name when MAGIC prints client/patient statements, put this information on the second and third lines of the screen where you asked for "Title line #!" and "#2 Typically clinicians use these lines for their professional license information and their tax identification numbers; however, both of these lines are optional. " This file can be accessed from your MAGIC calendar at any future time by clicking on the EDIT menu and dragging to "User Data" and you can fill in the rest of your user information then. Other information in the USERDATA file includes information about your printer, information about how you wish to print return addresses on your envelopes,, your typical fees, and other questions that you will want to read through and respond to at a future time. Most of these questions, however, need not be answered now during the tutorial. You will find during this tutorial that some information will not be printed on statements and/or insurance forms because you did not yet provide it. For the purposes of this tutorial, please enter at least your name and address on lines #1, #4, and #5 of this screen (after the numbers in curly brackets), and the minimum left and top margins of your printer on lines #18 and #20. These margins are preset for you by the "Set Printer Scaling" utility that was just run. (Note that each time you click on an information line, the line number appears at the top of the screen.) There are two more screens of information that you can access by moving the scroll box at the right of the screen or clicking in the scroll bar, or pulling down the "Search" menu, however most of these need not be answered during this tutorial with the exception of line #25, the "printer type code." If you have an imagewriter printer you will need to set the "printer type code" on line 25 to 2; otherwise leave it as 3. Now select the line two lines below (line #27) by clicking on it. Enter your fee for 50 minutes of individual psychotherapy (C.P.T.90806). You might type 90 if your fee is $90. This fee information will be automatically transferred to the information file that MAGIC creates for each client/patient you schedule an appointment for at the time that the first appointment is scheduled.. More advanced users may want to indicate an adjusted fee for a particular client/patient if for instance that client/patient's managed care company will allow only a portion of your full fee. This process is explained fully later in this manual under the heading Printing a Statement, as well as in the MAGIC instruction manual under the heading, Stipulating Fee for Clinical Procedures which appears in the "Client Info" section of the portion of the manual explaining the EDIT menu.
When you have finished entering all the information you wish to in the USER DATA file, click on the close box in the top left corner of the screen or click on the FILE menu and drag to "Save Edits."
The next screen to appear will be an instruction screen that will also appear only the first time you run the program. After you have read it, click on "OK" to move on.
Scheduling an Appointment on The Calendar Screen
The next screen you will see is the calendar screen, which will be the first screen to appear when you run Practice MAGIC in the future. It contains appointment times for the current week. For this tutorial session, click on the box under today's date at 11:00 am. To enter a client, use a two digit abbreviation ("client code") for that client. For the purpose of this tutorial, move the mouse pointer to 11:00 under Fri and type JD for "John Doe." ( will be used in this tutorial to denote the RETURN key. Pressing is equivalent to clicking on "OK" after you have typed a response in a dialog box.) Instead of pressing the RETURN key you could just click on a new appointment box. You will hear a beep and at the bottom of the screen you will see a message indicating that no current clients' names match JD. Click on "OK" to indicate that "JD" is in fact the client code that you intended to type. Add this client's name to your client list now by typing Doe. To the next prompt, respond by entering the client's first name, followed by home and office telephone number(s). The telephone numbers are optional, as is the first name, but you must type at least the first letter of the client's first name in response to this prompt. Type John, 555-1111 555-2222. MAGIC will now ask you if you want to regularly bill John, his insurance company (if any), both or neither. For the purpose of this tutorial respond that you would like to bill his insurance by clicking on the box, "Insur. Forms." The next question MAGIC will ask is John Doe's $ balance (money he owes you) as of the end of the day before his first appointment in MAGIC's calendar. If John were an ongoing client that you were now entering into MAGIC, you would need to calculate John's balance as of that date so that MAGIC could accurately continue his billing. (Be sure to count all payments John has made up until that date, and record all payments for John after that date in MAGIC by using the deposit function in the DEPOSIT menu.) If you indicated, as we did, that you want to bill this person's insurance, you will also be asked John's copay, the portion of his bill that is not covered by insurance. If there is no insurance involved this number is "1" which is the default. Otherwise, you can enter the portion in any of a variety of forms: a decimal (like ".25"), a fraction (like 1/4"), a percentage (like "25%"), or a dollar amount greater than one (like "$10.00"). If the copay is anything but "1" you will be asked the balance owed by John's primary insurance carrier as of the above date. Finally you will be asked for John's street address and then city, state, and zip. These questions supply MAGIC with the information it needs to begin keeping your billing records for John. They are all optional and can be skipped by simply pressing <RETURN> or clicking on "OK." You can always go back and edit John's client information at a later time by selecting his name after activating EDIT CLIENT LIST from the EDIT menu of MAGIC's calendar screen. John Doe is now the first client entered into the program's client list. At the bottom of the screen you will now see the appointment time (11:00) followed by the client's first initial and last name, the default procedure code ("C.P.T. 90801" for first visits and "C.P.T. 90806" for subsequent visits), the word "TEMP" (the default frequency code which indicates that this client is not seen each week at the same time) and the visit number which is assumed to be "1." The default of "TEMP" for new clients can be changed to "WEEKLY" by editing the USER DATA file. Note that if JD's appointment were weekly it would appear on the calendar in BOLD and in a different color than it does as non-weekly.
