Using Global Periods in the Visit Overview (Web)

A global period refers to the time frame after a procedure during which certain related services are considered part of the package and are not typically billed separately. Explore the drop-down menus below to learn more about how to utilize global periods in Encompass.

What do you want to do?

There are multiple areas you can utilize to view global period information.

  • Patient Header
    • Open the patient's chart and locate the GP icon next to their name, indicating a global period
    • Click the carrot under the patient header to expand the section and locate the Primary Payer section to view any global periods
  • Global Period Tab
    • Open a patient chart and scroll to the Global Period tab on the left
  • Global Period Indicator on Bills
    • Hover over the global period indicator on the service line of a bill to view details
    • Click the Manage GP Indicators link to view global period information and mark it as visible or hidden in the patient header
  • Patient Visit
    • Open a patient visit and scroll to locate the Global Period section on the left

Setting a global period calculates how many global period days remain for billing purposes and bill the appropriate modifier.

  1. In the Impressions and Plans section of a patient visit, select an option in the Diagnoses drop-down.
  2. Select Set Global Period in the Plans drop-down and click Save.
  3. If applicable, select which location the procedure was performed on in the Add Body Locations window and click Save.
  4. Locate the global period plan under the diagnosis you just entered.
  5. Click Resume to enter procedure details in the plan window and click Done when finished.

Setting a global period calculates how many global period days remain for billing purposes and bill the appropriate modifier.

  1. In the Impressions and Plans section of a patient visit, locate a diagnosis and click Add Plans.
  2. Select Set Global Period from the drop-down and click Save.
  3. Locate the global period plan you just added.
  4. Click Resume to enter procedure details in the plan window and click Done when finished.

Inactivating global periods may be helpful in situations when a global period was documented for the wrong patient.

The ability to inactivate global periods is a permissions-based feature. Follow the steps below to remove global periods and avoid incorrectly identifying patients with global period information that doesn't pertain to them.

  1. Log in to Practice Settings.
  2. Search for and select a user account to grant permissions.
  3. On the user profile, select the Manage Global Periods check box.
  4. Log back into Encompass to search for a patient and open their chart.
  5. Click the Global Period tab on the left.
  6. Locate the global period you wish to inactivate and click the Inactivate link.
  7. In the Inactivate window, provide a reason for inactivation and click Inactivate.