WORKING WITH THE INTEGRATED FILE SYSTEM
by Bob Landers
The IBM® Integrated File System (IFS) available on the AS/400 provides support for
input and output of data. I know you are asking: why do we need an Integrated File System?
There are MedSeries4® applications that take advantage of the IFS. In doing so, they
could help your hospital cut the turn around time on insurance claims by processing them
electronically (837 files) and having the ability to process Explanation of Benefits (EOB)
electronically (835 files).
In order to fully use and understand the usefulness of the IFS the user must have
authority to the IBM® IFS and understand the structure of the file system.
The standard configuration of the IFS directories begins with File Systems, Integrated
File System, and Root. In the Root directory, the standard MEDSERIES4 base path includes
SIEMENS, the customer facility name, the facility’s General Purpose entity number,
and the environment name.
By using the iSeries® 400 Operations Navigator feature users may create the Figure 1
structure in order to take advantage of the IFS. A folder must be created for each facility
on your system. The path must reside in your system’s Root directory. Also, each folder
and subfolder name is limited to 50 uppercase characters or fewer. If the name exceeds this
limit, or you do not use uppercase characters, information will not process correctly.
When creating your folders and subfolders there is no need to type forward slashes (/).
The system will automatically insert these into the correct positions within the path. The
total path cannot exceed 500 characters, including the forward slashes.
Within the Root directory, the first four folder levels (SIEMENS*, FACILITY NAME, ENTITY
NUMBER, and ENVIRONMENT), constitute the base path directory. An example for ABC Medical
Center the folders may be named:
• SIEMENS*
• ABC_MED_CTR (your hospital name)
• 00100(your entity number)
• PRODUCTION (either PRODUCTION or TEST)
• MEDSERIES4 requires that this folder be names SIEMENS
Application Folder Names
The remaining MEDSERIES4 folders, (APPLICATION, PRODUCT/USER, AND APPLICATION-DEFINED)
may contain additional subfolders that are required by the directory structure. The
APPLICATION folders are generally created using the MEDSERIES4 two-character application.
An example is PH for AR/ADT.
Several MEDSERIES4 applications may direct the user to create PRODUCT or USER folders.
Product or User folders are required by the system whether or not they are actually used at
your facility.
One feather of the IFS is the ability to Map a network drive on the AS/400. To map a
drive, the user must create a file share at the appropriate folder level. This can all be
done with the iSeries 400 Operations Navigator.
AR/ADT Electronic Remittance Product
The Electronic Remittance product requires the creation of APPLICATION-DEFINED subfolders
such as BC (Blue Cross), COM (Commercial), MCR (Medicare), and MCD (Medicaid). Users may
create one generic folder for all electronic remittance types, or users may create a folder
for each major insurance type or even a folder for each carrier.
If you will notice in Figure 2, each group folder has an ARCHIVE sub-folder. Records
that have been processed by MEDSERIES4 are moved to the ARCHIVE as a backup incase there is
a question on a claim.
Detail directions on setting up the IFSPATH table can be found in the ,”Working
with AR/ADT Tables,” in the Accounts Receivable/Admission, Discharge, Transfer
Reference Manual.
UB92 Billing Editor Electronic Claims Product
The UB92 Billing Editor electronic claims processing program retrieves the base path
from the table file and combines it with the editor type, UB, to create a full path for the
file. It copies the file to the IFS folder on the network. Additional information on
setting up this feature can be found in, “Working with the Integrated File
System” in the General Purpose Reference Manual.
Enough of the detail of the file structure, the main reason for this article is to let
users know that there are electronic means for processing claims and receiving remittance
into the MEDSERIES4 system. The process does take a while to get setup because of all the
file maintenance to be done, however, once setup, the time savings and the speed of getting
claims to a clearing house or directly to the carrier is well worth the effort.
If you have any questions regarding the Integrated File system or Electronic Claims
processing and Remittance processing please contact us at VITALIZE CONSULTING SOLUTIONS
610-444-1233 or visit our web site at
www.getvitalized.com.