What does the "Accept Charges" Button do in Service Code Capture and can it be Ignored?

Question: What is the function of the "Accept Charges" button, which appears in the Service Code Capture (inpatient and outpatient), and can the button be suppressed or removed?

Context: The Service Code Capture (SCC) activity in Connect Care can be accessed as a tab within inpatient charts and as part of after-visit workflow or an independent activity in outpatient charts. Some prescribers have noticed an "Accept Charges" button towards the bottom of SCC, just above where claims (submitted billing codes) are listed.

Curiosity is increased when noting that failure to select this button does not stop billings from being recorded or processed. Understandably, the same prescribers wonder if clutter could be reduced by removing the button.

Answer: It is true that billings will be submitted and processed (in accordance with the prescriber's billing arrangement with Connect Care) if a charge is created in association with a clinical encounter, irrespective of whether the "Accept Charges" button is selected. The charges are processed when the user navigates away from the SCC (the charge status will change to "filed"). Erroneous charges can be deleted (during a grace period) even if filed.

Clicking on "Accept Charges" will immediately file the billing request while immediately performing any final validations (we do not have many of these). Given Connect Care's current configuration, there is not much to be gained by taking this extra step.

Users can suppress the "Accept Charges" button to make for a more streamlined SCC. Select the personalization button (wrench icon) near the top right of SCC and note that there is an option to "Use slim charge lists". Activating this will suppress the Accept Charges button for the current user.