One of the things that medical billing companies don't like about DME software companies is how they nickel and dime them for just about everything that comes with the software. One of the biggest areas where this is a major source of pain is with user licenses.
When you purchase your DME software, most software companies sell the software in two different versions. One version is standalone, to be used on a single PC and the other version is to be used on the network. There is more different between these two versions than just the fact that one version runs standalone and the other runs on the network. The biggest difference is the user licenses that come with each version.
Usually, by default, with the standalone version, you will get a user license for only one user. If you want to install the standalone system on multiple PCs, assuming you don't need network support, then you have to purchase additional licenses. These licenses can cost as much as a couple hundred dollars or more, depending on how complex the software is and the original cost.
The network version gets a little more complicated. Because the software runs on a network, usually the number of people who can access that network is controlled by the network itself and not by the software. But software companies have this covered very well. What they do is make it so that when the software is installed, it places data on the network that indicates how many people can connect to the software at one time. Once the maximum number of users is reached, no other users will be allowed to connect.
Most software packages come with anywhere from five to twenty licenses to begin with. If a medical billing company wants additional licenses, then they have to pay for them. When they do this, what the software company does is go into the system and change the area containing the data that stores the number of licenses in the system. This is usually an area that can only be access by a special login.
The licenses for a network system are usually sold in packages. In other words, let's say you get your stock system and it comes with 20 user licenses. In your company, you happen to have 61 users. The software company only sells upgrades in increments of 20 users for each upgrade at $500 for each 20 users. If you buy two 20 user upgrades, that comes out to $1000. But look what happens. You only have 60 user licenses. You still have 1 person who can't access the system. The last thing you want to do is spend $500 for 20 more user licenses when you only need one more. Unfortunately, this is your only option if you want your final user to access the network.
User licenses for medical billing are big business. Almost as big a business as the medical billing industry itself. And you wonder why your medical costs are so high.
Michael RussellYour Independent guide to Medical Billing
Source: www.isnare.com
