Medical Billing Forum

Medical Billing Software => Medical Billing Software Reviews => : ADEMAT November 14, 2008, 09:36:16 PM

: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: ADEMAT November 14, 2008, 09:36:16 PM
Any one have reviews on office ally & practice mate
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Michele November 15, 2008, 12:07:42 AM
I'm not familiar with either of them.  I'm hoping someone else will share on their experience.

Michele
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: billspecial November 20, 2008, 07:35:59 PM
I am currently using Office Ally and PracticeMate for my medical billing business at home. Although other vendors offer software that is more savvy when it comes to entering/sending claims, PracticeMate does the job and it's FREE! if you are in a situation where you need to save or cut back on costs. I have not implemented the scheduling center so unfortunately, I dont have anything to say about that. Hope this helps!
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: ADEMAT November 20, 2008, 10:15:56 PM
Thank you for the info.  I am just starting a home medical billing service and could use all the good advise I can get.   I am marketing physicians for my first client.  I have 25 years experience in the medical billing field and I am tired of working for someone else and only making a hourly wage. I make $20 hrly but I know what kind of money I bring in for the physicians I work for and I want a %.  I am limited on funds right now so the free part of Office Ally and Practice Mate looked real good to me.  I just wanted to know if it was a legitimate business and not a scam.   

Amy
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: billspecial November 28, 2008, 09:25:23 PM
It is definately legite. Good luck on your first doctor! I made a lot of my marketing materials online with microsoft publisher and Vistaprint.com to cut costs. Hope it goes well for you.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Pay_My_Claims January 20, 2009, 06:14:09 PM
I just researched them, going to do more, but it has shot up to the top of my list of potential software "purchases". There are some potential costs with this plan such as flat fee of 19.99 if 50% of your business is Medicare (which is true for most) and .025 per claim for payors that don't accept electronic claims submissions (and they send paper for you), or if they are not contracted to submit to the payor themselves. All in all it still seems pretty good.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: billspecial January 26, 2009, 02:21:46 AM
You may also want to check out TotalMD they have a web based software that is 99.00 to sign up and 99.00 a month and you can add as many providers as you want. With each additional user it's 99.00 a month. Also, NueMD is a web based software that has a lot to offer they have unlimited users and charge monthly per provider. Just something to look at when shopping around or looking to upgrade from Office Ally.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: StephD January 08, 2010, 03:19:23 PM
I have been using Office Ally for my personal billing service and we use Practice Mateand Office Ally at a clinic where I work full time.  There are some drawbacks with Practice Mate.  It does not print a day sheet with all of your charges, adjustments and payments.  Their reporting capabilities are limited.  Also, if you are billing for a larger practice it is very time consuming to post charges and payments.  Too many screens that you have to switch back and forth to.  It is fine for a smaller practice though. 

I love Office Ally and their staff is very friendly, prompt and helpful!  I have really been pleased with them!
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: kwardbilling January 08, 2010, 03:40:01 PM
Do any of you use Therapist Helper/Netsmart software.  It's specifically for mental health providers...?
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Pay_My_Claims January 08, 2010, 04:16:15 PM
sorry, I have never used them. I have heard about them however
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: PMRNC January 20, 2010, 01:32:15 PM
Have had many providers over the years who used Therapist Helper until they realized it's limited abilities. Personally I don't like it at all.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Pay_My_Claims January 20, 2010, 03:04:12 PM
sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Michele January 20, 2010, 11:36:41 PM
And in High Gear!  Glad to have you back, you have so much knowledge to share!
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: bobbie January 22, 2010, 01:11:40 AM
We started up w/ Office Ally in November and stopped using Caprio (formerly Medavant). We love it. We're getting our Anthem payments in 3 to 4 days, it used to be 7 days. I rarely have any claims to drop hardcopy so that's a big $$ savings. Plus I don't have to down to paper anymore as you can check on any subsequent denials, correct and resub. right on office Ally. Oh, and no, I'm not employed by Office Ally. :D
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Pay_My_Claims January 22, 2010, 03:35:51 PM
I use it as well, and enjoy it. I am not as fond of practice mate, but for now I will use it until I get large enough.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: gderilus January 22, 2010, 06:45:53 PM
I also use Practice Mate and Office Ally, I think it's great if you have small practices but it's limited
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: QueenAlicia January 22, 2010, 07:50:46 PM
Do you need to have providers signed up first before using officeally?  I keep trying to register and it won't let me, keeps asking for physicians and what not (NPI # etc).
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Pay_My_Claims January 22, 2010, 09:34:53 PM
you can download the demo for free, but if you have already registered your business, you can enroll in the software for free as well.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: jcbilling January 23, 2010, 12:00:33 AM
Just curious -

