Task Scheduler Guide

Table of Contents

Task Scheduler Setup

Print Scheduler

Transmission Scheduler

Statements Scheduler

Warning Letters Scheduler

How the Task Scheduler Works

The Task Scheduler feature assists users with scheduling automated tasks for the system to complete at a scheduled frequency. This eliminates the manual process of tasks such as printing or transmitting and allows a user to simply receive e-mail confirmation once these tasks are completed. 

Currently, the Task Scheduler automates the following processes:

• Printing Bills
• Transmitting Bills
• Printing All Statements
• Printing Warning Letters

Once these processes have completed, the user is e-mailed a confirmation indicating the success or failure of the scheduled task. 

Task Scheduler Setup

The Task Scheduler feature is accessed via General Setup.

Select any option from the Task dropdown in order to configure a task for that category. New tasks can be added with the + button in the top-right corner of this screen. Existing task scheduler records can be edited or deleted using the corresponding icons. 

Creating Printing Bills Tasks

Completion of the above screen is required in order to create a Printing Bills task. The interface is similar to the process of printing bills. Follow these steps to complete:

1. Select the payer type.
2. Select the form type.
3. Select the scheduling frequency, time, and AM/PM.
   1. If printing bills on a weekly basis, select the days of the week as well. Multiple days within a week can be selected.
4. Select the assigned user.
   1. This user's initials will be shown in the transaction screen on bills printed from this scheduled task.
   2. This user will also receive the success or failure confirmation e-mails, if enabled. 
   3. Secondary assigned users can also be selected. Secondary assigned users can receive and download print files just like the primary assigned user and also receive success/failure confirmation e-mails.
5. Enable Success Confirmation E-mails.
   1. Recommended in order to receive Success Confirmation e-mails. Failure Confirmation e-mails will always be delivered. This will use the e-mail configured for the assigned user(s) in User Maintenance Setup.
   2. When supporting documentation is needed for one or more bills, the Success Confirmation e-mail indicates which bills require additional documents to be printed.
6. Click Save.

On the scheduled day(s) at the configured time, the system will automatically generate a file of bills waiting to be printed. The system will post transactions to each bill and recalculate their status to show they have been printed. The assigned user will need to log into the system to print the bills - the system will not automatically send them to the printer. 

When auto-upload is enabled in Billing Configuration Settings Setup > Clearinghouse Print Services Settings, the print file automatically uploads to the clearinghouse at the scheduled time. If the upload fails, the file returns to the Task Scheduler Grid for manual download and the assigned user receives a failure notification e-mail.

Task Scheduler Grid

The Task Scheduling grid appears once a user with the role permission "Task Scheduler Grid" logs in. A user can get to the Task Scheduling Grid by closing all open modules. The Task Scheduling Grid contains any available print or transmission (if not configured with an integrated clearinghouse) file. These print files only display for the assigned user. Click the Download Button to download it. Open the file to print it. 

When a scheduled print bills task contains one or more bills that require supporting documentation, two print files will be available for that task; one with the bills that did not need supporting documentation, and another file with bills that did need additional documents printed. The Requires Documentation shown in the image above indicates which file requires the supporting documentation. The Task Scheduler Confirmation E-mail indicates which bill numbers need supporting documentation.

When auto-upload is enabled, successfully uploaded files do not appear in the Task Scheduler Grid. Files only return to the grid when an upload fails or when the supporting documentation flag is enabled on one or more bills in the batch.

After downloading an available file, the record will disappear from the Task Scheduler grid. Files that remain in the Task Scheduler grid for more than 30 days are cleared automatically.

