Fee estimates

Estimates can be created to provide patients with accurate written details of the costs they are likely to incur for their anaesthetic procedure. Estimates are more or less identical to accounts. However, they are kept in a separate list and can be viewed separately to accounts. The estimate printout is quite different to that of an account, and can be customized to the requirements of the doctor. Once the procedure has taken place, the estimate can be converted to an account and processed in the normal way.

Estimates are created by creating a new account which is flagged as an 'Estimate'. The patient, item and fee details are entered in the usual way. Most of these details are required for an accurate written estimate.

Moving between estimates and accounts

By default, both accounts and estimates are shown together in the List of Accounts. There is a set of three buttons on the top of the screen which allows requerying the list to show accounts only (A), estimates only (E) or both (B). The default can be changed in the Options > Misc form, to initially show just open accounts.

When viewing a estimate, the Account details screen has a number of visual differences. These are to reduce any confusion about whether an estimate or account is showing. The background is a green colour (blue for accounts). The account is clearly labeled 'ESTIMATE'. The menu buttons show 'Estimate details' and 'List of estimates'. The print button is labeled 'Estimate'.

You can switch between lists of accounts and estimates by any of these methods:

In the List of Accounts, each record is labeled with an A or E to designate its type. This is also shown on the <Print this list> printout, in the search results screen, and on the similarly named patients list on the Patient page. In Access 2000 and above, this label and the surname are shown with a yellow background.

If viewing accounts and estimates together, the print accounts/copayments buttons are disabled. To print a batch of accounts or estimates, either accounts or estimates must be selected, not both.

Creating estimates

From the Main Menu, use the <New estimate> button to create a new estimate.

While in the data entry screen, if an estimate is currently displayed, clicking the <New> button will create a new estimate. If an account is currently displayed, the <New> button will create a new account. In each case, there is a small button on the left of the new button, labelled either <a> or <e>, which will create an account or estimate when the other type is showing. This makes it easy to create an account while viewing estimate, and vice versa.

Enter patient details, items and fees as for a normal account.

Assuming the procedure is in the future, you will not have start and stop times. Enter an estimated duration in the 'Time' field on the Operation page to calculate an appropriate time item. If you would like to print a theatre list, enter an approximate start time which will be used to order the list. See Theatre List.

You can save an estimated operation duration in the Operations lookup table to assist in quickly creating estimates for specific operations.

Enter appropriate items, and select a fee using any of the standard methods. A discount can be applied if preferred. A separate discount message for estimates is stored in the Options form.

Print the estimate with the <Estimate> button (normally labeled Print).

Printing estimates

Print the estimate with the <Estimate> button on the estimate details screen. (Estimates can also be printed in a batch from the List of Estimates screen.)

The standard estimate prints out with a custom message, plus fee and rebate details according to the fee and fund selected. A brief explanation of fee and gap is displayed on the screen but not on the printed estimate. There is considerable scope to customize the format and wording of the estimate, as described below.

When an estimate is printed, the fee and gap details are saved to the 'IFC details' field on the Fund page. If the field will not hold all the details, any existing details are first moved to the Notes field.

Near the IFC details field, there is a new field labelled 'IFC Status' where you can set up your own list of items to select from. When an estimate is printed, one of these can be inserted automatically, depending on the account type. This is set up when editing the lookup list for the IFC status field.

When printing from the 'List of estimates' screen, if no Medicare number is entered, Access Anaesthetics assumes that the patient is eligible for Medicare benefits in any case. When printing from the estimate details screen, you may choose whether to ignore a missing Medicare number.

Converting estimates to accounts

Click the <Convert to account> button to convert an estimate to an account. The estimate will be flagged as an account and will move to the list of accounts. (Although you wouldn't normally do so, you can also convert an account to an estimate, provided the account has not been issued. Click the <Convert to estimate> button to do this.)

When entering a new account, after entering the surname, if there is an estimate in the current doctor's file with the same surname, the list of matching estimates will be shown automatically. This also happens after entering the Medicare number.

From the list of matching estimates, you may select one and convert it into an account. Alternatively, you can click the <Go to> button to go to the specified estimate. This means that if you begin typing an account, but find that there is an existing estimate for the patient, you can go directly to the estimate.

The list of estimates initially shows only those estimates which match the patient's surname. You may optionally show estimates which match the patient's first name, Medicare number and/or all three. Click the <Show all> button to show all estimates, whether or not they match the current account details. The list of estimates may be reordered by clicking the column heading.

Group practices may additionally select a specific provider file to search for estimates, or may show estimates in all providers files. An estimate from any data file can be converted to an account in the current data file. Group practices may also specify a separate provider file to use for automatically searching estimates (Options > Print format page).

Click the <View Estimates> button on the Patient page at any time to view existing estimates, matched to the patient's details.

If creating 2 estimates for the same patient, to simplify data entry, you can copy the patient address and fund details from the estimate popup screen into the current estimate or account.

What can't be done with estimates

Batch payments and Eclipse functions (except OPV) are disabled for estimates.

Accounts can't be converted to estimates if they have a date issued, include a batch payment, or include any Eclipse claims other than OPV.

Customizing estimates

There is considerable scope to customize the format of the estimate printout. Multiple estimate formats may be saved, so that different estimates can be printed in different formats or with different wording. When the <Estimate> button is clicked to print an estimate, the list of formats is displayed with a default format selected. The default format is set up in the Options form (Print Format page).

To customize the estimate formats, go to the Options form, Print Format page and click the edit button to the right of the Default estimate format field. Alternatively, click the editing button in the dialog box which appears when printing an estimate.

A list of estimate formats is shown on the left. These can be edited, renamed, deleted, and new ones created with the appropriate buttons. When one estimate format is highlighted in the list, its settings may be adjusted on the right.