1. What is a Chargemaster and why is it important?
A "Chargemaster" within the Rivet platform refers to physician charges, prices list, practice fee schedule, billed charges etc.. It might have a different name at your practice but the content is the same. A Chargemaster is a comprehensive list of all the CPT and/or HCPC codes that your practice bills, applicable modifiers, and corresponding charges. To be clear, this is not a list of allowables or fee schedule rates from an insurance payer. It is a list of charges that are billed from the provider to the payer.
Generally, this list can be exported from your practice management system if you do not have a spreadsheet copy readily available. We recommend updating your Chargemaster at least every 6 months to account for changes to fee schedules.
The image below may be helpful in understanding which data points the Rivet platform requires and how it should be formatted for submission:
In order to generate helpful outputs and provide accurate reports and functional tools, the Rivet platform needs the correct inputs. Using a correctly formatted and comprehensive Chargemaster, Rivet can:
find and report underpriced procedures
optimize your Chargemaster prices
help you recover lost revenue from recent underpricing
Without this document, these Rivet functionalities are not possible.
2. How to get this information to Rivet?
Upload File to the Document Icon in the top right corner of your Rivet Screen.
Sending as an attachment via chat- just click on the chat bubble icon at the top right of your Rivet screen.
Build your Chargemaster in Rivet yourself (step by step guidance below)
3. Building your Chargemaster in Rivet
Click on the account name in the top right corner and select "Account settings" from the dropdown menu.
Select the "Chargemaster" from the list of options on the left menu.
Select the "Import Chargemaster" option in the top right corner of the screen.
You will be prompted to upload the Chargemaster file that you've downloaded. You can either drag/drop or click the icon and browse for the file. You will need to choose an Import Type. Merge, will create a new chargemaster by combining the upload with the existing Chargemaster. New, will create a new Chargemaster using the values in the Chargemaster document being imported.
Map the fields correctly so that Rivet knows which column is which. Rivet is pretty good at doing this for you, but make sure everything looks correct before you click "Submit".
Should you find inaccuracies, click the 'X' next to the column header and drag the correct value into the blank pace.
4. Common Upload Errors and How to Fix Them
When uploading a chargemaster file, you may see errors related to formatting or rate values. These indicate that the system could not interpret certain rows or columns in your file.
File Header Errors
If your file includes column headers (e.g., Code, Modifier, Facility, Non-Facility), make sure to check the “First row contains headers” box during upload.
If this box is not checked, the uploader will treat the header row as data and return an error such as:
Unrecognized non-facility charge format
Unrecognized facility charge format
Duplicate Code Errors
If the same code and modifier combination appears more than once, you may see:
Duplicate of row X
Remove any repeated line items to resolve this error.
Invalid Rate Format
All rate values must be numeric. The uploader will reject rows containing symbols, letters, or extra characters (e.g.,
$aa,—, orN/A).Unrecognized non-facility charge format
Unrecognized facility charge format
Test or Placeholder Values
Rows with placeholder values like “testcode” or “test” will also fail validation. Remove these before uploading.
If you see multiple unrecognized format errors, review your file for:
Non-numeric rate values
Missing or misaligned columns
Extra spaces or hidden formatting
5. Storing your Chargemaster in Rivet
Once you have your Chargemaster report downloaded, upload it to Rivet storage so you can always refer back to it if you need it.
Navigate to the files tab by clicking on the file icon at the top right of the page.
Click the Upload button in the top right corner and select the chargemaster file that you've downloaded.
Check that everything looks correct and click Submit.
Check that everything looks correct and click submit!
You now know the importance of having your Chargemaster in Rivet and how to make sure it gets loaded.
If you have any additional questions about the Implementation Program feel free to chat in or email at support@rivethealth.com.
Suggested Next article - Updating the Provider Table in Rivet