General Features

Ascend-HI's "patient-centered" view provides you with a complete electronic patient chart (patient profile). The patient's chart/profile is your starting place and the central focus of the program. Ascend-HI's program flow closely resembles your business and professional work flow. For example, AHI menus are arranged in the order you do your work....patient intake, order entry, production and delivery, clinical functions, finance, and etc). As a result, training time is minimized and staff can quickly employ Ascend-HI's powerful features. Most information can be entered very quickly, then later retrieved with just a few steps. This saves you time searching for critical data when you really need it.

You can save time and operate more efficiently by having multiple program windowsat the same time. For example, to temporarily research a question about another patient's order, you would not have to close the window on the patient you were working on. Many other vendor's programs make you close the current section you are in if you need to temporarily work in another section. Ascend-HI also supports multiple facilities. You can operate multiple pharmacies with one database. Users at one facility can be restricted from seeing information (patients, inventory, payers, etc.) belonging to other facilities (HIPAA) based on their security profile.

Ascend-HI provides several ways for you to move around the system. You can use your mouse or keyboard to enter data and make selections, select from profile drop-down menus, click on convenient profile icons/shortcuts, press function keys and employ your right-mouse button to pop-up context sensitive menus. All menus contain logically related functions. For example, the "Patients" menu includes patient related functions such as "select" a patient, enter a "new patient", "discharge", and etc. Icon-based "shortcuts" and function keys provide rapid access to commonly used features (e.g., enter a new "common" order by using a template).  

Several people can safely work on a patient's profile at the same time. Several users can even view the same order at the same time! This capability can greatly improve your operational work flow. For example, someone can be updating intake data while a pharmacist is doing order entry, while a biller is also generating a claim and while a nurse is entering a progress note; all simultaneously for the same patient!!  Multitudes of user-defined fields and configurable options let you adjust Ascend-HI to work the way you operate. On-line help is available within the program and from the Hann's On Software website.

Patient Chart/Profile

The tabbed sections of the Ascend-HI chart (patient profile) make it easy for you to enter, organize, and retrieve the patient's clinical and financial data. You always have convenient access to these sections:   Prior Authorizations, Therapies, Catheters, Orders, Clinical Interventions, Clinical Documents, Other Documents, Images, Laboratory, Financials, Financial Notes, and Nursing Visits. Each tabbed profile/chart section contains a list of any existing records of that type, in summary format (i.e., one line per record). You can click on any line to view or edit all of the record detail.  You can click on any column header label to sort the list by that category. For example, to sort the "Orders" by start date, you could click on the "Start Date" column header. Each tabbed section of the chart has a dedicated menu assigned to it. For example, to add a new "Therapy" record, you could Right-mouse click on the "Therapies" section, then select "New Therapy" from the menu that appears.

Prior authorization records can be entered, and then linked to specific orders, therapies, etc. AHI can warn you if a prior authorization has NOT been assigned to an order yet, or if it has expired. You can record each of the various therapies that patient may be receiving (e.g., Antibiotic, Hydration, Pain management, etc.).  Therapies can be linked to prior authorizations, diagnoses, primary/secondary/tertiary payers, and orders as desired. The catheters that are being used to provide patient care can also be tracked. These catheters can be linked to specific orders, therapies, etc., to provide pharmacists, nurses and billers with a clearer clinical picture of the patient.

The patients "Orders" tab can include all types of orders. This ensures you have a complete overview of the patient's therapy and status, and meets regulatory requirements. Orders on the profile can include IV infusions, injectable prescriptions, other retail prescriptions, other medications the patient may be taking (OTC, prescriptions from other pharmacies, etc.), supplies, DME orders, and nursing visits. These are conveniently listed in a "one line per order" summary format. Various profile "filters" allow you configure the appearance of the list on the fly (e.g., to view only active orders, discontinued orders, all orders, etc.). You can conveniently sort the list of orders by type of order, order description, delivery date, or any of several other column headers.

Track any number of admissions and discharges (to/from service) for each patient patient. This makes it easy to bill for actual days of service (e.g., when a patient leaves your service and returns to the hospital one or more times during the duration of the therapy).