"Temp" and "Weekly" Appointments
Now, for the purposes of this tutorial, we want to change the status of this particular client from "TEMP" to "regular weekly." (The term "TEMP" is used by MAGIC to designate "irregular" or "temporary.") You can accomplish this by clicking on the CHANGE menu and dragging to "Frequency." Then click on the "Weekly" button. We might also want to change the procedure code from "Initial evaluation." to "50 minutes psychotherapy." You can do this by clicking on menu heading CHANGE and dragging to "Procedure." Then click on the first button (50 min psychotherapy). To change the visit number to 22, click on the CHANGE menu heading and drag to "Visit #" and then type 22. Finally click on the CHANGE menu and drag to "time." Type :30.
Note that the appointment time for JD at the bottom of the screen is now 11:30, the appointment slots shift downward and the default times for subsequent appointments not already scheduled that day will be on the half hour. To familiarize yourself with the edit menu, click on it and select the line "Client Info on CMS-1500." A form similar to the CMS-1500 form will appear on the screen with the information you have just entered already filled out on the form. You can view the bottom portion of the form by clicking on the scroll box and dragging it downward. You can get ICD9 help by beginning your entry with a question mark when you fill in a box for "diagnostic code." Note that there are no boxes for filling in dates of service, as this information will be automatically taken from the MAGIC calendar. Try clicking on various boxes and entering information. When you are done, click on the Close box in the top left corner.
Now click on the 12:30 appointment box under the appointment you just scheduled for JD. Assume you have a luncheon appointment with one of your colleagues, S. Freud, and type .S Freud. Now click on the 1:30 box on the same day and type MD for "Mary Doe." Answer the prompts as you did for "John Doe." You will find that the client code for Mary Doe is set by MAGIC to MD2 because she is the second client with the last name "Doe." (If you had wished to enter an appointment for Jane Doe, or someone else with the same initials as John Doe, you could enter her as "JD2". For "Jane Dole," you could simply enter "Dole" as the name, and MAGIC would automatically set the name code to JD2.) Now move the cursor to 4:30 pm on the same day and type MD2. You will see "Mary Doe" appear at the bottom of the screen. Although MD2 was set to the default status of "weekly," this second appointment for Mary is automatically assumed to be "temporary" since it is a second appointment in the week and Mary is only a "weekly" client. Now suppose Mary needs to reschedule her appointment from 4:30 to 3:30. Point to the area just to the right of her 4:30 appointment (between the Fri column of appointment slots and the Sat column of appointment slots) and drag the pointer to the interior of the 3:30 box under Fri. Mary's appointment will be rescheduled.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we now want to print an insurance form for John Doe. Before doing this we must provide MAGIC with the information that the insurance form requires, other than the dates of service which, of course, MAGIC already knows. Click on the appointment for "JD." Now click on menu heading EDIT and drag to "Client info." The screen you now see is John Doe's personal information file. The name and telephone numbers should already be entered into this file as well as default fee information taken from the USERDATA file and the information from that you entered when you first scheduled JD on your calendar. Enter John's address on the second and third lines for the purpose of this tutorial. On the fifth line, where MAGIC asks for the portion of the fee that the client pays ("Copay"), type 50%. Now click on the line that reads "Balance from last statement." Since we have just entered JD into MAGIC for the first time, we must let MAGIC know what is the beginning balance for JD before today's visit. Assume he owes you $195, and type 195. Also, in order to print an insurance form for this client you need to enter the name of an insurance company on the twenty ninth information line which asks for "Primary Insurance Carrier." If this line were blank, MAGIC would assume that there was no insurance carrier and would not print an insurance form. You can move the cursor to this line by dragging the scroll box at the right of your screen or by clicking in the scroll bar under the box and then clicking on the line containing this question, line 29. Notice that the number of the line on which the cursor is located appears at the top of the screen. You can also find this line by clicking on the SEARCH menu, dragging to "Find Question," and then typing CARRIER. Now, locate line 29 and enter "Insurance Company" on this line. You will hear a beep and see the message that "Insurance Company" is not recognized. Click on "OK" to continue. Respond to the next dialog box by typing "Insurance Company". At the next prompt click on "OK." In the following dialog box type the street name 123 My Street and at the following one type Our Town, CA 94000 When the client information screen returns, you will see that the name of the company now reads "@INS" which is the name code MAGIC has assigned to this insurance company. The "@" is always used by MAGIC to designate the code for an insurance company. The insurance company's address should appear on the next two lines. Now, click on the close box to return to the calendar screen. The box with "JD" should still be highlighted. If it is not, click on it now.
All the above information could have been entered directly onto an on-screen CMS-1500 form by selecting "Client Info on HCFA1500" from the EDIT menu. Either way, the information you enter is stored in a file of information for John DOE and it can be retrieved and edited by either method.
Now, to fill out an insurance form (CMS-1500 is the default), click on menu heading PRINT and drag to "Fill out Insur. Form." Then put a blank CMS-1500 insurance form into the printer paper feed. (The default form for every client's insurance is CMS-1500 but you can change this in the client information file.) Respond to each of the prompts, by clicking on "NO," "1," "NO," "OK," "OK," "OK" and "CANCEL" respectively. When you are using MAGIC in the future, we recommend answering "NO" to the question about whether you want to "update billing data" each time you print the first copy of an insurance billing so that you can check to be sure that the information on the resulting form (or statement) is correct. When you have made any necessary changes to the calendar or client information and are satisfied as to its accuracy you can reprint the form and respond "YES" to the update question.
