Oliver wrote:
Greg, I think that if we looked at what is actually happening around Australia, many GPs and specialists are simply politely ignoring Medicare Australia's wish for electronic referrals to be signed with individual digital certificates, and are just getting on the with the job of caring for patients, as Duncan's group is doing. A local specialist told me just the other day that his group is doing exactly this - they are accepting referrals without digital signatures and using them for Medicare benefits purposes. It sounds to me that the system used by Duncan's group of specialists provides reasonable evidence that a referral was made. I believe that Medicare Australia would not and will not dare to try to prosecute any specialist who used such a referral to issue an account which can be used by the patient for the higher Medicare benefits payable for a referred service, because it would be howled down in public by the whole profession as obstructing the delivery of health care with inappropriate and unworkable bureaucratic rules. It's a bit like the Berlin wall - suddenly, just by a kind of mass civil disobedience the whole thing (in this case, digital signing) is seen as irrelevant and unnecessary and everybody just gets on with doing the job that needs to be done.
would this be the same hic that return statements with items marked "501" (item format invalid) where the claim clearly stated long home visit, but failed to have 37/1 next to it
instead of medicare acknowledging a valid service, i get to re-submit and go round again
they probably aren't as bad as i figure, but rules is rules, and if you don't genuflect to the correct depth you will remain damned - can't see official referral requirements giving any latitude unless paliament changes requirements
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