Category : Databases and related files
Archive   : INSURE12.ZIP
Filename : INSURE.DOC

DISTRIBUTION NOTICE

This program is distributed as user-supported software. Users
may make unmodified copies for others. Commercial sale
without written permission from Fred Lee is prohibited.
Users groups and non-commercial organizations may impose
their customary fees for copying and mailing.
Reproduction of the printed material is prohibited.


DISCLAIMER

The author or suppliers of this program will in no way be
liable for any damages such as lost profits, lost savings or
other incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of
or inability to use these programs, even if the author or
supplier has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or
for any claim by any other party.


NOTICE
For evaluation, this program is supplied with a sample record.
You may experiment with these entries or erase them and
experiment with clean files. In either case, entries above entry
seven have been write-protected so that what you write there
will not be retained by the memory. Instructions for
unlocking the remaining 193 entries can be obtained from
the author.


.pa
CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION page 3
1.1 CAPACITY 3
1.2 MODES 3

2. THE KEYS 4
2.1 FUNCTION KEYS 4
2.2 OTHER KEYS 4
2.3 RETURN KEY 4

3. THE MODES 6
3.1 C (CLAIM) MODE 6
3.1.1 Type entry 7
3.1.2 Date entry 7
3.1.3 Entry procedure 8
3.2 A (ACTION) MODE 8
3.2.1 Reporting Submissions 9
3.2.2 Deductibles 9
3.2.3 Reporting payments 10
3.2.4 Changing the charge 10
3.2.5 Going from A to C and back 10
3.3 F (FIND) MODE 10
3.3.1 Procedure 11
3.3.2 Upper and lower case letters 11
3.3.3 Comments search 11
3.3.4 After a search 11
3.4 L (LIST) MODE 12
3.4.1 Information in boxes 13
3.4.2 Not paid column 13
3.4.3 Deductibles 13
3.4.4 Summary line 14
3.5 S (STORE) MODE 14
3.6 P (PRINT) MODE 15
3.7 D (DELETE) MODE 15
3.8 B (BACKGROUND) MODE 15
3.8.1 List of services 16
3.8.2 List of patients 16
3.8.3 Insurance plan information 17
3.8.4 Type assignments 18
3.8.5 Changing from one B-mode section to another 18
3.9 N (NEW FILES) MODE 19
3.10 X (ESCAPE) MODE 19

4. MEMORY AND FILES 19
4.1 WHICH DISK TO USE 19
4.2 STARTING FROM FLOPPY DISK 21
4.3 STARTING FROM HARD DISK 21
4.4 CLEARING THE INSDATA FILES FROM MEMORY OR DISK 21
4.5 STARTING A NEW RECORD (LIKE FOR A NEW YEAR) 21
4.6 INTERCHANGING ENTRIES 22
4.7 CONTRAST 22
4.8 MESSAGES 23
4.9 SOUNDS 23
4.10 LOCKED FILES 23
INSURE
(c) Fred Lee
version 1.20 June, 1986


1. INTRODUCTION

INSURE is an IBM PC program dedicated to the maintenance of
medical insurance claim records. It is designed to be simple and
convenient to use and to provide all functions that one might
need with such records. The program is menu driven with
instructions shown on the screen to guide you through every step.
The program features convenient data entry, search and list
functions, and instant summaries.

The INSURE program runs on an IBM PC/XT/AT with at least 256K of
RAM memory. It operates with DOS 2 or 3 and with color or
monochrome terminals.



1.1 CAPACITY:

* Entries - up to 200
* Patients - up to 10
* Insurance plans - up to 10
* Charges and payments - up to $99999.99
* Total charges, payments - up to $99,999,999.00
* Deductibles - up to $9999
* Claims on one entry - up to 3


1.2 MODES:

C (CLAIM) Enter or change data on claims
A (ACTIONS) Enter or change actions taken on claims
F (FIND) Search for a claim with particular features
L (LIST) List the entries and display totals
S (STORE) Store the records on disk
D (DELETE) Delete an entry
P (PRINT) Print the records on a printer
B (BACKGROUND) Enter necessary background information
N (NEW) Clear old records, make new files
X (ESCAPE) Go back to DOS


@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ @
@ Note: If the program does not run properly, try @
@ starting up your computer without any other @
@ memory-resident programs such as Sidekick. Then @
@ try again. @
@ @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@




$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$ $
$ HINT: To make the best use of this program, you $
$ should enter each medical bill (using the CLAIM $
$ mode) as soon as you get it. Or, if the service $
$ bills the insurance company, as soon as you know $
$ how much they have charged. You should also enter $
$ any medical bill whether or not you submit a claim $
$ to an insurance company for it. The computer will $
$ then be able to tell you at any time how much you $
$ have paid in medical bills and how much has been $
$ paid by your insurance plans. $
$ $
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$






2. THE KEYS

The program usually tells you which keys to use. Some keys do
different things in different modes, but most screens have a
special section at the bottom which shows the most useful keys
that can be used in that parituclar mode and what they do. The
main functions of the keys are described below.



