These release notes describe the changes made to Bp Premier since Saffron SP2 build 1.11.2.952.
Release Date | 08 March 2022 |
Release version | Bp Premier version Saffron SP3 (1.11.3.968) |
Notes last updated | 31 March 2022 |
What is in this release? | This release of Bp Premier includes Improvements to AIR functionality. |
Which version can I upgrade from? | You can upgrade to version Saffron SP3 from Bp Premier version Indigo SP1 (1.9.1.863) or later. To check the current program version that you have installed, select Help > About. |
Which data update do I need? | You must install the February 2022 Data Update or later before you can upgrade to version 1.11.3.968. However, Best Practice Software recommend making sure you have the most recent Data Update installed before you run a program upgrade. |
Which database and operating system versions are supported? | Windows operating system Windows 8.1 or higher is supported. Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and higher is supported. Microsoft SQL server 2012 and higher is supported. |
When should I upgrade? | Best Practice Software recommend running the program upgrade outside of business hours. |
How do I upgrade? | Brief upgrade instructions are included in this document. |
What do I do after upgrading? | If you have not yet done so in Saffron SP2, you will need to connect to Medicare Web Services via Setup > Configuration > PRODA. You must successfully set up a connection with Medicare Web Services in order to use online patient verification, online claiming and AIR functions in this build of Bp Premier. |
Are there any known issues in this upgrade? | Yes. Click here to view the Saffron SP3 known issues list. |
Upgrade to Saffron SP3 1.11.3.968
You must have the February 2022 data update or later installed before you upgrade to 1.11.3.968.
- Back up your Bp Premier database before running the upgrade.
- Synchronise all workstations in remote database mode with the Bp Premier server before you upgrade.
- Download and run the latest Drug Update on your Bp Premier server computer.
- Log all users out of the server and all clients before you upgrade.
- Download and run the 1.11.3.968 update on your server and all clients.
- Log back in to Bp Premier and resume use.
Upgrade notes
Take into consideration the following points before upgrading to Saffron SP3:
- You must upload all prior immunisation records to the AIR before upgrading to Saffron SP3.
- Medicare Web Services and access to AIR functions are not available in remote mode.
NOTE After upgrading to Saffron SP3, to use Online Claiming, AIR functionality, and Medicare, DVA and Concession verification, you must successfully set up a connection with Medicare Web Services via Setup > Configuration > PRODA if you have not done so already in Saffron SP2.
For information on registering with PRODA, select Help > Online to open the Bp Premier knowledge base and search for 'proda'. For information on setting up Medicare Web Services in Bp Premier, search for 'mws'.
AIR provider numbers
If providers without individual provider numbers require access to send immunisations to the AIR and view AIR data, you must add an AIR provider number for the practice location via Setup > Practice details > Practice locations > Edit.
If your practice location has ever provided COVID-19 vaccinations or you have logged into your practice's PRODA/HPOS AIR account, it is likely that you already have a location AIR provider number. If you already have a location AIR provider number but you are unsure of what the number is, contact the AIR on 1800 653 809 and ask them to provide it to you.
If you already have a location AIR provider number, you can find the number in PRODA:
- Log into PRODA.
- Select Services from the links in the top-right of the screen.
- Select Medicare.
- Select your organisation.
- The location AIR provider number will be listed in the identifier table under HPOS - AIR Provider Number.
If you do not yet have an AIR provider number at location level, you must complete and submit the Application to register as a vaccination provider form (IM004). You must send the completed form to your state or territory health department. Once your application has been approved by your state or territory health department, they will forward the application to Services Australia for processing.
Your location AIR provider number will be seven characters, comprised of letters and numbers.
Until your location has an AIR provider number, only users with a Provider Number assigned in their Location Manager will be able to send immunisations to the AIR and access AIR information in Bp Premier.
If you require assistance from Services Australia regarding the Location AIR provider number, ensure you mention that you are calling about an 'Ancillary provider for the practice'.
New statuses when performing a check for payments
Some terms used by Medicare and DVA to indicate claim processing statuses have changed under the Medicare Web Services framework. Your billing staff should be made aware of the new status descriptions that may appear in Bp Premier when performing a check for payments after you upgrade.
