14041. (Amended by Stats. 1987, Ch. 996, Sec. 1.)

(a) The director shall develop and implement standards for the timely processing and payment of each claim type. The standards shall be sufficient to meet minimal federal requirements for the timely processing of claims.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that claim forms for use by physicians and hospitals be the same as claim forms in general use by other payors, including Medicare, to the extent compatible with the following:

(1) Requirements for maximum federal matching funds.

(2) The reasonable needs of the mechanized claims processing system.

(3) Maximum billing efficiency.

(4) The convenience of providers.