2.1 FUNCTION KEYS

The INSURE program uses six of the function keys of the IBM
keyboard. Their principal functions are the following:

FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION
F1 (menu) Return to main menu
F2 (up) Moves cursor up
F4 (next) Finds next available unused entry
F8 (Mode) Lets you enter a new mode without
going back to main menu
F9 (menu) Return to main menu
F10 (down) Moves cursor down

Note: Although F1, F9, and Esc all bring up the main
menu, for the sake of simplicity, only F1 is
mentioned in the KEY section on the screen and
in the rest of these instructions.




2.2 OTHER KEYS

The principal functions of certain other keys are described
as follows:

Up Arrow Same as F2. Moves cursor up
Dn Arrow Same as F10. Moves cursor down
Pg Up In list mode, starts list or moves
screen up ten entries.
Pg Dn In list mode, starts list or starts
display of next screenfull of lines
Del Erases last character typed
Backspace Erases last character typed (same as Del)
Esc Usually brings up main menu



2.3 RETURN KEY

The RETURN key (also called ENTER) deserves special comment.
When you are asked to type in an item such as the date or a patient,
The RETURN key must be pushed to enter the item into memory. If you
don't want to type in an entry, push RETURN without typing an
entry. The computer will then move on to the next question. If
an item is entered incorrectly, you need only move the cursor back
to that item and enter it again. Changes can be made at any time.

Sometimes the computer does not wait for you to push RETURN
before it acts on your response to a question. The general rule
is this: If the response can only be a single letter or number,
the computer usually does not wait for you to push RETURN. The
computer makes an exception when it thinks that you should have a
chance to change your mind after typing a single-character
response. If the response can be more than one letter or
number, the computer must wait for you to push RETURN in order to
know when you are finished.

If you type in a character and nothing happens for a long time,
you will know that the computer is waiting for a RETURN.

When the instructions tell you to "enter" something, they mean
that you should type the item and push RETURN.













3. THE MODES

The various modes of the program are listed on the main menu.
This menu can always be called by pushing function key F1. It is
usually possible to go to a particular mode directly from another
mode by pushing function key F8 and the number or letter of the
new mode. Where this is recommended, the KEY section at the
bottom of the screen will show it. When F8 cannot call another
mode directly, it calls the main menu instead.


USE MODE B FIRST ! ***********************************************
It is important to remember that before any of the other
modes can be used for any practical purposes, Mode B must be used
to enter necessary background information into the memory.
******************************************************************


The available modes are described below.


3.1 C (CLAIM) MODE

This mode is used to enter or change the basic information about
a claim. The C-screen shows a form and prompts you through the process
of filling it out. The following items can be entered:

SERVICE This is a code name for the doctor, med lab,
hospital, or other company which provided
the service. (Also for drugs and medicines)

DATE The date on which the service was done.

PATIENT A code name for the person who received
the service.

CHARGE The amount of the bill.

TYPE This is a letter or number that assigns the
entry to a category such as a doctor bill,
hospital stay, drugs, X-rays, or any other
that you might assign.

COMMENTS Here you can type any comments you might want to
make.

Note: For an explanation of the code names, see MODE B



Of these items, the service, the patient, and the charge MUST be
entered in order for an entry to be complete. Entering the service
is most essential. The computer uses the SERVICE entry to determine
whether an entry line is occupied. If it finds an entry with no
service, it stops its searching or listing and assumes that it has
come to the end of the entries. Therefore, no entries should exist
in the middle of your records that has an empty SERVICE item.
(Leaving off the patient's name if the claim is for, say,
prescription drugs for a number of patients is allowed but not
recommended.)

The use of the other items - date, type, and comments - is
optional, although the date should not be left out. The use of
the type item is explained in detail in the special section
below. Some comments about the date appear after that.

3.1.1 Type entry
************************** type ***********************************
The type item, being less obvious than other items, requires
special explanation.

The "type" item can be used for categorizing entries. You
must decide into what categories you will want to put entries.
Examples of useful categories are doctor bills, dentist bills,
drugs, X-rays, hospital expenses, and orthodontia. You then
assign to each of these categories a letter or number by which it
will be represented in the "type" item. Since you can use upper
and lower case letters as well as numerals, you could have as
many as 62 categories. Mode B part 4 provides you with a list of
25 capital letters (A to Y) which you can assign to categories.
The only purpose of this list is to provide you with a convenient
place to record your assignments. You can quickly bring the list
to the screen to remind you of what letters you have assigned to
what categories. If you should need more than 25 categories, you
will have to maintain your own list on paper.

