In Bluechip, the term Account refers to a record of accounting transactions.

In order for a patient to be invoiced, it is necessary to create an account for them which comprises of a specific Practitioner and a Classification. The classification or class governs the fee level that will be charged for this account, and who is going to be responsible for the payment of the account's debts.

For example, invoices raised in a Private account will generally be charged at a rate somewhat higher than the Schedule Fee, and the patient will be responsible for the payment of those invoices. Invoices raised within a Bulk Bill account would be charged at the Medicare Benefit rate, and Medicare would be responsible for those invoices. Similarly, invoices raised within a Medico Legal account may be billed at the AMA rate, and the patient's solicitor would be responsible for the payment of those invoices.

It is possible that a patient may have more than one account. For example, a patient who has previously visited the practice as a private patient (therefore a Private account), who on another occasion returns with an injury pertaining to a Workers Compensation claim. Rather than needing to change the patient's classification every time s/he visits the practice, or needing to create a duplicate file for the patient, you would create a second account within the Accounts module of that patient's record, with Workers Compensation as the class.

Depending on your Practice's needs, you may even wish to create a new account to cover the transactions that pertain to each new referral. In this case, the different accounts may even have the same classification. To make distinction between multiple accounts easier, it is possible to use Account File Numbers or Account Refs.