There was a considerable amount of worry in the healthcare industry when the switch was made to ICD-10 on the 1st of October, 2015. However, it has been over six months since it went into effect and despite dire warnings about the new medical coding standard; the transition has not been nearly as bad as predicted. There have been a number of reasons cited for the successful transition which includes better preparation, education, and awareness of what was going to occur.

While the transition was not perfect, it was free of any major catastrophes so many people expect that the healthcare industry is out of danger. However, the transition did produce some issues that may come back to haunt those who have proclaimed it an unqualified success.

Difficulties Did Occur in the Transition

As reported by sources in the industry, there was an initial increase in claims that needed to be held back because of inaccurate coding that were from the old ICD-9, but that cleared up by the end of October for the most part. It helped that the healthcare industry had a much longer heads-up for the changes as compared to previous updates.

However, despite things going rather smoothly, it cannot be claimed that the transition is a complete success at least to this point. This is because there is a one-year span that occurs between October 1st, 2015 and October 1st, 2016 means that there is still some evaluation left to do.

It can be said that the sky did not fall and that the healthcare industry as a whole reacted well to the changes that were made. There were no mass rejections of claims, cash flows that dried up, or chaos in the industry. In fact, it did go smoothly enough that it might be claimed that many in the industry had gone way too far in their predictions of doom.

Still, it is important to keep in mind that the medical coding services will still need to tighten up as the relaxation period draws to a close and ICD-10 becomes the law of the land. After October 1st of this year, it may be that there is a rise in the number of mistakes that makes some in the industry believe that their worst fears are being realized. A little fear can go a long way towards ensuring that the new coding system sticks and is properly followed so that confusion is minimized.

As of right now, all seems quiet and fine. However, that can change after October 1st if the changes put into place do not stick and codes revert to the previous set that will cause confusion to prevail. While the idea that the entire system will crash is arguably way too pessimistic, it can be said that the healthcare industry has yet to fully pass the time of concern. This means that practitioners will need to be diligent so that the next deadline can be passed as smoothly as possible.

CrystalVoxx.com – We provide all-in-one solution for your entire medical billing and coding needs. Get paid quicker and reduce your Days in AR with our higher first pass claim acceptance ratio.

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Web Development Companies have evolved as an important aspect in the modern world as the people are getting addicted to the Internet. Earlier, it was not an easy task for the people from different parts of the world to share and communicate with each other, but now it is made possible. Website is the core element of internet world and there are billions of websites available for us which are categorized accordingly with the user interest.

Many people are making use of websites in smart ways for different fields such as for business purpose which allows them to reach out every individual without any boundaries. This trend of online business is growing rapidly in Dubai and people have soon realized the ease and importance of website. And thereby Web Development Service has become a necessity for development.

In the past few years, Web development companies in Dubai (UAE) have gained a unique position in the development of the businesses. Since then Dubai has been the major corporate hub for the investors and businessmen across all over the world. A dedicated website is necessary for promoting the goods and services even if it is a firm or a multi-national company. Most of the companies in Dubai have strong reputation in the market because they have their own payment gateways.

Most companies outsource their projects and fail to successfully deliver quality service, which is forcing most companies to locate Web Development Company in Dubai. A reliable Web development Company unleashes its best and quality service to its clients. The search for competent development companies begins with Search engines. It also contains understanding and gathering data along with previous projects. This will guide you to know the success rate of a particular company.

PHP Web Development Company

Now a day, for an online business to be stable in the market it definitely requires interactive and effective development of website. It is not enough to create your website and launching it to the World Wide Web. User friendly websites are necessary for the business to move on and also the website visibility should be improved to attract the audience and turn them in to their customers. Developing web applications play a major role in order to maintain productivity of the business as well as on time delivery of the product.

PHP (Hypertext Pre-processor) is one among the different languages to build a web application. PHP is an open source scripting language which is a major advanced web development service offered by IT companies. It is mainly utilized for making product based sites. PHP Web Development is quick and practical as it is coordinated with visual applications line Flash and Ajax. By using PHP, secure and reliable online business can be achieved by developing Dynamic Database Websites all along the development of Web Applications. It also enables website appearance as well as functionality. Besides, it provides cross platform compatibility and its features and techniques made it easier to use. The troubleshooting is also been exceptionally easy with the PHP framework.

Most of the websites, web applications, web portals and e-commerce sites are created in PHP framework. This scripting language is providing more and more services having boom in the market. Its data source control programs can handle a lot of data sources like Oracle, Sybase, Informix and ODC. These services have been categorized for customers, so that they can select appropriate services easily. One should settle on custom PHP Web Development Company as there numerous administrative suppliers in the business. Finally, the company which is innovative providing unmatched solutions to the clients will stand out at the top position.

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Originally Published at Troop Messenger

“You can use the free version of Slack for as long as you like and there’s no limit to the number of members who can be invited.”