If the information is not printed in proper alignment on your CMS-1500, check that you have entered the correct margins in the USERDATA file. If you have an imagewriter, check that the printer was properly set to the "top of page" of the form. Otherwise, if the output was slightly off, rerun "Set Print Scaling" and be sure that the lines now print exactly three inches long. [WARNING: Dot matrix printers like the imagewriter assume that at the time they are turned on the print head is at the top of a piece of paper, and they remember that position. If you do not have your paper fed into the printer at the time you reset it (by turning it off and then on or in some cases by pressing the "top of form" button), it will advance to the wrong position on the page when it begins printing.]
You have now successfully entered several clients and one insurance company into your client list. To view the client list click on menu heading EDIT and drag to "Client list." You should see the list, with the client codes on the left. If you wanted to edit this list you would simply click on the entry you wanted to edit and make the desired changes. To edit the personal data file for one of these clients you would click on the line containing the name of the client you are interested in, click on menu heading EDIT and drag to "Client info." To delete a client from your client list, you would click on the client code of that client and delete it. For this tutorial we need to keep JD and MD2 in our client list, but if you wanted to delete MD2, for instance, you would click on MD2, then click just after the "2" and press <DEL><DEL><DEL>. The line of information about Mary Doe would disappear. Now, click on the close box to return to the MAGIC calendar.
Recording a Payment (Making a Checking Deposit)
Assuming for the purposes of this tutorial, your clients have paid you today, we will now fill out a check deposit slip. Filling out a deposit slip IS THE WAY YOU RECORD A CLIENT/PATIENT'S PAYMENT in MAGIC. Combining these two operations in this way saves you the trouble of recording client payments twice, once on a ledger and the second time when you fill out slip to deposit the check.
To do this, click on menu heading DEPOSIT and drag to "Deposit checks." At the CHECK DEPOSIT menu, click on "I" to Input checks. John has paid you a check for $180.00 so type 180. To the prompt "Payor," type JD. Mary has paid $85 in cash so type 85. Since she paid cash we respond to the "Payor" prompt by typing $MD2. The "$" indicates that the payment was cash. Whether or not cash payments should be listed in deposit slips is determined by the answer to a prompt in the USERDATA file. The default is "NO," and since we did not change that line you will notice that the $85 cash payment is not reflected in the deposit total. Now suppose that you have received a dividend check for $850.25 from IBM for some stock you hold. Type 850.25 followed by .IBM dividend. The period that began the payor response for this check indicates that the check represents non-clinical income. Now suppose your last check to deposit is an insurance check for $400 from a company called "Insurance Company," which we now refer to as "@INS." Type 400 and then for payor type @INS. The "@" indicates to MAGIC that this check is from an insurance company, so MAGIC will ask you how many client/patients the check is for. Answer 2. MAGIC will now ask the portion of this check that covers services rendered to the first client/patient. Type 150. The next question will be the last name or client code of the person to whom these services were provided. Answer JD:9/5-10/30. The colon and what follows it are optional. Anything that comes after the colon is taken by MAGIC to be a comment. In this case, "9/5-10/30" is a note to you about which service dates this check is in payment for. MAGIC will now verify that $150 of this check is for services provided to John Doe. Respond affirmatively by clicking on "OK." MAGIC assumes that the remaining $250 is for services to the second client/patient and asks you who that is. Answer MD2:9/10-10/30 and answer "OK" to the next prompt verifying that $250 is for services provided to Mary Doe. Now click on the close box to indicate that there are no further checks to deposit. Click on <T> to print a deposit summary which subtotals clinical income (checks), cash, and non-clinical income. Click on <D> to print a deposit slip. If you want you can cut this sheet so that it is narrower and conforms more closely to the slips the bank gives you, but banks will generally accept this sheet as a deposit slip whether it is a narrow slip or a full sheet. Now click on <E> to review the deposit followed by the close box to return to the deposit menu, and then <S> followed by "OK" to save the deposit under today's date. To return to the MAGIC calendar now, click on the close box. If you should later the same day want to record an additional check(s) you would first need to click <R> from the Check Deposits menu and RETRIEVE the deposit you just saved and then <A> to add the additonal check(s). If you don't first retrieve the saved deposit and you attempt to save the new checks separately under the same date as the original deposit, MAGIC will warn you that you are about to replace the earlier deposit with the new one, and if you choose to procede the earlier deposit information will be lost.
Advanced Feature: Before printing a statement for John Dow, you may want to EDIT his client information file and stipulate an Adjusted Fee. This is not necessary for the completion of this tutorial and if you like you can skip this entire italicized section of the tutorial, but it is included for those users who want to experiment with some of MAGIC's more advanced features. Since you will probably want to make different adjustments for some clients and not others, you will probably not want to indicate this adjustment in your USER DATA file, but instead in the client's information file which you can edit by clicking on the client's appointment in the calendar and then dragging the EDIT menu down to "Client Info." As when editing the USER DATA file, you can use the arrow keys, the scroll bar on the right side of the screen, as well as the SEARCH menu at the top of the screen to locate the information line you want to fill out. To indicate an adjusted fee of 65, for example, place ">65" after the "90" that appears on the fee line for C.P.T.90844 (line 38 of the client information file), so that the line now reads "90>65." When you indicate an adjusted fee in this manner, both the full fee and the adjusted fee will now appear on statements, while only the full fee will be used when filling out the insurance billing form.