The categorizing feature can be used, for example, when a
policy has different maximum amounts that it will pay for
different kinds of services. Each such service type can be given
a code letter. The List mode can then be used to calculate the
total amount paid by a particular insurance plan for a particular
kind of service (see mode L below). Another time when categories
are useful is at income tax time when it is convenient to be able
to let the computer calculate how much you have paid for doctor
bills, drugs, etc.. A less likely use of this feature is to
remind you whether the claim was submitted by the service and
will pay them directly or whether you submitted the claim and
will receive the check. Each of these two cases can be assigned
a letter (say S for service and P for patient) in the "type"
item.
*********************************************************************

3.1.2 Date entry
The date of the service is obvious except when a single
service or procedure requires a number of visits to, say, a
doctor's office. Insurance companies prefer to be billed once
for the entire procedure rather than for each visit. In that
case, you should make a single entry for the procedure. You
might want to enter the date of the first visit. If you want to
record the dates of all visits, you can use the comments line.

3.1.3 Entry procedure
To go from one item to another in a downward direction, use
the RETURN key, the function key F10 (Down), or the down arrow.
If you have typed something in, you must use the RETURN key, or
the computer will ignore what you have typed and keep the item as
it was before. You will hear five beeps if that happens. To step
the cursor in the opposite direction, use the function key F2
(Up) or the up arrow.

To enter or change an item, use the following procedure.
Put the large box-cursor on the item. The size of the box shows
how many letters or numbers you may enter. Type your new or
corrected item in the workspace where the small cursor is
blinking. Use the DEL or Backspace keys to erase mistakes. When
the entry is correct, push RETURN. The entry will then be
transferred up to the form. If you push an Up or Down key
instead of RETURN, what you have typed will be ignored, the
box-cursor will move to the next item, and five beeps will be
heard. This procedure applies also to MODE A.

To erase an item that was previously entered and leave its
space blank, you can put the cursor on it, push Del and then RETURN.

To bring the next entry to the screen, push PgDn. The PgUp
key brings the previous entry.

If you type in an item and fail to push RETURN before you
push another button that takes you away from that item, the
computer sounds a warning message of five low beeps. The message
means that the item you typed was not entered into memory.
Unless you intended not to enter it, you should go back and
reenter the item. It is annoying to have to go back,
particularly if you have already changed entries or modes.
Better to be careful about pushing RETURN to enter.

The computer remembers which entry you last worked on.
Don't be afraid to stop in the middle of your editing to go to
the B mode to check on something or to the List mode to get the
big picture. When you return to the editing mode, the last entry
you edited will reappear. You need only push RETURN to
reactivate it and put the cursor back on the item you were
working on.



3.2 A (ACTION) MODE

This mode allows you to enter or change the actions on a
claim. The actions fall into two categories: Your submitting
claims to insurance companies and their payments of the claims.
The same screen is used as in the C mode and the same entry rules
apply. Again, the computer prompts you for the correct answers.


3.2.1 Reporting submissions

Your submissions of the claims are entered at the top of the
Actions section where it says REQUESTS. You should enter a code
word for the plan to which the claim was sumitted and the month
and day when it was done. (For an explanation of the code names,
see MODE B.) There are slots for three plans. You must use them
in order. That is, don't leave a blank slot in front of an
occupied one. If the service submits claims for you, you must
enter them here also. Put your primary coverage first. Payments
cannot be entered unless this section is first filled in.

3.2.2 Deductibles

The computer makes an attempt to help you keep track of the
deductibles on your policies. There are conditions under which
the computer can have trouble doing this accurately. Some
examples are given below. If there is a conflict between your
bookkeeping and the computer's trying to calculate the
deductibles, you should do the bookkeeping the way you want and
take the computer's deductible figures as only its best guess.

When you enter the code name of a plan, the computer
calculates how much of the amount of the claim is within the
"deductible" of your insurance policy. The resulting numbers are
printed under the plan code. These numbers are rounded off to
the nearest dollar to save space. The numbers have the following
meanings.

* If the number is the same as the "charge" entry in the
Claim section, then the entire charge is still below the
deductible and is not eligible to be paid.

* If the number is smaller than the "charge", then only the
amount shown is below the deductible and the rest is eligible
for payment.

* If the number is a zero, it means that none of the charge
is below the deductible and the entire amount is eligible for
payment.

(It is not recommended but not forbidden to have no
patient's name on a claim. The name might be left off if the
claim is for prescription drugs for a number of people. With no
name on the claim, the computer may not be able to calculate the
deductible correctly. The deductible should then be ignored.)

If an insurance company processes your claims in a different
order from the order in which you entered the claims, it might
happen that a deductible is taken from a different claim from
what your record shows. If you cannot live with that, you must
reenter the claims in a different order.



