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This article describes the management functions that most practices need to set up after installing Bp Premier for the first time.

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After you have installed Bp Premier for the first time, or converted from a previous clinical software package, you must apply a minimum of configuration to start using Bp Premier. The following provides a general overview on how to set up the components of the Management module of Bp Premier.

Before you start configuring Management functionality, you should have arranged the following:

1. Obtain your Site ID and Minor ID from Best Practice Software. If your practice has multiple locations, each location will need a unique Minor ID.
2. Obtain your Medicare Site certificate and passcode from Medicare. If you have converted from a previous software package, you will need to let Medicare know your change in software and new Minor ID.
3. If you are using Tyro, purchase and install your Tyro terminal and obtain the Merchant IDs for each user who will be processing payments through Tyro.
4. Obtain a valid trial or production Bp Premier licence key and enter the licence key into the Bp Premier server. If you do not have a licence key, contact General Products Support on 1300 40 1111

If you have already set up the Clinical module of Bp Premier, you may have already performed some of the steps below.

Complete each section in sequence. Best Practice Software appreciates that it can take some time to configure software to completely suit a practice's preferences and workflows. All of the settings described in this section can be reversed or changed at any later time.

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The Windows operating system on the Bp Premier server must have the region, date/time format, and time zone set to 'Australia' for Bp Premier to function correctly. If the date/time format is set to an American usage, for example, Bp Premier may not be able to synchronise with third-party software like messaging services and My Health Record.

1. On the Bp Premier server, open the Control Panel and select Date and Time. Alternatively, click once on the clock in the bottom right of the desktop and select Change Date and Time Settings.
2. Set the Time Zone to your Australia time zone and enable daylight savings if your state uses daylight savings.
3. From the control panel, select Region.
4. Set the Format to 'English (Australia)'.
5. Set the short date format to a format that lists date, then month, then year. For example, 'dd/MM/yyyy' or 'dd/MM/yy'. Do not use a month-first format.

NOTE  To reduce the chance of confusion, SMS Reminders will always represent the <ApptDate> template field in the format 'dd/MM/yyyy', regardless of the Windows regional setting.

6. Select the Location tab and set the Location to 'Australia'.
7. Click Ok to save and exit the Region dialog.

If you have converted your data into Bp Premier from another package, the practice details will contain the same information as the old system. If you are starting from an empty database, Bp Premier will prompt to enter the practice details when you first log in.

NOTE  Ensure your practice details are correct. Bp Premier uses the practice information entered when printing items like scripts, invoices, and receipts.

There is only ever one practice name in the software. However, you can create multiple practice locations to be printed on scripts, invoices, and reports. A user selects a location when he or she logs in to the software.

Add practice details

1. Select Setup > Practice from the Bp Premier screen. The Practice details screen will appear, showing:
• practice name
• a summary of how many licenced users you have
• the licence expiry date
• each practice locations that are set up
• contact details for the first location on file.
2. Click Change. The Practice details update screen will appear.



3. Update any details and click Save.

Add a location

1. Select Setup > Practice from the Bp Premier screen. The Practice details screen will appear.
2. Click Add next to the Practice Locations list field. The Location details screen appears.



3. Complete the details for this location and click Save.

The Rural / Remote area checkbox controls which Medicare incentive is added to bulk-billed invoices for pensioners, health care card recipients, and children. If unticked, incentive '10990' is used; if ticked, '10991' is used.

LSP Number is the Location Specific Practice Number used when practices provide diagnostic imaging services or radiation oncology services.

ABN can be recorded for individual practice locations. A location's ABN is available for insertion in documents like invoices, receipts, Medicare forms, and general templates.

To delete a location:

1. Select the location on the Practice details screen and click Delete. A prompt will appear if any users have provider numbers linked to that location.
2. If the location is deleted, users with linked provider numbers will still be visible, but the provider number linked to that location will no longer be visible.

To restore a deleted location:

1. Select the Show Deleted checkbox at the bottom of the screen to view deleted locations.
2. Select the deleted location in the Practice locations list field and click Restore.

The following components of Bp Premier must be set up for your billing workflows to take effect:

• Manage or turn off links with another billing software package (only if applicable to your practice)
• Set up billing preferences in Setup > Configuration > Billing
• Add account holders
• Set the default invoice text
• Set up notes for invoices
• Set up payer allocation (only if your practice distributes bulk bill payments from a central account)
• Set up bank accounts
• Add bank and drawer names
• Set up private fee schedules and items

Turn off links to a prior billing package

If the practice previously used a third party billing package and had a link established to transfer information between Bp Premier and this third party package, it will be necessary to disable this link.

To turn off the link, untick the selection Activate the link to another package. This will grey out all the paths and disable the linking process.

NOTE  Disable this setting on each workstation.

