General Information Who is MD Synergy? How long have you been in business? What makes MD Synergy different from other practice management systems? How long does it take to sign up for MD Synergy? Can my billing service company utilize MD Synergy? Do I have access to MD Synergy at home? Technology Is the SYNERIOS System completely ASP based? Can SYNERIOS operate independently of the Internet? Can I convert the data from my old system into SYNERIOS? What if I want to back up my own data at my office? What are the minimum system requirements for my computers? What operating systems does the handheld (PDA) application work on? What types of handheld devices does the application work on? Can MD Synergy customize software for my office? Can SYNERIOS integrate with electronic medical record systems? Can I submit my IPA or Managed Care encounter data through SYNERIOS? What if the Internet goes down? What if the SYNERIOS site goes down? What if our DSL access goes down? What types of coding edits does SYNERIOS offer? Does MD Synergy update the site regularly? Will SYNERIOS work on a slower Internet access speed (56k etc.)? Does SYNERIOS work on Macintosh computer systems? Costs/Charges/Pricing What does the transaction charge model mean? Are there any hidden charges for using SYNERIOS? What is the charge for data conversion? How do I close out my old accounts receivable? Will I ever be charged for any updates (coding edits, ICD-9 or CPT tables) on your system? Will I ever be charged for any upgrades in your software? Set Up/ Training What is the typical training process? How do I get high speed Internet Access at my office?(DSL or Cable Modem) Do you help with selecting and setting up computers and networks? Security How secure is the SYNERIOS site? Are you HIPAA compliant? How safe is the data?
General Information
Who is MD Synergy? "MD Synergy was started by a group of Southern California physicians to specifically address the need for a robust office information system for the medical practice. The vision behind MD Synergy came from our founder, Leo Alonzo MD MBA. Dr. Alonzo's unique and diversified background as a former computer programmer for the aerospace industry, as a private practice physician with both managed care and private insurance experience, and as a successful entrepreneur allowed him to create the vision that continues to drive MD Synergy." [Top]
How long have you been in business? MD Synergy has been a California Corporation in good standing since our incorporation in January of 2000. The company devoted nearly two years to research and development and an additional year in operations and customer support services. MD Synergy commercially launched its premier application in January of 2002. [Top]
What makes SYNERIOS different from other practice management systems? In an industry that is notorious for taking advantage of the medical office, SYNERIOS has set itself apart from the plethora of practice management system providers in terms of our business model, our product offering and most importantly our relationships with our customers. MD Synergy prides itself in providing the most customer oriented setup and training. Our product offering is an Internet based office system that utilizes the latest technology to ensure scalability, portability and future functionality. Our pricing structure is based on a "pay as you use" philosophy; a transaction charge only, with no hidden costs. [Top]
How long does it take to sign up for SYNERIOS? Our typical schedule for signing up a new customer is 30 days. This is dependent upon the type of billing system that a new client used in the past. For those clients that are just starting their offices, we are able to have them actively using our system within two weeks. [Top]
Can my billing service company utilize SYENRIOS? Yes, many of our clients utilize an outsourced billing service company and we are pleased to associate with them to offer our application for use in both the medical office and the billing service office. In fact, our ASP model has created numerous practice efficiencies as well as cost savings for both the provider and the billing service company. [Top]
Do I have access to SYNERIOS at home? Yes, since SYNERIOS is completely ASP based (Internet based), our clients have access to our site from any Internet access point. Our SSL encryption certification ensures that all information is transmitted securely for our users. [Top]
Technology
Is the SYNERIOS System completely ASP based? Yes, our entire application is ASP (Internet) based. There is no specific software that needs to be installed on your computers to access our site. The only computer system requirement is to use the browser Internet Explorer Version 5.5 (IE) or higher. Note that IE comes preloaded (free) on most new PCs. [Top]
Can SYNERIOS operate independently of the Internet? No, the SYNERIOS application can only be accessed by our clients through the Internet. [Top]
Can I convert the data from my old system into SYNERIOS? Yes, in fact, MD Synergy takes tremendous pride in our abilities to convert demographic information from your old system into our database tables. We've converted data from nearly every national practice management system in the country. [Top]
What if I want to back up my own data at my office? Our application allows your office to back up your data onto your local personal computers. We allow this for two reasons. First, we recognize that allowing our clients to back up their own data adds a tremendous sense of reassurance. Even though MD Synergy holds very stringent policies on backing up our data tables and maintaining emergency recovery procedures for both our application and our data base information. Second, by allowing our clients to have full access to their data tables, it allows our clients to produce their own reports and perform their own data mining. [Top]
