A medical assistant is billing a patient's third-party payer for today's office visit. Which document is required for this process?

When billing a patient's third-party payer for an office visit, the necessary document is the 837P/CMS-1500 claim form. This form serves as the official request for payment from the insurance company for services rendered. It contains detailed information about the patient, the provider, the services provided, and the costs associated with those services.

The 837P is the electronic version of this claim form, while the CMS-1500 is its paper equivalent, widely used in the healthcare industry for outpatient billing. Properly completing this form ensures that the information is conveyed accurately to the payer, which is crucial for the timely processing of the claim and reimbursement.

Other options such as a patient discharge summary, referral letter, and medication administration record do not serve the purpose of billing insurance for services. A discharge summary is typically used for summarizing the patient's hospital stay, a referral letter may be necessary for specialist visits but does not directly apply to billing, and a medication administration record documents medications given to a patient but is not relevant for claims submission. Thus, the 837P/CMS-1500 claim form is essential for initiating the reimbursement process from a third-party payer.