We are glad to extend a special introductory price for MedLook On-Line.

If you own a license of MedLook, or purchase at least one license of MedLook Biller or Pro, we will offer hosting for the next 12 months at only $50/month/login!  This is a fantastic offer. You must purchase a full 12 months in advance. This is a limited time offer.  Hosting will begin in late October.

Please keep in mind that we are not the hosting company but are getting a bundled deal that you could not come close to as an individual or small business.  This afternoon I had a demo on the system and really liked what I saw. Within just a few minutes you have a separate window on your computer that allows you to access a remote desktop with just exactly what you need:  MedLook.  You will also have access to Open Office in case you need that for word-processing or spreadsheet analysis.  MedLook will run exactly as it does on your desktop, probably better, since the server is a very high performance system. You have access to a local private folder, a shared folder for companies with multiple logins, and all of your local drives.  You can move files between the host and your local system just as easily as you move them on your local system.

How does this compare to alternative solutions with remote access to MedLook today?  Let’s take a quick look at the two most common approaches.

LogMeIn, etc.  This option requires two computers for each additional user.  One computer has to reside in the hosting office (i.e. your office) and the other where you are working (home, etc.).  You login remotely but only if you left your office computer on (and the computer hosting the database in the office).  It works pretty good and I recommend this all the time.  Your performance is limited largely by your remote system.

VPN, LogMeIn Hamachi, etc.  This is a good solution too but has more severe drawbacks.  A VPN is difficult to configure and requires an IT to keep it running smooth.  It is also somewhat of a resource hog.  LogMeIn Hamachi is a good alternative.  It’s much easier to deal with and affordable.  Using the VPN your installation of MedLook resides on your computer, not at the office.  The data is at the office, or your central server of choice.  This means there’s a significant amount of internet traffick happening - i.e. it could be slow.

The internet connection is the same in all cases - slow internet, slow access, no matter which solution you use.

MedLook On-Line is very attractive for many reasons. Your data is always accessible to you, your co-workers, partners, and providers.  Viruses and mal-ware are no longer your concern.  Backups are continual. Product updates and installations are provided. You don’t have to hassle with a local network.  You just need to have internet access and a screen-size of your liking and you are ready to go to work.

Unlike web-based applications, with MedLook you can always revert to a desktop application - off the net.  With a web-based application you are at the mercy of the software company - forever. Admittedly, 24×7x365 access is a must-have in today’s working environment.

If you have the need for an on-line, anywhere, anytime solution for your billing we have the answer for you.  Beginning in late October we will be offering MedLook On-Line. Your data will be secure and continuously backed up.  You will only need a reasonable internet connection to comfortably use MedLook remotely.

This solution offers many advantages including:

1. Less computer hardware required in-house;
2. No more worries about backups and (computer) security;
3. Anti-virus, mal-ware, etc. is handled with the hosting;
4. Billers and providers share a common database (complete with user restrictions);
5. Support and upgrades included automatically;
6. No more software installation and update issues;
7. Eliminate the hassles of alternative remote sharing solutions (LogMeIn, GoToMy PC);
8. Download your data to your desktop, post it back later.

And here’s the big advantage over alternative on-line solutions - You are not held HOSTAGE!!!  Other, browser-based solutions literally have their clients held hostage.  If and when you leave their service, your data is no longer available to you.  With MedLook On-Line, if you leave the on-line service you can continue to use your data indefinitely with your purchased copy of MedLook.  At the time you discontinue the service you will be given the same working version of MedLook that you were currently using.  You can’t match that anywhere else!!!

Contact us for additional details and pricing at sales@medlookusa.com or 800.548.6148.

We are pleased to announce that at long last the 835 EOB Auto-Payment posting module is ready for general release!!!

If you are unfamiliar with the 835 file just note that it is nothing more than a compact, non-human friendly, text file containing everything in the EOB.  Ask your clearinghouse to set you up to receive these files and you can eliminate a very time consuming part of your routine.

The interface is very simple and we will be posting a short video demonstrating how to use it very soon. The steps involved are pretty simple. 

• Download your EOB/835. 
• Start ML835 and click on ERA Posting.
• Click on Add and browse to your 835 file.
• Click on Select All to include all remits in the processing.
• Wait for the completion dialog.
• Click on View Report and see what happened, and what didn’t.

That’s it.  You can use your EOB or the 835 report to make any manual corrections due to rejections, etc.

We have tested with LTC, ClaimLogic, ZirMed, SolAce, OfficeAlly, and a few others.  The installations so far have gone rather well with major, major time savings for each office.

This module is an add-on module priced at a mere $300/year.  If you are on our full support plan you pay only for the initial year.  Compare this price with the competition and you’ll see that many vendors charge an initial fee of $995 or more.  If you spend one hour or more each week posting payments this feature will pay for itself in a very short time.

It seems during the past week or two viruses have been running rampant.  If you do not have your system protected by some sort of anti-virus software you definitely need to do so.  Further, you should have plenty of redundant backups as well because even your current backup can be corrupted.

Here are some simple precautionary measures you should consider.

Install a good anti-virus program.  We recommend AVG but there are a large number of good choices to choose from.

Next in line is to protect against malware.  For this we recommend Malwarebytes.

An excellent means of preventing attacks is to install a front line security monitor such as WinPatrol.  This program will seem a bit irritating at first (unless you are used to the constant nags of Windows Vista) but it definitely does its job guarding your system.

Some other good tools to consider include NoScript (for Firefox), PC Tools Firewall Plus, HiJack This, Windows Defender, and Avast! 

Another good source of information is Microsoft.

This is just a good start. Of course, never click on anything you are uncertain about. That’s the best thing you can do (or not do in this case).  Don’t let your kids or friends just ramble about on your business computers with AIM, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc.  This is just inviting trouble.

If, and when, you get infected, you could spend countless hours trying to fix the system yourself, or do the easier, and truly more cost effective thing - take your computer to a professional.  Computer shops deal with this all of the time.  Your neighbor, spouse, child, etc., only does this occasionally.

MedLook 3.0.140 has been posted.  It contains the following fixes:

• A small but necessary fix for batch insurance claims.
• On the Payment dialog on the bottom grid the secondary paid amount would include adjustment amounts if adjustment contained the text “ins” in it.
• The referral on the Edit Patient dialog continued to revert to the first referral in the list. This was only a display problem as the referral was not actually attached to the patient.

Unless we encounter any further problems this might very well be the end of the line for MedLook 3.0.  MedLook 4.0 is nearing completion and MedLook 5.0 is already underway.  More on this later.

MedLook 3.0.139 has been posted to our website.  This new version has only a few minor changes from the prior version.  The most significant is the Invalid Login message and error - it has been removed.  The default login is still Administrator (same for password).
In the Patient Sub-folder a Payment List entry has been added.  You can edit the dates using Ctrl+Shift+E to invoke the Edit Layout dialog.  You may need to use Toggle SQL to show the SQL statement.  There are four dates to edit.

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