Creating a New Batch

To create a new batch, click on the New Batch button to open the New Batch window.

Select the type of batch from the radio buttons at the top of the screen i.e. Medicare, DVA or Other.

Note: Clicking on the Other radio button will display a list of Account Holders which have the Batch Process Invoices checkbox ticked in their Account Holder record in Open > Account Holders. eg. Health Funds/Overseas Students batches.

In this example, we will click the Medicare button. This makes visible a menu from which we can choose the Provider.

Once a Provider is selected, another menu appears from which we can select the Site of Service, in case there are multiple sites with different provider numbers.

Note: If you are creating a batch for Other, then this menu does not appear, as it isn’t necessary to split the batch into different sites.

Once a site is selected, a field for the Batch Number becomes visible.

For Medicare and DVA it is a good idea to use the batch numbers on the DB1 manual batch headers sent to you by HIC, or you can make up your own batch numbers. It is a good idea to make the batch number consist of 2 letters followed by 4 numbers, the first letter being the type of batch it is e.g. for a Medicare Batch use something like "MA0001". Make the next batch "MA0002" and so on.

This will avoid any conflicting batch numbers if and when you move to HIC Online, where the batch numbers are automatically generated in the format of a single letter followed by 4 numbers.

Once you have entered a batch number, press the TAB key and you will notice that this batch number is applied to all the items in this list.

If you are batching to Medibank Private and you also do batches for Overseas Students you will get an extra prompt:

The Batch No. field in each item record is in fact all that ties an item to a particular batch. Removing the batch number from the Batch Number field removes that item from the batch. It will then be included in the next batch that you create.

You can do this manually through the patients Account History (see Modifying an Item), or you can simply click on the item/s to highlight and then use the Remove Highlighted or Keep Highlighted buttons as appropriate. Any removed items will appear in the next batch created.

For Medicare and DVA batches it is a good idea to Print List before saving and mark off what is in your batch with your manual vouchers, as it is the manual vouchers that you need to send to HIC.

The final step is to click the Save button. This will print a Summary Sheet of all the items in the batch, and for DVA, a DB1 form for the Provider to sign before the paperwork is mailed to the Health Insurance Commission.

The New Batch window will automatically close and the new batch will appear in the list of batches on the left.