3.2.3 Reporting payments

When an insurance company pays on your claim, you should
fill in the second half of the Action section, under RESPONSES.
Where it says "Paid by ____:", enter the amount paid. The
computer will calculate what percentage that is of the total
charge and will print that percentage in the next column. Next,
you may enter the month and date of the payment. Finally, you
may enter any appropriate claim numbers. A separate line like
that is entered for each plan that pays on your claim. After
each such line is entered, the computer calculates what amount of
the claim has not yet been paid and what percentage of the charge
that is. These figures are also printed on the form. (If the
amount not paid is negative, it means that the payments were
greater than the charge by the amount shown.)


3.2.4 Changing the charge

If after you have filled out any of the items of the Action
section, you make a change in the charge (of the Claims section),
you should retype the items of the Action section. That is, you
should enter the same items that you have already entered.
Entering these items again makes the computer recalculate such
things as the deductible amounts and percentages of payments.
If you fail to reenter these items, the deductibles and
percentages will be wrong. The computer will remind you to do
that if you change the charge.

3.2.5 Going from A to C and back

To go from mode A to C and vice versa, use function key F8
followed by the letter of the mode. If you return to the main
menu, the screen must be redrawn, which takes longer.



3.3 F (FIND) MODE

This mode lets you find a claim using any of the main items
on the A/C form as search-items (also called search-words). The
items that can be searched for are the service, date of service,
patient, charge, type, comments, and plan. That is, any of the
items entered in the C mode can be used plus the plan from the A
mode. For example, if you use the code name of a patient to
search on, the computer will find all claims that involve that
patient. If you enter a patient and a plan, the computer finds
all claims for that patient that were submitted to that plan.

The same search-words are also used in the List mode. What
is said about them here ,therefore, applies also to the L mode.




3.3.1 Procedure
When the F-mode is entered, the screen shows the same form
as in the A and C modes. The entry number is 0. This entry is
reserved for the F and L modes. Using the same method as used in
the A and C modes, enter any items that are to be used as search-
items. Any number of items can be used. Be sure to enter each
item with the RETURN key before starting the search. To start
the search, push the PgDn key. The computer will search the
entries until it finds one that contains the search-item or items
that you have selected. This entry is displayed on the screen.
Pushing PgUp or PgDn again causes the computer to continue the
search up or down the list of entries, respectively, for the next
entry that has the proper search-words.

3.3.2 Upper and lower case letters

If the "comments" or "type" items are used for search-items,
the computer finds only words that have letters of the same case
as you typed in the search-words. For example, if your search-
word is "D" or "Joe", the computer will not find "d" or "JOE"
because the cases do not match. Code names, on the other hand,
can be entered in lower case letters or capitals. The computer
capitalizes them all for you. In other words, be aware of the
case of letters in the "comments" and "type" columns, but don't
worry about case in code names for services, patients, and plans.


3.3.3 Comments search

In the case of all search-items other than "comments",
the computer finds entries that have items exactly the same as
the search-items. For example, to find an entry in which the
patient is JOE, the search-item must be JOE (except that the case
does not matter). In the case of "comments", the computer finds
entries in which the search-item is contained somewhere in the
"comments" line. For example, if Joe were used as the search-
item in the "comments" line, the computer would stop the search
and display an entry that had the words "Joe's hangnail
operation" because the letters "Joe" appear in those words. This
feature allows you to put key words into the comments line by
which entries can be quickly found or listed.


3.3.4 After a search

When the computer has found an entry for you, you have
the following options:

* Search for another entry with the same search-items. Do that
by pushing PgUp or PgDn again.

* Search for another item with new search criteria. Do that
by pushing F8 (the Mode key) and [F] or returning to the
main menu and pushing [F]. In other words, start the F
mode again.

* Edit the entry you have just found. To do that, push the
F8 (the Mode key) and either [C] or [A], depending on
whether you want to edit the claims or the action section.
You can also return to the main menu to change to the edit
modes but it takes longer.

* Return to the entry that you were looking at before the
search. Do that by pushing RETURN.

* Go to the first empty entry. To do that push F4.



3.4 L (LIST) MODE

This mode is used to present the claim entries in list form.
You are given a choice of listing all entries or only entries
with certain characteristics or combinations of characteristics.
For example, you can list only claims that have been paid or that
have not been paid. Or you can list all claims for patient Joe
which have not been paid. At the end of each list, the computer
prints the totals of the amounts charged, paid, and not paid on
all of the claims on the list. It also prints the percentage
paid. The list can therefore be used as a way to summarize your
claim activity.



If you elect not to list all entries, you are given five
choices:

A List claims that have been paid
B List claims that have not been paid
C List claims that have been submitted
D List claims that have not been submitted
E List claims with selected characteristics

You can select combinations of these choices.

