There are 2 styles of patient claiming:


  • Store & Forward - store the claim, and send it later.
  • Interactive - send the claim immediately.


The setting that determines which is used is in Accounting Screen -> Links Menu -> Configure Online Claiming -> Interactive Patient Claims. This is per PC (i.e. you must turn it on for each user).


Interactive Patient Claims has one significant advantage - claims are assessed in real-time. What this means is, if the claim was successful, you will see the rebate print out on the Statement of Claim and Benefit Paid.


It does mean that sometimes Medicare might return an error code. In some cases you won't be able to submit the claim at all - it will have to be done as a manual paper based receipt. In other cases you may have the option to submit the claim for later assessment (i.e. a human operator will review it later), which prints a Lodgement Advice.


If you make a mistake with an Interactive Patient Claim, you can use Accounting Screen (with patient selected) -> Online Menu -> Same Day Delete. Note that this does not actually correct out the invoice and reverse the receipt, it simply notifies Medicare to not pay the claim.


Store & Forward differ in that claims are assessed later, and a Lodgement Advice prints out.


If you make a mistake with a Store & Forward Claim, you should manually reverse the receipt and correct out the invoice - doing this will automatically remove the claim from the Medilink stored folder.


The big drawback to having a claim assessed later (a Lodgement Advice), is that there is no way for software providers to get a report on the outcome of that claim. However, your responsibility is simply to provide the patient with that Lodgement Advice.


There are some sample printouts below.