Recurring Payments

A payment plan can be used when a patient is not able to pay an outstanding balance all at once. In this situation it is advantageous to set up automatic payment installments for them.

From the Recurring Payments window click Plans:

To create a Payment Plan:

1. Click Plans.
2. Click New.
3. In the Set Up New Recurring Payments dialog, enter the payment intervals, the amount, and start date agreed upon with the patient to pay down their balance.


Clicking the "Start Date" field will open the Select a Date dialog. If you have chosen Semimonthly billing frequency the billings will be on the 1st and 15th of each month, with the default selection being the next applicable date.

If you choose Monthly, then as shown below you can select any day of the month. Note that if you select the last day of the month being viewed, payments will occur on the last day of every subsequent month for the course of this recurring payment plan. For example, if you choose February 28 from the calendar below, the next payment will occur on March 31.



When finished with all selections, click Next.


4. You will then be prompted to enter their payment information. If the patient has a card on file or has ACH set up, you can select to use that method. Otherwise you will either swipe the patient's card or enter their card information or account information manually. You also have the options here to add or edit a card's description and to add a patient to the selected card (unless the current patient is using another patient's shared card). Once the card entry process is completed, click Next.



NOTE:  When setting up a patient's ACH payment account for the first time, there is a $1.00 temporary authorization charge to verify the patient's account, which will be reversed upon verification. This temporary authorization charge and reversal will appear in the Ledger.






5. A confirmation window will appear for your acceptance of the Payment Plan. Click Finish.

Once created, you will be able to view and manage the new Payment Plan using the controls to the right:

Subscriptions are used to automate recurring charges for ongoing subscriptions such as Wellness Plans. Start by selecting the Subscriptions tab under Recurring Payments:

To create a Subscription:

1. Click Subscriptions.
2. Click New and then enter a subscription name, billing frequency, and payment amount. Select the date for the recurring payments to begin. You may also select an end date for the subscription, or continue to have it run in perpetuity:



3. Then click Next.
4. You will then be prompted to enter their credit card information. If the patient has a card on file, you can select to use that card. Otherwise you will either swipe the patient's card or enter their card information manually. Once the card entry process is completed, click Next.



5. A confirmation window will appear for your acceptance of the Subscription. Click Finish.

Once created, you be able to view and manage the new Subscription using the controls to the right:

NOTE:  For Subscriptions, the payment schedule will only display the next upcoming payment.

Introduced in Version 7.2, the Recurring Payment Authorization Form is an agreement between the patient and the practice to be signed by the patient and kept on file by one or both parties. It is a document explaining exact details of the recurring payment, including: 

• Patient's name
• Payment interval and the amount to be paid at each interval
• Payment method
• Start and end date

You will be given the option to print this agreement at the time you create a recurring payment. And you can also print the agreement at any time later by accessing the patient's Recurring Payments in Front Desk: Ledger > Tools > Recurring Payments. From there you can click Payment Schedule to access the Summary. There you will find a Print Agreement button.

Below is an example of an Authorization Form: 

In rare situations a recurring payment or subscription might need to be "skipped". This means reassigning an automatic payment as a manual payment. You might skip a recurring payment because: 

• An automatic payment not going through due to a card problem or other payment-method issue (see about notifications below), or
• The patient might simply wish to make one or more of their future payment by some other method

In these situations, the patient will need to make their payment manually as a one-time event.

1. Access the Recurring Payments screen from the patient ledger, select the payment plan, and click Payment Schedule.

2. In the Recurring Schedule Summary, click Skip Payment.

3. In the Skip Payment screen select the pay event to be skipped.

4. Confirm the action.

Once the process has been done, the Recurring Schedule Summary will show the skipped recurring payments as having a status of "Manual". The patient can then make the payment by another means right away, or you can make an arrangement with patient to pay it in the future.

BEST PRACTICE:  After a manual payment is made, the Payment Date field on this screen will not populate on its own. However, if you would like the visual confirmation added to this plan/subscription for future reference, you can click Skip Payment to access the Skip Payment screen again. Then enter the date manually and click Save.

If there is a failure with a credit card payment, this will trigger an alert in the Front Desk. Click the Alert icon to view details on the failed payment.