Access Anaesthetics Updates Available (See end of page for a quick installation checklist)
New Medicare and health fund files for Access Anaesthetics were released on 1 November 2011. Please carefully read the following important information.
Medicare Benefits Schedule
The unit rate has increased from $19.05 to $19.45 per RVG unit; otherwise there are no significant changes. It is expected that item 55054 will be withdrawn early in 2012, although it is still available at present. Further information is available from the ASA (http://www.asa.org.au/).
ASA RVG
Three new items of interest were added to the ASA RVG. They are ..
- CF743 -Anaesthesia for surgical procedures on structures or organs lying outside of the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract, performed via gastrointestinal endoscopy, 7 units + time.
- CA085 - Patient transfer, excluding intra-hospital transfer, where continuous specialist attendance is required, 10 units + time.
- CA086 - Patient transfer, intra-hospital, where continuous specialist attendance is required, 6 units + time.
ASA Maximum Recommended Unit Rate
This has been increased by $3 to $73.00 per unit.
Health Fund Fees
All health fund fees have been updated effective November 1, with the exception of SAWC, QldWC and St Lukes. These will be updated in due course when the schedules are provided by the funds.
Health Fund Changes
Australian Health Management (AHM) has ceased to participate in the AHSA gap cover arrangement. From November 1, AHM gap cover will be provided by Medibank Private, and will be bound by the MP rules regarding copayments. To manage this change in Access Anaesthetics, gap cover accounts for AHM patients should have the MP fee selected on the Items page instead of the AHSA fee. To have AA remember this preference for new accounts, edit the AHM entry in the addresses lookup table so that the MP fee schedule is selected for use with AHM, instead of the AHSA fee.
Bupa has merged all its member funds into a single entity, called Bupa, and all patients will eventually receive a Bupa-branded card. Therefore, you should create a new entry in the addresses lookup table specifically for Bupa, to eventually replace HBA, MBF, Mutual Community, NRMA, SGIC and SGIO. The older addresses should not be removed just yet though, since Bupa advise that you should use the brand on the patient's card for the time being. Similarly the appropriate Eclipse ID to use depends on the card that the patient presents (e.g. MBF card - use MBF code, Bupa card - use Bupa code).
Note that Bupa is a no-gap fund in most states and does not allow patient copayments. Known-gap billing is only available in VIC and SA. See http://www.bupa.com.au/for-providers
As advised previously, HCF and Manchester Unity (MU) have merged, and all MU members should be billed using the relevant HCF address and Eclipse code.
Victorian Workcover Time Based Fees
These need to be manually edited if you want to use them. To update the rates in AA, go to Maintenance > Time based fees. Edit the VicWC calculation factors using the new rates.
Pre anaesthetic consultation $107.88
ANINHRS - first 2 x 15 min - $117.36
ANINHRS - subsequent 15 min - $72.39
ANOUTHRS - first 30 min - $281.82
ANOUTHRS - subsequent 30 min - $173.53
Postcodes
Approximately 900 new suburbs and postcodes have been added using the latest list available from Australia Post. Postcode entries can be edited if required - please contact us for advice.
Installation
- Open Access Anaesthetics and click <Maintenance Menu>.
- Click <Web Update>.
- Click <Search for Updates>. A list of available updates will be shown.
- Click the <Download and Install> button.
For group practices, it is not necessary for all copies of AA to be closed when updating. However, updating the health fund fees on one PC will update the fund fees for all PCs. This is not the case for the Medicare file - this needs to be selected once on each PC, by going to Maintenance > MBS/RVG Items, on each PC.
To verify that the update was installed correctly, check the version information on the lower left of the Main Menu. The Pgm version should be 6.74, Data 6, Items 11.2 and Funds 11.2.
Switching Between Different Versions of the Medicare/Health Funds Files
You should only install the Medicare and Health fund updates when you have completed creating accounts for pre-November procedures. Once you are ready to begin creating accounts for procedures done on Nov 1 and later, you should select the latest files. When items are added to the Items page, the fee inserted will be taken from the currently selected Medicare and health funds files. Changing these files, will not affect the fees for any existing items on accounts, unless the items are reinserted.
- To select the Medicare file, go to Maintenance > MBS/RVG Items. Select the desired file.
- To select the health funds file, go to Maintenance > Health Fund Fees. Click <Change to another fund file version> and select the file required.
- Note that for group practices, a different Medicare file can be selected on each PC, while selecting a health fund file will select the same file for all PCs.
If you need to recalculate existing account fees using the currently selected Medicare and health fund rates, first select the desired files as described above, then reinsert the items on the Items page. Buttons on the bottom of the Items page will assist with this (<Re-insert/update item>). For easy reference, the currently attached items and funds files are shown at the bottom of the Items page, and clicking the links allows switching the files.
Updating the RVG Rates
After updating the Medicare and health funds files as described above, update the default RVG rates as follows.
- Click Maintenance > Edit Options.
- Click the Unit Values tab.
- Adjust the default RVG rates according to your preference. You may click the <Check current rates> button to review the recommended maximum rates. Buttons are provided to insert the recommended maximum rates into the Options form (group practices should use the <Insert ... all data files> button).
Like the Medicare and health fund updates, updating these rates will not affect any existing account fees in the system, unless items are re-entered.
Program Update
We expect to release a program update in the near future with a number of minor updates and bug fixes. The last program update was released specifically to work around an Eclipse problem at the Medicare end. Medicare have now fixed this problem and the next update will adjust the workaround back to the normal function. Further information will be provided in due course when the update is finalised.
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QUICK INSTALLATION CHECKLIST
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When you are ready to create accounts for procedures done on or after 1 November 2011 ...
- Run Maintenance > Web update and install all available updates.
- Check the AA Main Menu for the latest versions - Items 11.2 and Funds 11.2. Reselect items/funds if not up to date. Groups should check each PC.
- Edit the default RVG values in the Options form (Unit values page) to your preferred value, up to $73.00. Groups should update all doctors files.
- Change the fee schedule used for AHM to MP.
- Consider adding a new address entry for BUPA for use with funds branded 'BUPA'.
- Check that MU uses the HCF fee schedule.