Alert | Description |
|---|---|
REPORT_NOT_FOUND | The claim information does not match Services Australia's records. Contact Services Australia for more information |
REPORT_NOT_READY | The claim has not yet been finalised by Services Australia. Try again later. |
REPORT_NOT_AVAILABLE | The claim was processed and has been rejected. Check the processing report for more information. |
Update to the Claim ID generated by Services Australia
From the 3rd of September 2022, Services Australia have advised that for Direct Bill, DVA, and DVA Allied claims, the Claim ID will no longer reset to @A0001 each day for each provider. There is no change to the format of the Claim ID for these claim types. You do not need to perform any action to enable the new Claim ID.
The change to the Claim ID means that your practice staff will find it easier to locate batched direct bill claims sent through Medicare Web Services. Because the Claim ID is now unique and not reset each day, you will not have to use the sent date and provider information to search for a claim when reconciling.
The Correlation ID column has been added to the Online Claiming Screen in Saffron SP3. You may need to provide the correlation ID to Medicare when contacting them about a batch.
Where do I find more information?
Select Help > Online from Bp Premier to open the Knowledge Base.
New Features
Submit online claims and send immunisations to AIR via Medicare Web Services
In this version of Saffron SP3, sending online claims and sending immunisations to AIR is facilitated through Medicare Web Services, rather than the Medicare adaptor and site certificates.
Australian Immunisation Register
In this version of Saffron SP3, information recorded in the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) can be accessed from Bp Premier via the View AIR screen in the Immunisation section of the patient record. Information available via the View AIR screen includes:
- alerts
- vaccines due
- vaccine history
- medical contraindications
- natural immunities
- vaccine trials
The following patient information can also be updated on the AIR via the View AIR screen:
- The patient's indigenous status
- whether the patient requires additional vaccines due to belonging to a high risk group
- whether the patient has a planned catch up schedule.
Immunisation workflow improvements
As of Saffron SP3, individual immunisations can be sent directly to the AIR from the Immunisation screen in the patient record. You are no longer required to send immunisations to the AIR in bulk, however this workflow can still be used if desired.
NOTE If you are working in remote mode, you will not be able to access Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) information in Bp Premier, or send immunisation records to the AIR from the patient record.
Edit pendable patient claims
In Saffron SP3, if a patient claim requires further assessment by an operator, an error will appear indicating that the claim has been marked as 'pendable', and adjustments may need to be made to the invoice to be accepted by Medicare.
New preventative health notifications
As of Saffron SP3, preventative health notifications for breast cancer screening and bowel cancer screening will display in the patient record for eligible patients.
Contract Doctor and Registrar user categories added
As of Saffron SP3, the user categories Contract Doctor and Registrar can be selected from the Category: drop-down menu in the New user and Edit user screens.
New workflow for recording distance travelled for DVA accounts
In Saffron SP3, when creating a DVA account that includes kilometres travelled, you can now select the KM DVA item number via the Account item screen, and enter the number of kilometres.