What are the minimum system requirements for my computers? Our only system requirement is that the clients personal computer be able to operate Internet Explorer 5.5 or above. The following, however, lists our minimum and recommended system specifications: [Top]
What operating systems does the handheld (PDA) application work on? The SYNERIOS application allows our users to access our PDA application on both the Palm™ and Windows® operating systems. These two operating systems run nearly all of the handheld devices in the market. [Top]
What types of handheld devices does the application work on? Our application works on nearly any PALM handheld device you prefer. We have clients using the Palm, Handspring, Sony CLIE, PALM Tungsten handhelds to name a few. [Top]
Can MD Synergy customize software for my office? Yes, MD Synergy does take on custom software development projects for individual medical practices. However, this is not the main focus of our company. These projects are on an personal basis and typically relate to enhancements to our main practice management system application. [Top]
Can SYNERIOS integrate with electronic medical record systems? Yes, in fact, SYNERIOS has the ability to integrate with numerous healthcare related information systems. Since there are so many types of electronic medical records systems, we have not exclusively partnered with any single system. Please contact our sales personnel regarding which electronic medical record systems best meets your needs and that we currently integrate with. [Top]
Can I submit my IPA or Managed Care encounter data through SYNERIOS? Yes. Many IPAs and Managed Care Groups have an ability to accept electronic encounter data through local and national clearinghouses. If so, SYNERIOS can submit your encounter data to the IPAs that you are affiliated with. In instances where these groups accept electronic encounter data but do not work through a clearinghouse, SYNERIOS can provide electronic versions of your claims to them individually (I.e floppy disc, File Transfer Protocols (FTP), email attachments, etc.) [Top]
What if the Internet goes down? The Internet as a whole does not typically "go down". In fact, the entire creation of the Internet is to ensure that the system can never truly "go down". It is conceivable, however, that your office may not be able to access the Internet or our applicaton on an individual basis. Although this is also very unlikely, SYNERIOS does provide back up policies. The first step is to contact our office through our FREE customer service line. [Top]
What if the SYNERIOS site goes down? MD Synergy has created numerous back up practices in order to ensure that our application does not go down. Through our managed services (hosting company) company, we have performance monitors and both immediate back up practices as well as emergency recovery procedures in place. Since going live with our application, we have experience one downtime incident in 6 months, which lasted for only approximately 15 minutes. This is clearly above industry averages, and because of the direct telephone access to our customer service personnel, our customers were only minimally inconvenienced. [Top]
What if our DSL access goes down? While our application works more efficiently with high speed access, we have taken tremendous effort to ensure that our clients can access our site regardless of their access speed. Even though high speed service (DSL or Cable Modem) has become extremely reliable, SYNERIOS has back up Internet access (56k ISP) for those clients that might experience a temporary loss of DSL or Cable service. Our customer service department handles these instances on a case by case basis. [Top]
What types of coding edits does MD Synergy offer? SYNERIOS offers National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits. These NCCI edits are updated regularly (latest update occurred in April of 2002). The National Correct Coding Initiative edits are from the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services. These edits tells you what procedures and services you can't bill at the same time for the same patient on the same date of service. [Top]
Does MD Synergy update the site regularly? Yes, because the SYNERIOS application works entirely through the Internet, one of our most distinct advantages is our ability to constantly update and upgrade our application on a real-time basis. While our users typically do not see day-to-day dramatic differences on their screens, our software engineers constantly improve our programming codes on our computer servers. These software changes are carefully implemented and are closely monitored at the time of installation. [Top]
Will SYNERIOS work on a slower Internet access speed (56k etc.)? Yes, in order to best utilize our application, we highly recommend that our clients only use high speed access (DSL or Cable Modem), however, the majority of our site is viewable through a 56k modem, although this is not the recommended access speed. [Top]
Does SYNERIOS work on Macintosh computer systems? Yes, while our application is viewable on a Macintosh computer that operates Internet Explorer, there are portions of our site that do not work. Currently, the MD Synergy application fully operates only on Windows® based systems. We are modifying our application to work more efficiently on a Macintosh environment. [Top]
Costs/Charges/Pricing
What does the transaction charge model mean? MD Synergy has always operated on a "transaction" model. It is our belief that this "pay as you use" philsophy is completely in line with what an Application Service Provider (ASP) based company means. This pricing model means that our clients only pay us when they utilize our application for claims submission. Please see our pricing menu for our claims submission charges. [Top]
