Complete Scannable Form Spot Checks

Once you receive scannable forms from your providers and begin sorting them for scanning, you should do a quick spot check on each packet. Completing this step helps you catch errors before you have scanned the form, which allows you to attempt to correct them before processing the claim. This minimizes the amount of scanning problems you may have, and maximizes the speed at which you can finish your claim.

If your providers filled-out their forms properly, this process should only take about 30 seconds per-packet. 

All Scannable Forms

Check for any problems that would prevent a good scan. This includes the following:

  • Tears or rips.
  • Black marks along the form's timing marks.
  • Food stains.
  • Dirty eraser marks.

If you find any problem that would prevent a good form scan, set that provider's entire claim paperwork to the side so that it gets special attention when claims are scanned and processed.

Menu Forms

When spot-checking menu forms, check the following fields:

  • Provider ID: Ensure that all digits of the provider's ID were bubbled in the bottom right-hand corner on each page.
    • If multiple pages are missing all or some of the Provider ID bubbles, mark them with a #2 pencil and highlight over the marks you make. This ensures that these changes are obvious changes made by you, not the provider, during an audit. Use correction tape (white out strips) to remove any marks that the provider made in error. If you do not resolve this here, it is resolved when you scan the form. However, you do not need to verify every single page. Ensure that at least one of them was bubbled correctly. Consult the provider's CF to find their provider ID. During the validation process, the system notes the previous and next page's provider number to help you more easily identify the provider who has a problem.
  • Day Headers: Check each page’s three day column headers and ensure that both digits of the day were bubbled-in for each column
    • If any page is missing all of these bubbles, we recommend you take the time to correct them during this spot-check. However, you do not need to fix day columns that might be missing just one column. The validation process should catch any missing dates, and the system tells you the last three pages' column dates, the current three pages' column date, and the next three pages' column dates. This allows you to fix most of these problems when validating the forms.
    • If the provider did not indicate what the day was supposed to be, either call the provider to correct the problem now, or throw out this column during the validation process.
  • Claim Month: Verify that the claim month marked is the month it should be (the provider hasn’t submitted a late claim).  Although this is easy to fix during the scanning validation process, so correcting it while performing spot checks isn’t critical.
  • Attendance Form Menu Checks: Verify that the food components have been supplied and are creditable.
    • If any meals aren’t creditable, mark the appropriate shaded column next to the invalid food. For snacks, you must mark both missing and invalid foods to indicate that three of the four foods are invalid, which means the system will disallow the snacks.
    • If you require that the meal bubble in the upper-left corner be bubbled-in for each meal, verify that the provider completed this step.
  • Chk By: Have the person who spot checked the menu to initial in the Chk By section on the bottom of these forms.

Enrollment Forms

  • Provider ID: Verify that all digits of the provider's ID are marked. If they are not marked properly, correct the marks and highlight them appropriately.
  • Child Number: Verify that the child's name and number are both bubbled-in and match what was supplied on the enrollment form with what the provider wrote on the CIF.    
    • If the numbers on the enrollment form don't match the CIF, you may be able to look at the provider's menu forms to determine the correct number. You may also need to call the provider. Resolve this issue before scanning forms for this provider.
    • If the child number is missing, mark it based what was noted on the CIF. Highlight the marks you make (for auditing purposes).
    • If the CIF is missing, contact the provider and ensure they include the CIF with all future claim paperwork.
  • Signed: Verify that the parent signed the form.
    • If it is not signed, set it aside. You must receive a signed child enrollment form before the child can be paid.
    • If you find any problem that would prevent a good form scan, enroll that child manually.