Can anyone save me some time and let me know what the “bill_process” column signifies. I know the default is 0 but would like to know how this would effect an upgrade process I am dealing with because all the patients being imported don’t have that column in the old database and they will use the default 0 when imported. So just want to make sure that the default value won’t cause major billing headaches once imported… if so i will have to do some data massaging.
In summary, I think:
bill_process = 0 is unbilled
bill_process = 1 is claim generated but not ‘cleared’ as billed
bill_process = 2 is claim generated and marked as cleared (billed)
bill_process = 3 an error occurred, I’ll bet that this only related to ERA files, but I’ll use it for EDI errors as well.
The bill_process is documented as follows (such as it is)
in library/billing.inc:
billing_process.php sets claim status to 2, and payer, on marking a
// claim as billed without actually generating any billing. Create a
// claims row. In this case bill_process will remain at 0 and process_time
// and process_file will not be set.
// * billing_process.php sets bill_process, payer, target and x12 partner
// before calling gen_x12_837. Create a claims row.
// * billing_process.php sets claim status to 2 (billed), bill_process to 2,
// process_time and process_file after calling gen_x12_837. Claims row
// already exists.
// * process_bills.php sets bill_process to 2, process_time, and process_file
// after invoking freeb to process a claim. Claims row already exists.
// * billing_process.php sets claim status to 2 (billed) after creating
// an electronic freeb batch (hcfa-only with recent changes). Claims
// row already exists.
In library/billrep.inc it appears to also have a ‘3’ value that means ‘Error’ not sure how that’s used yet