Just got off the phone with Medicare. The following are my interpretations, not gospel...
1. There are actually three banks signed on: NAB, CBA and "MoneySwitch" 2. Online Patient Claiming is used by 7%-10% of transactions. The lady I spoke to conceded that if this was significantly higher, EasyClaim would probably not be about to exist. I guess this boils down to the fact that patients are more likely to carry around their EFTPOS card than their BSB & Account Number. Further, some practices are reluctant to store patient bank details which compounds the problem. The vast majority of online patient claims, therefore, result in a cheque being sent to the patient. 3. Promotion will commence circa late May. 4. Medicare's justification for not launching it with practice software integration is as I assumed - it would inevitably slow deployment. From the discussion, my understanding now is that there won't be a "Medicare API", but rather "Bank EFTPOS Terminal" interfaces that practice software vendors will need to deal with. Discussions are already underway, but I don't know between who. 5. As most have assumed, the information that needs to be keyed per consultation is the item number/s. Other information needs to be keyed including the provider number and cost. Potentially a lot of numbers, but "keypad shortcuts" are possible and will streamline this process somewhat. I presume integration with practice software may eliminate this. 6. The AMA have been involved in the process for a long time, as have the banks (January 05 for the banks apparently). 7. Practices won't be financially incentivised to adopt the solution. 8. I didn't catch any reference to "real world trials". 9. The person I spoke to had an accounting background, and conceded Oliver's point about the fact that the cash flow improvement EasyClaim would deliver won't significantly alter the amount of cash entering a practice per week. 10. All banks are paid per transaction at the same rate. Medicare determines this rate. Have a good weekend all. Simon > Hi Simon > > One thing I forgot to mention is I sadly assume it is to late to prevent > this mess (efpos swipe card) being forced on us. CBA, NAB and other banks > share holders (like me) should love the government's action on this one. > The Governments multimillion dollar advertising Campain (or pre election > guff) will misinform all our clients about some thing we can already do > better do with all the existing 20 odd ways of making Medicare claims > especially HIC online. > > THE AMA and RACGP appear to be rather toothless bureaucratic tea parties > committees for the boys or girls- Wonder if we could get Dr Kerryn Phelps > back- (I miss her - she said it like it is). > > The Government has blind sided us. Far too few people have taken the time to > try and stop this from occurring. Perhaps I am naive or unaware how often > the government shafts doctors and taxpayers like this. I thought people > would care to tell our politicians of the sheer stupidity of giving the > banks $50 million plus each year for something GAP billing would to > significantly more equitably with the same significant cost savings and with > out padding the banks pockets with truckloads of our tax. > > Regards > > James Bishop > Longevity Medical > Ph 03 98482009 > Fax 03 98407064 > Mb 0413582615 > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Simon James > Sent: Friday, 13 April 2007 9:42 AM > To: GPCG Talk > Subject: [GPCG_TALK] Electronic Medicare Claiming / EasyClaim > > Dear All, > > I'm commencing research on the new Electronic Medicare Claiming (EasyClaim) > system and will be interviewing some folks from Medicare in the coming days. > > I'm posting to see if list members have any outstanding questions or > concerns about the proposed system, which will assist me to research and > prepare a comprehensive article for release in my May edition. > > In terms of currently available info, I expect most would be aware of > Medicare's website: > > http://www.medicare.gov.au/providers/programs_services/medicare/electronic-c > laiming.shtml > > As well as some basic info, this site contains has a video that outlines the > following scenarios: > > Paying Patients > --------------- > 1. Practice generates invoice. > 2. Patient pays with cash/cheque/eftpos > 3. Receptionist swipes EFTPOS card > 4. Receptionist enters "some basic information", "5-keystrokes or less". > 5. EFTPOS terminal sends info to Medicare Australia > 6. Medicare Australia sends EFTPOS terminal approval message. > 7. Patients "bank debit card" is swiped. > 8. EFTPOS terminal prints receipt and money is transferred to patient. > > Bulk Bill Claims > ---------------- > 1. Medicare card swiped. > 2. "Information entered into the keypad" by patient. > 3. Patient approves benefit to the doctor by pressing "OK". > 4. Receipt printed for patient. > > I've dredged out some questions and comments from previous posts relating to > this subject (hopefully the context is obvious): > > Q) How many more? What is the minimum number and what is the maximum > number of keystrokes that specialists' staff will have to enter? > > Q) Why only on the next working day and not within the next minute? What > prevents payment within the next minute? > > Q) As a patient, how do I know that my consultation details (demographics, > medicare no, Items claimed, etc) are not being harvested at the POS by > an Insurance Company affiliated with the bank? > > Comment) Also one of the set of keystrokes is obviously the item number, so > there is lots of potential for data entry errors, and there is no > information about how they'd be handled. Do you need the patient to swipe > their card again, as its obviously the confirmation that the patient is > involved in the process? > > Comment) What is missing from this list is where the patient pays the gap or > some lesser portion of the bill: this is neither a "paid patient claim" nor > an "unpaid account" as described on the Medicare page. Presumably the > patient pays the gap, possibly by credit or debit card (one swipe) and > then swipes his or her Medicare card to get the Medicare benefit cheque > generated (2 swipes). > > Comment from me) I note that this week, NAB joined CommBank as the (only 2?) > banks signed on for the scheme. > > Does anyone have any more to add? > > Thanks, > Simon > > > _______________________________________________ > Gpcg_talk mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk > > _______________________________________________ > Gpcg_talk mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk
