Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) / Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA)

Electronic Solutions for an Efficient Office

BCBSTX providers who receive paper checks and Provider Claim Summaries (PCSs) via the U.S. Mail may wish to consider the electronic alternatives listed below for greater efficiency, convenience and security of information.

Advantages of enrolling for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) and Electronic Payment Summary (EPS):

• No more lost or stolen checks
• Quicker access to your funds
• Increased security of information
• Less time spent on claims tracking
• Expedited patient account reconciliation
• Easier retrieval of archived data

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

EFT is a direct deposit claim payment from BCBSTX to your designated bank account.

• To enroll online for EFT, you must be a registered Availity^® Provider Portal user – there is no cost to register at availity.com 
• Commercial EFT payments are processed daily
• Texas Medicaid and Medicare Advantage claims are normally finalized weekly on Mondays

Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA)

The ERA or ANSI 832 transaction is a HIPAA-compliant method of receiving claim payment and remittance details. The ERA can be automatically posted to your patient accounting system. You should also check with your billing service, clearinghouse or software vendor to confirm ERA-compatibility and availability of auto-posting software.

• Enroll online via the Availity Provider Portal 
• An online Remittance Viewer tool is available via the Availity Portal to providers and billing services to search, view, save and print remittance information, even if the ERA is delivered to an appointed receiver.

Out-of-state providers notification: You should specifically contact your local Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) Plan for 835 ERA enrollment. If an existing enrollment is already on file with the local BCBS Plan, then ERA files for services provided to BCBSTX members will be transmitted electronically to you under the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s BlueCard^® program. Providers requesting to receive ERAs for Medicare Secondary Crossover claims should also make that request with their local BCBS Plan. For ERA enrollment instructions and/or other inquiries regarding ERA processing, please contact your local BCBS plan.

Online Enrollment Assistance

Learn how to enroll online for EFT and ERA transactions by referring to the Availity EFT & ERA Enrollment User Guide .

Electronic Payment Summary (EPS)

When you enroll for the ERA, you are automatically enrolled for the EPS, which is an electronic version of the paper PCS.

• The EPS arrives faster than the PCS and is easier to archive for future retrieval.
• You must enroll for the ERA in order to receive the EPS.

Have additional E-Commerce Questions?

• Email Electronic Commerce Services
• Visit the Tools/Remittance Viewer page in the Education and Reference Center of our Provider website for dates and times of upcoming Remittance Viewer webinars.

Availity is a registered trademark of Availity, L.L.C., a separate company that operates a health information network to provide electronic information exchange services to medical professionals. Availity provides administrative services to BCBSTX. BCBSTX makes no endorsement, representations or warranties regarding any products or services provided by third party vendors such as Availity. If you have any questions about the products or services provided by such vendors, you should contact the vendor(s) directly.