Patient Intake (Admission)

Patient intake information is stored in several convenient and logical tabbed sections, including general information, primary-secondary-tertiary payer information, allergies, diagnoses, admission and discharge history, legal information, delivery locations, and more. The patient intake process is very easy and fast using this logical arrangement. Patient data is easy to find, saving your billing and clinical staff valuable time.

Ascend-HI provides many more data/fields and options than most vendors offer. For example, at least 5 phone number fields are available for home, work, cell, and "other" locations, and for each delivery location. Multiple delivery addresses (e.g., home, office, shipping, etc.) make if easy for you to track your patients among numerous locations. The currently selected shipping address automatically prints on subsequent delivery receipts, along with any associated shipping notes. Multiple fields and intelligent use of these fields, are just some of the ways Ascend-HI helps you streamline your operation and eliminate unnecessary paperwork.  

Information entered in the patient intake sections automatically appear in all other appropriate program sections and reports (such as financial sections/forms/reports). The reverse is also true...for example, updates to payer data in an AHI financial section will automatically appear with the payer data in patients intake section. This is because all areas of the program share the same database/fields. This eliminates any "double-entry" of data.

System administrators can designate which patient intake fields are "required" to complete the intake process (e.g. date of birth). These fields then appear with a colored background to clearly identify them.

Order Entry

Each order can include an unlimited number of ingredients (e.g., a TPN order with 20 ingredients). Ingredients can be selected from a convenient drop-down list of your inventory items. Inventory groups containing similar items can also be used to quickly select order ingredients (e.g., the "TPN solutions" group might display only the Amino acid and Dextrose solutions that you had assigned to this group).

Template order information can be preassigned in the item's inventory record. This information automatically populates the corresponding fields in the order when the item is selected. For example, standard mixing instructions, patient instructions, expiration periods, infusion rates, and etc. can be set up in the inventory record to appear with each new order for the item. 

Order entry is easy with features such as automatic date calculation (e.g., enter "10" in a date field and the date will be automatically configured for 10 days from today), drop-down selections (to minimize typing and ensure consistency), and automatic list item matching (e.g., if you type "de" the items displayed on the list also start with "de"; the more you type the closer you get to your target), and more.  Ingredient dosage information (strength, volume, etc), and the item description can be edited on the fly. Changes in either one of the ingredient's strength, volume or quantity-per-dose fields, automatically recalculates the other associated fields.

You can configure AHI to prevent order entry if a current prior authorization is not assigned to the order, or if it is not current. Ascend helps to ensure you will receive payment for your services. Orders can also be linked to therapies and catheters listed on the patient's chart in these dedicated sections.

Common order templates for medications, supplies and etc. can be stored and then re-used indefinitely. Everything about the order can be pre-defined if desired.  Common order templates can also be grouped for easy access (e.g., TPN Orders, PCA Orders, Hemophilia supplies, DME orders, Dr. Smith's orders, etc.). You can even "cherry-pick" among several common order groups to select all the orders you need for your patient. AHI's common order templates save countless hours of order entry time and reduce order entry errors.

Orders can be copied from one patient profile and pasted to another. This saves time if you have created an order on one patient which can also be used for another patient. The patient's instructions, mixing instructions and order comment fields are unlimited in length. These order fields subsequently appear on appropriate labels and reports.

Each order/refill provides a full complement of traditional prescription tracking information such as order starting/ending dates, authorized quantities and refill limits, refill starting/ending dates, refill quantity, mixing date and delivery date. These are used to support AHI's batch refill and renewal functions. You can also renew/refill prescriptions individually if needed.  Orders provide all the additional clinical fields needed to properly manage the patient's therapy including infusion rate, frequency of administration, expiration date, therapy type, order type, catheter types, storage information, physicians instructions, and more.

You can partially fill an order (i.e., if you are short of an item) then easily fill the remaining amount later on (i.e., when the item arrives from your supplier). You can dispense orders in batch quantities that make sense (i.e., based on limitations in product expiration times, payer requirements, storage limitations, etc.). Orders can be cancelled without using-up a prescription number. Orders can also be discontinued, then "un-discontinued" if necessary (e.g., to correct a mistake, if the physician changes their mind, etc). 

