Post Bulk Payments

Use the Bulk Payment tool to allocate one payment among multiple contracts. For example, you would use the bulk payment tool when you receive an insurance check for several clients, instead of posting individual payments to each account. You can optionally assign a batch number to help track bulk payments.

Use This Feature

1. Open the Post Transaction Window - Home or Patient or Patient Finances or Scheduler ribbon bar > Post Transaction.

   Post Transaction Security - Your Edge Cloud security settings can allow or prevent operators from posting transactions. To set up this security access, open the Security editor and choose the security model to work with. Then click the Patient Financial security group, and set the Post Insurance Receipts and Charges and Post Insurance Receipts and Charges options to the appropriate access settings. (See "Set Up Security Access" for details about using the editor.)

   

   The placement of the icon depends upon which ribbon bar you are using. If a patient record is already active, that patient's information will be loaded automatically. Otherwise, you use Fast Find (either typing information or swiping a registered reward card) to search for the patient to work with. (You can also post transactions from the Quick Access toolbar at the top of your Edge Cloud screen, and by right-clicking a patient's appointment in your Scheduler.)

   

   You can set up Edge Cloud so that when you attempt to post a transaction before you finalize the Transaction Report for the previous day, you see a warning message before the Post Transaction window will open. You must then confirm your action before continuing. This feature helps you maintain the integrity of daily transaction postings. After you have seen the message once, you can select not to see it again that day, if you choose. (See "Financial User Options" for details.)

   

2. Select Patient and Billing Party - The patient's name, id number, office, doctor and any patient tag and visual tags appear at the top of the window. All associated contracts appear below. If this person's record has a visual tag applied, the appropriate color/shape appears beside the name. Choose the account to work with. If needed, you can use the Change Patient button at the bottom of the window to launch Fast Find and choose a different patient. If the patient has multiple responsible parties and / or contracts, select the account holder and contract to use. Insurance contracts are listed directly below the associated subscriber.

   

   Display Current or Completed Contracts - By default, only currently active contracts appear in the list. If the contract you want does not appear, enable the Display Completed Contracts option to be sure you are viewing all accounts associated with this patient.

   Next Charge - The far right edge of the contract list at the top of the post transaction screen includes the next scheduled payment date and amount. You might use this information to ask the responsible party for their next payment amount in addition to any miscellaneous charges incurred during the day's visit.

   Auto Receipt Contract - The AR column at the right of the post transactions window indicates whether the contract is set up with an Auto Receipts agreement.

3. Enable Bulk Payments - Click Bulk Payment at the left of the Post Transaction window to begin posting a bulk payment.

   

4. Payment Account and Structures - Select the receipt type to use for this transaction, and enter the details as you want them to appear on your deposit slip. Be sure to enter the entire transaction amount here, and identify the office to use to post the payment. Then, click Begin to start allocating amounts to patient accounts.

   Your financial security settings may limit or restrict you from changing the transaction posting date. See "Set Up System Financial Settings" for details.

   

   Payment Account - Choose the source of the bulk payment; either a payment account you have set up in Edge Cloud (such as an insurance payment check to split among multiple patients), or a Payment on File record you have entered for a responsible party (such as a credit card payment to split among multiple siblings). You can search for a Payment on File record by the patient name or responsible party name.

   Payment Structure - Enter the date, the entire amount of the bulk payment, and a description of the transaction. Enable the Display receipt after posting option if you want to generate a printed receipt immediately after posting the transaction. Finally, select the office to use to post the payment.

5. Batch Number - (Optional.) If you have enabled your system to accept batch numbers for bulk payments, type the number to assign to this payment into the batch number field, and click Ok to continue. (See "Set Up System Financial Settings" for details about enabling/disabling the batch number option.)

   

6. Allocate Payments - Enter the portion of the total bulk payment amount to allocate to the currently selected contract, completing the receipt details fields just as if you were posting an individual payment. You may change the description for each allocated payment, if desired, or leave them all the same as the bulk payment description. Click Post to complete this portion of the bulk payment.

   Insurance Payments - If you are posting a bulk payment from an insurance company, be sure to select the insurance contract, which appears just below the responsible party's contract in the billing party list.

   Keyboard-Friendly Entry - Once you begin allocating a bulk payment, you can use your keyboard exclusively to complete the transaction: Press Tab to advance to the next field, Shift+Tab to go back one field, your arrow keys to move within a field, and Enter to click a button (such as Post). When you have finished entering the details for a patient, the bulk payment process highlights the Change Patient button for you, anticipating your next move.

   

7. Select Next Patient - Click Change Patient to locate another patient, continue allocating the bulk payment funds as described above.

   

8. Review & Commit Payment - As you enter individual transactions, you can review the progress toward the total bulk payment at the right of the window. If needed, you can click Delete to remove a payment you have entered. When you enter the transaction that fulfills the bulk payment, Edge Cloud asks if you are ready to complete the bulk payment and post all the transactions.

   If you respond Yes to posting the bulk payment, the transactions are posted as you have allocated them. In addition, the receipt of payment form appears for a signature, if you have enabled it to do so.

   If you respond No to posting the bulk payment, you may review the payment details at the right of the window and make changes as needed. When you are ready, click Commit to post the transactions as you have allocated them.

   

More Information

Bulk Payment Results - After you post a bulk payment, the deposit slip will include a single transaction for the entire bulk payment amount. However, the individual patient's accounts will show only their allocated portion of the bulk payment.

Bulk Payment Report - Run a Bulk Payments report to review the details of bulk payment transactions. You can choose to include only bulk payment transactions for a specific range of dates, a specific total amount, a specific batch number, and / or a specific office. See "Bulk Payments Report" for details.