Product

Facts:

$295.00 is the full price for all functions/modules

1. EDI (electronic claims) at no additional charge (if you transmit to a clearinghouse - they may charge you). More information here.

2. Scheduling at no additional charge.

3. EMR - Electronic Medical Record at no additional charge (fully customizable by specialty). Also known as EPR, EMR. More information here. This is NOT a certified EHR for Medicare.

4. Multi-user at no additional charge

5. Unlimited users at no additional charge

 

NPI (National Provider Identifier) integrated with the software as of late 2004. More infomation here.

Healthcare Internet EDI -- claims and patient information

there are no additional modules needed

You can pay more but you cannot get more!

You do not need to spend more to feel good.

Computer system requirements:

May run on any PC compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Win7/8.x/10 & 20xx Server 32/64.

Probably will not work well on Win3.1, Win95, Win98, WinNT or WinME or older operating systems.

We have not had success with some dot-matrix printers. We advise you to download the free-trial version before buying and try it on your hardware to be sure it will work for you. We do have users with Okidata 32x models working successfully.

Your monitor must be set to 800 X 600 resolution to use the accounts receivable, or at least 1024 X 768 to use the scheduler. Those resolutions work best with a monitor that is at least 17 inches. Future versions of the software may require higher resolutions in order to see all of our screens on your monitor without scrolling. We recommend a minimum of 19" monitors. 22" or greater are best.

We advise (in fact, we insist that) you to get the free trial version of Stratford software and try it on your hardware. We have a no-refund policy for training/support labor, shipping, and other out-of-pocket expenses. Please be sure this software works on your hardware and does what you want before you buy.

Recommended:

• Win2000 (SP4+) or WinXP (we prefer 'Pro', not 'home') or Vista/Win7/8.x/Win10 & 20xx Server 32/64 - (Note: Win95, Win98 and WinME do not work successfully and we cannot support them).  
• Pentium 3 or 4 - 1.8 GHz or faster. Intel and AMD chips are great and work well for the models we have tested.
• 4 gb memory (or more) - more is better
• 60 gig hard disk storage minimum - in other words, any computer on the market now.
• CD/DVD backup
• Modem (Optional, any that is compatible with your computer should work)
• Internet connection, preferably broadband (dsl or cable). You can get 'hot-fixes' from Stratford via the Internet anytime. Although you can't transmit claims to very many payers via internet now, they will all accept them via the Internet in the future. Our support service is better and faster via email.
• 17 inch monitor that will display at least 1024 X 768 resolution. We prefer an LCD type monitor and 19 inch or larger.

Note: If you connect to the Internet you need to have a program like Avast or AVG installed. Avast is what we use here at Stratford. Note, the AVG 8.0 version has a pop up that can drive you crazy. Avast does not.

When the Stratford program/update is installed, 'dll and ocx' type files are installed on your computer like most modern software packages. This requires 'admin' or similar permission rights to do the installation. This is a true multi-user application. Please don't forget that if you install the program/update on one workstation, that program will be automatically installed on other computers on the network the first time they use the program. Those computers must have 'admin' rights the first time they run a newly installed update. Sorry if this is complex but we did not agree with the Microsoft decision to force all these restrictions on everyone instead of just the people who wanted them - as they did with Win98 and NT.

Networking:

1. Will probably run on any PC compatible network like Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Win7/8.x/10 & 20xx Server 32/64 - even terminal services (RDP).
2. Recommended: Win 2000 (SP4+) or 20xx 32/64 server with Win2000/WinXP/Win7/10 clients.
3. Windows server 20xx 32/64 - If you can afford it, this makes a very nice network. Just set up terminal services and your clients can be anywhere, local or somewhere on the Internet. Very nice, high performance system.
   

The Stratford program has no limit on the number of workstations that can be supported. Unlike many software vendors, we do not rip you off when you add workstations even though it requires nothing at all additional in the software.

More than 10 users: will require some special hardware considerations. The Stratford program should run well on most network hardware. There is no way to know for sure what your experience will be. It depends on how many simultaneous users enter how much data as well as how large your database is and many other factors. If you find that your performance is not up to your expectations, here are some things you and/or your hardware installer could consider:

Use a dedicated file server. Turn the monitor off and hide the keyboard - don't let anyone work on it. If you have the money, you should consider a more modern alternative like NAS (network attached storage). This could allow you to save on the ridiculously outrageous cost of Microsoft server software that really does nothing of value for a file server. In fact, many people consider it to be a bottleneck. We have clients who use hardware like the Netgear 'ReadyNAS' with success. This may seem expensive at first, but consider that it will allow all of your workstations to have direct access to high speed storage without bothering with a server. You can get this hardware in a RAID configuration. Raid 0 is like no raid at all - just hard disk storage. Raid 1 is usually done with at least 2 hard drives. The second drive is a backup of the 1st drive so that 1 terabyte of storage is really just 500 gb of usable storage. Raid 5 is good for a large group with scheduling and other data that would be very expensive to recreate. Raid 5 usually uses more than 2 hard drives with 'hot swap' capability. This means if a drive fails, you can replace it while people are still working. The software should instantly begin rebuilding the drive. The more hard drives you have, the more secure it is. Raid 5 with at least 4 drives is good and much less expensive than recreating lost data. Important: Raid is not a backup. Do not be fooled. The best hardware will fail. You must have a backup at least one time each day that anyone enters any data into your database.