Other enhancements
Bp Function | Release Notes | Key |
|---|---|---|
Auditing | A filter for AIR audit and error logs has been added to the View MWS Logs . exe utility. | 64221 |
Billing | Invoice time stamps now only appear against services if an account has been flagged as In Hospital, or when adding duplicate services. | 67400 |
Cervical Screening | Under Main Screen > Clinical Menu > Cervical Screening, the Risk Category column has been added under Cervical Screening Tests, and the label on the No longer requires pap smears checkbox has been updated to No longer requires cervical screening. | 65257 |
Electronic prescriptions | Electronic prescription information automatically added to Today's notes after the electronic prescription has been sent now includes the method that it was sent via. | 67827 |
Immunisations | A complete list of sent vaccinations can be viewed via Utilities > Australian Immunisation Register > View > Sent vaccinations. | 67537 |
Immunisations | Immunisations in the AIR can now be saved to the patient record in Bp Premier. | 67774 |
Immunisations | The Check AIR access button has been added to the Immunisation window. Users can click Check AIR Access to view a list of AIR information they are authorised to access in Bp Premier. | 64043 |
Immunisations | Patient medical contraindication information recorded in the AIR can be viewed by selecting Medical Contraindications in the View AIR screen. | 64045 |
Immunisations | Users can now send individual immunisations to the AIR from the Immunisations screen in the patient record by clicking Save and Send. | 64105 |
Immunisations | Under Utilities > Australian Immunisation Register, the Billing provider column and the Filter by doctor filter have been changed to Immunised by. | 64112 |
Immunisations | Patient vaccine trial information recorded in the AIR can be viewed by selecting Vaccine trials in the View AIR screen. | 64220 |
Immunisations | Users can update immunisations via the immunisation window in the patient record by right-clicking the immunisation record and selecting Edit, updating the fields required, then clicking Update and Save. | 64334 |
Immunisations | Patient Natural immunity information recorded in the AIR can be viewed by selecting Natural Immunity in the View AIR screen. | 64610 |
Immunisations | The Planned Catch up button has been added to the General tab in the View AIR screen. Adding a planned catch up schedule for a patient allows them to have an up-to-date status for family assistance payments purposes. This information is uploaded to the AIR. | 64099 |
Immunisations | The General tab in the View AIR screen now populates with a list of vaccines due for the patient from the AIR. | 64102 |
Immunisations | Selecting the History tab in the view AIR screen now populates the screen with the patient's immunisation history from the AIR. | 64103 |
Immunisations | Clicking Get individual immunisation History Statement in the View AIR screen History tab generates a copy of the patient's Immunisation History Statement. | 64042 |
Immunisations | The Indigenous Status button has been added to the General tab in the View AIR screen. Selecting this button adds an Indigenous status alert, which is uploaded to the AIR. | 64104 |
Immunisations | When submitting an immunisation to the AIR, a confirmation request now appears if the patient has not been found in the AIR, or if there is a problem with the immunisation data. | 64110 |
Immunisations | The Additional Vaccines Required button has been added to the General tab in the View AIR screen. Selecting this button adds a Special Risk Group alert , which is uploaded to the AIR | 64114 |
Immunisations | When View AIR is selected, an alert will appear if the patient demographic does not have enough information to successfully identify them in the AIR. | 64101 |
Immunisations | The Country drop-down menu has been added to the Immunisation screen. When adding an immunisation in the patient record, if Given Overseas is selected from the Billing Provider drop-down menu, the Country drop-down menu is enabled and a country can be selected. | 65350 |
Immunisations | When adding an immunisation in the patient record, Given Overseas can now be selected from the Billing Provider drop-down menu., | 64107 |
Immunisations | When the View AIR button in the Immunisations section of the Patient record is clicked, the View AIR screen opens. | 64113 |
Installer | A message will appear in the Bp Premier installer warning users that Medicare Web Services must be set up in order to use Medicare, DVA, Concession verification and the Australian Immunisation Register in Saffron SP3. | 68010 |
Internal messages | Hyper links can now be included in internal messages | 32942 |
