The Hartford Expands Internet Processing/Payment System for Workers’ Comp

The Hartford, which has piloted a complete workers’ compensation e-bill system for a year, is expanding the program into more U.S. states and additional provider organizations.

e-bill, an Internet processing and payment system designed to make billing for workers’ compensation services faster and easier for medical providers by handling bills and supporting medical documentation in a single electronic file.

Working with partners eStellarNet of Concord, Calif., and Corporate Systems of Amarillo, Texas, The Hartford has extended availability to two national rehabilitation and occupational health organizations beginning earlier this month. An additional group of about 18 regional service providers also will be able to submit bills and supporting documentation to The Hartford through the Internet – with more to follow.

The Hartford began piloting the system last spring with the southern California members of Concentra Health Services, Inc. of Dallas, Texas, and expanded it to Concentra network members in northern California, Texas, Missouri and Wisconsin.

e-bill marks a major change from earlier electronic processing of workers’ comp invoices that automate only a small part of the process and still involve manual processing of the bill and supporting documentation necessary to make payment decisions. This new technology platform employed by The Hartford allows documentation materials to be electronically attached to the bill on a secure Internet site, reducing the need for time-consuming manual input of billing data, requests for information and manual transfer of backup documentation needed for a payment to be processed.

Once the bills and attachments are downloaded into the billing system, the software automatically scans the invoice to ensure that all necessary information – such as diagnosis and procedure codes – is entered before it is submitted. The completed invoice is then viewed online by The Hartford’s medical bill examiner and processed for payment. Electronic billing simplifies record keeping for providers by reducing duplicate billing and data input errors.

Topics Texas Workers' Compensation