TPN Calculator

Ascend-HI utilizes the Baxa TPN Calculator as its calculation engine for TPN orders. Users may choose to employ the calculator for new orders and to revise orders. They may also create/modify their TPN orders in the same manner as regular IV infusion orders, or with common order TPN templates (i.e., without using the TPN calculator) if they wish. The Baxa TPN calculator can also output a configuration file to the Baxa TPN Compounder enabling the compounder to mix the TPN solution in accordance with the final formula.

Clinical Alerts/Interventions

Ascend-HI automatically scans new orders, then displays program-generated clinical alerts such as allergies, drug interactions, pediatric/geriatric warnings, food interactions, duplicate therapy, and pregnancy/lactation warnings. When a clinical intervention/alert is displayed, you can choose to accept or discontinue the order.

If you desire, you can add your own documentation to the alert record when the clinical alert is generated, or any time thereafter. Such documentation can include more detailed information on the nature of the problem, actions/interventions taken by professional staff, and outcome information. Ascend-HI provides numerous user-defined drop-down lists of problems/actions/outcomes for you to choose from. This makes your documentation steps fast and consistent. The clinical alert and your documentation become a permanent part of the patient's electronic AHI record. You can also optionally turn off any of the individual checks, if they are inappropriate to your practice.

In addition to the system-generated alerts and intervention documentation, AHI allows the pharmacist to document other interventions such as a physician consultation, drug utilization review, quality improvement problem/action/outcome, patient training, and any other intervention or activity that may be related to the patient or to a specific order. All clinical alert and intervention records are listed on the patient's chart in summary format. You can easily see which ones are complete and which ones require further action. You can click on a summary line to view additional detail, to add more information, or to indicate that the documentation for the record is now complete.

Order Dispensing

Order verification for "Inactive" orders (i.e., those that have been entered by staff who are not authorized to enter "active" orders such as technicians) is easy to accomplish. These orders can be placed in a queue for checking by an authorized user, typically a pharmacist. The "Verify orders" function lists the inactive orders and allows the pharmacist to automatically view and edit them on the screen. This saves time because the pharmacist does not have to take time to locate these orders, and the process is very quick and easy. Orders are automatically activated after they have been reviewed/edited.

Simultaneous printing of order labels and reports: When you are done entering an order, you can simultaneously print all the labels, mixing instructions, delivery lists, and etc. for the order. These go out to printers that have been pre-assigned for each label/report type.  Labels and reports are printed through Windows printer objects, eliminating any need to "capture LPT ports" as some vendors require. Ascend-HI customers can also use thermal label printers and laser report printers for improved speed, quiet printing and superior print quality.

You can perform batch refills and renewals and renew/refill orders one at a time. Larger operations will save considerable time using the batch refill and renewal features of AHI. You can also perform batch label printing, and print labels for individual orders. Labels can be printed on order entry, order refill, and on demand. Busy operations can save time by batch printing all the labels that are needed for the current period. AHI mixing instructions provide staff in the compounding area specific steps they should follow to prepare the order. You can add or customize these mixing instructions from within the inventory record of the item.

Delivery functions

Delivery tracking: Ascend-HI makes it easy for you to track deliveries handled by FedEx, UPS, any other commercial carrier, or any of your own delivery vehicles/staff. AHI lets you create and re-use a direct link to any commercial carrier's website or delivery tracking site. Just click on the link and we'll pass your tracking number directly to them! 

Delivery tickets/reports: AHI can print detailed delivery receipts (a.k.a., packing slips) that can also be used to document receipt of the delivered orders by the patient's caregiver. If the patient has multiple possible delivery addresses, the delivery ticket automatically includes the delivery address default that is currently assigned in the AIP database.

Delivery documentation: Some payers require that you document delivery before seeking payment. AHI provides two ways of recording deliveries including: (1) electronic records: through delivery records stored in the AHI database and/or (2) paper records: printed delivery receipts that have been signed by the receiving party

You can get immediate access to Mapquest from within AHI with an Internet connection. The patient's delivery address will automatically be passed to Mapquest, saving you time and reducing errors. A detailed map showing the patient's delivery location, and optional directions to the location, can be printed for subsequent use by delivery staff.