Medicare Web Services | For clinical-only practices, when Transfer immunisation data back to the billing package is unticked, immunisations can be sent to AIR via the patient record. | 68107 |
Medicare Web Services | If service tracing has been enabled, when a request for a token is sent, then the following information is logged: the machine the request was initiated from, the time of the request, and where the request stemmed from. This will assist with troubleshooting. | 67996 |
Medicare Web Services | Backup systems no longer continue to poll PRODA for token refreshes. | 67896 |
Medicare Web Services | A minor ID can now be entered via Setup > Practice Details > Change. This allows clinical-only practices to enter a minor ID. | 67890 |
Medicare Web Services | The PRODA RA (Organisation) field in Setup > Configuration > PRODA now only accepts numbers. | 65308 |
Medicare Web Services | Patient verification time-outs and errors are now handled gracefully. | 64941 |
Medicare Web Services | When attempting to send an immunisation to the AIR without a B2B device configured, a prompt appears indicating that a B2B device needs to be set up. | 67425 |
Messages | On install or upgrade to Saffron SP3, an internal message has been added for all users listing the features included in the build. | 67715 |
Online claiming | Correlation IDs now display in the Online Claiming screen for each batch, and in the Patient Billing History when a user right-clicks an invoice billed to Medicare or DVA and selects Show Medicare/DVA transmissions. | 66658 |
Pathology requests | Cervical screening terminology has been updated in the standard and eOrdering pathology request screens. | 50469 |
Patient record | The Maternal Serum Screening Test for SA Pathology has been updated. | 67660 |
Patient record | Bowel cancer screening has been added as a Preventative Health Notification. | 50714 |
Patient record | Breast cancer screening has been added as a Preventative Health Notification. | 50713 |
Patient record | Breast cancer screening and bowel cancer screening preventative health notifications can be turned off via the Preventative Health button in the patient record. | 65258 |
Practice Details | An AIR provider number field has been added under Setup > Practice Details > Practice Locations. | 64633 |
Upgrade | New Bp Premier download links have been upgraded to HTTPS. HTTPS links work better in modern browsers. | 59913 |
Users | Contract Doctor and Registrar have been added as user categories in the New user and Edit user screens. | 67877 |
Bug fixes
Bp Function | Release Notes | Key |
|---|---|---|
Billing | For DVA accounts, when billing the KM item number, the number of kilometres travelled now records correctly. | 65455 |
Billing | Multiple MM location incentives are no longer added to invoices when switching locations. | 67606 |
Billing | MM location incentives are now applying correctly for Medicare Bulk Bill accounts. | 67545 |
Billing | Fixed an issue where invoice timestamps were not matching the appointment time or the time the invoice was created. | 67443 |
Billing | The Pay Gap check box in the Payment details screen now works correctly when paying an existing account. | 67098 |
Bp Comms | Auto checking of SMS replies now works correctly for practices using Bp Comms. | 67829 |
Bp Comms | Fixed an issue where the character limit for SMS reminders was inconsistent in different areas of Bp Premier. | 24506 |
Bp Comms | Fixed an issue where SMS reminder replies were causing a fatal error if the reply contained the ' | ' (vertical bar) character | 25147 |
Bp Comms | SMS reminders now have a consistent character limit. | 67429 |
Bp Comms templates | If Appointment template expects a reply is selected for a reminder template in the configuration screen, it is also selected for the template when sending the reminder. | 67818 |
Contacts | When selecting a contact in the Contacts screen and clicking Add at Address, the address can now be edited. | 64534 |
Document viewer | Fixed an issue where documents were not rendering correctly, and incorrect documents were displaying. | 67931 |
Document viewer | An error no longer appears when viewing PDF documents in Correspondence in or the Inbox. | 67440 |
Electronic Prescribing | Fixed an issue where eScript tokens are cancelled if the patient has a previous prescription with the same drug name, and the previous prescription is deleted. | 65562 |
Electronic Prescribing | Fixed and issue where the brand name and active ingredients for a drug were not formatted correctly when sending an electronic prescription. | 65344 |
Electronic Prescribing | Deleting previous prescriptions will no longer cancel an active eScript token prescribing the same drug. | 65562 |