The Billing tab of the Configuration screen sets up the way accounts, payments, invoice and receipts work at your practice.

Configure the fields in this screen to suit your practice's preferences.

Accounts holders are companies and institutions that can be used as a third party account recipient for patient accounts (for example, Insurance Companies, Employers, or Hospitals). Account holders can also be used as an account recipient for non-patient accounts.

1. From the main Bp Premier screen, select View > Account Holders.
2. Select Add new to add a new account holder.

1. From the Configuration screen, select the Account text tab. This screen configures the text that is printed at the bottom of accounts.



2. If your practice has multiple locations, choose the practice location to set account text for from the Print for location field.
3. Set the different text based on the length of the overdue period for none, 30, 60, and 90 days.
4. Set the Discount text message. This text is printed on any accounts that are billed at a rate called 'Discount'. Any text here can contain the placeholder %FEE%, which is replaced during printing with the value of the account at the practice fee rate (not the discount rate).
5. Click Save.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 for each location you want to set invoice text for.

1. From the Configuration screen, select the Invoice notes tab. This screen sets up a standard set of notes or service text that can be selected when creating Invoices.



2. Select Add to add a new invoice note.
3. Click Save when you are finished creating invoice notes.

Invoice notes help ensure that Medicare accounts are created consistently.

Use payer allocation settings if an employee doctor's bulk bill payments are paid into the principal doctor's bank account and distributed later.

1. From the Configuration screen, select the Payer Allocation tab. This screen directs bulk billing payments to a provider other than the actual service provider.



2. Click Add to add a new payer allocation. The Provider payment details screen will appear.



3. Select the provider who is performing services. Payments to this doctor will be paid into an alternate provider's bank account.
4. Enter the provider number for Medicare and DVA payments to be paid to. Payments will be paid to the bank account of the provider entered into this field.

The Bank accounts tab configures bank accounts for your practice and providers. You must add a new bank in Setup > Cheque details from the main Bp Premier screen before you can configure an account for it in Configuration.

1. From the Configuration screen, select the Bank accounts tab. Click Add under Practice accounts to define Bank account details for the practice.



2. Complete the account details and click Save. You can add as many bank accounts for the practice as you need.
3. Click Add under Provider accounts to open the Bank account details screen for a provider. You can add as many bank accounts for providers as you need.
4. Tick Print 2 copies of banking slips to always print a second copy when processing a banking batch from the Banking screen (for example, one for records, one for taking to the bank).
5. Click Save to save all accounts.

The Cheque details screen adds the names of banks that are available when adding cheques to the Process Payment screen.

1. From the main Bp Premier screen, select Setup > Cheque details.



2. Click Add next to the Default bank names list to add a new bank name.
3. Click Add next to the Default drawers list to add names of payers who regularly pay by cheque. The names in this list will be available in the Drawer list when adding cheques to the Payments screen.
4. Click Save.

The Workcover tab of the Configuration screen records details that will be used on accounts when 'WorkCover' is selected in the Create account screen.

NOTE  These details would most likely be used in Queensland where there is a centralised facility for Workcover. In other states, Workcover accounts are often issued to individual employers or insurance companies.

If you have not converted from a previous clinical management package, you will need to create records for each staff member who will be using Bp Premier, including doctors, nurses, reception staff, and practice managers. See Add, update, or deactivate a user for more information.

If you have converted from other management software, you will need to configure the converted users to match your practice's workflows in Bp Premier, and to grant permissions to access reports and functionality appropriate to each user.

Grant user permissions

When a new user is added, Bp Premier automatically allocates permissions according to the Category in the User details screen. You can modify permissions from the default for individual users.

NOTE  If your practice has just enabled the Management module for the first time, Bp Premier users that were in the system before enabling Management will have no management permissions. You will need to review their permissions before they can use any of the management features.

Bp Premier provides dozens of reports with the Management module. When you add a new user, Bp Premier will prompt you for the reports the user has access to.

IMPORTANT  Only certain categories of user will prompt for reporting permissions when created. Other categories, such as 'Nurse' or 'Junior receptionist', will not be granted access to reports by default. You will need to set the Reports permission on the user's Permissions screen to 'Allow access' to enable the Set Reports button.

If you change a user's Category, Bp Premier will prompt you to reset the user's reporting permissions to the defaults for the new category.

1. Open the User Details screen for the user.
2. Click Set Reports. The Setup reports screen appears.
3. Select the Report Types in the top right you want to grant access to: New, Old, or All. The report types will be displayed in the list of reports on the left hand side.
4. Tick each report you want to user to be able to run.
5. Set the Practitioner Access:
   • All Practitioners — The selected reports will contain data from all practitioners at your practice.
   • Self Only Access — The selected reports will contain data only from patients and data for the current user.
6. Select the locations included in the reports from the Locations Access list.
7. To apply the settings on the right hand side to all selected reports, click Apply to all ticked reports. Otherwise, repeat steps 4-6 to configure access to individual reports.
8. Click Save.