Monographs

Ascend-HI includes several types of monographs including (1) Patient Education (2) Drug-Drug Interaction and (3) Food-Drug Interaction monographs.  Drug-drug and Food-drug monographs are displayed automatically when an alert is generated during order entry.  Patient Education monographs in both Spanish and English are included. Patient monographs can be edited before they are printed.

Patient Education, Drug-Drug Interaction and Food-Drug Interaction monographs can be viewed and printed on demand. You can even edit the monograph prior to printing if desired.

Clinical/Charting Documents

The AHI Clinical documents tab lists all of the clinical documents and forms you have created for the patient. The list includes the name of the document and the subject matter, who created it, the date of creation, any follow-up dates, and whether any follow-up work was completed. The Clinical documents menu allows you to select a template chart document/form to use for your patient, edit the form and save it in the patients profile. You can create your own template documents/forms and reuse them as often as needed. All clinical documents become a permanent patient of the patient's record.

Typical chart documents/form templates you can maintain include Progress notes, Care Plans, Advanced Beneficiary Notices (ABN), Clinical Team Meeting forms and Pharmacy Communications forms. AHI also includes a variety of common predefined CMN forms for your use...just fill in the boxes and then print (or preview) the completely formatted CMN form. AHI automatically includes relevant patient information (name, address, phone, DOB, age, height, and etc) at the top of your clinical documents so you don't have enter this information manually.

You can assign follow-up dates to any document to automatically remind other staff that additional documentation or action is required. Once the follow-up is done, you can mark it as "completed".   Clinical documents can be locked to prevent further edits.

Other Documents

Ascend-HI makes it easy for you to view, edit and print other documents that you may have created outside of AHI. These might include external Word documents, Excel spreadsheets or other Windows-compatible documents. For example, you could have direct access from within Ascend-HI to a manufacturer's instruction document that is in a "PDF" format.

You can quickly create a link to an external document from within Ascend-HI. Once the link is added, the document is listed on the AHI "Other documents" list as if it were part of the program. Just click on your AHI link and AHI will return you to your document. Ascend-HI will automatically launch the appropriate application to work with the document (e.g., Microsoft Word, MS Excel, Acrobat Reader, etc.) and display the document on screen. From there, you can use all features of the external application (e.g., create colored "pie charts" in Excel)

Images

Images can accessed from within Ascend-HI by using the "Images" tab and associated menu. Examples of external images you might want to have easy access to include digitized X-rays, photographs (e.g.,  patients physical problems, pictures of medications, and etc.), original physician order faxes, and much more. You can quickly create a link to an external image from within Ascend-HI. Once the link is added, the image is listed on the AHI "Images" page as if it were part of the program. Just click on the image link and the image will be displayed on your screen.

Laboratory

You can have convenient access to all laboratory results from within Ascend-HI. All authorized professional staff (pharmacists, nurses, etc) can share this data. Lab results are organized and accessible in two ways: (1) by date: a tree-structure allows you to view all lab results for a specified date (2) by lab result type: a spreadsheet-like grid lists the lab test types on the right, one in each row, and dated columns to the right include the results for each of the lab tests.

Billing/Finance

No other program has billing capabilities that are as flexible, fast and as powerful as Ascend-HI's. Using Ascend-HI, you can quickly generate electronic and paper claims for your patients. Unlike many other vendor products, Ascend-HI can electronically bill within the program (no need to leave) which eliminates having to use a separate billing program or billing module and without having to do any "double entry" of data.

With Ascend-HI, you can electronically bill directly from the patient's profile with just a few mouse clicks. Other vendors programs often require 5 to 15 separate steps to send an electronic bill.   Furthermore, with AHI you can see the transaction while it is processing and see a reply from the payer right on the screen! 

Ascend also supports a wide variety of paper billing formats. For example, you can print your claim on pre-printed HCFA-1500 forms (e.g., required for medicare paper-based billing), you can print your completed HCFA-1500 forms on plain laser paper (OK with many insurance companies), and you can print patient statements/bills. Once a primary payer has indicated a payment amount, you can quickly bill the secondary insurance (or patient). Billing the tertiary insurance (or patient) is just as easy.  Easy to use payment and adjustment screens are logical and minimize the steps needed to accomplish you goals.