Are there any hidden charges for using SYNERIOS? No, there are no hidden charges. MD Synergy prides itself on our company image. We are not in the business of taking advantage of our customers. All of our charges are clearly spelled out before any services are rendered. In fact, we encourage all of our potential clients to speak with any of our existing customers regarding our pricing model. [Top]
What is the charge for data conversion? Our introductory offer has not included any charges for conversion of demographic patient data. This "No Charge" offer for data conversion is applicable only to our first 200 customers. Please contact out sales personnel for individual quotes. [Top]
How do I close out my old accounts receivable? As any transition process, the migration of accounts receivable is very difficult and error prone. As a result, we recommend that all of our new clients utilize their existing systems to close out the old accounts receivable. Our experiences have shown that this typically takes between 60-90 days. Please recognize that this does not imply that you are posting the payment twice (I.e. double work), only that you would use both systems for a short time period in order to close out your old accounts. [Top]
Will I ever be charged for any updates (coding edits, ICD-9 or CPT tables) on your system? No, once again we emphasize that there are no hidden charges with SYNERIOS. Because of our Internet based application, anytime our software engineers update our codes, it is seen by our clients real-time. As a result, there is no need for us to charge our clients individually for any updates or upgrades. This is a complete departure from what traditional practice management software companies can offer. [Top]
Will I ever be charged for any upgrades in your software? No, once again we emphasize that there are No Hidden Charges with SYNERIOS. Because of our Internet based application, anytime our software engineers update our codes, it is seen by our clients real-time. As a result, there is no need for us to charge our clients individually for any updates or upgrades. This is a complete departure from what traditional practice management software companies can offer. [Top]
Set Up/ Training
What is the typical training process? We recognize that the medical offices are very busy and are very "cash flow" sensitive. As a result, our training schedule is customized for each office. Our main emphasis during the initial training session is to focus on successful claims submission, in order to ensure that there is no drop in cash flow for our new clients. In addition, SYNERIOS offers a flexible training schedule instead of only offering consecutive days for training, which is our competitors typically offer. This typically means that our training can be scheduled during off-business hours (nights/weekends). This also means perhaps non-consecutive training sessions throughout the first 30 days of going "live" with our system. Most offices typically require between 1-2 days of actual on-site training, followed closely by direct communications with the training personnel. [Top]
How do I get high speed Internet Access at my office? (DSL or Cable Modem) High Speed Internet Access service is offered by numerous local and national providers. Our new clients can either set up their own access, or MD Synergy can assist our clients in selecting and signing up for these services. In fact, most of our customers have obtained their DSL service through MD Synergy. [Top]
Do you help with selecting and setting up computers and networks? Yes, as part of setting up our new clients, MD Synergy provides a technical assessment of your office computer requirements. This includes identifying assess points, providing hardware quotes and determining the best networking solutions to fit the needs of your office. Please recognize that MD Synergy or any of our employees do NOT receive commissions or financial incentives from any of our hardware or networking vendors. [Top]
Security
How secure is the SYNERIOS site? The SYNERIOS site utilizes Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to encrypt all of the communications between us and our customers. When our clients login with a username and password, they will access the encrypted portions of our site (this is signaled by the picture of a padlock at the bottom of the screen). Once within our secured application, all of the communications are protected with the latest 128 character encryption codes. In addition, SYNERIOS is hosted by a global managed hosting company that provides a secure computing platform using the latest security technologies that addresses all layers of security – external network access, firewalls, host-based intrusion detection, plus internal and external vulnerability scanning, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. [Top]
Are you HIPAA compliant? As a healthcare information technology provider, SYNERIOS, must follow all federal and local rules and regulations. Since HIPAA is a very complicated and broad law that is still not fully defined, it is very difficult to have a simple response to this question. SYNERIOS is fortunate in that our design team was fully aware of HIPAA's existence and implemented policies prior to the development of our current application in September of 2000. As a result, SYNERIOS had the luxury of aggressively pursuing measures to comply with the latest HIPAA guidelines (which currently involves only data sets and transaction policies). As HIPAA continues to evolve and final regulations are published, SYNERIOS will follow suit and continue to comply along industry practices. [Top]
How safe is the data? SYNERIOS takes great measures in order to ensure that your data is safe. All of our client's data is being backed up onto a disk on an hourly basis. Tape back-ups occur daily. The tape back-up procedure is repeated over a 4 week period. During the 4-week tape rotation, the tapes for two weeks (the current and previous week) will remain onsite at a data center. The two prior weeks are stored at an offsite storage facility.
