Adding and Configuring Insurance Plans in Partner
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7. Editing HCFA Forms — (hedfe)

7.1. Introduction

The program hedfe is a simple HCFA form editor which allows you to configure both the layout and the content of your HCFA forms. It presents you with an image of a HCFA form on your screen and allows you to move the data around or change how it is filled out. This program makes editing your HCFA forms quite easy.

When it comes to configuring HCFA forms, there are two aspects you need to consider: layout and content. The layout of a HCFA refers to the positioning of data on the form. For example, you may need to move the box containing the insurance ID# to the left so it fits the box on the form. The content of a HCFA refers to the actual information printing on the form. For example, some of the computers that read HCFA forms expect to find slashes when reading a date, while others expect the date to be formatted differently.

Simple errors on claim forms can delay payment and cost your practice both time and money. Therefore it is important to understand how Partner fills out HCFA forms and how to make changes to your forms when necessary.

Remember that PCC can also help you configure and modify your HCFA form layout. Contact us with any questions before you start (support@pcc.com, 800-722-1082).

7.2. Starting hedfe

To start the HCFA editor, go to a UNIX prompt and type hedfe. You will be presented with a menu similar to your HCFA program, but instead of printing a batch of forms you need to select the batch you want to edit. Highlight your choice and press Enter.

After you have selected a batch of forms to edit, you must decide whether you want to configure the form's layout or its content. You'll be asked if you wish to modify, "Where the boxes are" or "What goes in the boxes." Again, simply highlight your choice and press Enter.

By selecting "Where the boxes are," you can reposition the boxes which print on the HCFA form. Boxes can be moved up, down, left or right, and can be made larger or smaller. New boxes can be added and existing boxes can be removed from the forms as well. See the section below entitled, "The hedfe Editing Screen" for complete details.

By selecting "What goes in the boxes," you can select any box on the claim form and then edit questions which control what data should appear. These same questions are available in the Configuration Editor (ced), but some users find that hedfe makes it easier to understand the settings. See "The hedfe Configuring Screen" for complete details.

7.3. Affecting other HCFA forms

Sometimes several batches use the same form layout. That means that any changes to the batch you selected will change the layout for the other batches as well. This is advantageous as it means you do not have to fix a layout problem on a dozen different batches.

If layout changes to a selected batch will affect other batches, you will see a message similar to this:

WARNING: The following batches share this form layout.  Changing it
for this batch may also affect these batches:

Alta Bates Forms        Heals Forms         Cigna Forms
Old Alta Bates Forms    Old Heals Forms

Are you sure you want to do this?

If you only wanted to change a single batch's forms, and not all the forms printed from the other batches listed, you can answer "No" and hedfe will return you to the main screen.

If you answer "Yes", hedfe will take you to the editing screen.

7.4. The hedfe Editing Screen

The editing screen in hedfe looks like a HCFA form that has been filled out in code. Boxes are shown on the screen relative to one another as they would print out on a HCFA form. Each box contains a word or an abbreviation indicating what data is to appear there.

Box names on the screen may be followed by pound signs (#) or other characters which show you how large the field is and what the font size is. Very small fields may only show one or two characters on the screen.

The message line at the bottom of the screen always gives you information about the box currently highlighted.

7.4.1. Moving Around, Selecting Fields

You may use the TAB, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN and arrow keys to move the cursor to various boxes on the screen. Watch the message line at the bottom of your screen to see more information about the highlighted box.

The function keys along the bottom of the screen allow you to change, add, or delete fields.

7.4.2. Changing the Settings for an Existing Field

To change a box on your HCFA form, simply tab or arrow over to the desired box and press [F2 -- Change Field]. This tells hedfe you wish to work on the selected box. At this point hedfe will change your function keys, allowing you to change the current box.

You now have the ability to change the box in several ways. Once you are done changing this box, you must save your changes by pressing [F1 -- Save Changes], or you can throw them away by pressing F12. Before you can start working on another field you must save or discard the changes made to the current field. Otherwise hedfe will think you are still working on the currently selected box and will continue to change it as you press keys.

Here are some of the changes you can make to a selected box:

7.4.2.1. Repositioning a box

By using the arrow keys, you can move the selected box around the form. The screen may get ugly as a result (as the chosen box is moved past other boxes some will seem to disappear), but the screen will fix itself once you save or throw away your new changes.

7.4.2.2. Making a box wider or narrower

You change the width of the selected box by moving either the left or right edge. By moving just one edge, you effectively make the box larger or smaller.

Select which edge you want to move by pressing [F4 -- Change Left] or [F5 -- Change Right]. When you press either of these keys, your function key labels will change once again. Use your left and right arrow keys to move the selected edge. As you move just one edge at a time the box, will become wider or narrower on your screen. When you are done adjusting the size of the box, press [F1 -- Save Changes] to save the new size or press F12 to go back to the original size.

7.4.2.3. Using smaller or larger print

You can even change the print size of the text in a box. Some fields expect lot of text in a small space. To accomplish this, you can change the font size by using the [F3 -- Change Font] key. When you press this key, your function keys will change again offering you three different font sizes to choose from.

"10 cpi" means the form will print 10 characters per inch. To fit more text in the same width box, you can select "12 cpi" or "17 cpi." The smaller the font size number, the larger the text will print.

Selecting different font sizes will change the appearance of that field on the screen.

The symbol:	Means this font size:
#	10 CPI
=	12 CPI
.	17 CPI

7.4.3. Adding a New Field

To add a new box to the form press [F3 -- Add Field]. You may need to do this if an insurance company requires more information than was previously on the form.

You will be presented with an exhaustive menu of all of the different kinds of data that can be put on the form. Each item may only be used once on a particular form, except for "User-Defined" fields described below.

Each item on this list represents a specific piece of visit information which you may want to appear on your HCFA forms. Additionally you may want to add customized text to your forms. You can add a "User-Defined" field to your form, and configure it to print any text you desire.

You can PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN through this list to select the field you want to add. Highlight your choice and press ENTER.

Once you have selected a box, you are thrown into "Change Field" mode so you can move the box around, make it wider and set its font.

If you are adding a "User-Defined" box, then there is another function key choice, [F2 -- Change Text], which allows you to specify the text that should appear in that box.

7.4.4. Deleting a box

To remove a box from your HCFA form, first select the unwanted field and then press [F4 -- Delete Field].

If you accidentally delete a box and you want it back, you can exit hedfe without saving the changes by pressing F12.

7.5. The hedfe Configuring Screen

The configuring screen in hedfe is identical to the editing screen except for the function keys. You will see a HCFA form layout with field names in place of each HCFA box. In some places you may see only one or two characters of a box name (for narrow boxes).