How to submit claims for community nursing
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A quick reference guide has been designed to assist in processing claims.
Definitions and descriptions
| Term | Definition/ description |
|---|---|
| Claim period | The claiming period is 28 days and starts from the date the entitled person enters the Program. You submit your claim for payment for services delivered to Medicare at the end of the 28-day claim period. |
| Majority of care | You can work out the majority of care for each person by comparing the number of clinical services you delivered to the number of personal care services you delivered in a 28-day claim period. Whichever has the most visits is the majority of care and becomes the core item for claiming. If there is the same number of visits, the majority of care is clinical. |
| Visit type | There are three categories of visit:
|
| Visit length | In the Community Nursing Schedule of Fees, visits are categorised by the time spent at each visit:
|
1. How do I determine the core item?
To determine whether to use the clinical or personal care core schedule, add up how many clinical visits and how many personal care visits you did in the 28-day claim period.
Example
10 clinical visits + 8 personal visits = clinical care is core item; personal care is add-on.
Back to top2. How do I determine the visit length?
Total minutes ÷ number of visits = average visit length
Add up the total minutes for clinical care and personal care services delivered over the 28-day claim period.
Clinical: 450 ÷ 10 = average 45 minutes per visit (=10 long visits)
Personal: 240 ÷ 8 = average 30 minutes per visit (=8 short visits)
Average length of visit and number of visits determines the item numbers you claim on the Schedule of Fees. Most visits were clinical so we look at the Clinical core table (Item NL14). Personal care will be in the Personal Add-On table (Item NT02).
Back to top3. What item numbers do I use for a claim?
Having identified the core and add-on items and the average visit length for clinical and personal care, you can find the item numbers for other services you may have delivered or items you may have used in the tables in the Community Nursing Schedule of Fees. The process below is colour coded to the different tables in the Schedule of Fees.
*Note: You would also claim from the TDS, Second Worker and Overnight Care tables in the Schedule of Fees if services were provided in those areas.
Back to topDownload our guide
You can download a PDF copy of our reference guide here:
Back to topContact us
DVA Provider Enquiries
Phone: 1800 550 457 for all general claiming enquiries (not rejected claims)
Medicare
Phone: 1300 550 017 (option 2) for claims that have been rejected