If choice E is one of your selections, the computer will put
the A/C form back on the screen. You can then enter the items
that you want to limit the list to just as you entered search-
words in the FIND mode. In fact, these selections will have the
same effects as the search-words in the F mode. If you enter the
code name of a patient, the list will be limited to claims for
that patient. If you enter a code in the "Comments" line, the
list will show only entries with that code somewhere in its
comments line. A letter in the "type" item will limit the list
to claims of that type. Any number of search-words can be
entered. (See F mode above for more about search-words.)

When you have finished making selections, pushing either the
PgUp key or the PgDn key tells the computer to make the list.

In order to present the information on an 80-character line,
some of the items that appear on the A and C screen are not shown
on the list (the comments, some dates, the claim numbers, and
the percentage not paid). The following items do appear on the
list in the order shown:

Claim
* Entry number
* Service
* Date of Service (labeled DATE)
* Patient
* Charge
* Type (labeled TP)

Submission
* Plan
* Amount deductible (labeled DED)

Action
* Amount paid (labeled AMT PAID)
* Percentage of the charge paid (labeled %)
* Amount not paid (labeled NOT PAID)

3.4.1 Information in boxes

Suppose you ask the computer to make a list of only caims
that have been paid or that have not been paid. What should the
computer do when it comes to entries on which one plan has paid
and another has not. If it showed both plans, you would get
information that you did not request. If it showed only the plan
you requested, you would not see the complete data on the entry.
The computer solves this problem by listing the information that
you requested and adding the information on other plans in
reverse video (in boxes). Another case in which information
appears in boxes is when you restrict the list to claims made to
a particular plan. Submissions to other plans on the same
entries are shown in boxes.

3.4.2 Not paid column

The list makes a separate line for each plan to which the
claim was submitted. The NOT PAID amount is listed after the
last of these plans and reports the amount that has not been
paid after the payments of ALL of the plans (that are not in
boxes) have been added together.

3.4.3 Deductibles

For an explanation of the numbers in the deductible column
(DED) see "deductibles" in the explanation of the A mode above.





3.4.4 Summary line

At the end of each list, a summary line is printed. This
line shows the total amount charged, the total amount paid, the
percentage of the amount charged that was paid, and the total
amount not paid. If this line is blank, it means that the screen
has not yet shown the last item on the list. Push F10 or the
down arrow to add the next entry to the list. If you push Pg Dn,
the next ten entries appear on the list. Only when the last
entry is shown, will the summary line show the totals. After
that, you are allowed to go back up the list by ten entries by
pushing F2, the Up arrow, or Pg Up. The totals, however, remain
the same. That is, the totals are for the entire list even if
only a part of the list shows on the screen.

If any total exdeeds $99999.99, the amount is rounded off to
the nearest dollar. (For example, $123456.78 would be shown as
$123457 .)

The totals are calculated by adding only the amounts that
are not in boxes. The one exception to this rule is this:
If you ask for a list of only claims that have not been paid, the
total amount that was paid would, of course, be $0 and the amount
not paid would be the same as the total of the charges. Printing
those totals would not provide useful information. So in that one
case, the computer prints not the total of the items you wanted
listed but the total of what was paid by other plans on the same
claims. That is, the total of the information shown in boxes on
the list. The "amounts not paid" are then those not paid by
these other plans.




3.5 S (STORE) MODE

The store mode must be used after changes have been made on
any of your entries or in the background information if these
changes are to be saved on your disk.

You will be given an opportunity to change the disk drive
and to change your mind about saving before the actual saving
starts.

It is wise to save your files on more than one disk. To do
that, just change disks or the disk drive and store again.









3.6 P (PRINT) MODE

This mode lets you print your entire record on an 80-column
(or wider) printer. The list shows the same information as the
screen does in the L mode, including the summary line.

Only the complete list of entries can be printed in this
mode. To print any of the shorter lists that can be specified in
the L mode, you must use the L mode to put the list on the screen
and then use the PrtSc key to print the list.





3.7 D (DELETE) MODE

This mode can be used to delete an entry from your records.
Deletion is done by entry number, so remember the number of the
entry that you want to delete. You are asked to type in that
number when the D mode starts. All entries below the deleted one
are renumbered to fill the hole.



3.8 B (BACKGROUND) MODE

This mode lets you enter or change the background
information that the computer must have in order to run this
program. Three kinds of information must be entered here -
ervices that will bill you, patients that will use these
services, and the insurance plans that cover them. A fourth kind
is optional - a list of type assignments.

To save space on the lists and forms, code names must be
assigned to services, patients, and plans. The computer must
know what these code names are for three reasons.

