Dental Checkup ICD 10 Code
The ICD10 diagnostic list used by most dentists is contained here.
For a undiagnosed checkup what is commonly used is: Z01.2
For denture related checkup what is commonly used is: Z46.3
Practice Management
Practice Management
Discovery Dental Tariffs 2012
Where to find Discovery 2012 Dental Tariffs? …Right Here!
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Click Like Button below to to reveal Discovery Dental, Dental Technician, Dental Therapy and Dental Modifier Tariffs 2012.
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Discovery website: www.discovery.co.za
On Being Organised
One of our primary goals at Better Practice Management is to help you run your practice as efficiently as possible by providing articles, resources and educational opportunities.
However, we also sometimes offer advice and tips for efficiency in your personal life. We do belive they go hand in hand. How much can you accomplish at work if you are constantly stressed and distracted by everything you need to keep up with outside of the office?
Efficiency in your personal life starts with organization.
Here are some popular tips to help you:
Have a place for everything and put it there – this is one of the mainstays of being organised, and one that really works. Make a habit of putting things away right after you use them to maintain order and avoid clutter. And while we’re on the subject of clutter – get rid of it! Let go of things you don’t use or need. Spring-cleaning, anyone?
To-do Lists/Calendar – whether on paper, computer or mobile phone, lists help you keep track of your appointments, tasks, errands and shopping lists all in one spot. Prioritize items and make sure to include due dates. A couple of the most popular task managers are:
Remember the Milk is a popular to-do list that’s everywhere you are: from your phone, to the web, to your Google apps, and more. http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
Evernote lets your take notes, sync files across your devices, save webpages, capture inspiration, and share your ideas with friends and colleagues. http://evernote.com/evernote/
Delegate – sharing the workload gets things done quicker. Second family and friends to help with tasks and errands. Establish and nurture your support system. Trust members of your team to accomplish the job and remember to thank them.
Do you have organisational tips or advice to share? We’d love to hear from you. Send them to info@medinol.co.za.
Until next time, keep striving for efficiency in YOUR practice!
Do You Need to Have a Practice Number?
Are healthcare providers permitted to practice in South Africa without a practice number from PCNS?
The practice number, allocated to all registered healthcare providers is the essential billing code that triggers the process of reimbursement of a claim to either a medical scheme member or service provider. This is in accordance with the requirement of the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998 wherein it is stated that a medical scheme may only reimburse a member or a provider of relevant healthcare services for services rendered against a valid practice code number.
How Medinol Handles Dispensing Fee
How Medinol Handles Dispensing Fee – GPs
By law registered dispensing General Practitioners are allowed to add a mark up to the exit price of medicines.
Medinol allows for and deals with only the SEP or single exit price as published together with the NAPPI code by the manufacturer. It is a legal requirement that this price is retained throughout the health care value chain till right before the end user application. Medinol fully complies with this requirement.
Medinol maintains an internal programmable setting for the dispensing parameters: a) dispensing markup as a percentage, b) threshold as a Rand value, and c) fixed markup as a rand value. You can alter these at any time by invoking the “System Maintenance” function.
At the time of billing or invoicing, Medinol uses the SEP and calculates the markup based on the dispensing parameters. This is used to determine the final value of the claim at the time of treatment.
All calculations are based on VAT inclusive pricing. Current dispensing settings are: a) 30 percent, b) R78, and c) R26.68.
There are two known anomolies in the market:
1. Medikredit calculation (ex. VAT on threshold fixed value)
2. GEMS calculation (using ex.VAT as incl. VAT figures) basically giving themselves a 14% discount at the expense of the GP’s.
New health tarriff guidelines halted
Source: Moneyweb.co.za
Health Professions Council of SA bows to pressure.
CAPE TOWN: In the face of strong opposition from the private medical industry as well as threats of legal action, and if necessary, mass protest, the Health Professions Council of SA will delay the publication of its controversial tariff guide.
Issued a week ago, the tariff guide sets out the pricing that private doctors, dentists and other specialists should charge for they work they do.
The guide was to have been gazetted on Friday August 17, but this will be delayed until after a meeting hosted by the HPC on the September 3.
The meeting will allow industry stakeholders like the SA Dental Association and the SA Medical Association to make presentations on the tariff guidelines.
Both organisations had fiercely criticised the guides for being out of touch with reality. The Council used the last published tariff guide – published by the Board of Healthcare Funders in 2006 – as its starting point for the new rates. It adjusted the rate by consumer price inflation, which is well below medical inflation. The older guides also did not include codes for hundreds of new procedures.
“The decision was taken by the Council president, who believed that pressing ahead with the tariffs as they are would destabilise the health industry,” says Council spokeswoman Bertha Scheepers.
The decision was welcomed by the health industry. “This [meeting] is what we asked for,” says acting chairman of the South African Medical Association, Mark Sonderup. “The tariff is not being gazetted which means it has no legal standing.”
The tariffs as they stand are completely inadequate, he says. “All we are asking for is an inclusive process that takes into account the arguments we have previously put forward. We don’t think that is unreasonable.”
Setting tariffs and charges is not a straightforward process. “People have this notion that doctors charge a fee and pocket the money. But in reality doctors are SME’s – they employ bookkeepers and receptionists; they buy equipment; they pay insurance, rates and taxes. Those are costs that must be properly accounted for.
“Getting the pricing right is fundamental,” he says. If they had not been heard, he says, health professionals would have resorted to mass action. “This is the way to go in SA in 2012. We would march on the HPC and demand. This is a serious issue – particularly as we move towards NHI.”
While Sonderup believes this is a genuine attempt by the HPC to hear the industry’s concerns, he questions whether setting pricing is the job of the Council – a statutory body charged with regulating the industry. “Is this not the job of the envisaged pricing commission?”
It is however a step in the right direction.
The ‘sword of Damacles’ hanging over the formation of a pricing commission is a 2003 decision handed down by the Competition Commission which prevents any type of tariff setting within the health industry. “It must go down as the worst ruling the competition authorities have ever made,” says Sonderup. “This is what has created the space for anyone to charge any price.”