Common data elements or field terms
Different practice management software packages may have different data element or field names and locations to enter claiming data.
Ask your software developer or check your software help guide to find out more about how to enter data to lodge claims.
Health professional claim type where you should use the field or data element.
The table below explains common data elements or field terms and who can use them to make claims.
Data element or field | Description and usage | Who can use it |
---|---|---|
Service text or Free text | Only use this field when you need more information to support the claim for assessment. The field limit is 50 characters for Medicare claims. The limit for DVA claims is 100. Check the table below for text field abbreviations. You can use the abbreviations if you’re running out of space. | General practitioner (GP)
Specialist
Radiology
Allied health |
Number of patients seen | This field indicates the number of patients a health professional has seen at a location. It includes patient visits to homes, hospitals, institutions or nursing homes. Use this for group attendance items, such as counselling. You must supply this when you claim. If you don’t, you’ll get overpaid. | General practitioner (GP)
Specialist
Allied health |
Duplicate service override indicator | This field indicates whether multiple services performed on the same day by the same health professional are separate services. Set values:
| General Practitioner (GP)
Specialist
Radiology |
Referral issue date | This is the date the referral was issued or written by the referring health professional. Use DDMMYYYY format. | Specialist
Radiology
Allied health |
Referral period type code | This code indicates the length of the referral period. The set values are:
| Specialist
Radiology
Allied health |
Referral override type code | This code indicates why referral services were provided without a referral from another health professional. The indicators or codes are:
E = Emergency - a referral in an emergency situation. This applies to initial attendance items only, and a referral is needed for subsequent attendances.
Claim types for ECLIPSE in-patient medical claims (IMC) are:
| General practitioner (GP)
Specialist
Radiology
Allied health |
Request issue date | This is the date the requesting health professional wrote the request. Use DDMMYYYY format. |
Specialist
Radiology
Allied health |
Self-deemed | Self-deemed codes indicate that a health professional has provided a service that would usually be a referred service without a referral or request. There are 3 self-deemed codes:
Submit all self-deemed diagnostic imaging services without additional service text. If you need to add more text, begin the service text field with 'Self-deemed'. |
Specialist
Radiology |
Field quantity | Use this field for radiation oncology services - Medicare Benefits Schedule Group T2 services. It’s used to provide the number of fields of treatment delivered to the treatment site or the quantity of time blocks for services. If you don’t supply this information when claiming, you may get underpaid. | Specialist
Radiology |
SCPId | Use the Specimen Collection Point (SCPId) to identify the site where the pathology specimen was collected. | Allied health |
Abbreviations for text fields
If you need to provide more information about a service, use an abbreviation in place of the full description, where you can.
Ask your software developer or check your software help guide to find out how to add more information to claims.
Code | Description |
---|---|
HGL | Left |
HGR | Right |
HOL | Left eye |
HOR | Right eye |
HU2 | Non-contiguous body areas |
HU3 | Contiguous body area with different setup required |
HX1 | Not for comparison |
HX2 | All x-rays specifically requested |
HX4 | Hand, wrist and forearm |
HX5 | Forearm and elbow |
HX6 | Elbow and humerus |
HX7 | Foot and ankle |
HX8 | Ankle and leg |
HX9 | Leg and knee |
HXA | Knee and Femur |
You can contact us for more information at the eBusiness Service Centre.