PATIENT DEMOGRAPHICS – AN OVERVIEW - 2

6. Marital Status: This field contains the Marital Status of the patient. It is usually entered as ‘S’ for Single, ‘M’ for Married, ‘D’ for Divorced, ‘W’ for Widow/Widower, ‘X’ for Separated and ‘O’ for Others. It marital status is missing from patient encounter form, we need to enter ‘O’ in the marital status field.
This field is printed in the 8th field of the CMS-1500 claim form.

Example:
Marital Status: Single; Married; Divorced; Widow …

7. Address: Patient’s address is split into 5 different fields. It is usually entered as Address1 (PO Box#/Door#/Appt. #), Address2 (Street/Ave. /Blvd. Name), City, State and ZIP code. This field can not be left blank. Patient address is a important field to file a claim & send patient statement. Following are the general abbreviations found in patient encounter forms:

a) Apt. # - Apartment number
b) Ave. - Avenue number
c) Blvd. - Boulevard
d) Ste. - Suite/Street
e) Dr. - Drive

This field is printed in the 5th field of the CMS-1500 claim form.

Example:
Address: 1067 Orange Grove Blvd.
Apt. # 194
Los Angeles, CA 90001

8. Patient Phone Number: This field contains the contact number of the patient including the area code. It contains a total of 10 digits (111-222-3333), the first 3 digits are the area code, and the next 7 digits are the phone number of the patient. If the area code is not specified the phone number can still be entered leaving the area code field blank or entering some dummy number as per the Billing Software specifications.
This field is printed in the 5th field of the CMS-1500 claim form along with the address.

Example:
Phone Number: 626-843-2846; (626)357-5496 …

II. Patient Employer information



This segment in the face sheet contains employer information of the patient. The entry person needs to enter this information if available in face sheet. Employer information is a must for worker’s comp claims. Non-worker’s comp claims do not require employer name to process claims but it is advisable to update employer information during entry. Following information’s are found in this segment

1. Employer Code
2. Employer Name
3. Employer Address & Phone #
4. Designation/Occupation
5. Contact Person

1. Employer Code: This field is used in most of the Billing Software’s to reduce the time of PD entry. The Names and Addresses of the major Employers are stored in the Employer database with a unique code assigned to each employer. Hence it is enough to just enter the code and skip to the next block.

Example:
Employer Code: IBM; A0012; MS024 …

2. Employer Name: This field contains the name of the patients Employer. If the patient is a Student or Not Employed or Retired then it can be entered as Student or Not employed or Retired in this field.
This field is printed in the 11b field of the CMS-1500 claim form.

Example:
Employer: Verizon Wireless; Microsoft Corp.; SUN Microsystems …

3. Employer Address: The address of the patients Employer is split into 5 different fields. It is usually entered as Address1 (PO Box#/Door#/Apt.#), Address2 (Street/Ave. /Blvd. Name), City, State and ZIP code.
Example:
Address: PO Box 1954
Los Angeles, CA 90001-1954

4. Employer Phone Number (Ext No.): This field contains the contact number of the patients Employer including the area code. It contains a total of 10 digits (111-222-3333), the first 3 digits are the area code and the next 7 digits are the phone number of the patient. If the area code is not specified the phone number can still be entered leaving the area code field blank or entering some dummy number as per the Billing Software specifications. Some software’s may also require you to enter the Extension number if given on the encounter form.

Example:
818-245-7849 [5478]; (818)-245-7849 …

III. Patient Guarantor Information

This segment in face sheet consists of guarantor or emergency contact information.

They are:

1. Guarantor Account #
2. Guarantor Name
3. Guarantor Address
4. Guarantor phone #
5. Guarantor/patient relationship
6. Guarantor employer & SSN

This block is mostly entered only in the case of the patient being a minor or if the patient is not responsible for the payment. This information is for the internal purpose of the Billing Office and the Hospitals for the purpose of Emergency Contact or follow-up of pending balances and hence does not form part of the CMS-1500 claim form.

