Purpose:
To establish a standardized process for collecting full or partial payments for large-scale treatments (e.g., implants, full-mouth reconstructions, or multi-unit crown and bridge) prior to the date of service. Applying credits to completed cases is vital to ensuring patients have accurate ledger balances and the office has accurate reporting.
1. Collecting the Payment
- Open the specific patient's chart, open the ledger and click on Add Payment/Adj.
- Be sure to select the Advanced Payment box. If there are no current codes with pending patient dues, this box will automatically be selected.
Entering Payment & Provider Details
Amount: Enter the exact dollar amount collected.
Payment Method: Credit Card, Check, Cash, or Third-party financing (Ex: Sunbit).
Provider Assignment: You must select the specific provider who will be performing the future treatment. This ensures the production credit is routed correctly once the procedures are completed.
Documentation and Remarks
In the Remarks field, clearly state the intent of the payment.
Format: "Pre-payment for [Treatment Name] scheduled on [Date]."
Example: "Pre-payment for #8 & #9 Implant placement scheduled on 1/1."
Why this matters: This provides a "paper trail" for the front office and billing team to track why a large credit is sitting on an account. Add a remark with the name of the Treatment Plan this is being collected for.
Finalizing the Receipt
Click Add Receipt or Pay with CS Pay (depending on your Payment Type) to finalize the transaction. Print or email a copy of the receipt for the patient, ensuring it reflects the "Unapplied Credit" or "Advance Payment" status.
3. Post-Collection Handling: As treatment is completed
The payment will now sit as an unapplied credit on the patient's account, ready to be applied to the procedures as they are walked out in CareStack. Unless there are any changes to the treatment, when all codes are walked out, the patient should not have any unapplied credit remaining.
During checkout of a completed treatment visit, go to Add Patient Payment.
Go to the Manage Credits Tab. By default, this will only show you payments with an unapplied amount.
Select the credit that will be used to apply to the completed codes.
Confirm the codes that this credit will be applied to and click Apply Payment.
To learn more about applying the payment: Processing Treatment & Patient Checkout
Best Practices
Verify Insurance: If the patient has insurance, ensure the pre-payment amount accounts for the estimated insurance portion to avoid over-collecting.
Consistency: Always use the "Remarks" field. This will make it much easier in the future to audit if needed.
Apply Payments as Treatment is Completed: This ensures that the provider completing the work is receiving credit for the work they do, which also impacts accurate provider payroll.