See Set up users to run reports for more information.

Preferences are set per individual user. Any user can update their own permissions as long as they have the relevant permission set in their user account. See Add, update, or deactivate a user for more information.

Appointment book sessions determine the first and last sessions available at your practice and for each provider, as well as:

• lunch breaks
• public holidays and practice closing periods (for example, an office Christmas break shutdown)
• consultations outside of regular hours
• 'on the day' times for walk-ins and on the day appointments
• rostered times for providers on a 1-4 week roster cycle.

See Set up appointment book sessions and holidays for more information.

Bp Premier Management is distributed with the fee schedules for Medicare and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The built-in practice fee defaults to the Medicare Benefits Schedule fee for each Medicare item. MBS schedules are available for use in the Account details screenwhen creating an account. The Medicare and DVA fee schedules cannot be changed nor added to by the user.

However, the practice fee schedule can be changed and can have other items added to it, and other fee schedules can be added, for example, AMA fees, or Workers Compensation fees.

Fees are configured by selecting Setup > Practice fees. The Setup practice fees screen will appear.

So that you can group custom fees when creating an account, you can set up as many custom fee schedules as your practice requires.

When staff are processing an account from the Account details window, all fee schedules that you have set up will be listed in the Billing schedule list. After you have selected a billing schedule from this list, any items added to the account will automatically use the fee for that item.

1. To add a fee schedule, click Add schedule at the bottom of the Setup practice fees screen. The Fee schedule screen will appear.



2. Enter the name of the schedule and indicate the default calculate method. No calculation method means users will enter the fees directly against the schedule.
3. Indicate the rounding method, if applicable.
4. Click Save to return to the Setup practice fees screen.

NOTE   If you create a fee schedule called “Discount”, any accounts generated using that schedule will have the text from the Discount text field on the Configuration and Account text window added at the time of printing.

Custom items are items not included in the Medicare and DVA fee schedules. At the top of the Setup practice fees screen is a list of Customised Fees, which lists all items that have been customised by the practice. This list will appear when finalising a visit or creating an account.

1. To add a custom item, such as AMA fees, click Add custom fee. The Setup fee item screen will appear.



2. Type in the item number and description of the item in the Item description field.
3. Select the fee schedule that you want to set this fee for and click Set fee. The Calculate fee screen opens.



4. Enter the desired fee. For items that are not related to an MBS Item number, you can not select Use schedule fee or Schedule fee + n %. Click OK to save the change.
5. The fee entered will appear against the fee schedule selected in step 3. Tick Apply the highlighted amount to all customisable items in list to set this fee for all schedules listed.
6. Tick Add GST to this item when adding to account if the fee attracts GST.
7. Click Save to save the fee. It will now appear in the Customised fee list.

1. Double-click on an item in the Customised Fees list to display the Edit fee item screen. Select the practice fee schedule and click Set fee.
2. From the Calculate fee screen, enter the practice fee to charge, or calculate the fee based on a percentage of the schedule fee or by adding a fixed amount to the schedule fee.
3. The fee displayed will be saved for that item. This fee is static and does not change when the schedule fee changes, even if it was calculated from the schedule fee.
4. This fee will now be used when creating accounts when the practice fee schedule is selected.

1. Click Set MBS item fee. The Set MBS Item fee screen will be displayed.



2. Enter the item number. The MBS and DVA fees will be displayed in a list below the description of the item.
3. Select Practice fee and double click or press the Set fee button to change the fee that will be charged for it. The Calculate fee screen will appear. Enter the fee to change and click Save.

My Health Record

If the practice has not already been using Bp Premier for patient HI lookups and accessing My Health Record, you must import the practice's certificates and set up eHealth. See Prepare your practice for My Health Record for more information.

1. From the main Bp Premier screen, select Setup > Configuration. The Configuration screen will appear.
2. Select the Lists tab.
3. Add entries relevant to your practice for the following lists:
   • Appointment Type — A set of standard appointment types have been provided with matching icons. Create your own and assign your own icons. See Add an appointment type for more information.
   • Reason for cancelling appointments — A standard set of cancellation reasons, to save staff typing in text each time a patient cancels an appointment.
   • Contact Categories — Types of contacts (third-party groups and providers) relevant to your practice.
4. Click Save.

1. From the Configuration screen, select the Appointments tab. This page sets up the default appearance of your Appointment book.



2. Configure the fields in this screen to suit your practice's preferences for handling the Appointment book.

Medicare online claiming is configured from the Online claiming tab of the Configuration screen.

See Set up Online Claiming for single Minor ID for more information.

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Last updated 23 July 2020

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