Patient refunds are typically issued when a payment is applied to an account with a zero balance or when the payment exceeds the amount owed, resulting in an overpayment. When this occurs, the excess amount is posted as a patient fund, which holds the overpayment until it can either be refunded to the patient or applied to future charges.

Refund patient funds created due to overpayments

If you have to issue a refund from a patient’s fund, it must be done directly through the patient’s fund screen. 

Begin by navigating to the patient’s dashboard and clicking the PF icon. 

Click the Patient’s Name.

Click the green (+) icon to enter the patient fund details. 

Choose Debit from the Transaction Type dropdown menu.  

Enter the debit amount in the Amount field. 

Manually enter the Payment Type by typing it into the field. 

Entering a payment number is optional, however, we recommend entering the original payment number in the Payment Number field to help identify the specific payment being refunded. 

Enter the date of the refund in the Payment Date field.

If applicable, enter a Comment. 

Click Save. 

Refund manual patient funds

Let's say a patient fund was manually added into the system.

Create a Debit Transaction Type with the same Amount and enter the Payment Date for the debit transaction. 

Refund patient credit card

If the original payment method was a credit card, you’ll also need to process the refund through the PAYA virtual terminal. 

Once logged into your Virtual Terminal, find the transaction you want to refund. The most efficient way to do this is by using the Transaction Search, located in the Reporting menu.

After locating the transaction to be refunded, click Process. 

Select Credit from the Transaction Type dropdown menu, then click Submit Transaction at the bottom of the screen. 

Applying patient funds

If the patient funds aren’t being refunded, you can choose to apply them to any outstanding balances the patient may have.

Begin by navigating to the Patient Payment tab. 

Click New Payment. 

Enter the patient's last name, first name, account/MRN number, chart number, or claim number, then click Search.

In the Amount field, enter the amount you wish to apply from the patient’s fund. The available fund balance is shown in the patient demographics section.

From the Method dropdown menu, select Patient Fund. 

The Date and Posted Date fields will auto-fill with today’s date, but you can edit them if needed.

You can select the Auto Allocate checkbox to automatically apply the funds to all dates of service with outstanding balances, starting from the oldest to the newest.

Or, click the Service Date to which you want to apply the patient funds. 

Encounters with an outstanding patient or insurance balance will appear in the encounter section. 

Enter the amount in the Payment Amount field for the relevant line item(s). If you're applying funds to a miscellaneous charge, enter the Payment Amount on the corresponding Miscellaneous Payment line item(s).

Click Save and Post to apply the patient's funds to the selected date of service.

Impact on the reports

The patient refunds will be visible on the following reports:

• Revenue Report
• Transaction Journal Report

Revenue Report

Navigate to the Reports tab and select All.

Select Revenue Report.

Select the Patient Fund Date Type. 

Choose the Quarter and Year or enter a specific date range in the Date From and Date To fields. 

Click Save to Queue

Navigate back to the Reports screen and click Report Queue Inbox.

Click the Include Unposted Payments checkbox.

Click the + icon on the top to show the details of payments that are not assigned to a line item. This section will include the total patient fund credit and debit.

The balance associated with the Patient Funds row shows the difference between the total patient fund credits and debits. The Payment Amount is the total patient fund credits and the Posted Amount is the total patient fund debits. This includes any patient funds credited manually, debited manually, and debited through a patient payment. However, it does not include patient funds created through patient overpayments. This is done to avoid double counting of the payment amount when combining the numbers from the upper and lower grids.

Any patient fund credited through a patient payment overpayment is included in the payment amount in the bottom grid. For example: If you're posting $900 but have assigned only $600 of it to line items, then the payment amount will be displayed as $900 and the posted amount will be displayed as $600. And the $300 credited as patient funds will not be displayed on the upper grid to avoid double counting.

Hence, the total payment amount collected for a specific date range will be the sum of total patient fund credits, debits, and the payment amount in the bottom grid.

Transaction Journal Report

Run a Transaction Journal Report

Navigate to the Patient Funds tab.

Here, you can see all the patient fund credits and debits.

 

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