A Houston-based provider of electronic medical records software designed specifically for mental and behavioral health providers is adding electronic claims processing to its platform.
Eulogix, a 14-year-old branch business of Houston-based Computer Tech, launched the Convergent Therapy Information System, or CTIS, on May 15. The Web browser-based electronic clinical records software package, designed for the mental/behavioral health community, includes Master Treatment Plan and Group Therapy Notes functions, designed to ease the paperwork pressure on small, outpatient-based psychiatric providers.
"The addition of claims processing to CTIS provides the key functionality often requested by prospective customers who are looking for behavioral health-specific electronic records together with electronic claims reimbursement," said Paul Graff, director of product development for Eulogix.
Graff pointed out that mental/behavioral health (MBH) providers are faced with limits on private insurance reimbursements as well as a 28 percent decline in Medicare payments over the past two years. He said MBH providers are looking for a way to improve HIPAA compliance and operating efficiency and hasten insurance reimbursements without spending $80,000 or more on typical MBH software (CTIS is marketed at $6,000 for up to 10 users).
In addition, it's estimated that therapists spend as much as 50 percent of their time on paperwork, reducing the amount and quality of time spent with patients.
"CTIS is the first program that was developed for the small psychiatric, outpatient provider," said JoAnne Mandel, president of Houston-based InnerWisdom, Inc. "It is easy to navigate and leaves little room for error when documenting all that is necessary during a patient's treatment program."
Company officials say CTIS is designed for small mental health professionals who face the same mandate as general medicine professionals to implement electronic patient records, all while maintaining compliance with HIPAA regulations. CTIS software offers electronic versions of paper forms, sharing redundant data among forms and employing drop-down lists and checkboxes to speed entry, standardize values and reduce the possibility of transcription errors. In addition, included databases allow providers to reference patient diagnoses (DSM-IV codes) and common medications.