Editing Encounter Places

Create a Service Encounter Place and associate it with one or more encounter modes.

Adding Encounter Places

To add an Encounter Place:
  1. Select File > Reference Tables > Encounter Place.
  2. In the Encounter Place pane, click Add buttonAdd.
  3. In the Description field, enter the name or a description of the Encounter Place.
  4. Enter address information for the Encounter Place. The address details for each Encounter Place are used in letters when the clinic address is selected, and on prescription forms. The address defined in the system parameters is displayed by default.
  5. Select whether this is a Service Encounter Place or Administrative Encounter Place.
    For more information, see Encounter Place.
  6. If you are using medication requests, and patients will be able to collect their medications from this location, set Medication Pickup Location.
  7. If required, from the Belongs To list, select the parent Administrative Encounter Place. Selecting a parent Encounter Place places the current Encounter Place immediately below the parent in the encounter place hierarchy.
    If a parent Administrative Encounter Place is selected, you can filter service recording and appointments by a group of Encounter Places. Some reports can also be filtered by group.
  8. For the NT only, for Service Encounter Places:
    1. If required, from the Locality Group list, select a locality group. This effectively makes this encounter place the home health centre for all patients whose locality belongs to the locality group assigned to this encounter place.
      • Locality groups may be assigned to only one encounter place.
      • A patient may have only one home health centre, which means localities may not overlap where more than one of the locality groups they belong to are assigned to an encounter place.
    2. If this encounter place uses MeHR, in the MeHR Site ID field, enter the identifier for this Encounter Place used when data is sent to MeHR.

      This is available only if the MeHR module is enabled and the user belongs to a user group for which MeHR and MeHR Administration system access rights are enabled.

    3. In the DHF Health Service Code field, enter the code used for the NT Health Key Performance Indicator Data Export.
  9. For Service Encounter Places:
    1. If required set Record Storage to indicate that paper patient records are stored at this encounter place. This encounter place will be available for selection as a record storage site in Biographics.
    2. If required, in the HIC Minor Location ID field, enter the identifier used for this Encounter Place when claims are sent to Medicare.
      This number is generated and provided by Communicare. The field is available only if the Electronic Claims module is enabled and the user belongs to a user group for which Electronic Claims and Electronic Claims Administration system access rights are enabled.
    3. If required, in the Device Identifier field, enter a PRODA device ID for this encounter place that overrides the global PRODA Device ID for the organisation set in Services Australia system parameters. This device ID will be used for online claiming.
    4. If your practice is in a rural or remote location, and a patient is under 16 or has a CentreLink or Health Care Card, your health service may be eligible to claim additional bulk billing incentives. To have Communicare automatically prompt you to include additional MBS incentive items for eligible patients when completing a service, add values to all three of the Incentive Items fields for the same item type:
      • Medical - for example, for MM 6 75857
      • Radiology - for example, for MM 6 64994
      • Pathology - for example, for MM 6 75863
      Note: Values for MBS incentive items can also be added for particular encounter places. Values added for MBS incentive items for the encounter place override values specified for the organisation.

      If no values are specified for the encounter place, the incentive items for the organisation are used. If no values are specified for either the encounter place or the organisation, the automatic addition of extra MBS incentive items to claims is disabled.

      Tip: To find the incentive items you need, find your location using the Modified Monash Model and match your location to the code. For example, at 1 January 2022:
      Example MBS incentives for MM locations - current at 1 January 2022
      For more information, see Services Australia - Rural bulk billing incentives changes.
    5. If this encounter place is a hospital, in the Hospital Facility ID field, enter the identifier used for Inpatient claiming. Ensure that the identifier entered is a valid Hospital Provider Number.
    6. If required, in the Location Code field, enter a location code.
      This code is not used in standard Communicare reports, but can be extracted for SQL reports and used for any location coded dataset.
    7. If required, in the Facility Code field, enter the Facility Code for the Encounter Place.
      This code is not used in standard Communicare reports, but can be extracted for SQL reports and used for any facility coded dataset.
    8. If required, from the Facility Type list, select the type of ANZSIC healthcare facility.
    9. If required, in the AIR Provider No field, enter a provider number to be used for all claims recorded against this encounter place.
      This value overrides the Default AIR Provider and the provider numbers of the clinicians who recorded and claimed the immunisation. For more information, see Australian Immunisation Register (Online Claiming).
    10. If required, from the Default AIR Provider list, select the provider number for the provider who will be used for all AIR claims created for this encounter place, unless an AIR Provider No has been recorded. Only providers who have a current DOH Provider Number against this encounter place are listed.
    11. If required, from the Default NCSR Provider list, select a healthcare provider with a Medicare Provider Number (MPN), for whom nurses and medical practice or lab staff will act as a delegate when accessing the NCSR.
  10. For WA only, if required, in the Establishment Code field, enter the code assigned by the WA Department of Health.
  11. From the HPI-O Number list, select the current Healthcare Provider Identifier - Organisation number assigned to the encounter place by Medicare.
    Click Revalidate HPI-O to validate a previously entered HPI-O Number with Medicare, which will update the last checked date against the HPI-O Number and may result in new statuses or even a new number. See Healthcare Identifier Service for more information. Some functions such as My Health Record and CDA documents require HPI-O numbers to match the HPI-O in NASH Org Certificate.
  12. Click Close.

The new Encounter Place is added to the Encounter Place list in the Encounter Places window.

Next, add at least one Encounter Mode to the Encounter Place.

Adding Encounter Modes to Encounter Places

To add encounter modes to an Encounter Place:
  1. In the Encounter Places window, select the Encounter Place you're working with.
  2. In the Encounter Mode pane, click Add buttonAdd.
  3. In the new row, from the Encounter Mode list, select an encounter mode. See Encounter Mode for more information.
  4. If your health service has a receptionist and you want to be able to record when patients arrive for appointments, set Arrival Times. Times are recorded in the Service Record Maintenance window.
  5. If actual times of arrival, service start and service end are not to be recorded, set Dates Only.
  6. Set Enabled.
  7. Click Save.

Editing Encounter Modes

You can edit whether you want to record times of arrival, service start and service end for an encounter mode, or disable the encounter mode.

To add encounter modes to an Encounter Place:
  1. In the Encounter Mode pane, select the encounter mode you want to change.
  2. If required, set or deselect Arrival Times or Dates Only.
  3. If required, deselect Enabled.
  4. Click Save.