1. Guarantor Account #: This field is used to enter the guarantor account #. If the guarantor is already stored in the database then the stored information can be pulled up using this number. This information is not part of the encounter form. The account number of the guarantor is pulled using search engine.

Example:
245818A; 6252315; 421154; …

2. Guarantor Name: This field is entered in the Last Name, First Name Middle Initial format. However in some software’s this field is split as Last Name First Name and Middle Initial fields. The guarantor name may also contain title (Junior, Senior, I, II, III …) and suffix (M.D. …) this information also needs to be entered along with the name. The title must be entered with the last name and the suffix should be entered with the first name or after the middle initial. The Name on the Encounter Form may not be given in above said format but still it should be entered as per the Billing Software specifications.

Example:
Joseph Warowes Sr.; Warowes, Virginia E M.D …

3. Relationship: This field contains the relationship of the Guarantor with the patient, such as Spouse, Parent, Others etc.

Example:
Relationship: Spouse; Parent; Grand Parent …

4. Address: The address of the Guarantor is split into 5 different fields. It is usually entered as Address1 (PO Box#/Door#/Apt.#), Address2 (Street/Ave. /Blvd. Name), City, State and ZIP code.


Example:
102 West 35th Street
Heathsville, GA 65418

5. Phone Number: This field contains the contact number of the Guarantor including the area code. It contains a total of 10 digits (111-222-3333), the first 3 digits are the area code and the next 7 digits are the phone number of the patient. If the area code is not specified the phone number can still be entered leaving the area code field blank or entering some dummy number as per the Billing Software specifications.

Example:
(517)373-1820; 517-374-5857 …

6. Guarantor Employer: This field contains the guarantor’s employer information. Basically the guarantor’s employer name, address, and contact details are entered here.

7. Emergency Contact: This field is used to enter the Emergency Contact details of the patients relative or next of kin. Contact information such as Name, Address Phone # and relation to the patient are entered here.



IV. Physician Information


This segment contains the following information.

1. Admitting physician code: The physician responsible for admission of a patient to a hospital or other inpatient health facility. Some facilities have all admitting decisions made by a single physician (typically a rotating responsibility), called an admitting physician. All the information’s related to a particular physician (Physician Name, UPIN, Federal Tax ID, License #, Facility Address & Phone #) are stored using a unique code in the provider database. Hence while selecting a physician codes the entry person should be very careful to select the correct code after cross checking all the relevant details. This field is optional; if the Admitting physician info is not given it can be left blank.
This field does not form part of the HCFA-1500 claim form.

Example:
Adm. Phy.: Mileski MD, William

2. Attending or Rendering physician code: The physician rendering the major portion of care or having primary responsibility for the care of the patient's major condition or diagnosis. In other words the doctor or supplier who actually renders the service (also referred to as a "rendering physician"). All the information’s related to a particular physician (Physician Name, UPIN, Federal Tax ID, License #, Facility Address & Phone #) are stored using a unique code in the provider database. Hence while selecting a physician codes the entry person should be very careful to select the correct code after cross checking all the relevant details.
The Name of the rendering physician is printed in the 33rd field along with the Address and Phone #. The rendering physician’s Federal tax ID stored in the database is automatically printed in the 25th field of the CMS-1500 claim form.

Example:
Att. Phy.: Pendridge MD, Dayton

3. Referring Physician/Primary Care physician code: The physician who has sent the beneficiary to another physician or, in some cases to a supplier (e.g., physical therapist, occupational therapist) for consultation and/or treatment is called a referring Physician or Primary Care Physician (PCP). The name of the facility may be reflected in this area if the patient has not identified a unique physician, but has identified a facility. All the information’s related to a particular physician (Physician Name, UPIN, Federal Tax ID, License #, Facility Address & Phone #) are stored using a unique code in the provider database. Hence while selecting a physician codes the entry person should be very careful to select the correct code after cross checking all the relevant details.
The name of the referring physician is printed in the 17th field and the corresponding UPIN stored in the database is printed in the 17a field of the CMS-1500 claim form.