Some companies require you to indicate the amount of time (days) or number or units of service in box 9g of the HCFA1500 form. however very few pay attention to this box; by default, MAGIC puts a "1" in this box for typical sessions and a .5 for C.P.T. 90843 and some other abbreviated sessions.. If you wish to, however, you can stipulate this number by putting a colon followed by the appropriate number after the fee. The above line in the client information file might for instance read "90>65:4" to stipulate 4 units of service.
To print a statement for John Doe, click on the appointment box for "JD" on the calendar, click on menu heading PRINT and drag to "Statement(s)." In our example there is only one appointment for JD but normally you will have many appointments for each client. The date of the appointment box last clicked upon before you execute the command to print a statement will determine the default for the last day to be included in that statement period. (For end-of-month statements, for instance, you would probably want to print a batch of statements at one time. You would do this by first selecting each client for whom you wished to print statements by placing the cursor on an appointment for each different client and clicking on menu heading SPECIAL and drag to "SElect." You will note from the SPECIAL menu that "SElect" can be chosen from the keyboard by holding down the <COMMAND> key and pressing <E>. You can unselect a selected client by placing the cursor on an appointment for that client and pressing <COMMAND> + <E>. Then, after all the appropriate clients have been selected, you would place the cursor on the last day of the month, click on menu heading PRINT and drag to "Statement(s)" to cause MAGIC to print statements for each of the clients.) In printing your single statement for JD now, you will need to respond to some dialog boxes. Respond to each of the prompts, by clicking on "1," "NO," "OK," "OK," OK" and "CANCEL" respectively. As with printing insurance forms, when you are using MAGIC in the future to print statements, we recommend answering "NO" to the question about whether you want to "update payment and billing data" the first time you print a statement so that you can check to be sure that the information on the resulting statement is correct before printing the final copy. The last prompt will ask if you want to print labels or address envelopes or simply return to the calendar. Click on "CANCEL" in response to this prompt to return to the calendar.
If you click on "YES" to the prompt about updating the client's billing information, the new balance will be placed in the client's personal information file along with today's date as the last date included in the last statement printed. Similarly for printing insurance forms, if you answer "YES" to update, the last date printed on the form will appear on the line in the middle of the fifth screen of the client information file that reads, "Last date billed to primary insurance company (mm/dd/yy)." The next time you print a statement or insurance form MAGIC will automatically begin the billing period on the day after the last one ended. For this reason, to simply reprint a statement or insurance form after you have updated the client information file would not yield the desired result. If, for instance, you discover an error in a bill and want to correct it after the client information file has been updated, you would need to use the "Edit Client Information" function ("Client info" in the EDIT menu) to restore the date and balance in question to it's condition before it was updated. This editing process is somewhat inconvenient and should be unnecessary. This is why we recommend that when you print a batch of statements or insurance forms you first answer "NO" to the above update question, print them out on scrap paper, and then review the output for any errors or omissions that you may have made concerning clients' visit dates, procedure codes, payments etc.. When you are satisfied that everything is correct, reprint the statements or insurance forms on good paper, this time answering "YES" to the update question.
Scheduling the following week's appointments:
Now that we have printed both a statement and insurance form we want to schedule a second week of appointments. With today's calendar week on the screen, click on menu heading DISPLAY and drag to "Schedule Next Wk." The following week's appointments will appear on the screen. Only the weekly appointment scheduled in the previous week, only one of the three appointments is automatically scheduled for this subsequent week.
Now suppose that there is a managed care report due for Mary at visit #5, but that due to the time it takes for reports to be processed, we have decided to do the report at the time that the fourth appointment is scheduled. To set an Alert for this event, place the cursor on the appointment for MD2 (visit #3) and click on menu heading SPECIAL and drag to "Set Alert." The first prompt asks you to describe the event you want to be alerted to. In this case type #4. (If you had also wanted to include a date, perhaps 12/23/94, so that MAGIC would alert you on the fourth visit or 12/23/94, whichever came first, you would have typed #4\12/23/94.) Now you are invited by MAGIC to include a comment. Type report due by visit #5. Now schedule another week by pressing click on menu heading DISPLAY and drag to "Schedule Next Wk." Since the fourth visit for Mary is being scheduled, MAGIC beeps and indicates at the bottom of the screen that the Alert you set is for visit #4 and that visit number four is being scheduled. Click on "OK." Once your new week is displayed, you can return to the previous week's calendar display by clicking on menu heading DISPLAY and drag to "Back 1 Wk."
Now Exit MAGIC by clicking
on the close box and then clicking on the button in the dialog box that reads
"Exit."
This tutorial session is now complete. Before using Practice MAGIC again, you will probably want to delete John and Mary Doe from your calendar and client list. To do this click on the calendar appointments you wish to delete. Then, for each appointment, select "Canc/Terminate" from the APPT menu. (If instead you select "Skip"or "Canc/No show," the current appointment will be cancelled; however, if it is a "Weekly" appointment it will be automatically rescheduled for the following week.) To delete names from the client list, click on EDIT menu and drag to "Client list." When the list of client names appears, click on the name you wish to delete; then press <DEL> so that the client code disappears; then click on another line, and the entire line you were on will disappear.