That’s what Slack’s pricing page reads once you get started. In all their PRs and advertisements’, Slack has time and again claimed that their free tier offers an unlimited number of users.

In short, Slack unapologetically mentions that there is no limit. You can add ‘as many people’ as you want to.

But is it really true?

Table of Contents

1. Is Slack Misleading
2. Should you Pay for Slack
3. Tearing Down Slack’s Pricing
4. Freemium Plan
5. Standard Subscription
6. Plus Subscription
7. Enterprise-Grade

Is Slack Misleading people about its Free ‘Unlimited Plan’?
We came across a couple of Slack users who have reported that there’s a limit with a freemium plan, despite what Slack says.

For Example, David Chen, who wanted to build a massive Slack community of 10K+ users, found that the service starts fizzling out around 5000 users, and poops out completely after onboarding 8,500 users.

Quincy Larson added 8462 users to his Slack channel, and after that, the channel stopped accepting new users.

8462 sure is a great number for a medium-sized community – but it’s a limit, which Slack has disguised so far, and done nothing to disclose.

Users hoping to build a 10k+ community through freemium plans should look for a Slack alternative.

This brings us to our next question:

Should you Pay for Slack?
Slack is a great office collaboration tool, without any doubt. For many businesses operating virtually, Slack has offered benefits they can’t live without.

Slack is where work happens. It has the most user-friendly UI and UX, and it is relatively easier to navigate through.

And then, to top it all, Slack offers 1000s of integrations and apps. In a literal sense, it is a process automation heaven. If you implement enough apps, you’ll be able to complete 95% of your work requirements inside Slack.

That’s cool, right?

But here’s the thing – there are as many as 20+ Slack Alternatives that are offering similar features.

Some of these alternatives are cheaper than Slack while some others are more expensive.

Since most of the Slack alternatives are doing pretty much the same job, it is natural to wonder whether or not it is worth paying for Slack?

And that’s the intent behind writing this article. Sit tight and read as we tear-down slack’s pricing plans, and help you make a better decision:

Tearing Down Slack’s Pricing: Freemium Vs Paid Plans
The secret of Slack’s pricing model is very much evident on their pricing page.

Slack Pricing Teardown of Freemium Plan Model :

Ideal For: Individual Use, Small Groups

Pricing: $US0

When a new customer joins Slack, they have multiple options to choose from. It is free as long as you want a Slack Workspace with an unlimited number of people.

In the free slack pricing plans, you don’t have to pay a penny but you are restricted with limited features. Onboarding your team on Slack for free sounds cool. But this freemium plan has limitations:

1. 10k searchable messages:
This may seem enough for very small teams or members who don’t use team chats that often. But even for small-sized teams, the 10k limit is insufficient.

If you’re a team of 10 people, who generate about 2k messages a week, chances are you won’t be able to restore any of the conversations after a month.

Imagine you need to report a document you shared with your colleague for two months, but not being able to refer back to it because you’ve reached the 10k

limit. You’ll have to upgrade to a standard plan to reveal search message history.

2. 1-to-1 video calls:
If your slack workspace works on the freemium plan, forget about conducting team conferences because you cannot do more than 1-to-1 video calls.

You cannot host big meetings or webinars. Now that can be a real bummer!

3. 10 apps & integrations
Integrations make Slack better and more powerful than others. Slack has been constantly adding new tools and with paid plans, you Slack integrates with almost every popular tool.

With Freemium, you’ve access to 10 integrations. If you want to use the 11th app, you’ll have to delete old integration and stay in the limit of 10 apps.

4. Two-factor authentication
Whether you choose a freemium or a paid plan, Slack won’t let it’s users compromise with security. For an added security layer, all Slack users can turn-on 2FA for their Slack account.

This means that if your password is stolen or compromised, you’ll have peace of mind that only you’ll be able to log in again.

Freemium Plan Verdict: If you can compromise with limited searchable messages and limited integrations, Slack can be a great pick for small-sized teams.

Slack Pricing Teardown of Standard Subscription Model

Ideal For: Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

Global Pricing: $US6.67 per active user per month billed annually. Or $US8 per active user per month billed monthly.

Pricing (For Indian Customers): $US2.67 per active user per month billed annually Or $US3.20 per active user per month billed monthly.

If you can spend $US2.67 per active user per month, you can get rid of the above limitations, and enjoy additional features. You can avail benefits like Unlimited message archive, Group calls (up to 15 participants) with screen sharing, Unlimited apps, Guest accounts, and shared channels.

1. Full archive: There’s no 10k messages limit with the Standard plan. Your team’s entire message history is now in one place and the entire conversation is searchable.

2. Unlimited apps: Again, Standard Subscribers of Slack educational pricing can integrate applications beyond the number 10. Integrate Slack with as many as 1000+ tools from different categories and bring all your work into one place. You don’t have to miss out on anything.

