Technology Corner

SWEET-BILLING PASSES TESTS THAT COMPETITORS FAIL
by Charlie Barry, Technology/Product Manager

“When hearing of a competitive system that did experience overload, and in effect, debilitated its owners (an ambulance service), Ortivus wanted the assurance, as well as the proof to our customers, that the same would not be the reality of an Ortivus software system.”

As organizations grow and become more reliant on efficient operations to maintain their business goals and objectives, anything that hinders the efficiency can become serious very quickly. Although no one especially likes to admit that computers “rule our world,” the reality is that if they do not operate as we expect them to, we become incapacitated very quickly.

To complicate the matter, there is often the “unknown” aspect of computer systems: “What happens to our software if the operating system changes?” or “Can the software be broken with an overload of data or in receipt of unrecognized data?” These questions may not seem important in the daily routine of business operations…until the system goes down.

Ortivus is dedicated to taking every measure possible in preventative assurance that our software supports and advances your business success, rather than detract from it. When hearing of a competitive system that did experience overload, and in effect, debilitated its owners (an ambulance service), Ortivus wanted the assurance, as well as the proof to our customers, that the same would not be the reality of an Ortivus software system. Thus, the rest of the story…

In August 2006, Ortivus employed the services of an independent partner in the CRIM Software Test Center of Montreal, Quebec, Canada to define and execute a performance test strategy that was equivalent to entering 1,000,000 calls per year on a 5,000,000 call database. This equated to running a test consisting of 2,059 transactions (# of Calls, Collections, and Payment records) with 120 users for a 1 hour time span.
 

After over 250 test sessions were executed, the conclusion of the test reports that with adequate hardware, network components, and proper configuration of the system Sweet-Billing met this challenge successfully.

What is the take-away here for ambulance billing customers? The apparent take-away is probably – “Make sure your billing system can handle large loads, especially if you are a large operation inputting a lot of data.” However, there is a secondary, and perhaps even more important message also at hand; that of, “What questions are you asking when researching a software purchase?” Let’s help each other out with this question and carry it further. Reply to cheri.lane@ortivusna.com with your list of questions that your service asks, and we’ll compile a master list. This list may just become a saving grace for your operations someday. After compiling a master list, we’ll publish it in the next issue of OrtivusTALK…but for anyone who contributes their suggestions to this list, we’ll send you a sneak peak of those results much sooner!

Let the suggestions roll! And thank you in advance for participating!