Appendix B
- Program Speed
- Printer Output Problems
- Statement Problems
- Problems Filling Out Insurance Forms
- MAGIC Calendar Issues
- Transfering Files
Program is TOO SLOW: Unless you have a very old machine (especially an old machine with a color screen), unacceptably slow execution is caused by other software in your computer competing with MAGIC for processing time. These may be other programs you have loaded or extensions that have been loaded automatically during power up and are running in the background while MAGIC is running. To test if extensions are causing the problem, turn your computer off and then while holding either SHIFT key down turn the computer back on. Continue to hold the SHIFT key down until a message appears on the screen that extensions were NOT loaded. Then release the SHIFT key and run MAGIC. In just about any situation, you should not be experiencing speed problems with MAGIC; we have not received a complaint from a customer about execution speed in 8 years.
Program won't load (Error 7 or "Out of String Space"): See page 2.
Printed text in the top left corner of the form prints too high or low on CMS-1500 forms: See top of page 3.
Printed text in the top left corner of the form prints to far to the right or left on CMS-1500's: See top of page 3.
Printed text in the top left corner of the form lines up properly on the top part of CMS-1500 form but becomes gradually out of alignment further down the page: Select "Set Print Scaling" from MAGIC's PRINT menu. (pages 2, 38, 39)
An appointment doesn't show up on a statement: Be sure the code in the calendar appointment is exactly the same as that of the client for whom you are printing a statement. Be sure the appointment falls between the beginning date of the statement and the ending date. Be sure that the appointment has a valid procedure associated with it by clicking on the appointment and checking the procedure that is displayed at the bottom of the screen. If you are printing a HCFA1500 form, be sure that the client's copay for this appointment is not the full fee being charged for the appointment (in which case MAGIC will omit the appointment, not billing any to the insurance company.)
"Balance Due" in client file does not reflect most recent appointments: See pages 29 to 34. "Balance due" reflects only those appointments taking place through the date on line 11 of the client's information file and only those deposits dated after the date on line 16. To obtain the correct balance run a status report (fourth item on PRINT menu) or print a statement (second item on PRINT menu) and respond "Yes" to the question about whether you want to update the client info file.
A deposit does not appear on a statement when it should: Before printing statement, be sure line 16 of the client info file (last deposit considered) is set to a day prior to the date of the first deposit you wish Magic to consider but not more than a year prior. Then be sure the date of the deposit is within the period for which the statement is being printed. Alternatively, if you are REGENERATING a statement previously printed, MAGIC will use the date that was on line 16 at the time that statement was originally printed. If that date was wrong, regenerate an even earlier statement and select UPDATE at the end; this will reset line 16. Then regenerate the desired statement. Also, you can check the deposit record of the missing deposit by selecting DEPOSIT from the DEPOSIT CHECKS menu then the "R" button for "RETRIEVE" and give the date that the missing deposit was made. Then select the "E" button for "EDIT" and make sure the missing deposit appears on the screen. You can check the client code to be sure it is that of the client you intended by clicking on the entry representing that client's payment and pressing <RETURN>; the full name of the client should then appear on the screen to the right of the entry.
Amount owed (line 15 of the Client file) does not reflect recent deposits. See Note.
Misc #3 and Misc #4 print as client's address: See page 13-14 .
Misc # prints on an insurance form: See page 13. (or note)
"0.00" prints as the fee for an appointment: Be sure the procedure for that appointment has a fee amount assigned to it in the client's information file.
Client is charged more than one fee for different appointments with same procedure: The procedure may be defined as "user defined" or individually defined with a different fee in another place in the client info file. (see manual)
"Bill to:" appears on some statements and not others: See page 31.
I don't want "bill to" or "client:" to appear on statements. See page 31 also
The address that prints on statements is incorrect. If the address prints under "Bill to:" it is taken from the lines of the client information file labeled "Miscellaneous Info #3" and "Miscellaneous Info #4" (line no. 74 and 75). See Page 31 or 34
Problem installing existing clients into MAGIC and maintaining financial continuity for initial billing using MAGIC: See Entering Initial Financial Data.
How to print a batch of forms or statements: See section on batch printing in this jmanual under "Statements"). See also options "Insurance forms for all" and "Statementss for all" under PRINT menu.
Statement correction problems: See page 31-33.
Problems Filling Out Insurance Forms
IV Problems Filling Out Insurance Forms:
1. Print does not line up properly: See Printer Output Problems under Trouble Shooting
2. I do not see the DONE and PRINT buttons at the bottom of the on-screen CMS-1500 form or only the tops of them are visible: They are probably covered by the WINDOWS TASK BAR. If so, place your cursor at the top of the task bar so that the cursor changes to an up and down arrow, and drag the task bar down off the screen as described in in Client/Patient Info on HCFA.
3. When I print the CMS-1500 form the red form does not print, only the black text that fills it out: We suggest that you use preprinted CMS-1500 forms that MAGIC fills out; you can buy them from a stationary or business supply store like Office Depot or purchase them from us in smaller quantities.
4. Do I have the wrong blank CMS-1500 forms? The on-screen CMS-1500 form does not exactly match the blank printed CMS-1500 form that I want to fill out: This is not a problem. There is only one standard CMS-1500 form! The on-screen CMS-1500 form is ONLY FOR FILLING IN INFORMATION. It will not match the printed CMS-1500 form. When it is printed, however, it will accurately fill in the standard CMS-1500 Form.
5. "Misc #" prints in a box on an insurance form: See page 13-14
6. "0.00" prints as the fee for an appointment: Be sure the procedure for that appointment has a fee amount assigned to it in the client's information file.
7. Box #29 on the CMS-1500 is filled out with 0 rather than the client's copay responsibility: Click Here for Information about this Problem.
8. How do I print a BATCH of forms or statements: See section on batch printing in this jmanual under "Statements"). See also options "Insurance forms for all" and "Statementss for all" under PRINT menu.