Another consideration is the number of workstations. The actual number is not as important as the number that are working at the same time. Individual workstations on a network may be slower than something like Terminal Server with as much memory as you can afford. Not only does this (possibly) give the best performance, it also allows you to use much less expensive workstations since they do NO computing, rather they simply display what happens on the Terminal Server hardware. We believe that a Terminal Server with the maximum memory possible and 10 workstations will perform much faster than 10 workstations connected directly to the network router/switch. You still must have a daily backup.

Are you an IT architect hired by a group of healthcare providers who will not tolerate a hardware system that could possibly have a lot of down-time and possibly a loss of data? Does this group have their schedule online? If so, then you need to do the maximum within a reasonable budget. We recommend a 1 gig switch, good quality workstations, and (most importantly) the very best storage device for the data. In fact, you could almost say that everything is less important than the data storage device. We recommend the Netgear ReadyNAS Pro with 4 - 500gb or 1 terabyte Seagate enterprise hard drives. This storage device has 2 CAT5 connectors that you can configure the way you want. It has 2 USB2 connectors that allow you to backup this device to an 'offline' storage device. This storage device will support 200 simultaneous network users. This will handle most hospitals. Even if there are 1000 workstations, what is the chance that you will have more than 200 simultaneous users. This many users is not our target market. Our target market is a group of providers who want you to install a reliable system at a reasonable cost with minimal downtime and minimal administration cost. This storage unit can be configured 'Raid 5' and will survive 1 failed hard drive. It will survive a loss of 1 network interface. As of January 2009, you can get this storage device for about $2000-$3000. Remember: RAID has nothing to do with security/backup/etc. RAID is for 'high availability'. You MUST still ALWAYS have an offline, recent, known-good, permanent backup. Our preference for a backup is CD/DVD because it can be read by any modern computer and will last for many years (40-100 or more). Do not use tape or a proprietary solution. If you can't duplicate the hardware, the backup is worthless because you will not be able to restore it. Always zip the data before making the backup. The primary reason for zip is so the files will not be read only and can be password protected. Compression is a secondary reason for zip. Never use a proprietary zip format. Saving 10% space means nothing with today's hardware prices. The only reason for making a backup is so you will be able to avoid as much downtime as possible. You will have a hardware failure and you must be prepared.

Features:

1. Comprehensive practice management software
2. EDI software formats:
   • ANSI X.12 837/835-270/271-276/277 - as required by the HIPAA federal law - v5010-A1.
   • pre-pass editor using the rules (more than 1,000) that the Medicare contractors use to help avoid transmitting claims with errors to the payer. As long as the patient and transactions are what you want to transmit, you can correct errors and transmit without re-demanding the claims. The support group can help you if you are not sure how to do this.
3. EMR - Electronic healthcare/patient record (EMR, EPR, etc) fully customizable for specialties.
4. Appointment scheduling - customizable
5. transmit to all Medicare contractors in all states
6. transmit to a clearinghouse such as HealthSmart/ClaimRemEDI (you may be charged for some types of claims by the clearinghouse)
7. transmit/print medical (CMS 1500), dental (ADA), and institutional (CMS 1450 / UB04)
8. Format currently approved by all Medicare contractors, EDS/NHIC, ARBCBS, NDBCBS, EDS for Medicaid CMS 1500 and rural health: UB04, Wisconsin WPS for Medicare ambulance, and the list goes on and on. All payers/clearinghouses who accept electronic claims approve our formats or they will in the near future. Check with the individual payer/clearinghouse for details.
9. We do not require you to transmit to us or anyone else. We have no per-claim or sign-up fees related to transmitting claims. That is determined by the clearinghouse that YOU select. Note: even though we may try to help you transmit to a specific payer/clearinghouse, we have no control over their charges or requirements. We recommend Healthsmart or ClaimRemEDI because they do a good job and work well with the Stratford program.
10. Maximum number of users: no maximum built into the software.
11. Maximum user database size: Tables may have up to 1 billion records each/up to 2 gb per table.
     

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Last modified: 03/08/17