As discussed in this article:
https://help.medilink.com.au/support/solutions/articles/11000124414-assignment-of-benefit
Medicare requires Assignment of Benefit for Bulk Billing to be expressly given.
For Telehealth appointments this will need to be done via email and Medicare have strict requirements around the necessary wording.
Medilink has a new feature to help facilitate this.
Prerequisites:
Medilink version 2023 Nov 9 onwards
Microsoft Outlook (any version)
Instructions:
-- Patient Screen -> Reception Menu -> Email Assignment of Benefit
OR
-- Appointment Book -> Appointment Menu -> Email Assignment of Benefit
OR
-- Right-click MediLinkIt (red icon in tray near clock) -> Email Assignment of Benefit
It will then either choose today's appointment or prompt you to choose an appointment
If you have already done billing for this appointment, Medilink will use that item number. Alternatively, Medilink will use a default telehealth item (91822 but dpending on your settings*).
A new Outlook email will appear with details pre-filled, ready to send (you should review first).
Note: recording of the status of the assignment of benefit will need to manually occur as we cannot extract from your incoming email. We suggest an appointment code or shorthand text in the appointment notes. You may elect to save the reply as PDF and attach in Medilink DMS, or simply use your email system for record keeping.
*The default subject, body, and item number are configurable via:
MEDI_ACC.INI
[GENERAL]
DefaultAssignmentOfBenefitItem=
DefaultAssignmentOfBenefitEmailSubject=
DefaultAssignmentOfBenefitEmailBody=
Keys:
<NEWLINE>
<SENDERNAME>
<RECIPIENTEMAILADDRESS>
<PATIENTNAME>
<PROVIDERNAME>
<APPOINTMENTDATETIMESTR>
<ITEMNUMBER>
<BENEFITAMOUNTSTR>
Original values:
DefaultAssignmentOfBenefitItem=91822
DefaultAssignmentOfBenefitEmailSubject=Assignment of Benefit <PATIENTNAME> <PROVIDERNAME> <SENDERNAME>
DefaultAssignmentOfBenefitEmailBody=Dear <PATIENTNAME> or Parent/Guardian,<NEWLINE><NEWLINE>Details of the telehealth consultation to be claimed with Medicare:<NEWLINE><NEWLINE>Item number: <ITEMNUMBER><NEWLINE>Expected benefit amount: <BENEFITAMOUNTSTR><NEWLINE>Consultation date: <APPOINTMENTDATETIMESTR><NEWLINE>Patient name: <PATIENTNAME><NEWLINE>Health professional name: <PROVIDERNAME><NEWLINE><NEWLINE>Agreement:<NEWLINE><NEWLINE>If you (the patient) agree to the assignment of the Medicare benefit directly to the health professional (bulk bill), reply to this email including the following words:<NEWLINE><NEWLINE>Yes, I agree to the assignment of the Medicare benefit directly to the health professional, and your (the patient's) name.<NEWLINE><NEWLINE>If you do not assign your right to benefit, you may be privately charged for this consultation.<NEWLINE><NEWLINE>Regards,<NEWLINE><PROVIDERNAME><NEWLINE><SENDERNAME><NEWLINE><NEWLINE>Privacy note: Your personal information is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988, and is collected by Services Australia for the assessment and administration of payments and services. This information is required to process your application or claim. Your information may be used by the agency, or given to other parties where you have agreed to that, or where it is required or authorised by law (including for the purpose of research or conducting investigations). You can get more information about the way in which the agency will manage your personal information, including our privacy policy: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/privacy-policy <NEWLINE>