Checking out patients

You can enter a payment, generate a walkout statement, and create claims at the same time for a patient when that patient is ready to check out after a visit.

To check out a patient

How to get there

1. Use the Patient Search box to access a patient's record.

   Notes:

   • If the last patient record you accessed since you last logged on is the correct patient's record, you do not need to re-enter the patient's name in the Patient Search box.

   • You can include inactive patients in the search results by setting the Include inactive patients switch to On.

2. Do one of the following:

   • On the Patient menu, under General, click (or tap) Overview. The patient's Overview page opens. Click (or tap) the Ledger box.

     

   • On the Patient menu, under Financial, click (or tap) Ledger.

   The patient's Ledger page opens.

1. Do one of the following:

   • Click (or tap) the Patient Walkout button for a patient in the Checkout section of the routing panel.

     

   • On a patient's Ledger page, click (or tap) Patient Walkout.

     

   The Patient Walkout dialogue box appears.

   

2. Perform the necessary tasks on the following tabs for checking the patient out after his or her visit:

   • Invoice

     Invoice tab

     

     1. Select the check boxes of any completed procedures posted to the patient's ledger that have not been invoiced.

        Notes:

        • Procedures that will not be billed to a third party must be on a different invoice than the procedures that will be billed so that you will be able to create a claim for the billable procedures. If some of the selected procedures are marked as billable to a third party and some are not, separate invoices will be created automatically.

        • If any of the selected procedures being invoiced are for different providers, separate invoices will automatically be created for each provider.

        • If any of the selected procedures are for multiple patients in the same household, separate invoices will be automatically created for each patient.

        • When you create an invoice for procedures, those procedures become locked. The only way to edit procedures that have been invoiced is to first cancel or correct the corresponding invoice.

     2. Click (or tap) Create Invoice.

   • Create Claims

     Create Claims tab

     

     1. Select the check boxes of any completed procedures posted to the patient's ledger that are not attached to claims.

     2. Click (or tap) Create Claims.

        Procedures are grouped by Service Date, so you can create separate claims for each unique date of service.

        Notes:

        • A claim must consist of invoiced procedures.

        • A claim may contain procedures on multiple invoices but must contain all the procedures belonging to an invoice. For example, if an exam and bitewings are on an invoice, you cannot put only the exam on a claim. To create a claim for the exam separately, you must create an invoice with only the exam on it.

   • Send Claims

     Send Claims tab

     

     1. Select the check boxes of the claims that you want to send.

     2. Click (or tap) Send Selected Claims.

   • Payment

     Payment tab

     

     1. Type the Amount of the payment.

     2. Select a payment Type.

        The other payment options become available.

     3. Set up the payment details as needed.

     4. Click (or tap) Save Payment.

     5. Repeat steps a - d for any other payments that you need to post.

   • Statement

     Statement tab

     

     1. Set up the following walkout statement options as needed:

        • Statement View

          • Guarantor View - Select this option to include transactions for the current patient, all patients who have the same guarantor as the current patient, and the guarantor (if not the current patient).

          • Patient View - Select this option to include transactions for the current patient. This option is not available if the patient is the guarantor for only himself or herself (the Guarantor View option will be used).

        • Statement Message - Type a message that you want to have appear at the bottom of the walkout. This message will be saved for the current patient (and appear on this patient's individual statements and walkouts from now on) when you click (or tap) Print Walkout Statement. In addition to this patient-specific message, a general message may also appear below at the bottom of the walkout (if a default message exists for batch statements).

        • Include credit card payment options - Select this check box to have credit card payment options appear on the walkout.

        • Include due date as - Select this check box to have the specified date entered as the due date on the walkout.

          Note: You can choose a date that is 1 to 180 days in the future. However, industry consultants recommend that the due date be 30 days, which is the default.

     2. To record a summary of the statement in the patient's connections history and save a copy of the statement in the patient's Document Manager, set the Add to Patient Connection switch to Yes. To not record the statement as a patient connection or save a copy of the statement, set the switch to No.

        Notes:

        • With this switch set to Yes, the patient's "last billed date" is updated, which affects which statements get generated if you generate a batch of statements in the future using the Only generate statement if not billed since option.

        • With this switch set to Yes, if the Guarantor View option is selected, a patient connection is added to, a copy of the statement is copied to, and the "last billed date" is updated for not only the current patient but the patient's guarantor (if not the same) and all patients who have that guarantor.

     3. Click (or tap) Print.

        A .pdf version of the walkout appears.

Note: A balance forward amount will appear on the walkout for the account's balance up to today's date.

Related Topics

• Generating a patient's billing statement

Related Errors/Questions

• None