Take-up of Medicare electronic claiming
The claiming channel your practice chooses can have a big impact on productivity, cash flow and patient service.
Medicare Australia understands that all practices are different and that there is no 'one size fits all' way to claim. Medicare electronic claiming makes it easier and more convenient for you and your patients to lodge claims on the spot with Medicare Australia.
Medicare Australia offers three Medicare electronic claiming channels:
- Medicare Online
- Medicare Easyclaim
- ECLIPSE, an 'extension' of Medicare Online for use with private in-hospital claims.
Why switch to electronic claiming?
Medicare Australia is encouraging practices to consider switching to electronic claiming to take advantage of benefits like faster payment and less paperwork.
Electronic claiming removes the need to batch bulk bill claims at the end of the day and simplifies your banking. Funds are paid by into the health professional's nominated bank account within two to three working days (instead of waiting up to 14 days for a cheque).
Electronic claiming channels also make it easier for practices that privately bill to help their patients claim their Medicare rebate when they pay their account. Electronic patient claiming is available through Medicare Online and Medicare Easyclaim.
There are lots of other reasons practices choose electronic claiming. It offers:
- more certainty around lodgement of 'pay doctor' claims through the 90 day pay doctor scheme for electronic Medicare claiming
- Medicare eligibility checking
- an easier way to help patients lodge their claims with Medicare Australia
- support from Medicare Australia and software providers
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) payments through Medicare Online.
- Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) data through Medicare Online.
Take-up of the three Medicare electronic claiming channels is as follows:
Total Medicare claims services processed by provider group and channel for the period 1 July to 30 September 2009
| Channel entry type | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulk Bill (BB) | Patient Claims (PC) excluding simplified billing | Simplified Billing (SB) | |
| Provider Group | % Medicare Online and Easyclaim BB services | % Medicare Online and Easyclaim PC services | % ECLIPSE SB services |
| General practitioners | 89.4% | 37.8% | 16.9% |
| Specialists | 81.6% | 11.7% | 10.8% |
| Pathologists | 99.1% | 0.6% | 4.6% |
| Optometrists | 77.6% | 30.3% | 0.0% |
| Dentists/Orthodontists | 53.7% | 4.6% | 5.1% |
| Other practitioners | 54.2% | 14.9% | 11.1% |
| Totals | 90.0% | 22.2% | 8.1% |
Note:
- Provider group is based on the derived major specialty for the most recent processing quarter.
- Report includes only approved Medicare services.
- DVA claims are not included in the report.
View the take-up progress in the Medicare claiming channel graphs
- In hospital medical claims lodged via ECLIPSE by Providers - September 2007 to December 2009 [PDF, 25Kb]
- Electronic Bulk Bill Services by Providers - September 2007 to December 2009 [PDF, 12Kb]
- Electronic Patient Claim Services by Providers - September 2007 to December 2009 [PDF, 11Kb]
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Last updated: 24 February, 2010