Electronic prescribing | Fixed an issue where drug names were not displaying correctly on electronic prescription printouts or sending correctly in electronic prescription tokens. | 67345 |
Electronic Prescribing | Electronic prescriptions now send the correct quantity for Ryzodeg Flex Touch 70/30 Pen Devices. | 67472 |
Emails will now send correctly when recipients are separated by a space. | 67230 | |
Fixed an issue where emails with multiple recipients whose addresses are separated by a space were not sending. | 67230 | |
eOrdering | Fixed an issue where empty eOrder export paths could be saved for an eOrdering provider by clicking Cancel, then saving. | 65571 |
eOrdering | When sending an eOrder, a prompt no longer appears incorrectly advising the user that a folder has not been nominated for eOrders. | 67575 |
Follow-up inbox | The Filter by status field in the Follow up inbox will now remain as nil status by default when other filters are changed, | 67900 |
Forms | A fatal error no longer occurs when using Webview2 forms in some situations. | 67118 |
Healthlink Smart Forms | Healthlink Smart Forms now show instructions for long term medication. | 66829 |
Imaging | The Request tab in the Imaging request screen now renders correctly when the user does not have a preferred imaging provider. | 67576 |
Medicare Web Services | Internal messages generated when PRODA will expire in 30 or 14 days no longer generate every ten minutes. | 67732 |
Online claiming | When printing a DB4 form, four copies of the form no longer print when Print 2 copies of vouchers is selected in Setup > Configuration > Online claiming. | 64642 |
Online Patient Verification | When performing a bulk online patient verification from the appointment book via Utilities > Bulk patient verification, patients with no Medicare details no longer have the same status as the patient above them. | 66829 |
Online patient verification | When performing an online patient verification from the appointment book by right-clicking on an appointment and selecting Online patient verification, clicking OK on the prompt no longer causes the appointment book window to minimise. | 65575 |
Passwords | Fixed an issue where Bp Premier was converting the emergency access password to lower-case only letters. | 67412 |
Pathology requests | Fixed an issue where re-using a previous pathology request (Previous requests > Use again) updates the logged in users default billing to the billing type used in the previous request. | 55097 |
Patient claiming | Fixed an issue where lodgement advice was incorrectly printing instead of a statement of claim for successful patient claims. | 67935 |
Patient record | The Check this box to remove these notes checkbox in the Data notes screen now works correctly. | 65206 |
Patient record | The EDC and LMP dates for the South Australian Maternal Serum Antenatal Screening Program are no longer editable. | 62158 |
Prescribing | Fixed an issue where the indication reason for authority prescriptions was missing for some drugs. | 67117 |
Prescribing | Fixed an issue where clicking the Another button in the New Rx wizard only worked when Mark for printing was selected. | 64341 |
Printing | The print button in the patient record is now working for PDF documents. | 67165 |
Printing | Fixed an issue where PDF files were not printing when performing a print out of a patient health summary. | 67197 |
Referrals | TCA referral forms now use the correct address for practitioners being referred to. | 28250 |
Results | Fixed an issue where if the practice has two patients with the same surname and date of birth (for example, twins), results for both patients were grouped under one of the patients in the Inbox. | 22413 |
Search | Fixed an issue where the search function was returning the billing provider for immunisations instead of the 'given by' provider, and a filter option has now been added for the immunisation billing provider. | 67725 |
Subpoena tool | An error no longer occurs when using the Subpoena tool to create a copy of the patient's file containing documents originally created in ZedMed. | 65260 |
Upgrading | Fixed an issue were after upgrading, some sites are unable to view items in the Inbox or in Patient correspondence. | 67294 |
WebView2 | Using two or more pop-up WebView2 forms no longer causes a fatal error. | 67118 |
Word processor | if users attempt to access word processor templates containing clinical information without the correct permissions set, a prompt now appears indicating that they require clinical access to templates. Previously Bp Premier would freeze. | 65282 |
Known issues
The below list includes all known issues identified in Saffron SP3.
For a full list of known issues, click here.
