Remember we are almost exclusively B*B*
Patient cannot sign voucher until after the service is rendered and the
relevant items entered on the voucher. M/C still requires a paper
voucher to be produced and stored - this is a point of contention. In
effect the voucher acts as a message slip in our practice. The patient
signs in the Drs presence (I know this is not a usual arrangement, but
it has been done since the distant past in our place - echoes of a past
practice manager who had far too much control - the partners did as they
were told!!) The advantage is that very few pts get away without signing
As I understand it there is no requirement for the voucher to be signed
in the doctors presence. The patient then leaves with no further
requirement to visit the front desk - this limits the demand on the
front and allows vouchers to be entered at some convenient time. The
downside of this is that there is no opportunity to "market" ie book
further appointments. In our case we are overwhelmed with work so this
is not a major problem. (though you could argue it is one of the factors
that is holding us to B*B*)
Some Drs are still resistant to computers - getting them to enter item
nos would be a problem.
In a private billing practice the workflow would be different, though
remeber that nearly 80% of all services are B*B* in OZ
R
Ian Haywood wrote:
On Saturday 14 October 2006 23:34, Richard Hosking wrote:
When Pt is finished Dr enters items on voucher -> signed
[snip]
Billing code - these are numbers for Medicare/DVA/W/C/Private etc
I am familiar with this system but never quite understood it.
This is in effect double-entry of data (the doc writes the item nos then
the receptionist types them), plus (for the majority here) wasting one sheet
of paper (the receptionist has to print out an invoice at the end with the
total price, for the patient to take to Medicare)
Why not have:
- a default item no depending on the booked length of the consult. Pap smears
and other procedures are usually booked as such so this also known.
- automatic 'upgrade' if the consult length exceeds 20minutes/40minutes.
- a simple interface for docs to manually change the item nos. This can have
various smarts (keyword search for procedural items, automatically using the
correct after-hours nos, etc.)
- the receptionist prints out a single invoice/voucher when the patient
returns to the desk at the end of the consult, patient signs it then.
The disadvantage is docs have to use the computer to enter item nos, instead
of writing, however the big advantage is the voucher does not need to be
signed in the doctors presence (or is this a medicare requirement??) which
some patients take a remarkably long time to do!
Ian
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