Here’s an explanation of the different Health Insurance Claim Software platforms to consider when selecting the best medical billing software.
Server Based Practice Management Software
This is a centrally located machine – it usually looks like a tower PC – with an operating system that allows multiple users to access the same application at the same time.
May be located in a secure data center with physical protections and an environmentally controlled environment. Housing a server in a data center has a reoccurring cost but it does provide protections not offered in a typical office location. There are also business who lease out space on a secure server for you to run your application on.
While nearly any personal computer is capable of acting as a network server, a dedicated server will contain features making it more suitable for production environments. These features may include a faster CPU, increased high-performance RAM, and typically more than one large hard drive. More obvious distinctions include marked redundancy in power supplies, network connections, and even the servers themselves.
Servers have a better ability to reconfigure and update hardware and software without restarting, as well as advanced backup capabilities that allow regular and frequent online backups of critical data. Many server operating systems have the capability to monitor hardware to detect conditions like over temperature, component failures (such as processor, disk, or power supplies), and alert an administrator or take corrective actions itself.
PC Based Medical Claim Software
This is usually for a small practice or billing service with only one or few users. Some software arrangements allow a client/server or master/slave arrangement such that other users can access the software on other machines on the same network. Typically less than 5 users. With this type of arrangement you have to be diligent about data backup and make sure to have a good disaster recovery so you can be up and running quickly in the event of equipment failure. PC hard discs routinely fail.
Online Health Insurance Claim Software
Online health insurance claim software is becoming very popular. Access to the claim software application is over the internet from any PC with a browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. This platform requires the least amount of maintenance on the users behalf.
This is also sometimes referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS), an Application Service Provider (APS), or cloud computing. The big advantages to these online providers is the lower upfront cost and relief from having to maintain or upgrade the software. Many online medical claim software providers don’t require long term contracts or cancellation fees.
The user typically pays a monthly or annual fee to use the application. This may be priced on a per seat (or per user) or per provider basis. This health insurance claim software platform is attractive because it allows the user to be relieved of all the maintenance, backup and security, and upgrade stuff and concentrate on their specialty – not on software or hardware issues. The downside is the user has limited control or access to the data. If the internet is down, you basically don’t have any access to your practice management system. But most internet connections are pretty reliable now days.
In summary there are three medical claim billing software platforms to consider when setting up a practice or medical billing service. Each has it’s advantages depending on the needs of the organization.
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