Creating Transmit Bills Tasks

Completion of the above screen is required in order to create a Transmit Bills task. The interface is similar to the transmission process. Follow these steps to complete:

1. Select the payer type.
2. Select the form type.
3. Select the scheduling frequency, time, and AM/PM.
   1. If not transmitting on a daily basis, select the days of the week as well. Multiple days within a week can be selected.
4. Select the assigned user.
   1. This user's initials will be shown in the transaction screen on bills transmitted from this scheduled task.
   2. This user will also receive the success confirmation e-mails, if enabled. Failure confirmation e-mails are always delivered to the e-mail in User Maintenance Setup.
   3. A secondary assigned user can also be added - they will also receive success or failure confirmation e-mails.
5. Enable Success Confirmation E-mails.
   1. Recommended in order to receive success or failure e-mails. This will use the e-mail configured for the assigned user in User Maintenance Setup.
6. Click Save.

On the scheduled day(s) at the configured time, the system will automatically transmit those bills. The system will post transactions to each bill and recalculate their status to show they have been transmitted.

Creating Statements Tasks

Automation of scheduled Statements tasks is very similar to how Print Bills tasks are configured. Only with Statements, all the user must do is configure the Scheduling Frequency and Assigned User(s) along with the Confirmation E-mails checkbox.

Printing Statements using the Task Scheduler will always generate a print file in the Task Scheduler Grid on the scheduled days of the week at the scheduled time. However, when auto-upload is enabled in Billing Configuration Settings Setup > Clearinghouse Print Services Settings, the print file automatically uploads to the clearinghouse at the scheduled time. If the upload fails, the file returns to the Task Scheduler Grid for manual download and the assigned user receives a failure notification e-mail.

There are a few things to keep in mind:

• Task Scheduler Statement Tasks will always generate print files as though 'Print All Statements' was used. 
  • Printing Statements for a specific cycle or single account, or on-demand statements, are not considered scheduled tasks. Those particular functions cannot be done using the Task Scheduler. Printing All Statements is the only function able to be automated through the Task Scheduler.
• Task Scheduler Statements Tasks can only be scheduled at weekly or daily intervals. 
  
  • AIM never recommends printing statements infrequently. Printing Statements once a month, for example, can potentially cause some patient accounts to miss a statement cycle, depending on when that patient's aging cycles began. For this reason, the Task Scheduler only automates statement generation for a maximum frequency of 1 week. 
• Clearinghouse Statement Formatting
  
  • AIM supports customers who opt to outsource their patient invoices statements or warning letters to a clearinghouse for print services. If your AIM System is configured for this sort of functionality, a 'Use local printer' option will be available in the Task Scheduler Setup record for your Statements task. 
  • The 'Use local printer' option is ONLY enabled when your system is configured for clearinghouse statements/invoices/warning letters and you do not want to generate statements in the format necessary to facilitate that - only enable this option if you'd like to print these statements in .pdf format normally. 

Creating Warning Letters Tasks

Automation of scheduled Warning Letters tasks is exactly like Statements tasks are configured. Simply configure the Scheduling Frequency and Assigned User(s) along with the Confirmation E-mails checkbox.

Printing Warning Letters using the Task Scheduler will also generate a print file in the Task Scheduler Grid on the scheduled days of the week at the scheduled time. If automating Statements workflow using the Task Scheduler as well, it is recommended to schedule the Warning Letters task to generate first.

When auto-upload is enabled in Billing Configuration Settings Setup > Clearinghouse Print Services Settings, warning letter print files automatically upload to the clearinghouse at the scheduled time instead of only appearing in the Task Scheduler Grid. If the upload fails, the file returns to the grid and the assigned user receives a failure notification e-mail. Auto-upload for warning letters is only available for Waystar customers.

There are a few things to keep in mind:

• Print Warning Letters at least weekly.
• Clearinghouse Statement Formatting
  
  • AIM supports customers who opt to outsource their patient invoices, statements or warning letters to a clearinghouse for print services. If your AIM System is configured for this sort of functionality, a 'Use local printer' option will be available in the Task Scheduler Setup record for your Warning Letters task. 
  • The 'Use local printer' option is ONLY enabled when your system is configured for clearinghouse statements/invoices/warning letters and you do not want to generate statements in the format necessary to facilitate that - only enable this option if you'd like to print these statements in .pdf format normally.