On the CMS-1500 claim form, Box 19 is a free-text area for extra information about the claim or the patient's condition. This guide explains what the box is for and how Pabau handles it.
NOTE: This article is part of the US Insurance Billing Additional Resources series, which walks through every box of the CMS-1500. If you are new to claims in Pabau, start with Creating a US Professional (CMS 1500) Claim.
Box 19 — Additional claim information
Box 19 is labelled Additional Claim Information (Designated by NUCC). It carries a short narrative when a payer wants context that has no box of its own — anything from a treatment note to a payer-specific instruction. It is one of the most loosely defined areas of the form: what goes here, if anything, depends entirely on the individual payer's adjudication rules.
How Pabau fills it
Type the note in Additional claim information in the claim's Condition dates section. It is filled in from the client's policy when you recorded one there, and you can change it for one claim. Pabau prints it in Box 19 and sends it on the electronic claim, where it is limited to 80 characters. Most payers don't need it for professional claims, so leave it blank unless the payer asks.
Keep the note short and use the payer's own wording when they give you one.
TIP: Supporting documentation doesn't belong in Box 19; send it with the claim as an attachment instead. Click Attach Document at the bottom of the claim and tick Send a chart note with this claim. See How to send a chart note or other document with a claim.
To follow your claim after it is sent, see Tracking Electronic Claim Submissions.