Ohio Code 3963.03 – Information required in contracts – disclosure form – proposed contracts
(A) Each health care contract shall include all of the following information:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3963.03
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Contracting entity: means any person that has a primary business purpose of contracting with participating providers for the delivery of health care services. See Ohio Code 3963.01
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Health care contract: means a contract entered into, materially amended, or renewed between a contracting entity and a participating provider for the delivery of basic health care services, specialty health care services, or supplemental health care services to enrollees. See Ohio Code 3963.01
- Health care services: means basic health care services, specialty health care services, and supplemental health care services. See Ohio Code 3963.01
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Participating provider: means a provider that has a health care contract with a contracting entity and is entitled to reimbursement for health care services rendered to an enrollee under the health care contract. See Ohio Code 3963.01
- Payer: means any person that assumes the financial risk for the payment of claims under a health care contract or the reimbursement for health care services provided to enrollees by participating providers pursuant to a health care contract. See Ohio Code 3963.01
- Procedure codes: includes the American medical association's current procedural terminology code, the American dental association's current dental terminology, and the centers for medicare and medicaid services health care common procedure coding system. See Ohio Code 3963.01
- Product: means one of the following types of categories of coverage for which a participating provider may be obligated to provide health care services pursuant to a health care contract:
(1) A health maintenance organization or other product provided by a health insuring corporation;
(2) A preferred provider organization;
(3) Medicare;
(4) Medicaid;
(5) Workers' compensation. See Ohio Code 3963.01
- Provider: means a physician, podiatrist, pharmacist, dentist, chiropractor, optometrist, psychologist, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, occupational therapist, massage therapist, physical therapist, licensed professional counselor, licensed professional clinical counselor, hearing aid dealer, orthotist, prosthetist, home health agency, hospice care program, pediatric respite care program, or hospital, or a provider organization or physician-hospital organization that is acting exclusively as an administrator on behalf of a provider to facilitate the provider's participation in health care contracts. See Ohio Code 3963.01
(1)(a) Information sufficient for the participating provider to determine the compensation or payment terms for health care services, including all of the following, subject to division (A)(1)(b) of this section:
(i) The manner of payment, such as fee-for-service, capitation, or risk;
(ii) The fee schedule of procedure codes reasonably expected to be billed by a participating provider‘s specialty for services provided pursuant to the health care contract and the associated payment or compensation for each procedure code. A fee schedule may be provided electronically. Upon request, a contracting entity shall provide a participating provider with the fee schedule for any other procedure codes requested and a written fee schedule, that shall not be required more frequently than twice per year excluding when it is provided in connection with any change to the schedule. This requirement may be satisfied by providing a clearly understandable, readily available mechanism, such as a specific web site address, that allows a participating provider to determine the effect of procedure codes on payment or compensation before a service is provided or a claim is submitted.
(iii) The effect, if any, on payment or compensation if more than one procedure code applies to the service also shall be stated. This requirement may be satisfied by providing a clearly understandable, readily available mechanism, such as a specific web site address, that allows a participating provider to determine the effect of procedure codes on payment or compensation before a service is provided or a claim is submitted.
(b) If the contracting entity is unable to include the information described in divisions (A)(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) of this section, the contracting entity shall include both of the following types of information instead:
(i) The methodology used to calculate any fee schedule, such as relative value unit system and conversion factor or percentage of billed charges. If applicable, the methodology disclosure shall include the name of any relative value unit system, its version, edition, or publication date, any applicable conversion or geographic factor, and any date by which compensation or fee schedules may be changed by the methodology as anticipated at the time of contract.
(ii) The identity of any internal processing edits, including the publisher, product name, version, and version update of any editing software.
(c) If the contracting entity is not the payer and is unable to include the information described in division (A)(1)(a) or (b) of this section, then the contracting entity shall provide by telephone a readily available mechanism, such as a specific web site address, that allows the participating provider to obtain that information from the payer.
