What's the context?
Billing rules are a powerful feature set in Meddbase which represent available services and their prices.
Their prices and availability change over time. At the moment, system administrators need to make changes on the day when changes take effect. This is a constraint.
The Date Range filter feature for selected Billing rules has been designed to address this.
What is the purpose of the article?
This article sets out:
- What you need in place before you can start using Date Ranges for Billing Rules
- The principles for how Date Ranges can be applied for Billing Rules
- What types of Billing Rules can have Date Ranges applied to them
- An example of how a user can set up Date Range configuration for a Billing Rule
- A scenario illustrating how Date Ranges set for Billing Rules can impact the booking process
What do you need before you get started?
To be able to use Date Range Validity Billing rules, you will need to be on Version 5 of the Billing Rule Service. To enable Version 5 of the Billing Service, there is configuration activity that needs to take place.
To discuss this please contact the Meddbase Account Management team (email accountmanagement@meddbase.com) for further information.
What are the general principles for Date Range Validity Billing Rules?
The general principle is that each Billing Rule for which Date Ranges are available can have:
1. A date ‘from’ when the Billing rule becomes valid
2. A date up ‘until’ which the Billing rule is valid
3. A ‘from’ date and a ‘to’ date to define the Date Range within which the Billing rule is valid
What types of Billing Rules can have Date Ranges applied to them?
The following types of Billing Rules can have Date Ranges applied to them:-
- Price List
- Provided Services rule
- Deny Services Rule
- Patient Self Book Rule
- Portal Referral Rule
How can a user set up Date Ranges for a Billing Rule?
There will be slight variations depending on whether you are updating an existing Billing Rule or creating a new Billing Rule. But the process is very similar throughout.
In the scenario where you want to create a new Price List with a Date Range within which it is valid, you can do as follows:
1. Go to Admin > Billing Rules
2. Find the required company and select + Add Rule > New Price List… from the menu
3. Set the Price List details and Service Prices as required
4. Set the Primary Clinician, Site, Location and Tags as required
The article Setting up price lists provides detailed examples of steps 3 and 4.
To apply the Date Range:
5. Click in the Applies from field
5.1. Use the date picker to navigate to the required month
5.2. Select a day within the month
6. Click in the Applies to field
6.1. Use the date picker to navigate to the required month
6.2. Select a day within the month
Note: You can now manually type in dates, rather than using the date picker.
The Date Range is set and the Price List is saved automatically.
7. Add the Price List to the required Charge Band(s)
8. Add other rules to the Charge Band as required
How can Date Ranges set for Billing Rules impact on the booking process?
Where Date Range values are applied to Billing Rules, they can impact the price and even availability of services for an appointment set for a given date. The example scenarios below provide a couple of illustrations.
Example scenario 1 - Multiple price lists that apply within different Date Ranges
Let’s say:
1. A Price list has been created that is valid between 1 Jan 2022 and 31 Dec 2022
1.1 It has a Service Price of £100 for a GP appointment
2. Another Price list has been created that is valid between 1 Jan 2023 and 31 Dec 2023
2.1. It has a Service Price of £110 for a GP appointment
3. Then both Price Lists are added to a Chargeband called 1 - Standard Chargeband
4. No other billing rules are set for that Chargeband to impact availability or pricing
5. A patient William Shakespeare has been added to 1 - Standard Chargeband that uses these Price Lists
What this means in practice when booking an appointment
From here, let’s say:
1. An appointment is booked for the patient William Shakespeare using the Slot Finder
1.1 An Appointment Search is carried out
1.2 The search parameter of date After is set for 22 December 2022
1.3 Available slots are displayed using the 2022 Price List
1.4 So the price list Date Ranges dictate that the Service Price is £100
To illustrate the alternative use of the different price list, let’s say
2. An appointment is booked for the patient William Shakespeare using the Slot Finder
2.1 An Appointment Search is carried out
2.2 The search parameter of date After is set for 5 January 2023
2.3 Available slots are displayed using the 2023 Price List
2.4 So the price list Date Ranges dictate that the Service Price is £110
Example scenario 2 - Patient Self-Book rule applying from a certain date
Let's say:
1. A Price List has been created that is valid between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022
1.1 It has a Service Price of £15 for a Flu Vaccination
2. A Patient Self-Book rule has been created that is valid from 7 March 2022
2.1 It has Flu Vaccination in the Services Affected list
3. These two Billing rules have been added to a Chargeband called 2 - Online Chargeband
3.1 This Chargeband is available for online booking by patients in the Patient Portal
3.2 No other billing rules are set for that Chargeband to impact availability or pricing
4. A patient Christoper Marlowe
4.1 Has been added to 2 - Online Chargeband
4.2 Has registered on the Patient Portal
What this means in practice when booking an appointment on the Patient Portal
From here, let's say:
1. The patient Christoper Marlowe logs in to the Patient Portal on 28 February 2022
2. The patient searches for Flu Vaccination appointments
Then only appointment booking slots are shown which meet the Applies from date criteria set in the Patient Self Book Rule.
Review date
This article was last updated on 28 February 2022 in the context of Meddbase version 1.248.0.37497.