Visual Practice Billing File Import (.VPL files)

A VPL file is a file with the extension vpl, for example: myfile.vpl.  A VPL file can be used to import new patients and bills into Visual Practice without using the user interface forms.  This is useful when using ACSL's OHIP Quick Bill List program.  The OHIP Quick Bill List program presents an alternative, faster way of getting bills into Visual Practice.

This feature can also be used by power users, Information Systems specialists, programming contractors or others to feed OHIP billing into Visual Practice by providing a simple standardized file format for OHIP Bills.

Import a VPL file into Visual Practice

Assuming you have the VPL import file formatted as described in later on in this HOWTO, you need to call the Import Quick Billing List (*.vpl) feature in Visual Practice. The "Import Quick Billing List (*.vpl)" feature is located on the "Import Data..." submenu, located on the File menu as shown below:

Once it is selected, you will be asked to select the import file. Select the directory the import file is located in. Visual Practice assumes that the import file is a .vpl file extension, however, if you specify in the "Files of type" field All Files (*.*), all files will appear:

Once you have selected the file, it will be read by Visual Practice and a display grid will appear to show you how Visual Practice will interpret the file. It is important to make sure the file extraction and reformatting was done correctly, so review the data in the columns and ensure the data is correctly formatted according to Visual Practice's import specification.

The VPL Import Format

The file format is in text format, quote and comma field delimited, CR (carriage return) for end of record. Trim extra space out from text fields only, and where it won't affect the formatting of the data you are exporting.

Update Note: After version 1.1.35 (January of 2001) the format changed.  We have added Billing Physician Group Number, Billing Physician Location Code, and Billing Physician Specialty Code after the Billing Physician Number.  After version 1.1.41 we've added Referring Physician First Name and Referring Physician Last Name and support creation of referring physician list entries directly from the .VPL file. Be sure to adjust your import program accordingly.

Update Note: After version 2.0.0 (July of 2006) the format changed.  We have added Service Location Indicator (SLI) to the end of the file to reflect the introduction of this field to the OHIP Submission specification.

Fields in position order:

Field Description Type Formatting Example
Patient First Name 16 Characters "Smith"
Patient Last Name 18 Characters "John"
Patient Date of Birth Date 12/31/1999
Patient Gender 1 Character "M"
Province (for Card) 2 Characters "ON"
Health Card Number 16 Characters "1234567890"
Version Code  4 Characters "XX"
Expiry Date Date 12/31/2000
Date of Service Date 12/31/1999
Item Code 12 Characters "P006A"
Units Numeric, 8 Digits, 2 Decimals 1.00
Type 1 Character "T"
Diagnostic Code 5 Characters "460"
Manual Review Flag 1 Character "M"
Manual Review Comment 200 Characters "Anything you want"
Billing Physician Number Numeric, 6 Digits 123456
Billing Physician Group / FHN / FHG / IHF 4 Characters "LH56"
Billing Physician Location Code 4 Characters "1801"
Billing Physician Specialty Code 2 Characters "00"
Referring Physician Number 6 Characters "654321"
Referring Physician First Name 16 Characters "Marvin"
Referring Physician Last Name 16 Characters "Spock"
Department 16 Characters "Obstetrics"
Hospital (Facility) Number 4 Characters "1234"
Admission Type 1 Character "I"
Admission Date Date 12/31/1999
Service Location Indicator (SLI) 4 Characters "HIP"

Example line formatting:

"Smith","John",12/31/1999,"M","ON","1234567890","XX",12/31/2000,12/131/1999,"P006A",1.00,"T","460","M","Anything you  want",123456,"LH56","1801","00","654321","Marvin","Spock","Obstetrics","1234","I",12/31/1999, "HIP"

Programmer Notes:

- Character fields should be indicated with a space surrounded by quotes: " " Date fields DO NOT HAVE QUOTES AROUND THEM
- A blank date field must have spaces where characters would be, and include the separating slashes (example: BB/BB/BBBB where B is a space)
- Date format is MM/DD/YYYY
- Numeric values DO NOT HAVE QUOTES AROUND THEM
 

© 1999-2003 ACSL. All rights reserved. For Terms of Use and Copyright click here.
Last Updated: Friday September 8, 2006