Ascend-HI is Medicare certified for electronic billing in all 4 DMERC regions.  AHI can send your claims via NDC and WebMD switching companies, making it easy to direct your claims to hundreds of insurance companies and state Medicaid programs. AHI has all HIPAA required electronic billing formats built in (i.e., ASCX12N and NCPDP v5.1) If any of your payers temporarily require that you use an older format, AHI can also support you (e.g., NSF format, older NCPDP versions). Our on-line help provides you with valuable contact information and step-by-step procedures on how to get started with electronic billing.

You can predefine pricing/contract terms in "templates", and pre-assign these templates to any number of your payers within your AHI database. Once you assign a payer to the patient, AHI can generate perfect claims automatically for this patient. Your pricing/contract templates can be configured using any combination of properties that you could imagine. Some examples include by pricing by therapy type, by drug, on a per diem basis, by order type, and many more. Pricing templates can factor in AWP costs, acquisition costs, normal retail price, and many other options. Additional fees can also be defined as needed.

AHI pricing contracts allow you to define "actual" versus "allowable" billing amounts/percentages. This enables Ascend-HI to track and report your actual billed revenues and your expected/allowable revenues, and keep them separate. As a result, Ascend-HI can give you an accurate picture of your business' true financial status. Some vendors cannot track actual vs. allowable amounts, or they mix these revenues together, making their financial reports a bit fuzzy!! 

Ascend-HI provides a convenient list of all "unbilled orders" grouped by payer, then by patient. You can create claims quickly and easily directly from this list!  AHI provides a list of all current (non-posted) claims grouped by payer then by patient. You can print claims, electronically bill claims and post claims directly from the list. Each of these lists supports batch billing functions. For example, you can select a payer and create claims for all patients with unbilled orders assigned to that payer. You can also select one or more individual patients, and/or one or more individual orders, and "batch bill" the ones you have selected. You can perform similar selections (all/some payers, all/some patients, all/some claims) and print claims or post claims on a batch basis. These batch billing functions are a tremendous time saver for large operations.

With Ascend-HI, you can easily Bill or Un-Bill orders and  Post or Un-Post claims if you make a mistake or have to reverse a financial step for some reason.  With Ascend-HI, you can also "Split bill" between two or more payers if needed.

AHI's financial reports are very flexible and comprehensive. All customary financial reports are included with the program and accessible from one convenient "reports" menu. Financial notes may be maintained for each patient right on their profile. Financial notes are independent of clinical notes, progress notes or patient intake notes, and are intended for use by billers, financial managers and the like.

Nursing visits

AHI will soon let you record nursing visits in the patient's chart. Nurses will be able to document mileage, start/end times, and make pertinent notes.

Reports

Ascend-HI includes all the clinical, financial, distribution, inventory, regulatory, and management reports you will need. Over 70 ready-to-use reports are currently available. Most Ascend-HI reports can be easily configured on-screen to filter relevant data. This allows you to modify the report to you specific needs without any custom programming costs or report-writing skills. Non-technical staff appreciate this ease-of-use in retrieving information from Ascend-HI. 

Ascend-HI uses Crystal Reports 8.5 for all printing. Users can optionally choose to create unique custom reports using Crystal report writer, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, and Word, to name a few. AHI reports can be exported in a variety of formats (PDF, Excel, Comma-delimited, Word, etc). AHI reports can also be faxed and  emailed. All reports can be previewed on screen. This saves paper if you want the information but don't necessarily need a printed copy, or if you want to check the results of your inquiry before printing.

Ascend-HI supports Windows printer objects. We recommend HP compatible laser printers to obtain the highest quality print possible. You'll look good when you present high quality AHI reports to your physicians, insurance companies, and other professional/business associates. 

CURES controlled substances prescription usage data can be exported from within Ascend-HI for transmission to regulatory agencies that accept data in this manner. AHI makes it easy for you to track therapies and patient days.

Inventory / Inventory Control

Inventory data is updated automatically with each AHI update. First Databank data, including AWP prices, are updated during the process. AWP changes reported by First DataBank are stored for future reference for each inventory item.  You can also flag individual  items to NOT have their AWP cost updated in this manner, if necessary.  AHI also provides multiple field options to support your practice. For example, inventory items can have two descriptions (e.g., generic and brand), plus an alternate "order description" (i.e., how the order appears on the profile), plus a billing description. Multiple financial fields include AWP (First Databank), Redbook AWP, Acquisition cost, ASP, and usual Retail price.

