<s>
Medical	B-Application
practice	I-Application
management	I-Application
software	I-Application
(	O
PMS	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
category	O
of	O
healthcare	B-Application
software	I-Application
that	O
deals	O
with	O
the	O
day-to-day	O
operations	O
of	O
a	O
medical	O
practice	O
including	O
veterinarians	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
software	O
frequently	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
capture	O
patient	O
demographics	O
,	O
schedule	B-Application
appointments	O
,	O
maintain	O
lists	O
of	O
insurance	O
payors	O
,	O
perform	O
billing	O
tasks	O
,	O
and	O
generate	O
reports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PMS	O
is	O
often	O
connected	O
to	O
electronic	B-Application
medical	I-Application
records	I-Application
(	O
EMR	O
)	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
integration	O
of	O
the	O
EMR	O
and	O
PMS	O
software	O
is	O
considered	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
challenging	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
medical	B-Application
practice	I-Application
management	I-Application
software	I-Application
implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
practice	O
management	O
software	O
contains	O
systems	O
that	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
enter	O
and	O
track	O
patients	O
,	O
schedule	B-Application
and	O
track	O
patient	O
appointments	O
,	O
send	O
out	O
insurance	O
claims	O
and	O
patient	O
statements	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
collection	O
process	O
,	O
process	O
insurance	O
,	O
patient	O
and	O
third	O
party	O
payments	O
,	O
and	O
generate	O
reports	O
for	O
the	O
administrative	O
and	O
clinical	O
staff	O
of	O
the	O
practice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
cases	O
,	O
the	O
reporting	O
functionality	O
of	O
PMS	O
interfaces	O
with	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
systems	I-Application
or	O
has	O
similar	O
functionality	O
built-in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Practice	O
management	O
software	O
(	O
PMS	O
)	O
has	O
traditionally	O
been	O
commercial	O
;	O
few	O
viable	O
free	O
practice	O
management	O
systems	O
exist	O
,	O
though	O
a	O
few	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
systems	O
are	O
under	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
