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Welcome to the new issue of IEPWriter Direct! Here's what's going on with IEPWriter.com:
IEPWriter and Medicaid
As most of you are already aware, starting in July, Pennsylvania will have a new billing vendor for Medicaid. We have been getting a lot of calls and questions asking about the SBAP (School Based Access Program) forms and functions in IEPWriter and whether they will be going away in July.
Leader Services has always kept IEPWriter separate from our SBAP contract. All of the current Medicaid functions in IEPWriter, including the e-signature module (MPA) for handling the Medical Practitioner Authorization Form, eligibility checking, and the SBAP forms will remain a vital part of IEPWriter.
As a matter of fact, if you haven't already seen our recent press release, we are working on an addition to IEPWriter which is currently being called Service Tracker that will allow providers to enter their service time right in IEPWriter and electronically sign their logs. The system will also create the required export files for Medicaid billing. For more information, please see the press release later in this newsletter.
Leader is committed to keeping IEPWriter the best Special Education solution for Pennsylvania schools.
IEPWriter 3.5 Rollout
If you haven't seen the notice, IEPWriter will be unavailable on Sunday, July 22 through Monday, July 23 to convert to version 3.5. Leader is very excited about this version and we have put a lot of time and effort into its release. It will incorporate a lot of the changes that schools have been asking for while retaining the simplicity and ease of use that over 400 schools in Pennsylvania have come to expect with IEPWriter. In keeping with our roll-out plans, we will update versions 2.0 and 3.0 in July after the revised count is finished.
Some of the features in 3.5 include:
- Custom security roles,
- Reduced page file sizes to improve performance,
- Ability to approve or reject transfers and ability to transfer students that are not exited,
- Ability for the district/IU to select a default font,
- Ability to align goals to State Standards and search goal bank by a standard,
- Ability to start NOREP from previous document,
- Start new documents will not create them until record is saved,
- Unlimited user-defined fields,
- Ability to upload external documents and attach to student's record.
These are just a few of the many new features in IEPWriter.
Announcing Service Tracker
Our programming team is hard at work on a new module for IEPWriter: Service Tracker will allow LEAs to enter, track, and report health-related services provided to your entire student population, including but not limited to MA-eligible students (Service Tracker is the working title, or codename; we may end up renaming it later).
This module, similar in functionality to our popular WebPSL system that's been used by over 18,000 PA providers for the School-Based ACCESS Program, will allow service providers to set up a schedule for students on their roster, allowing for quick and easy data entry and time tracking. The scheduler will also allow the addition of non-scheduled students and is therefore flexible enough to accommodate variations in a weekly schedule.
Additionally, the module will capture "other" time, such as meetings, non-billable collateral time, etc., to provide for the full capture of a day's activities.
While entering service data, IEP goals will be a click away (and users can even enter goals for non-IEP students), so providers can maintain notes about progress toward those goals.
For Medicaid-eligible students, Service Tracker will export billing data (using the state vendor's defined format) for submission for reimbursement. Intermediate Units can maintain rates and member districts for consortium billing -- detailed and summary reports will allow IUs to bill services back to individual school districts.
Service Tracker will be an ideal solution for LEAs providing health-related services to their students. We're excited to continue being the premier provider of special education software and solutions for our Pennsylvania clients.
Webinar Recordings Available
If you didn't have an opportunity to sit in on the recent webinars for IEPWriter 3.5 (or if you want to see them again), they're available under the Help section of IEPWriter. Once in the Help section, click on the link Video tutorials for the next version of IEPWriter, and this will bring you to a page listing the video recordings of the webinars.
We plan to add more in the future, including one specifically describing the rich-text editor, and a webinar on using Children Count® for your December 1 count.
If there are other subjects for which you'd like to see a webinar, please let us know by sending a request through the enhancement request screen of IEPWriter, or mention it the next time you talk to our Help Desk staff. |
