Electronic Billing Services (EDI, ERA, EFT)

Electronic Claims Submission, Payment and Remittance Advice Services

AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana contracts with Change Healthcare — one of the largest electronic data interchange (EDI) clearinghouses in the country — to offer state-of-the-art EDI and other electronic billing services. Use of EDI can boost claims submission efficiency and timeliness of reimbursement to enhance your revenue cycle.

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Electronic Claims Submission (EDI)

AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana claims can be submitted electronically through Change Healthcare, or via another clearinghouse. Contact your Practice Management System vendor or EDI clearinghouse to inform them that you wish to initiate electronic claim submissions to AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana.

AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana does not require you to enroll with Change Healthcare to submit electronic claims. If you already use another EDI vendor to submit claims electronically, inform your vendor of the AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana EDI payer ID: 27357.

Claims submission via Change Healthcare

Effective May 2021, Change Healthcare transitioned from WebConnect to ConnectCenter. ConnectCenter is designed to improve claims management functionality previously experienced with Emdeon Office/WebConnect. Providers who have a limited ability to submit claims through their hospital or project management system may now benefit from key features of the new ConnectCenter tool. There is no cost to providers to use Connect Center.

Key features are:

  • Claims users no longer need to choose between data entry of claims and upload of 837 files. All users may do both.
  • Secondary and tertiary claims can be submitted.
  • Institutional claims are supported.
  • Claims created online are fully validated in real -time so that providers can correct them immediately.
  • Whether providers upload their claims or create them online, the claim reports are integrated with the claim correction screen for ease in follow-up.
  • Dashboard and work list views enables   providers to streamline their   billing to-do list.
  • Remittance Advice is automatically linked to providers submitted claim, providing a comprehensive view of the status of their claim.

To transition to the new portal go to ConnectCenter and click Sign Up. If prompted for the Vendor Code, use Vendor Code 214629. Change Healthcare customer support is available through online chat or by calling 1-800-527-8133, option 2 for assistance.

To learn how to navigate ConnectCenter, visit the resources below.

Video Tutorials

User Guides

How to Retain Long-Term Access to Old Claims and Remits

If you wish to retain access to old claims after June 1, 2021, please take the following steps to establish a Reporting and Analytics account that can be accessed independently of Emdeon Office/WebConnect.

  1. Begin by going to https://access.emdeon.com and select the Forgot Password link.
  2. Provide your email address and the same Username you use to access the Emdeon Office/WebConnect portal.
  3. Once your new password is emailed to you, please make note of the Username, Password, and access.emdeon.com URL for use in future access to Reporting and Analytics.

If you are unable to obtain a new password as described above, please contact Change Healthcare customer support for assistance at 1-877-667-1512, option 2.

  1. Effective September 15, 2021, to access historical claims and remits from WebConnect, please use the data below:
    1. URL: https://cihs.customerportal.changehealthcare.com/CIHS/.
    2. Phone: 1-877-603-1968, option 3.
  1. You may also use the following instructions to access old claims:
    1. Begin by selecting “Customer Portal” from ConnectCenter’s claims menu.
    2. Choose the Forgot Password link.
    3. Provide your email address and the same Username you formerly used to access the Emdeon Office/WebConnect portal.
    4. Once your new password is emailed to you, please make note of the Username and Password.  
    5. Use these credentials on the “Customer Portal” page whenever you need access to old claims.

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Electronic Claim Payment Options

AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana works with ECHO Health Inc. (ECHO), a leading innovator in electronic payment solutions, to offer more electronic payment options to our health care providers. Providers can select the payment method that best suits their accounts receivable workflow.

Virtual Credit Card (VCC)

ECHO Health offers virtual credit cards (VCCs) as an optional payment method. VCCs are randomly generated, temporary credit card numbers that are either faxed or mailed to providers for claims reimbursement. VCC payments have several advantages for providers:

  • No need to enroll or fill out multiple forms in order to receive VCC payments.
  • Personal information, such as practice bank account information, is never requested.
  • Payments are accessible the day the VCC is received.

Providers not registered to receive payments electronically will receive VCC payments as their default payment method, instead of paper checks. Providers will receive either faxed or mailed VCC payments, each containing a VCC with a number unique to that payment transaction, an instruction page for processing the payment, and a detailed Explanation of Payment /Remittance Advice (EOP/RA). 

Normal transaction fees apply based on your merchant-acquirer relationship. If providers do not wish to receive your claim payments through VCC, they can opt out by contacting ECHO Health directly at 1-888-492-5579.

Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT)

Electronic funds transfers allow providers to receive  payments directly in the bank account  designated rather than receiving them by VCC or paper check. When providers enroll in EFT, they will automatically receive electronic remittance advices (ERAs) for those payments. All generated ERAs and a detailed explanation of payment for each transaction will also be available on the ECHO provider portal (www.providerpayments.com).

If providers are new to EFT, they will need to enroll with ECHO Health for EFT from AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana.

Please note: Payment will appear on the provider's bank statement from PNC Bank and ECHO as “PNC – ECHO.”

To sign up to receive EFT from AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, visit https://enrollments.ECHOhealthinc.com/efteradirect/enroll. There is no fee for this service.

To sign up to receive EFT from all payers who process payments on the ECHO platform, visit https://enrollments.ECHOhealthinc.com. A fee for this service may be required to receive EFT if you select the all payers option.

If providers already receive payments from ECHO Health, they may be able to enroll for EFT with AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana using their existing account. Providers must have an ECHO Health draft number and corresponding payment amount for their enrollment request to be validated.

A draft number is listed as the EPC draft number on ECHO Health's explanation of payments. If providers need assistance locating an ECHO payment in order to register, contact ECHO at 1-800-946-4041, Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT.

If providers have questions regarding how to enroll in EFT, please reference the Change Healthcare/ ECHO EFT Enrollment Guide (PDF). 

Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA)

Electronic Remittance Advices (ERAs) (often referred to as an 835 file) are also available through ECHO Health. To receive ERAs from AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, it is important to check with their practice management/hospital information system vendor to see if the system includes both the AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana  PAYER ID27357 and the ECHO Health Payer ID 58379.

If you are not receiving any payer ERAs, they may contact your current practice management or hospital information system vendor to ask if their software can process ERAs. Providers software vendor is then responsible for contacting ECHO to enroll the provider for ERAs under the AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana  PAYER ID27357 and the ECHO Health Payer ID 58379.

If the providers software does not support ERAs or they continue to reconcile manually, and they would like to start receiving ERAs only, they may contact the ECHO Health enrollment team at 1-888-834-3511.

If providers have additional questions regarding VCC, EFT, or ERAs, please reference our FAQ (PDF) or call  ECHO Health Support team at 1-888-429-5579.

Additional Resources

Quick Guide — Signing up for e-Services

Providers