Inventory items can belong to an optional "group" (e.g., TPN solutions) making it easier for you to locate an item during order entry. Enter order defaults in the inventory records which are automatically used by, and entered into your orders, when the item is selected. Warning/information messages can be assigned to inventory items so that they "pop-up" on the users screen during order entry.

Inventory balances are maintained automatically by the program. Set minimum and maximum inventory levels. Item lot numbers and expiration dates can be recorded, and are then accessible at order entry. Lot number reports allow you to quickly verify if you have purchased any recalled items. If an item is no longer stocked for some reason, it can be flagged as "inactive" so it does not appear on the ingredient list during order entry. Existing orders and claims based on this item are unaffected. Later, if the item is restocked, the check mark can be removed making it "active" for new orders once again.

Security and HIPAA

Security rights for each employee can be quickly set up. Administrators can grant "full access", "view only", "no access" rights to a wide variety of program areas and functions.  Unique user-name and password combinations help to prevent unauthorized use of the program and prevent unauthorized access to private healthcare information.

You can employ optional security settings to require that orders entered by a technician are held as "inactive" until they have been checked by a pharmacist. The AHI "Verify" function saves valuable pharmacist time by automatically presenting them with a list of "inactive" orders. The orders can be quickly and efficiently reviewed, and edited if needed, before they become "active" orders.

Ascend-HI helps you meet HIPAA requirements for patient privacy. For example, each time a user views a patient profile, a record is made of the event to meet HIPAA reporting requirements. If multiple facilities are sharing one database, users at one facility can be blocked from having access to another facility's patients, orders and other data to meet HIPAA privacy requirements. AHI uses SQL Server 2000/2003 which is a HIPAA compliant database. IT managers can apply SQL Server access controls and prevent unauthorized viewing of private healthcare information.

Ascend-HI provides a HIPAA-required security feature which automatically logs-off a user after a period of inactivity. You can define this period of inactivity.  AHI can be configured to make users replace their passwords at a defined interval. The AHI program can also log every change made to patients and orders. The information includes who made the change, when it was made and what was changed. For example, you could review an older order and confirm that the "ingredient strength was changed from 125 to 250MG by Joe Tech on 4-3-2000 at 3:35 PM".

Technology

Ascend-HI is a true Windows-32 bit program, developed using Microsoft's Visual Basic 6, a well-known and highly supported software compiler. Microsoft has stated they will continue to make Visual Basic and SQL Server the foundation of their program-compiler/database architecture for the future. 

Ascend-HI was developed for use with SQL Server or MSDE (Microsoft's Desktop version of SQL) databases. When we developed Ascend-HI, a major priority was stability and safety. This is why we recommend SQL Server for your database. Microsoft SQL Server requires no re-indexing and compacting, and minimizes network traffic. Also, you can use the software while updates and backups are performed, minimizing downtime. SQL Server is a HIPAA compliant database, a necessity for sensitive healthcare information. SQL Server can log transactions and automatically recover data to a previous "consistent" state if a new transaction fails for any reason. SQL Server can store "terabytes" of information and is scalable to support anywhere from a few to hundreds of users at a time.  Together, AHI and SQL Server go a long way toward preventing problems and lost time resulting from crashes, re-indexing, repairing, restoring, and slow performance.

Central IT staff functions. For example, program updates can be performed on one server then distributed to all other clients computers. Use Windows Remote Access or GoToMyPC to connect remotely to Ascend-HI from just about anywhere, and on a real-time basis!!  No need to copy data or restore data to/from your database. For example, some Ascend-HI billers use remote access capabilities to do AHI billing from a remote location.

Ascend-HI includes a runtime version of Crystal Reports v8.5 to meet your reporting needs. AHI also uses Windows printer objects to manage the printing of labels and reports. This eliminates having to "capture" printer ports, and allows you to use a wide variety of Windows compatible printers. AHI customers can use thermal (label) printers and laser (report) printers to enjoy maximum print quality and speed, and to minimize noise in their work environment.

Be sure to read more about Ascend-HI's advantages over other vendor products!