Patient accounts

One patient, one account

Opening an account for somebody who already has one gives you theirs. There is no way to end up with two accounts for one person and half the money on each.

A charge is billed once

A charge names the one thing it is for: the order, the stay, the dose. Posting the same thing again is refused, which is what stops somebody being billed twice for one scan. Two of the same thing in one visit are two references and therefore two charges.

Money cannot be applied twice

A payment carries what is left of it and an invoice carries what is still owed. Two people settling the same invoice with the same payment at the same moment produce one settlement and one refusal.

An invoice is one document with two expected sources

When a payer meets part of a bill, the invoice records the payer's share and the patient's share. Any fraction goes to the patient, so the two always add up to the total exactly.

Cancelling a charge posts the opposite, it does not erase

The original keeps its amount and its place in the month it was posted, and a reversal is posted today. A month already handed to finance stays true.

A refund only covers money not applied to a bill

To give back money that is settling an invoice, take it off that invoice first. Otherwise the bill would show as paid and the money would be gone.

A payer's approval comes before their bill

Some contracts want the payer to agree to the work before it is billed to them. Ask for the approval under Approvals, record what the payer said with the reference they quoted, and name that approval on the invoice. Without it such an invoice is refused.

This screen holds no clinical detail

A charge carries a billing code and a billing name, which is what a patient sees on their own bill. A restricted chart is still refused here, by the same rule the clinical screens use.

Add a payer, contract or price-list item where you need it

Recording cover or posting a charge, somebody who manages the price list can choose Add payer, Add contract or Add price-list item at the foot of the list. The form opens above the one you were filling in, and the new record comes back chosen. Nothing you entered underneath changes, and a code already in use offers the existing record instead.

Open an account

1. Go to Find a patient and search by name.
2. Select Account. If there is none, one is opened.

Bill somebody

1. Add a charge for each thing being billed: find it in the price list by the start of its name or its code, and name what it is for.
2. Select Raise an invoice and tick the charges it covers.
3. Choose whether it goes to the patient or a payer, and under which cover. Nothing is chosen for you.
4. If the cover's contract wants the payer's approval, choose the approval the work was agreed under.

Get a payer's approval

1. Open the account and select Ask a payer for approval under Approvals.
2. Choose the cover, say what the approval is for and the amount asked for, and record the request.
3. When the payer answers, select Record the payer's answer. An approval needs the reference they gave; a refusal needs their reason.

Take money

1. Select Take a payment, choose how it was paid, and choose the invoice it pays or leave it unapplied. Neither is chosen for you.
2. Put it against an invoice, or leave it unapplied and apply it later.