Medicare Web Services Transition an Opportunity for Streamlining

24th November 2021

As Services Australia moves from a client adaptor-based system to online claiming over the internet using web services, Brett Michael, Director at PowerHealth says medical software companies should use the required changes as impetus for product streamlining.

 “Whilst changes are often required to ensure compliance, continuous development is at our core and we view these exercises as fantastic opportunities to develop and test product improvements.

“After many months of development work and the submission of over 1000 test cases, we are delighted that our enterprise-level patient billing system, PowerBilling and Revenue Collection (PBRC-IE) has received its certification through the Notice of Integration (NOI) for web service claiming. The NOI covers a comprehensive scope of functionality - Bulk Billing to Medicare, DVA claiming, Overseas claiming, Patient verification and Eligibility Checks, Inpatient Medical claims to health funds, and In Hospital claims for both public and private facilities.

“PowerHealth has used the NOI process as an opportunity to introduce additional enhancements to PBRC-IE to enrich the user experience for managing claims. Plus, developed the functionality and attained the certifications for a wider scope of eligibility checks including eligibility checks for overseas patients, eligibility checks to Medicare and the support of medical charges within an In Hospital Claim” Mr Michael said.

PowerHealth is the first fully functional billing and accounts receivable software vendor that has a NOI for that scope, ahead of the March 2022 deadline.

Mr Michael said, “Early certification is the first cog in the wheel to ensuring all of our clients meet the deadline. We have commenced transitioning clients to the new version of PBRC-IE that supports web service claiming, with the first site scheduled to go live in December and plans to onboard all clients by March 2022”.

It has been an exciting year for PBRC, also developing mobile functionality, which offers clinicians the ability to capture services accurately at the time of consultation. This capability creates administration efficiencies and as the system is linked to a live single source of truth, patient records are always up to date, generating an increased level of billing control for Clinicians.

Forced changes can create a catalyst to rethink and streamline product processes, and if we can all embrace this mentality, it will certainly bring us one step closer to delivering the highest quality care at the lowest operational costs.