* To help you when you enter claims by showing lists of
eligible services, patients, or plans.
* To check your entries against these lists so that you
cannot make incorrect entries. Incorrect or misspelled
codes would result in wrong lists and totals.
* To make it not necessary for you to remember what code
names you have assigned.

When this mode is entered, four choices appear. You can
elect to work on the list of services, the list of patients,
the insurance plans, or the list of type assignments. These
choices are described in detail below.





3.8.1 List of Services

If you select this choice, you are presented with a list of
22 slots into which you can put code names of services that will
bill you. These services can include such things as doctors,
nurses, medical labs, and hospitals. You will probably want to
designate one service code under which you enter all pharmacy
prescriptions.

To enter a service, you must select the number of the slot
into which you want to type the service. Then type the code name
of the service. You may use capitals or lower case letters.
This code must be seven characters or less. When you push the
RETURN key, the code name is capitalized and transferred to the
list.

Later, when you are entering a claim, the computer will
check the service that you enter against this list. If the
service is not on this list, the computer gives you a warning
message and requires you to push RETURN a second time to store
what you have typed. The only reason why you are given a chance
to enter a service that is not on the list is to allow for the
remote possibility that you might be billed by more than 22
different services during the course of a year. If that is the
case, you must keep your own list of code names and you may
overrule the computer's warning message. Otherwise, you should
take the warning message to mean that you have entered an
incorrect code name.

When you are filling in the Service item on an entry form,
the computer shows you the available services. However, there
is room for only the first 16 names on your list.

To erase a name and leave the space blank, just push the
RETURN key without typing anything.


3.8.2 List of Patients

If you select this choice, you are given a list of 10 slots
into which you can enter names of patients who are covered by
your insurance policies. If such a patient has a name that is
more than seven letters long, you must enter a code name for that
person that is no longer than seven characters.

You are prompted first to select the number of the slot that
you want to fill or change. Then you must type the patients name
of code. Pushing RETURN transfers your entry to the list.

Later, when you are entering a claim, the computer will
check any patient names that you enter against this list and
against the lists of patients that are covered by the policy and
will reject any name that is not on these lists.


To erase a name and leave the space blank, just push the
RETURN key without typing anything.


3.8.3 Insurance Plan Information

This choice allows you to enter data on the insurance
policies that you will be making claims against. If you have
more than one plan from the same insurance company, a separate
entry must be made for each plan. There is room for 10 plans.
The PgUp and PgDn keys are used to view the 10 entry forms.

You are presented with a form to fill in. Some of the
entries on this form are there to provide you with a convenient
place to store information which you might want to refer to.
These entries include the full name, address, and phone number of
the insurance company, account numbers, maximum coverage, and
miscellaneous comments. You may use these lines as you wish.
The computer does not use them.

If your policy has a deductible amount, it should be entered
in the "deductible" item. If the policy has a family deductible,
this amount should be entered in the "family deductbl" item.
Enter only the dollar amount - no pennies, no dollar sign. If
there is no amount to put into these items, they must be left
blank. More about the deductibles later.

Two items MUST be filled in so that the computer can run the
program. These items are highlighted on your entry form. They
are the following:

!! THESE MUST BE FILLID IN !!

* A code name for the insurance plan
* The list of people covered by the plan


The code name for the plan must be six characters or less
(spaces are allowed, but not at the beginning). Later, when you
are entering a claim, the computer will reject any code name that
you enter which has not been entered in this (B) mode.


Other things that you should know about the B3 mode:

Any maximum coverage data that you enter is there for your
reference only. Many policies have different maximum amounts on
different kinds of services. The computer cannot track them all.
So the computer does not check your claims against these maxima
and does not warn you if you exceed them. (See the discussion of
type assignments under Mode C to see how you can quickly calculate
what has been paid for a particular kind of service by a
particular plan.)


The per-person deductible amount must be entered so that the
computer can keep you advised on your standing with respect to
the deductible as you enter claims. (The computer cannot handle
a policy which has differnt deductibles for different family
members. If there is such a policy, you must keep track of the
deductibles yourself.) If your policy has a maximum deductible
amount for the family, enter that amount on the "Family
deductble" line. The computer will include that maximum in its
calculations.

The list of people covered by the policy is required so that
the computer can prevent you from entering nonvalid names and help
you prepare claims. Each name or code name entered here must be
on the list of patient names (choice 2 of this mode) and must be
spelled exactly as it is on that list. To enter the names, type
them either in capitals or lower-case letters and separate them
with commas. Push the RETURN key when you have typed all of the
names of covered persons. The computer then capitalizes the
names, spaces them properly, and transfers them to the form.
Later, when you are entering a claim, the computer will reject
any plan that does not cover the person who received the service.

Changes can be made at any time. If you want to make a
change in an item after you have entered it, you must retype the
entire item. The first character typed causes the old line
to be erased. The RETURN key enters the new item.


3.8.4 Type assignments

This mode provides a list on which you can record the
assignments of letters A to Y to up to 25 categories of services.
You can quickly call this list to the screen if you need to look
up your assignments. The list has no other function than that.
For an explanation of the use of type assignments see mode C.

For making entries or changing entries, there are simple
editing features. The cursor can be moved in all directions with
the arrow keys and the RETURN key. To make changes, just type
over what was there before. To erase, use the backspace key or
type spaces. There is no need to enter anything that you have
typed with the RETURN key. What you see on the screen is what
will be retained by the memory.


3.8.5 Changing from one B-mode section to another

There is no direct way to go from one of the four parts of
the B mode to another. When you have finished with one part -
for example, entering names of patients - you must return to the
main menu and reenter the B mode.




IMPORTANT NOTICE: If any additions and changes are made in the B
mode, You must use the S mode before turning off the computer if
these changes are to be stored on the disk. Otherwise the
changes are lost.



3.9 N (NEW FILES) MODE

This mode helps you to clear old files from the RAM memory
and disks and start new ones. You are given the following four
choices:
1 Set up program for the first time
2 Clear claim records from memory and disks
3 Set up new record files for new year
4 Go back to main menu

The first choice tells you what to do with the sample
records that are found on a new disk. The second choice guides
you through the process of clearing records from the RAM memory
and, if you want, from disks. The third choice presents one
possible procedure for switching over to a new year. The last
choice returns you to the main menu.



3.10 X (ESCAPE) MODE

The X mode is used to quit the INSURE program and return to
the DOS operating system. Before executing this mode, be sure
that you have stored any entries or changes that you have made on
disk (with the S mode). The computer gives you a chance to abort
if you change your mind.




4. MEMORY AND FILES

When the INSURE program is loaded, it is located in the the upper
part of the memory. A 44800-byte memory segment below that is
used as the places to store the records. All 200 entries can be
stored in this segment. There is no writing or reading from
disks during normal operation. (This program and its data file
is memory-resident.) When the STORE mode is used to store the
records on disk, the contents of the 44800-byte memory segment
are stored on disk as file INSDATA.1ST. Next time the program is
started, this file is read from disk back into the memory
segment. It is suggested that one record of 200 entries be used
for the transactions of exactly one year. (See STARTING A NEW
RECORD). A second disk file that is stored and read back along
with this data file is the file INSDATA.2ND. This file holds the
background information that is entered in mode B. While the
program is running, this data resides in tables.

4.1 WHICH DISK TO USE

A single diskette can hold the main program file INSURE.EXE, the
data files INSDATA.1ST and INSDATA.2ND, and these instructions in
the file INSURE.DOC. Such a disk should last the average family
at least one year. To operate from the diskette, you need only
insert it and enter the name INSURE in response to the DOS prompt
for the drive you are using. Enter this same drive when the
program asks you which drive it should use to read data from
disk. Reading the records from disk and storing them again
before you turn off the computer will then be done with this
diskette. You should probably back up the record files on a
second diskette. One way to do that is to remove the main
diskette and put the backup diskette in its place. Then start
the STORE mode again.

If you want to be able to "boot up" with the INSURE program, you
should copy the files INSURE.EXE, INSDATA.1ST, and INSDATA.2ND
onto a "system" disk that has been formatted in the /S mode so
that it has the necessary operating system files on it. If you
also add an AUTOEXEC.BAT file, the INSURE program will start
automatically when you power up the computer or do a reset (by
pushing Alt, Cont, and Del simultaneously.) Depending on what
drives you use, there may be another advantage to using a system
disk. When you try to leave INSURE and go back to DOS, the
computer might have to ask you to put a system disk in if your
program is not on one already.

If you prefer to operate from hard disk, copy the program
INSURE.EXE to the hard disk. Install the record files as
described in STARTING A NEW RECORD below. Change the disk drive
to "C" when the program asks you for the drive. After you store
your records on the hard disk, you should back up these files by
inserting a backup floppy, changing the current drive to that of
the floppy, and using the STORE mode again.

This program and its data files are memory-resident. If it
does not work properly, it might be competing for memory space
with other memory-resident programs. The conflict might be due
to a number of things. You might have augmented your DOS to such
an extent that it extends more than 70600 bytes into the memory
space. At start-up you might automatically load (with
AUTOEXEC.BAT) utilities that require memory space or you might
have loaded one after start-up. Or such a utility might fix the
screen colors so that this program cannot make text bright
where it has to. In these cases, you may want to copy the
INSURE.EXE and INSDATA files to a diskette with only the basic
DOS files on it (done by formatting the diskette with the /S
option). Starting or resetting the computer with this "system"
diskette in drive A will then put only the simple DOS system
into the memory along with the INSURE program and its files.




