Identify Medicare direct deposits on claimant's bank statements 011-43120030

Medicare creates a lodgement reference number for patient claims paid via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The lodgement reference number consists of an 8 digit number and a 4 digit code for the appropriate state processing area.

The Resources page contains a list of patient claim lodgement reference numbers.

Information visible on a claimant's bank statement may differ to the information provided by Medicare. Some financial institutions add characters to the lodgement reference supplied by Medicare and other financial institutions may not print the full reference provided.

The Resources page contains an example of what may display on a claimant's EFT benefit bank statement when Medicare pays an EFT payment.

A lodgement reference was introduced to assist practice staff to reconcile their Medicare statements with their financial institution statements. The Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) lodgement reference appears on both the Medicare benefit statement and the provider's bank statement.

EFT statements consist of the following information:

• a lodgement reference that also appears on their bank statement or financial institution statement
• the Bank/State/Branch (BSB) number and name of their financial institution
• the number and name of their financial institution account

Some financial institutions add characters to the lodgement reference supplied by Medicare while other financial institutions may not print the full reference.

Note: it is important that the complete reference number is used for reconciliation.

The Resources page contains details of how provider lodgement references are constructed.

Providers should use complete reference numbers listed on 90 Day Cheque Cancellation Statements to locate and match the reference number on their bank statements. The 90 Day Cheque Cancellation Statement provides the information needed to reconcile payments, including the:

• patient's name
• date of service
• charge
• benefit

Using the 90 Day Cheque Cancellation Statement run date a person is able to identify the date range of specific deposits on a bank statement.

If at any time a practice receives EFT deposits into their account and does not receive the 90 Day Cheque Cancellation Statement with which to reconcile it, they should call Services Australia and quote one of the reference numbers within that week's date range. A duplicate statement is then produced as soon as possible.

The Resources page contains details of how 90 day pay doctor EFT lodgement reference numbers on bank statements are constructed.

A provider's software set-up dictates the information given to financial institutions when a Medicare benefit is paid.

When transmitting Medicare online claims, provider software has the option of entering an account reference 'AccountReferenceId' (ACRF), a reference used by the claim submitter to identify claims. This applies to unpaid accounts only.

The ACRF is included in any reports relating to that claim, such as the statement that accompanies the benefit cheque. Therefore, whatever is entered in the ACRF element is also shown on the claimant's bank statement.

Note: if the value is blank or not sent at all, then no reference will accompany the payment.

The Resources page contains an example of an online claiming account reference.