Dear doctors,

By now most of you have already heard about the new SYRA project that RAMQ is planning to introduce in the coming weeks, so I thought this would be the perfect forum from which to separate fact from fiction.

The SYRA project is twofold: first to simplify RAMQ medical billing procedures and second to eliminate paper billing submissions by offering a free online service where doctors can submit their own medical billing.

In light of this, many doctors have asked me if I am worried for my business’ future. This question has been put to me so many times that I believe it pertinent to describe exactly what SYRA is and, perhaps more importantly, what it is not.

Let’s begin by what SYRA is.

• SYRA is a major modification to the current RAMQ medical billing system. Some of the changes include:
  • The complete removal of all MODIFIERS,
  • The elimination of paper billing slips being sent to RAMQ,
  • The elimination of the prepayment (CODE 03) codes on your RAMQ statements,
• SYRA is a free online platform that allows you to enter data in a format that RAMQ will accept. It is the replacement of the old paper slips (#1200).

Now let’s look at what SYRA does not do:

• Using SYRA does not ensure your medical billing will be paid,
• Using SYRA does not ensure your medical billing will be optimized,
• Using SYRA does not ensure your medical billing will be free of errors,
• SYRA will not notify you of RAMQ changes that affect your billing,
• SYRA does not suggest billing codes that your colleagues are using that you may be missing out on.

In light of this, I am confident that SYRA won’t be a threat to medical billing agencies for the following reasons:

1. It does not optimize your medical billing, look for costly omissions or review your work to ensure that it is error free. Only an experienced billing agency can do that.
2. SYRA’s infrastructure and interface are so poorly designed that it will take doctors several minutes to enter a single claim. Don’t believe me? Here’s a link that was taken directly from the RAMQ website which describes the functionality of the new SYRA service: http://www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca/ . Do you see yourself sitting at a computer and entering each patient in this interface? I didn’t think so. If this service takes up all of your leisure time, how can they say that it’s free?
3. A client told me something that is worth repeating here: What kind of doctor would want to do their billing via a RAMQ provided service? That’s like asking Revenue Quebec to file your tax return! He was quite right, as RAMQ’s purpose is to keep healthcare costs as low as possible, while as a doctor you want to maximize your returns. These two goals are completely incompatible!

Because of all this and more, I believe that you will be much better served by sticking to your reliable billing agent. Rest assured, at Mediregi Billing Services, we will spare no expense to ensure that you are exceptionally prepared to prosper in the new SYRA era of RAMQ medical billing.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact me for further details.

Faithfully yours,

Patrick Busch

Partner at Mediregi Billing Services INC.

[email protected]