For biokinetics
Billing and medical-aid claims for biokinetics practices
NetPractice submits biokinetics claims to South African medical schemes in real time, using the 91-prefixed five-digit tariff codes biokinetics actually bills — so a procedure printed as 303 on your schedule goes out as 91303, not 0303. The accepted or rejected outcome comes back in seconds, so a coding rejection is a two-minute fix on the day rather than a surprise at month-end.
The code-form trap
Biokinetics sits between clinical and preventive care, and that is exactly where scheme funding gets complicated. The same programme may be paid from a chronic benefit, from day-to-day savings, or not at all, depending on the plan and the referral.
South African tariff codes come in two billed forms, and which one applies depends on your discipline. Medical specialists bill the bare four-digit code — a GP bills 0190 as 0190. Allied and paramedical disciplines bill their BHF discipline number followed by the three-digit procedure. Biokinetics is discipline 91:
| Discipline | BHF number | Billed code form |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational therapy | 66 | 66nnn |
| Podiatry | 68 | 68nnn |
| Physiotherapy | 72 | 72nnn |
| Audiology | 82 | 82nnn |
| Dietetics | 84 | 84nnn |
| Psychology | 86 | 86nnn |
| Nursing and home-based care | 88 | 88nnn |
| Biokinetics | 91 | 91nnn |
This is invisible on a tariff schedule, because the schedule prints the short procedure number and leaves the form to you. It is the most common structural coding error in allied practices, and it does not fail politely: codes come back unknown or priced at zero across the board rather than case by case. If that is what your rejections look like, check the form before you check anything else.
Each scheme’s own tariff schedule is the authority on its rates and codes. Where a scheme’s schedule disagrees with anything here, follow the schedule. Clinical technology is deliberately absent from the table above: its numbering is not consistent between schemes, so no single pattern would be correct.
What a biokinetics practice gets
- Assessment followed by a programme of sessions, billed per visit.
- Referral-dependent funding, where the referring practitioner affects whether the scheme pays.
- Wellness and preventive work that is frequently a cash arrangement.
- Progress reports back to the referring doctor.
Plus everything every practice gets: real-time claim submission with the scheme’s verdict in seconds, invoices and monthly statements, patients and visits, clinical notes, and reports on aged debtors, daily collections and turnover.
Two things worth reading next if claims are the problem: why medical aid claims get rejected and how to read a remittance advice, which is where short-paid biokinetics lines usually show up first.
Biokinetics billing questions
Do medical schemes pay for biokinetics?
Often, but the basis varies widely. Some plans fund it from a chronic or rehabilitation benefit, some from day-to-day savings, and some not at all. Whether there is a referral in place frequently makes the difference, so confirm before starting a programme.
What is the biokinetics discipline number for claims?
Biokinetics is discipline 91, so the billed code is 91 followed by the three-digit procedure number rather than the bare four-digit form.
Do biokinetics claims need an ICD-10 diagnosis code?
Yes. Every claim to a South African medical scheme needs a valid ICD-10 code, coded to the most specific level the record supports. For an injury the scheme also expects an external-cause code, and that cause code has to be a billable five-character code rather than a category heading.
What does billing software cost for a biokinetics practice?
On NetPractice it is R9.50 per claim with the first 10 claims each month free, and no monthly fee or contract. A practice submitting 200 claims a month pays R1,805.
Start with 10 free claims
R9.50 a claim after your first 10 each month, no monthly fee and no contract. Set up within 24 hours.