9. Insurance Co. address prints in wrong place at top of a form: See page 35. (If USER DATA line #22 is blank, indent is 4")
10. When printing on an CMS-1500 form an "AH" or "AJ" prints after the procedure code for some clients in box #24d. This is required by Medicare in most states, but may be eliminated by unchecking "Medicare" in box #1 on the on-screen CMS-1500 and checking it by hand afterwards. If you want to print a different pair of letters after the procedure code, see section about these codes in Client/Patient Info on HCFA section.
11. When printing on an CMS-1500 form, my printer is printing extra pages after I have properly lined up the type on the form. See PRINTER NOTES on page 4 - 5 and page 40.
12. I want my ID# to print in box #24k on the CMS-1500. This box is filled in with the therapist information that is on line #50 in the client information file or the box marked #24K near the bottom of the on-screen CMS-1500 form. The 24k information is initially filled in for each new client from the default, which is contained on line #55 in your USERDATA file. You can edit this file by selecting USER DATA in the calendar EDIT menu.
13. Appointment doesn't show up on a form or statement: Be sure the code in the calendar appointment is exactly the same as that of the client for whom you are printing a statement. Be sure the appointment falls between the beginning date of the period and the ending date. If your operating system is Windows XP and the dates of service that are displayed on the on-screen CMS-1500 are not printing, you may need the version of MAGIC compiled with Microsoft's new compiler. Also, at the beginning of 2002 some Versions of Practice MAGIC could omit some appointments if the forms were printed in a batch. If you have one of these, you should obtain an update from Cornucopia by telephoning us at 510-528-7000,. Also the date of first visit may have been filled in incorrectly when the client was first added to the client list. (Click for more information)
14. An insurance company name prints incorrectly. Make sure it is written correctly in the client list. Also, make sure there are no commas in the name; if so edit the name and remove the commas. Then EDIT the information file for that company and make sure the name on the first line in the file is the name you want to be printed at the top of the insurance forms. For information about how to edit the information file for an insurance company, go to the paragraph in this manual entitled "Client/Insurance Info" in the EDIT section.
A cancelled appointment reappears spontaneously in the following week: See page 39-41.
Procedure or visit # for newly scheduled appointment is not the default: Change it using the "Procedure" option or the "Visit #" option in the CHANGE menu. Magic goes back to the beginning of the month or sometimes the previous month to find the previous appointment for this client. If a previous appointment is found the procedure for the current appointment is set the same as the previous one and the visit number is one higher than the previous one.
1. I want to move my appointment and client information back and forth between my computer at work and my computer at home: When closing Practice MAGIC on the source machine, select "BACKUP AND EXIT." Then restore the backed up files onto the destination on your new computer. You can find information about doing this in the section of this manual called Restore Backed-up File On comuters that do not have floppy drives, this will need to be accomplished with a memory stick (aka flash drive, usb drive or RAM drive). It can not be done with a CD writeable drive, because they do not function in the same manner as these other re-writeable media.
2. New Operating System! I want to install MAGIC onto my new MAC OS (Operating System). How do I transfer all the data files from my old one to the new one: In order for us to provide adequate support and to ensure that your newly installed MAGIC runs properly, we need MAGIC to be installed on your new DESKTOP. The first step is to install MAGIC again onto your computer, because the new OS will have a different desktop and MAGIC will no longer be visible on your new desktop. If you have received updates from Cornucopia, you must first install Practice MAGIC from your Original disk to your new computer OS desktop by dragging the "MAGIC" icon from the original disk to the new desktop. Then install your most recent update of MAGIC. (Updates do NOT contain all of the essential files for MAGIC to run, so you must first install the original MAGIC. When installing the update, remember to drag only the icon of the "Practice MAGIC" executable file, probably called "Practice MAGIC OSX" from the update folder [that has been expanded with Stuffit Expander or it's equivilent] to the MAGIC folder that is on your new desktop.) IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE MAGIC FOLDER ON YOUR OLD DESKTOP, YOU SHOULD HIRE A TECHNICAL CONSLUTANT OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW WHO IS WISER IN THE WAYS OF MAC COMPUTERS THAN YOU . Copy or drag the file USERDATA.MAG from a backup disk or backup memory stick or from the MAGIC folder that is on your old Desktop to the MAGIC folder on your new desktop. Finally, open the INFO folder that is in the MAGIC folder that is on your old Desktop and click on SELECT ALL in the EDIT menu of your OS. Then copy or drag all the files (presumably they are all selected, i.e. darkened) from the INFO directory in the MAGIC folder that is on your old Desktop to the INFO directory in the MAGIC folder on your new desktop. If the INFO directory on your old desktop is not available, which may be the case, for instance, if your computer hard disk has crashed, select all the files on the most recent backup disk or backup memory stick that you made of your MAGIC data, and drag or copy all of them into the INFO directory in the MAGIC folder on your new desktop.
Note: This may seem like a bit of an involved process if you are not familiar with working with your computer and its operating system. If you follow these instructions carefully, however, you should have no difficulty. If you would like one of our support people to walk you through the process over the telephone, we would be happy to do this; however there is a twenty dollar charge for each fifteen minutes (or part thereof) for this service, depending upon how much support time is involved.
