13Referrals and Authorization

About Referrals and Authorization

Siebel Healthcare allows you to track referrals to other providers and authorizations of specific healthcare services. Service agents use the Referrals\Authorizations screen to collect the information required for referral and authorization approval, validate the fields, initiate workflow, and track the status on behalf of a provider, member, or other inquiring party. This information can then be integrated with back-office systems using a prebuilt referral and authorization ASI. For more information, see Siebel Integration Messages.

Scenario for Creating and Authorizing a Referral

The following business scenario features sample tasks performed by a call center representative for health plan company. Your company might follow a different workflow according to its business requirements.

A healthcare provider calls a health plan’s call center in order to refer a patient to an orthopedic surgeon. A call center representative receives the call from the provider. The call center representative first authenticates the provider and then looks up the member on the Members screen. By looking at the Member Summary view, she verifies the member’s basic eligibility and coverages. She then navigates to the Referrals/Authorizations screen. She creates a new referral and completes the necessary fields. Once she finishes entering the necessary data, she changes the value in the Status field to Open and sets the Sub-status field to Submitted.

Administrator Procedures for Referrals and Authorizations

The following administrator procedures are described in this section:

Activity Plan Templates allow you to create and manage activities related to referrals and authorizations. You define templates using the Administration - Data screen’s Activity Templates and Activity Template Details views.

To create an activity plan template

  1. Navigate to Site Map, Administration - Data, and then the Activity Templates.

  2. In the Activity Templates list, add a record.

  3. In the Name field, type a name for the template.

  4. In the Type field, choose FINS Referrals Authorizations.

  5. Complete the remaining necessary fields.

For more information on creating activity templates, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

Creating Activities for the Template

Use the following procedure to create activities for the template.

To create activities for the template

  1. Navigate to Site Map, Administration - Data, and then the Activity Templates.

  2. In the Activity Plan Templates list, select a template.

  3. Click the Activity Template Details view tab.

  4. In the Activity Template Details list, add a record.

  5. Complete the necessary fields for each activity assigned to the template.

Note: Repeat Step 2 through Step 5 to add additional activities to the template.

End-User Procedures for Referrals and Authorizations

End users use the Referrals/Authorization view to record the necessary information for processing a referral or authorization. Using the Referrals/Authorization form and More Info view tab, users can verify they have recorded all the required information, check on member eligibility, and track the status of referrals and authorizations.

The following end-user procedures are described in this section:

Creating Referrals or Authorizations

End users can create referrals or authorizations from the Referrals/Authorization screen.

To create a referral or authorization

  1. Navigate to the Referrals/Authorization screen.

  2. Add a record and select the request type: Authorization or Referral.

  3. Drill down on the Tracking #.

  4. Click the More Info view tab and complete the necessary fields described in the following table.

    Field Comments

    Last Name

    Last name of the member. The application automatically populates the First Name field.

    For more information on adding members, see Adding Eligible Members to Group Policies.

    Status

    Status of this referral or authorization.

    Requestor Last Name

    Last name of provider. The application automatically populates the Requestor First Name field.

    For more information on adding providers, see Adding Providers.

    Diagnosis Codes

    Diagnosis code for this referral or authorization.

    For more information on adding codes, see the discussion on modifying the List of Values (LOV) in Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

    Procedure Codes

    Procedure code for this referral or authorization.

    For more information on adding codes, see the discussion on modifying the List of Values (LOV) in Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

    # of Visits Requested

    For referral requests, the number of doctor visits requested for approval.

    Maximum Benefit

    The maximum dollar amount for the specified benefit.

Associating Actions and Providers to Referral or Authorization Requests

End users can use the Actions view tab to record activities related to a referral or authorization. For more information on creating activity plan templates, see Administrator Procedures for Referrals and Authorizations.

To associate an action or provider with a referral or authorization

  1. Navigate to the Referrals/Authorization screen.

  2. In the Referrals/Authorizations list, drill down on the tracking # of the desired request.

  3. Click the Actions view tab.

  4. In the Actions list, add a new record and select the desired activity template.

  5. Save the record.

    The activities associated with the activity template selected are automatically entered in the Activities list.

  6. To add additional activities, add a new record in the Activities list and complete the necessary fields.

Recording Approval Decisions for Referrals or Authorizations

End users can use the Decision History view tab to record for each referral or authorization, the approved actions and physician and facility referrals. Actions include things such as a medical equipment and prescription drug supplies.

To record referral or authorization decisions

  1. Navigate to the Referrals/Authorization screen.

  2. In the Referrals/Authorizations list, drill down on the tracking # of the desired request.

  3. Click the Decision History view tab.

  4. In the Approved Actions form, add a record and complete the fields described in the following table.

    Field Comments

    Type

    The type of referral or authorization decision. Valid options include:

    • Lab - Lab referral or authorization.

    • Test - Medical test referral or authorization.

    • DME - Authorization for durable medical equipment, for example, wheelchair.

    • Rx - Specified drug treatment.

    Description

    Description of this referral or authorization.

    Equipment #

    Equipment identification number.

    Rx Drug

    The specific drug treatment requested by the provider. If the provider requests a unauthorized drug, then they must indicate the quantity, dosage, and expected treatment before submitting the request.

    Rx Dosage

    The specific dosage of the requested drug treatment. If the provider requests a unauthorized drug, then they must indicate the quantity, dosage, and expected treatment before submitting the request.

  5. In the Approved Providers and Facilities list, add a record and complete the fields described in the following table.

    Field Comments

    Provider Last Name

    Last name of the provider. The application automatically populates the Provider First Name and ID#.

    For more information on adding providers, see Adding Providers.

    Facility

    The facility where the treatment will be performed. The application automatically populates the remaining fields.

    For more information on adding facilities, see Adding Facilities.