3.Google authentication: A standard plan makes it easy for Slack users to log in to their Workspace. Hence, it reduces the password load. Those who use G Suite can have their team members sign in to Slack Workspace using their existing Google sign-on.

4.Guest access: Slack’s Standard pricing plan makes it easy for companies to connect with vendors, retailers, and people from outside the company. Such people can be given guest access and invited to one or multiple Slack channels.

Additional Benefits of Standard Plan:
Custom retention policies
Forward emails into Slack
Priority support
Group voice and video calls
User groups
Custom profiles Screen sharing

Slack Pricing Teardown of Plus Subscription Model
Ideal For: Large-Sized Businesses that require advanced admin control

Global Pricing: $US12.50 per active user per month billed annually.

Pricing (For Indian Customers): $US5 per person per month billed annually. Or $US6 per person per month billed monthly.

Slack has a Plus Plan for large businesses and companies with a requirement of business-level features that can help the teams grow. Apart from all the benefits of a standard subscription, Slack’s Plus users can avail exclusive features like:

Keep a little, keep a lot: With a plus plan, Slack users get the option to customize their archival preferences and message retention. There’s more to control as compared to the standard plan.

Though custom message retention settings, they get a flexible option when it comes to deciding how many messages you want to keep, and how much history you want to delete. There’s also an option to keep a tab of deletion logs and message edit.

1. Data exports: Data export feature is great for companies who have got legal obligations to archive messages, or businesses operating in a regulated industry.

Team admins of leaders, on Slack Plus Plan, can request access to the entire team’s message history. The history can be either direct messages between team members or conversation in the private channels.

2. SSO and provisioning: With Plus plan, you get to Integrate Slack workspace with your existing SAML 2.0 identity provider. This is suitable for companies that wish to ensure secure access to their team.

Apart from SAML, Plus members also have a built-in connection to many SSO providers. There is also an option to use a custom or own SAML solution.

3. 99.99% uptime: With 99.99% uptime, Slack is operational irrespective of the time zone. For the plus subscribers, Slack assures providing a guaranteed uptime, an industry-leading standard of server availability, and a financially backed service level agreement (SLA).

4. 24/7 support: With the standard plan, you get priority support, which means your queries will be catered before the queries made by freemium subscribers.

And with the Plus plan, you can reach the support team anytime, and have access to 24/7 coverage and guaranteed response, in the shortest time possible, from their customer experience team.

Slack Pricing Teardown of Enterprise-Grade Model
Ideal For: Very Large Sized Businesses that require advanced admin control Businesses operating in highly regulated industries Enterprises requiring unlimited workspace with a centralized control

Pricing: There’s no standard or flat rate for slack enterprise grid pricing. It depends on the specific requirements and other factors. You’d need to contact the Slack Sales team to get an estimate.

1. Scale with unlimited workspaces

Considering the nature of large enterprises, a single Slack workspace might be insufficient.

Hence, Slack for business pricing is specially designed to provide multiple teams of an organization with a focused and separate place to work.

Unlimited workspaces in Slack provide teams and their members access to the people, appropriate information and apps which matter the most to their projects.

2. Build bridges between teams

With an Enterprise plan, businesses can centralized control to create communication structures. The structure mirrors the way your organization works.

Channels from different workspaces can be shared when needed, and you can also collaborate with outside vendors whenever required.

3. Find information across your company

As an admin of all workspaces of your organization, you can also enable members of any team or selected workspace to find the data, content, information, and people they need to get work done with.

You can provide them with access to direct messaging, organization-wide search, and announcement channels.

4. Fine-tune your security settings

From a single view and centralized control, the chief administrators of all workspaces can manage security, structure, policy, and compliance for the whole organization.

The same can be done for specific workspaces. In short, the organization admin has complete control of the security and compliance of any or all workspaces.

And If you are looking for a cheaper Slack Alternative…Like I mentioned earlier, there are as many as 20+ Slack Alternatives that are offering similar features.

Some of these alternatives are cheaper than Slack while some others are more expensive. One of the best Slack Alternatives I can recommend is Microsoft Teams and Troop Messenger.

Conclusion:
If you’re looking for a cheaper team communication tool that helps you automate your workflow as well, then Troop Messenger can be a decent choice.

By the way, you can try out Troop Messenger right now. For free! Just sign up and you get to Experience a 30-Day Enterprise Free Trial.

Final Words:
Slack pricing tiers aren’t the best, but with the features and extensive integration it has got to offer, it’d be unfair to say it’s not worth it.

The real power of Slack lies in its integrations and apps. With Slack, you can do so much more. If your work requires team collaboration, you should pay for Slack, because eventually there’s so much for you and your team.

Slack and its integrations will save your team time and increase productivity. So if you are looking to improve the time efficiency and productivity of your team, Slack is the right tool.

And if you’re looking for a communication tool, then you can opt for Troop Messenger, and avail similar benefits.