Bp Function | Issue | Fixed in | Key |
|---|---|---|---|
User categories | If a provider's user category is set to either Contract Doctor or Registrar, an error occurs when the provider attempts to create an Event Summary or Shared Health Summary for My Health Record. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68472 |
Electronic Prescribing | When re-prescribing an electronic prescription token from the current Rx screen using Medisecure, an incorrect bar code is added to printed tokens. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68531 |
Immunisations | Immunisations created in Saffron SP2 or earlier cannot be adjusted and resent in Saffron SP3 or later. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68553 |
Online claiming | A limited number of practices are experiencing an issue where Medicare payment reports displayed in the Online Claiming screen are not reflecting the correct totals or batches. | Not yet resolved | 68845 |
Online claiming | Practices set up in PRODA with multiple minor IDs and a single B2B device are unable to send claims via patient claiming. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68785 |
Online Claiming | Patient claims with a $0 payment amount are not appearing in the patient claims list. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68796 |
Medicate Web Services | Practices set up in PRODA with multiple minor IDs and a single B2B device are failing the active PRODA device check in Bp Premier. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68830 |
Tyro | The following issues have been identified when performing a check for payments for Tyro bulk bill easyclaims:
| Not yet resolved | 68874 |
Billing | When creating an invoice with multiple items and the number of patients seen has been added to the invoice, all items include information about the number of patients, instead of just the items that require the number of patients added. This can cause the incentive or any additional items that do not require the number of patients number to be specified to be rejected by Medicare. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68722 |
Reports | When running an online claiming report and the report includes multiple batches with the same batch number, all services with the same batch number are listed together under the first batch date. This issue may occur for any reports that group batches by batch number. | Not yet resolved | 68801 |
Printing | When printing PDF documents with excessive margins from Correspondence In, an error occurs. The error also occurs when attempting to print the document via the subpoena tool or via a patient health summary. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68890 |
Immunisations | Immunisation Information Payments that your Doctors or Nurse Practitioners are expecting from Services Australia may have instead been issued to your practice, if the immunisations were recorded as given by another practice staff member. These Information Payments will appear on the immunisation payment statement for your practice’s location, instead of appearing on the statement for the individual provider. Not all practices will be affected by this issue. For more details on the issue in the Immunisation screen, review this supporting Knowledge Base article. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | N/A |
Immunisations | If you open the Influenza Immunisation screen from a patient record using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F1, you are unable to save a record with any item other than the default Influenza vaccination. Workaround: Change the default influenza vaccination in Setup > Immunisation Batches > Default Influenza Vaccine. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68879 |
Prescribing | The Regulation 49 check box in the prescribing wizard has reverted back to its previous label, Regulation 24. When prescribing a medication with repeats, the number of repeats must be altered before the regulation 24 check box can be selected. Changing the number of repeats should not be required for the Regulation 24 check box to be selected. | Not yet resolved | 68323 |
Patient Billing History | In the Patient Billing History, when right-clicking a service and selecting Show Medicare/DVA transmissions, a fatal error occurs if the service was sent via Tyro. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68371 |
Patient Claiming | When sending a payment via Patient Claiming to Services Australia, users may experience data validation errors. Workaround: To minimise validation errors, please ensure Patient Demographic data is in the expected format for Services Australia. In most cases, the returned error message will be descriptive enough to identify the erroneous data needing correction. | Not yet resolved | 68276 |
Upgrading | When upgrading to Saffron SP3, update databases does not complete successfully. Workaround: Run the Update Database.exe utility in C:\Program Files\Best Practice Software\BPS by right-clicking on the file and selecting 'Run as administrator'. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68312 |
Patient Claiming | When sending a payment via Patient Claiming to Services Australia, if the invoice contains MBS and non-MBS items it will fail to lodge. Workaround: Users will need to process MBS items separately via Patient Claiming. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68282 |
Electronic Prescribing | Medications that include a ‘<’ character in their strength field cannot be sent via ePrescribing for Practices using eRx. Workaround: This is currently being investigated. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68100 |
Immunisations | Practices that do not have a HPI-O entered receive an error message when attempting to upload immunisations to AIR, or use AIR functionality. Best Practice Software suggest entering a practice HPI-O to ensure immunisation data can be transmitted to AIR. Visit the Services Australia Website for information on how to apply for a HPI-O. Workaround: This is currently being investigated for practices that do not have a HPI-O. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68273 |
Patient Claiming | When sending an invoice that requires a referral via patient claiming, if the contact included in the referral has a 7 character provider number, an error will appear indicating that the provider number is invalid. Workaround: Add a '0' (zero) to the start of the provider number in Setup > Users. | Saffron SP3 Rev 1 | 68184 |
Prescribing | When printing a patient drug sheet or patient health summary, if a prescription includes complex instructions, then the complex instructions will show twice. | Not yet resolved | 68141 |
AIR | If the patient has a special risk group alert recorded in the AIR, updating the patient's indigenous status will remove the special risk group Alert. NOTE This is an issue with AIR, not Bp Premier. | Not yet resolved | N/A |
AU 