Physician Micro Systems, Inc. (PMSI), a leader in the development of electronic health records (EHR), practice management, and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) software, today announced the launch of Total Practice Partner Version 8.1. Total Practice Partner is a fully integrated EHR and practice management package that includes Practice Partner Patient Records, Order Entry, Medical Billing, and Appointment Scheduler.

Version 8.1 provides an increased level of integration between the applications. Total Practice Partner runs on a single database, enabling integration features such as common registration, shared internal messaging, electronic encounter form generation, and other information sharing between the applications. As a result of the close integration, new versions of the Practice Partner applications are now released together, as Total Practice Partner.

Total Practice Partner 8.1 also introduces a number of features in the individual applications. New and enhanced features in Practice Partner Patient Records 8.1 include:
· Sophisticated Health Maintenance: New health maintenance protocols create reminders based on diagnoses and medications. Protocols based on age and sex have been enhanced with sophisticated new overdue rules.
· New Device Interfaces: Clinicians can use the IQMarkTM Digital Spirometer from MidMark Diagnostics to perform spirometry tests from within Patient Records and automatically store the reports in the patient’s electronic medical record. A new interface with Welch Allyn® allows users to electronically acquire, store, and display vital signs results from Welch Allyn vital signs monitors.
· Integrated Voice Recognition: Full integration with Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Medical Solutions allows clinicians to effectively dictate directly into the progress note and other chart sections.
· Enhanced Progress Note Editor: New features include the ability to create notes, letters, and messages with bold, underline, and italic text using a choice of fonts. The new progress note editor also allows clinicians to create and insert tables into progress notes.
· Advanced E&M Coding Assistance: Evaluation and Management (E&M) coding labels and assistance within progress notes help clinicians to accurately code patient visits.
· PDA Export: Users can now export patient data from Patient Records to a Palm or PocketPC device for easy access during hospital rounds or while on the move.

New features in Practice Partner Order Entry 8.1 include:
· Order Rules: Customizable order rules help prevent medical errors by displaying warning, authorization required, or denial messages for orders. Clinicians can use complex logic to create order rules based on lab values, vital signs, current medications, problems, other concurrent orders, and more.
· Order to Electronic Encounter Form: Order Entry 8.1 automatically sends procedure codes from an order to an electronic encounter form for fast and accurate posting by the billing clerk. This feature saves time and prevents billing omissions.
· Recurrent Orders: Users can now enter repeating orders using flexible criteria.

New features in Practice Partner Medical Billing 8.1 include:
· Collections Module: The new collections workflow module helps practices to efficiently monitor and work collections accounts. Ticklers (collection notes) make it easy to track and follow up on both delinquent accounts and late insurance payments. Users can create individual collection notes on the fly, or use reports to create collections notes for multiple accounts at once.
· To-do Lists: Users can assign various tasks as “to-dos” for other staff members, with accompanying categories, priorities, expiration dates, and more. These to-dos create user work lists that improve staff communication and help users to prioritize and manage their tasks.
· Integrated Claims Scrubbing: PMSI partnered with UnicorMed to integrate Practice Partner CodeWizard, a claims scrubbing and coding assistance software tool. Features include sophisticated procedure and diagnosis code lookup as well as comprehensive claims scrubbing directly from the charge entry screen.
· Electronic Remittance Advice: Practices can download HIPAA-compliant electronic remittance advice (ERA) files and automatically post these payments in Medical Billing. Payment posting using ERA saves time and improves accuracy by allowing users to post batches of payments in just one step.

New features in Practice Partner Appointment Scheduler 8.1 include:
· Protocol Scheduling: Scheduling staff can accommodate complex patient visits by using protocol scheduling to schedule a series of appointments across days, providers, resources, and practices – while handling dependencies and team requirements.
· On-call Provider Tracking: Users can easily assign and track multiple on-call providers. On-call provider(s) are displayed on each schedule.

Total Practice Partner Version 8.1 demonstrates PMSI’s focus on bringing together the clinical, financial, and logistical aspects of physician practices – helping to improve both the quality of care and office efficiency. “Version 8.1 not only includes many important new features, but also offers a new level of seamless integration between the applications,” said Dr. Andrew Ury, M.D., founder and president of PMSI. “Because Total Practice Partner is an integrated solution running on a single database, physicians and office staff are able to enjoy information sharing and workflow benefits that are just not possible with other systems.”