(2) Any product or network for which the participating provider is to provide services;
(3) The term of the health care contract;
(4) A specific web site address that contains the identity of the contracting entity or payer responsible for the processing of the participating provider’s compensation or payment;
(5) Any internal mechanism provided by the contracting entity to resolve disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the terms and conditions of the contract. A contracting entity may satisfy this requirement by providing a clearly understandable, readily available mechanism, such as a specific web site address or an appendix, that allows a participating provider to determine the procedures for the internal mechanism to resolve those disputes.
(6) A list of addenda, if any, to the contract.
(B)(1) Each contracting entity shall include a summary disclosure form with a health care contract that includes all of the information specified in division (A) of this section. The information in the summary disclosure form shall refer to the location in the health care contract, whether a page number, section of the contract, appendix, or other identifiable location, that specifies the provisions in the contract to which the information in the form refers.
(2) The summary disclosure form shall include all of the following statements:
(a) That the form is a guide to the health care contract and that the terms and conditions of the health care contract constitute the contract rights of the parties;
(b) That reading the form is not a substitute for reading the entire health care contract;
(c) That by signing the health care contract, the participating provider will be bound by the contract’s terms and conditions;
(d) That the terms and conditions of the health care contract may be amended pursuant to section 3963.04 of the Revised Code and the participating provider is encouraged to carefully read any proposed amendments sent after execution of the contract;
(e) That nothing in the summary disclosure form creates any additional rights or causes of action in favor of either party.
(3) No contracting entity that includes any information in the summary disclosure form with the reasonable belief that the information is truthful or accurate shall be subject to a civil action for damages or to binding arbitration based on the summary disclosure form. Division (B)(3) of this section does not impair or affect any power of the department of insurance to enforce any applicable law.
(4) The summary disclosure form described in divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section shall be in substantially the following form:
“SUMMARY DISCLOSURE FORM
(1) Compensation terms
(a) Manner of payment
[ ] Fee for service
[ ] Capitation
[ ] Risk
[ ] Other _______________ See _______________
(b) Fee schedule available at _______________
(c) Fee calculation schedule available at _______________
(d) Identity of internal processing edits available at _______________
(e) Information in (c) and (d) is not required if information in (b) is provided.
(2) List of products or networks covered by this contract
[ ] _______________
[ ] _______________
[ ] _______________
[ ] _______________
[ ] _______________
(3) Term of this contract _______________
(4) Contracting entity or payer responsible for processing payment available at _______________
(5) Internal mechanism for resolving disputes regarding contract terms available at _______________
(6) Addenda to contract
Title Subject
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(7) Telephone number to access a readily available mechanism, such as a specific web site address, to allow a participating provider to receive the information in (1) through (6) from the payer.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
The information provided in this Summary Disclosure Form is a guide to the attached Health Care Contract as defined in section 3963.01(I) of the Ohio Revised Code. The terms and conditions of the attached Health Care Contract constitute the contract rights of the parties.
Reading this Summary Disclosure Form is not a substitute for reading the entire Health Care Contract. When you sign the Health Care Contract, you will be bound by its terms and conditions. These terms and conditions may be amended over time pursuant to section 3963.04 of the Ohio Revised Code. You are encouraged to read any proposed amendments that are sent to you after execution of the Health Care Contract.
Nothing in this Summary Disclosure Form creates any additional rights or causes of action in favor of either party.”
(C) When a contracting entity presents a proposed health care contract for consideration by a provider, the contracting entity shall provide in writing or make reasonably available the information required in division (A)(1) of this section.
(D) The contracting entity shall identify any utilization management, quality improvement, or a similar program that the contracting entity uses to review, monitor, evaluate, or assess the services provided pursuant to a health care contract. The contracting entity shall disclose the policies, procedures, or guidelines of such a program applicable to a participating provider upon request by the participating provider within fourteen days after the date of the request.
(E) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing or affecting the application of section 1753.07 of the Revised Code that would otherwise apply to a contract with a participating provider.
(F) The requirements of division (C) of this section do not prohibit a contracting entity from requiring a reasonable confidentiality agreement between the provider and the contracting entity regarding the terms of the proposed health care contract. If either party violates the confidentiality agreement, a party to the confidentiality agreement may bring a civil action to enjoin the other party from continuing any act that is in violation of the confidentiality agreement, to recover damages, to terminate the contract, or to obtain any combination of relief.