For Practice Mate users, what report do you perfer to use to follow up on old claims?

The AR Detail Report doesn't give you the DOS, but the Patient Visits Report pulls everything for that time period - paid or not.

Has anyone found a report that works well for them? And if so, what is it?

I guess it seems so time consuming when I work with softwares that are more robust and can generate better reports. I'm not complaining though - I use Office Ally / Practice Mate for a client that I wouldn't keep if it wasn't for the lowww price.

Just would like to make the most out of our follow up time in the software though.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Pay_My_Claims January 23, 2010, 08:54:54 PM
my main concern is open balances. yes for small practices that want to keep the cost down, its perfect. For the clients I have, they are generally ok with the reports that I have, and anything else I will generate the report for them via excel, or quickbooks.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: electrobills January 24, 2010, 06:18:43 PM
We have been using Office Ally/Practice Mate for a couple of years now.  It is very user friendly and it gets the job done, however if you are seding claims for BCBS of NJ and Medicaid of New York they send the claims by paper and lately the claims have been taking a long time to process and have been rejected for printing errors due to their scanner.  For other insurances though, their great!
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: QueenAlicia February 03, 2010, 07:20:15 PM
I signed up for Office Ally.  I will be using this system till I sign a provider and funds increase.  I'm excited ( hope I don't sound goofy).
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Pay_My_Claims February 03, 2010, 09:20:44 PM
We have been using Office Ally/Practice Mate for a couple of years now.  It is very user friendly and it gets the job done, however if you are seding claims for BCBS of NJ and Medicaid of New York they send the claims by paper and lately the claims have been taking a long time to process and have been rejected for printing errors due to their scanner.  For other insurances though, their great!

Have you tried to send the claim using their own website? I don't know about New York, but NC has their own billing system. It is also used in SC as well. Sign up for BCBS of NJ to bill on their website, depending on how many claims you have, it may be able to help you out some.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Lisa@srts-inc.com April 28, 2010, 03:00:35 PM
I just switched my clearing house to Office Ally about 6 months ago and so far so good, also its free, we were paying another clearing house $500.00 a month and it was no better than Office Ally.

Practice Mate is very basic, we don't use it but I did have a rep give me a demo.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Pay_My_Claims April 28, 2010, 05:47:13 PM
good for you Lisa........yes PM isn't good at all. Its ok for the new biller who is saving on money...but I would never do my large practices with it. I LOVE OA!
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: sherry27 May 19, 2010, 01:43:20 PM
i love office ally also. I send all of my claims through them. Their customer support is awesome also. It is way better than the clearinghouse i had before that I had to pay for.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: medauthor May 20, 2010, 01:46:33 AM
Have to agree 100% regarding the comment about their great customer support!!  My emails are all answered in a very timely fashion!
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: Michele May 20, 2010, 11:09:52 AM
Just started using Office Ally and so far, very good experience.
: Re: OFFICE ALLY & PRACTICE MATE
: mahembree July 29, 2010, 02:56:46 AM
I work in a Urology Office (1 Doctor), we have been using Office Ally/PracticeMate and their EHR for a couple of years. OA is a work in progress and they are continually improving their software. A few years ago I was tasked to find and implement an affordable billing/scheduling/EHR solution for our office ~ after many hours of research we settled on Office Ally.

It is extremely affordable and they are continually building and improving the software daily. Office Ally is internet based so no need for our office to purchase and maintain servers. We just needed a decent computer and high speed internet connection.

The fact that all of our patient files are stored offsite (OA servers) is a huge plus.