IF YOU HIRE A CONSULTANT: If you choose to enlist the help of a local professional, or someone local who is more computer knowledgeable than you, BE SURE THAT THEY READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS. The bulk of the support problems we encounter in this area result form computer-knowledgeable people who attempt to do this transfer without understanding exactly what is necessary. If your consultant puts your files in the wrong place becaues they have not read these instructions, you will end up paying them for their time and then you will end up paying us to help you undo what they have done! The most common mistake made by experienced computer users occurs when they become creative about the placement of files. We instruct our customers to place their MAGIC folder on the desktop, where it is easy for them to find, and it is easy for us to provide support. If the MAGIC folder is moved to anyplace other than the desktop, Practice MAGIC will probably not be able to find your calendar and client information. This is the most common support call we get from MAC users.
3. New Computer or Hard Disk! I want to install MAGIC onto my new computer and transfer all the data files from my old one to the new one: The first step, of course, is to be sure you have all your current files on a portable memory device like a "memory stick," "flash drive," or floppy disk. Since MAGIC's BACKUP routine only backs up files that have been altered during the present session, we recommend that you drag to the memory stick the entire contents of the INFO folder that is contained in the MAGIC folder on your desktop. Also drag the file USERDATA.MAG from the MAGIC folder on your desktop to the memory stick. The next step is to install MAGIC onto your new computer as described in the paragraph above. Then follow the directions in the paragraph above, keeping in mind that you will be copying from a backup disk backup memory stick as described above rather than from your old desktop. (See NOTE about techinical assistance for this process)
Note: This may seem like a bit of an involved process if you are not familiar with working with your computer and its operating system. If you follow these instructions carefully, however, you should have no difficulty. If you would like one of our support people to walk you through the process over the telephone, we would be happy to do this; however there is a twenty dollar charge for each fifteen minutes (or part thereof) for this service, depending upon how much support time is involved.
4. Transferring from MacIntosh OS to Windows OS or visa versa:
In general, the instructions for transferring to a new computer or Hard Disk (see previous paragraphs) apply to transferring between MAC OS and Windows platforms except:
a. All files with names that begin "checks" followed by a two digit number are not compatible between OS platforms. They are located in the INFO folder that is in the MAGIC folder that is on your desktop, but it you transfer them and then try to run Practice MAGIC, the program will crash. If they have already been transferred, they must be deleted before MAGIC will run properly. They contain deposit information. If you want financial records to be accurate, you will need to reenter your deposit information on the new platform after the CHECKS files have been deleted. All calendar and client information will transfer properly and be readable by MAGIC on the new platform. Symptoms of having the wrong CHECKS files: MAGIC will probably crash, giving various error messages, including possible "overflow" messages. At the very least, deposit data will be completely inaccurate or missing.
b. Insurance form templates, those files that end in ".FRM", are not compatible between OS platforms, and should not be transferred. Your new MAGIC program comes with it’s own .FRM files and these should be transferred to the INFO folder. In a new installation, this happens automatically; in an update, it happens automatically on Windows OS; on MAC OS you are instructed to transfer them. If you copy the entire contents of the INFO directory to a different platform, you will inadvertently replace the correctly installed .FRM files with versions that are incompatible with your new OS. If so you will need to recopy the correct .FRM files from your most recent update, or reinstall the newest version of MAGIC for your OS. Symptoms of having the wrong .FRM files: insurance forms will not print propery, often not even resembling what should be printed, sometimes printing a single line per page.
IF YOU HIRE A CONSULTANT: See above note!
5. CODE NOT VALID: I followed these instructions to transfer my files and now get a message that my user code is no longer valid. The problem is probably that you did not transfer the USERDATA.MAG file from your original MAGIC directory (or you backup disk) to your new MAGIC directory. This file contains both your name and information (addresss, license etc) but also your code. If you transfer it properly, you should not need to reenter your code or call us for a new one. (NOTE: Do not confuse "userdata.mag" with "userdata.org," which is listed by name with the file type .org file.")
Restore Backed-up File:
Files can be restored by simply dragging them from a backup disk to the appropriate MAGIC
folder. The files, USERDATA.MAG, DSMCODES, ICD9CODE, as well as the Practice MAGIC program
file itself belong in the MAGIC folder, while all calendar files (files ending in
".CAL") and client information files (files enidng in ".PAT") and
deposit information files (files beginning with "CHECKS") belong in the INFO
folder that is located within the MAGIC folder. (Warning: Deposit files for each year are
in pairs (".DIR" and ".DAT"). Moving one and not both files for a
particular year will cause the files to be corrupted and information to be lost. For
example, the pair of files to transfer for 2006 deposit data would be CHECKS06.DIR and
CHECKS06.DAT.)