4.2 STARTING FROM FLOPPY DISK

If you are using INSURE on a floppy disk, insert the disk in
drive A and enter INSURE in response to the DOS prompt >A. The
program will load and will then want to read the previously
recorded check records from the disk. The screen will ask
whether the current drive is all right or whether you want to
select a new one. Push RETURN if the drive is correct, (you will
probably use drive A), or enter a new drive. The machine then
reads the disk and put the main menu on the screen.




4.3 STARTING FROM HARD DISK

If you have copied INSURE.EXE to the hard disk, just enter INSURE
in response to the DOS prompt wants to read the check records from disk, use drive A and put in
the original floppy disk. When the time comes to store, store
onto the hard disk and, for backup, on a floppy disk. From then
on, reading the data can always be from the faster hard disk.


4.4 CLEARING THE INSDATA FILES FROM MEMORY OR DISK

You can clear an old record out. For example, you may want to
discard the sample records that were on the original diskette and
start your own records. Go to mode N and use activity #2 to
clear the RAM memory..

When you have cleared the memory, you can also clear disk files
by storing the empty records.


4.5 STARTING A NEW RECORD (LIKE FOR A NEW YEAR)

A record can hold as many as 200 entries. That should be more
than enough for one year in the average household. In fact, to
summaries more meaningful and to make searching and listing
faster, one record should hold the transactions of exactly one
year.

When you have entered all transactions for the old year and want
to start a new record, save the old record on one or more floppy
disks using the SAVE mode. (You should have been doing that for
backup all along.) Label the disks with the proper year and put
them away. Clear the computer memory with mode N. Then start a
new record as directed by the instructions of mode N. If claims
made in the old year have not all been settled, you will have to
get the old disks out of storage and use them when payments come
in for these claims.



4.6 INTERCHANGING ENTRIES

You might at some time want to change the order of two entries.
For example, an insurance company might have responded to your
claims in the opposite order in which you entered them. The
computer might then have assigned a deductible to the wrong
claim. You could probably live with that. But if you do want to
change the order of entries, you must do it yourself. The
program does not provide an automatic way to do it. Copy on
paper the claims that you want to interchange and type the new
data in over the old data on the computer. Reenter every item
even if it is the same in both entries.



4.7 CONTRAST

Some items on the screen are made brighter than others. The main
highlighted items are the items that you enter on the C and A
screens. If these things do not appear brighter than the other
things on your screen, it may be that the contrast and brightness
controls on your terminal are not properly adjusted. They are
usually located on the back.
































4.8 MESSAGES

Most help and error messages that are flashed on the screen are
self explanatory. Sometimes, when an error occurs due to the use
of a disk drive or a printer, you are given an error number.
The meanings on the most common of these are shown below.



SOME COMMON ERROR NUMBERS

2 File not found
3 Drive not ready or path not found
5 Invalid drive or attempt to edit protected program
8 Insufficient memory
15 Invalid drive
19 Attempt to write write-protected diskette
21 Drive not ready
23 Data error
24 Device timeout
25 Device fault
26 Unknown media type
27 Out of paper or printer not ready
29 Write fault
30 Read fault
31 General failure
57 Device I/O error
68 Device unavailable
70 Disk write-protected
71 Drive not ready
72 Disk media error
84 Disk full
85 File not found




4.9 SOUNDS

A short low buzz means that a blinking error message is on
the screen. A high beep means that some action has been
completed.





4.10 LOCKED FILES

This program comes with the files write-protected so that
anything typed into an entry over number 7 is not retained by the
memory. That is, it remains on the screen until the screen is
changed but, when that entry is returned to the screen, the new
data is gone.

If you suspect that your files are locked, there is a way to
be sure. Restart the INSURE program and look at the bottom left
corner of the screen when the computer is loading in the disk
files. (The words "loading data" are blinking in the lower right
corner.) If the files are locked, the letter "L" appears briefly
at the lower left. If the files are unlocked, the letter "U"
appears.

The write protection is intended to allow you to fully
evaluate the program before paying for it. You can display the
sample entries that come with the disk. You can change these
entries or the background information that comes with them. If
these changes are made on entries over 7, your changes will not
go into memory. If you want to start with empty files and enter
your own data, you can erase the sample files and the sample
background information by following the instructins in mode N.

Instructions for unlocking the files can be obtained from
the author.




rev: 6-17-87
_______________________________________________________________



OTHER PROGRAM

If you find this program useful, you are invited to try the
author's other program, CHEKLIST. This is a program for
maintaining checkbook records. It does all that one might want
to do with such records and it does nothing but keep those
records. Some of the program's features are up to 1700 entries,
22 ledger accounts, bank statement reconciliation, and many
convenience features to make operation easy. The program is
available from the same sources that distribute INSURE.



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