The Intra-governmental Payment and Collection System (IPAC) patch
(FB*3.5*123) provides a standardized inter-agency funds transfer
mechanism for Veterans Health Administration (VHA). It facilitates
the intra-governmental transfer of funds, with descriptive data, from
the VHA to another federal agency. Processing payments through IPAC
provides the Financial Management Service (FMS) with the ability to
meet its statutory requirements for accounting and reporting.

The new system functions will provide a streamlined method to send
Department of Defense (DoD) claims to IPAC leveraging current Veterans
Integrated Systems Technology Architecture (VistA) Fee Basis
application capabilities and data processes, and to provide the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with the ability to electronically
process transmitted payments to any federal health care provider
who is contracted to the VA.

Some of the information needed to process a claim through IPAC is easier
to collect at local facilities and document in VistA Fee Basis.
Other information is more easily obtained nationally by Central Fee.
Federal Accounting Service Payment and Collection (FASPAC) (the web-based
application used for processing documents to IPAC) does not currently
have the ability to receive data electronically from Central Fee. VistA
Fee Basis, Central Fee and FASPAC will all be involved in processing a
claim through IPAC.

This patch brings the VA into compliance with the Department of Treasury
and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) guidelines to use IPAC to make
payments between Federal agencies. As sharing agreements expands between
DoD and VHA facilities, the modifications made to VistA Fee Basis will
allow for the additions of additional agreements seamlessly.

This patch adds two files (Fee Basis IPAC Agreement, #161.95 and IPAC
Agreement MRA, #161.96) to the Fee Basis application. The IPAC Agreement
file will maintain the IPAC Agreements made between a VHA facility and a
DoD facility. The IPAC Agreement number and the DoD Invoice number will
both be recorded on Fee Basis invoices that are associated with an IPAC
Agreement.

The input of the Fee Basis outpatient/Ancillary Services invoices,
inpatient invoices and pharmacy invoices will be modified to collect the IPAC
Agreement ID and DoD invoice number, if present on the invoice. The DoD
invoice number will be found in box 3a of the UB04 and block 26 of the
CMS1500 forms, depending on which is being input into the VistA Fee Basis
application. Any user with the proper security key (FB IPAC VENDOR) will
be able to enter an IPAC agreement, change an IPAC agreement and, if
allowable, delete an IPAC agreement. Editing and deleting an IPAC
agreement will only be allowed if there is not invoice activity associated
with the IPAC agreement.