Provider Central

Using Payspan to research claim adjustments can help you better understand our payments to you.

When Blue Cross adjusts a claim to reduce the original payment, our claim system creates an accounts receivable or “A/R” transaction. We notify you by creating both a provider payment advisory and a provider detail advisory. Advisories will indicate:

• A/R Created when we plan to deduct a balance from a future payment.
• A/R Deducted when we deducted from the current payment.

The net payment amount is equal to the total of all paid claims, minus the A/R deductions.

Monitor your advisories
Review your advisories regularly for A/R Created notifications. If the messaging indicates that there is patient or other insurance liability, pursue payment promptly. Don’t wait for the A/R Deduct before taking action.

How to research deductions
There are several ways to get information about your payments and A/R amounts taken.

Step	Use Payspan to find out if you have any claim adjustments. Go to the end of your provider payment advisory where we list A/R information. Or, go to “BCBSMA Posting Report” in Payspan. Provider Payment Advisory sample Posting report sample
Step	Search by claim number to get your Provider Detail Advisory. Tip: Enter only the first 12 digits followed by * for the best results.
Step	Look at the Provider Detail Advisory to find any messages about the reason for the claim adjustment. We use both standard HIPAA-compliant messages and messages we customize.

Other helpful information about our claim processing
When researching deductions, it helps to understand our claim numbering system. The base claim number, 12 digits, is followed by a two-digit code that counts claim activities.