Compensable patients
In a public hospital, a compensable patient is someone who has attended the hospital for treatment and incurred costs due to an injury or disease.
The compensable classification is established by the patient’s family advising they are eligible or likely to receive compensation, or where an officer within the hospital believes that a 'prima-facie' case for compensation is likely to exist.
They may have been initially registered as a public patient or other financial classification and then have instructed a solicitor to represent them. The solicitor will assist them in determining if they are eligible to apply for compensation.
An 'Authority to Act' must be provided to the hospital before information can be released to a solicitor.
Patients subject to workers’ compensation or other compensation claims will have charges raised and sent to the appropriate party dealing with charges related to the compensation claim.
Patients who are involved in a motor vehicle accident in Western Australia (WA) will have charges raised and sent to the Insurance Commission of WA.
Charges applicable to compensable patients may include:
- hospital accommodation
- radiology
- pathology
- consultant’s professional fees
- prosthesis and orthoses costs
- emergency and outpatient attendance.
Motor vehicle accident
The motor vehicle (Third Party Insurance) Act 1943, Section 10, requires you to report your motor vehicle accident which involved bodily injury, to the Insurance Commission of WA.
When you have reported the accident, the Insurance Commission will forward a letter/email giving you the Crash Report Number of the accident for your records.
The Insurance Commission may contact you if further information is required.
The following information will be required to link a patient to a Crash Report Number.
- Patient's first name and surname
- Patient's date of birth
- Location of accident
- Date of accident
- Time of accident
The following information (if known) could prove helpful in processing a claim.
- If the police attended
- Number of vehicles involved
- Names and address of drivers involved
- Registration numbers
Please note: When you are reporting a motor vehicle accident, against the question 'was any person injured in the crash?' you must answer 'yes' for the claim to be accepted by the Insurance Commission.
If you are not going to report your accident, please advise the Accounts Receivable office on (08) 6456 0320 or via email.