Enhancing OCR Recognition for HCFA & CMS 1500 Forms

Datacap Taskmaster for Medical Claims

• Print letters in all caps
• Choose a serif font that doesn't have zeroes with a slash in them
• Use two digits for month and day (i.e. January 3 = 0103)
• No slashes between dates (i.e. 03/15/02), simply put date as 031502
• No decimal point in amounts, but include numbers for cents (twelve dollars and 31 cents = 12 31)
• On check boxes (field 8 B and C, for example) make sure X is inside box
• No dash in Fed Tax ID# (field 25 or in Insured ID # (field 1A)
• A laser printer is preferred to dot matrix (monitor ink supply; light claims are a pervasive problem)
• Use lighter red forms rather than dark red (it drops out better)
• Use red forms rather than copies (copies don't drop out at all)
• In field 2, put last name first (the form requests it, but many don't)
• In field 21, put diagnosis code only, no written description
• In field 24E, put a pointer to field 21, don't repeat diagnosis code
• When stamping Provider name and address (fields 32 or 33), keep stamp within box provided - no randomly placed stamps
• For field 24, we can read 12 lines, but prefer 6 lines.  If there are more than 6, go to a second HCFA
• For multiple page HCFAs, please print total of each page on each page rather than putting grand total on final page
• In Field 31, keep provider signature small
• In general, keep text at least a 1/4 inch from edge of page
• Lastly, we prefer it if Providers don't fold the HCFA and send, but send flat -- folding can cause print on crease to distort