EmailHospital Circular 21/2002
Date Issued: 9 July 2002
Publication: 21/2002
Distribution: Public Hospitals
Subject: Provision of Information to Ambulance Services for Billing Purposes
Purpose: To advise hospitals that the Minister has made a further declaration under section 141 to enable billing information to continue to be provided to ambulance services
In the past, some hospitals were been reluctant to provide patient billing details to ambulance services because of concerns about the confidentiality requirements of section 141 of the Health Services Act 1988. To address this concern, the Minister for Health made a declaration under section 141(3)(h) the effect of which was reported to hospitals in Circular 9/2001 dated 11 May 2001. The exemption signed by the Minister in April 2001 is due to expire on 31 July 2002. To enable hospitals to continue to provide this information, the Minister has issued a further exemption, in similar terms, under section 141(3)(h).
Pursuant to the declaration hospitals are able to provide such information as is required to enable the ambulance service to accurately identify a person who was transported to the hospital by that ambulance service and to enable the ambulance service to:
- send an account
to request payment for services rendered by it in the course of attending
to that person and transporting that person to the hospital, to-
- the person concerned; or
- any other person or body who is responsible for paying for that service; or
- determine whether to send such an account.
For the purposes of this declaration, hospital means:
- a public hospital;
- a denominational hospital;
- a private hospital; or
- a multi purpose service.
For the purposes of this declaration, ambulance service means:
- Metropolitan Ambulance Service;
- Rural Ambulance Victoria; or
- Alexandra and District Ambulance Service.
This declaration applies to the giving of information by a hospital until 31 July 2003.
Given the nature of the emergency services provided by the ambulance services, it is not always possible for them to collect billing information from the patients they treat and transport. Withholding this information from the ambulance services has an adverse impact on the financial position of the ambulance services. The Department requests that hospitals cooperate with the ambulance services in their efforts to correctly identify those patients to whom they should be rendering an account. Ambulance services have been advised that the Ministerial declaration only applies in relation to the rendering of accounts and that information should not be requested for other purposes.
Shane Solomon
Executive Director
Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services