(Page
numbers apply to printed manual only. Use the FIND option under your Web Browser's EDIT
menu to locate these key words in this manual)
@ 4, 14, 27, 35, 42, 43, 54,56
90806 13, 14, 50, 52
abort printing 33, 35
address 7, 2, 9, 12, 16, 17,29, 30, 36, 49, 51, 53, 54, 59, 63, 64
adjust 2, 38, 48
adjusted fees 16
adjustment 42, 43, 57
alert 7, 7, 24, 37, 40, 41, 60
backing up 5, 8
backslash 5, 11, 32, 41
balance due 63
bank iii, 21, 42, 57
batch 58, 59, 64
bill to 30, 64
billing iii, 6, 15, 17, 20, 21,23, 30, 32, 33, 47, 48, 51, 55, 58, 59, 62, 64
bold 5, 52
box #24 13
box #31 34
C.P.T. 3, 13-15, 22, 50, 52,58
cancel 7, 4, 7, 9, 10, 25, 38,39, 41, 55, 59
cancel alert 7, 41
cash 42, 44, 56, 57
change 7, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14,15, 20, 21, 23-28, 30, 38, 40, 43, 52, 55, 56,64
checks 7, 19, 29, 35, 42-44,56, 57, 63
client $ status 7, 25
client code 5, 35, 47, 50, 51,53, 56, 61, 63
client info 7, 10, 17, 19, 25,50, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 63, 64
client list 7, 6, 19, 20, 23, 44,47, 51, 55, 56, 61, 64
CMS-1500 7, 7, 19, 25, 34,52, 54, 55, 62
color 5, 6, 22, 23, 52, 62
comment 7, 25, 27, 43, 57, 60
copay 11, 15, 17, 23, 31, 34,51, 54, 62
correcting 30
credit 42, 43
dates of service 52, 53
deductible 17
default 5, 8, 12, 14, 17, 21,23, 28, 30-32, 35, 44, 45, 51-53, 55, 56, 58, 64
default frequency 52
default procedure 52
delete 20, 45, 47, 56, 61
demo iv, 1, 2, 48
deposit slip iii, 43, 44, 56, 57
drag iv, 9, 26, 35, 40, 48, 50,52, 53, 55, 56, 58-61
DSM 11, 19, 52
dunning message 32
edit 7, 2, 3, 5-7, 9, 10, 14, 16-23, 25, 27-30, 37, 38, 43-45, 47, 49-57, 59, 61, 63, 64
envelopes 7, 7, 20, 27, 29, 33,36, 41, 49, 59
error 7 1, 48, 62
exit 7-9, 11, 60
export 45
fee 5, 6, 11, 13-17, 25, 27,30, 31, 43, 50, 53, 54, 57, 58, 62-64
font 22, 28, 29, 49
fonts 22, 28
forms 7, iii, 2, 7, 9, 12, 13,15, 17, 21-23, 25, 27, 29, 33-35, 37, 49, 51,59, 60, 62, 64
groups 7, 5, 6
history 17, 18, 31, 32
ICD9 11, 19, 52
income report 7, 46
indent 64
info about client 7, 25
initial billing 64
input checks 42, 56
insurance 7, iii, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11-13, 15-21, 23, 27, 29, 33-35, 40, 42, 43, 46,47, 49, 51, 53-56, 58- 60, 63, 64
irreg 26, 38
jump to new week 8, 25
labels 7, 7, 20, 27, 33, 36, 59
landscape 36
laser 5, 33, 36
laserjet 5
limitations 7, 46
Magic folder iv, 9, 48
MAGICDEP.QIF 44, 45
margin 2, 29, 37, 38
message 1, 28, 32, 40, 41, 50,54, 62
misc 12, 30, 34, 35,64
no show 7, 38, 61
Non-clinical Activities
deposit 42, 44
deposits 42
Non-prof. 6
Prof. 15
number 5, 1, 3-5, 7, 10, 12,13, 15-17, 21-23, 26- 29, 34, 35, 40, 41, 44,49, 51-54, 58, 60, 64
omit "client" 15
omit "patient" 15
omit payment list 29
out of string space 62
primary insurance 11, 17, 51,54, 59
print 7, iii, 2, 6-8, 12, 13, 17,18, 20-22, 25, 27-29, 33-38, 41, 44, 46, 48,49, 53-55, 57-59, 62-64
printer iii, 2, 12, 21, 22, 27,28, 33, 35-38, 48-50,55printer dialog box 36
printer type 2, 22, 50
Printing
insufficient memory 28
PrintMonitor 36
procedure 7, 3, 6, 7, 13-17,22, 26, 27, 52, 60, 62-64
Quicken 42, 44, 45
receivables 35
reduced fee 16
reg weekly 26
regular weekly 3, 26, 39, 52
report 7, 30, 35, 38, 40, 43,46, 60, 63
reschedule 7, 7, 25, 40, 53
responsible party 12, 30
restore 5, 59
retrieve 9, 45, 63
Saturday 4
save 7, 8, 10, 19, 31, 44-46,50, 57
schedule 7, 3-5, 7, 24, 31, 39,43, 50, 60
secondary insurance 11
select 7, 4, 6, 7, 9-11, 14, 19-22, 24, 26, 28, 3-37, 41, 46, 50,52, 58, 61-63
set alert 7, 40, 60
set print scaling 7, 2, 37, 55,62
size iii, 21, 22, 27-29, 37, 48,49
skip iv, 7, 25, 38, 39, 48,57, 61
statement 7, 6, 13-18, 20, 27-33, 35, 36, 50, 54, 55,57-60, 62, 63
Sunday 4, 25
temp 5, 24, 26, 39, 52
terminate 7, 7, 25, 39, 40, 61
time 5, 7, 1-5, 7, 10, 11, 13,17-19, 21, 22, 24-26,28, 31, 33, 38-40, 44,48-52, 54, 55, 58-60, 62, 63
units of service 13, 58
update 9, 24, 31, 32, 47, 55,59, 60, 63
user data 7, 21-23, 28, 29, 32,38, 42, 44, 49, 50, 52,57, 64
vacation 7, 7, 39
visit # 7, 27, 39, 52, 60-64
weekend 4
weekly iii, 3, 5, 24, 26, 38-40, 52, 53, 60, 61
window envelopes 29
y2k 34