User Guide — Charge Entry in Batch Mode

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In general, athenahealth recommends that you follow the 5-stage patient encounter and enter charges during the Checkout stage. However, you can also accomplish charge entry by collecting the day's billing slips (encounter forms, super-bills) and entering charges for all the appointments at the end of the day or shift. This is known as charge entry in batch mode.

 

To use charge entry batch mode, your practice must have the Charge Entry Batches feature enabled. This feature allows you to display the Add/Update Charge Entry Batch page where you can create, update, and close charge entry batches. To enable this feature, please contact the CSC by selecting Support > Create Case or Call in the Main Menu.

 

 

 

  1. Display the Add / Update Charge Entry Batch page: On the Main Menu, click Claims. Under CHARGE ENTRY, click Begin/End Charge Entry Batch.
    • If you have an open charge entry batch, you see the Update Charge Entry Batch view.

    • If you do not have an open charge entry batch, you see the Add Charge Entry Batch view.

  2. If you have an open charge entry batch, click close claim batch to close the batch. (You cannot have two charge entry batches open at the same time.)
  3. #Claims (target) — Enter the number of claims that should be created in this batch.
  4. Default Patient Department — Select the default patient department for the batch from the menu. This should match the patient department on the billing slips.
  5. Default Facility — Select the default facility (the department of service) for the batch from the menu. This should match the facility on the billing slips.
  6. Default Supervising Provider — Select the default supervising provider for the batch from the menu. This should match the supervising provider on the billing slips.
  7. Default Provider — Select the default provider for the batch from the menu. This should match the provider on the billing slips.
  8. Default Service Date — Select the default service date for the batch from the menu. This should match the service date on the billing slips.
  9. Default Note — Enter a default note to appear on all claims in this batch.
  10. Notes — Enter a note for the batch.
  11. Click Save. The new batch appears under the My Charge Entry Batches (Up To One Month Ago) heading.

Note: Until you close the batch, all claims that you create using the Charge Entry page are included in this charge entry batch. The batch information appears at the top of the Charge Entry page as you enter charges.

 

You can close the batch when the number of claims entered equals the number in the #Claims (target) field (see To close the current charge entry batch).

 

You can update the #Claims (target) field and other fields, or reassign this batch to someone else if you have billing manager-level permissions.

 

 

  1. In the Task Bar, click the billing slips link at the top of the Today's Appointments worklist, or click the Missing slips row in the Inbox on the Non-clinician home page to display the list of patient appointments needing charge entry.
  2. Click a linked patient name.
    The Charge Entry page appears in the Workspace, with the charge entry batch information at the top of the Charge Entry page.
  3. From the Charge Entry page, enter the charges for the appointment as indicated on the billing slip (encounter form) for the appointment.
  4. Click Create Claim to create the claim.
    The Claim Review page appears.
  5. Ensure that the claim is in DROP status. If not, review the claim notes at the top of the page and make the needed corrections.
  6. Repeat for every billing slip/encounter form that you want to include in the current charge entry batch. The number of appointments you process should equal the # claims target field in your current charge entry batch.

 

 

 

A charge entry batch is a useful tool for practices that perform charge entry outside the patient workflow, in batch mode. The charge entry batch provides a running tally of the target number of claims, the number of claims entered so far in the batch, and the charge amount.

 

When you create a charge entry batch, the batch information appears at the top of the Charge Entry page as you enter charges.

 

What if the appointment does not require any charges?

Instead of entering charges, scroll down to the bottom of the Charge Entry page, check the checkbox for the appointment, then click Mark Check Appointment(s) as Not Requiring Change Entry.

 

If you do not enter charges and you neglect this step, the appointment is added to the MISSING list of appointments without billing slips.

 

athenaOne Rules Engine

After charge entry is accomplished, the claim is instantly checked for errors by the powerful athenaOne Rules Engine. After the claim is "scrubbed" by the Rules Engine, it is assigned a claim status.

 

 

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