Setting Up a Payment Plan

Payment plans function the same as contracts, but because the money has already been accounted for, production figures are not updated each month. For this reason, adding uncharged amounts to a payment plan is not recommended. Examples

You can use the Ctrl+Y shortcut to set up a payment plan.

To set up a payment plan:

Click the Financial Functions button in the patient chart. The Financial Functions — Charges and Payments window is displayed.
Click the Contracts and Payment Plans button. The Financial Functions — Contracts and Payment Plans window and the Existing Balance message are displayed.
Click Yes. The Existing Balance Transfer window is displayed.
Type the portion of the payment plan the first responsible party is paying and press Enter. The amount is displayed in the Total to Transfer field. Click OK. The Financial Functions — Contracts and Payment Plans window is displayed.
In the Description field, type a description for the payment plan. Press Tab.
Verify the amount displayed in the Contract Total window and press Tab.
If you make a mistake at any time while entering payment plan information, click Restart to return to the Contract Total field, and enter the information again.

The total amount is displayed next to the first responsible party listed in the Responsible/Insurance section. If the first responsible party is paying the entire contract amount, press Tab.
If the amount is being paid by more than one responsible party, repeat these steps for each responsible party.

Press the down arrow to select the Payment Plan option button on the left. The contract payment information section at the right changes to reflect the payment plan information.
Press Tab to move the cursor to the Initial Fee field. Enter the amount of the payment plan that is due on the initial fee due date. Press Tab.
The initial fee is immediately due upon activation of the payment plan.

In the Payment Amount field, type the payment amount (to be paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually). Press Tab.
The software can calculate the payment amount for you if you leave this field blank and enter the total number of payments in the Num. of Payments field. The software populates the Payment Amount field automatically.

In the Num. of Payments field, type the number of payments. Press Tab.
If you entered a payment amount, the software calculates the number of payments for you, and this field is skipped when you press Tab.

In the Cont. Start Date field, type the date that the first payment plan charge should be applied. In a single-due-date system, the date defaults to the roll date for the next month. In a multi-due-date system, the date defaults to one month from the initial fee due date.

To accept the default payment term of Monthly, press Tab. To select a different payment term for the payment plan while still in the Cont. Start Date field, use the mouse or a hot key (Alt+Q, Alt+S, Alt+A) to select a new payment term. Press Tab.

The Spread button is selected. Press Tab. The Next button is selected.

If there is only one responsible party, the Post button is selected.

Click Next or press Enter to continue setting up the contract for the next responsible party. In the Responsible/Insurance section, a green checkmark is displayed next to the first responsible party, and the arrow moves to the next responsible party name in the list. Continue completing contract information for all responsible parties on the list.
If a responsible party is listed but does not require a payment plan, tab through the payment plan fields until the software displays a prompt, acknowledging that the responsible party being skipped does not have a financial contract. Click Next or press Enter.

After completing the payment information for the last responsible party in the Responsible/Insurance section, the Post Transactions button is selected. Click the Post Transactions button or press Enter.
If you selected the Prompt for Contract Payment Coupons option in the System Options window in System Maintenance, the software asks if you want to print contract payment coupons. To print coupons, click Yes. The Print Setup window is displayed. Click OK.
You can print coupons at a later date by selecting Reports > Contract > Coupons in the patient’s Contracts and Payment Plans window or Reports > Financial > Coupon Books from the main menu. For more information, see Printing Coupon Books.

The following options are displayed:

To enter a start date if you have not entered a start date previously, click Yes when prompted and type the start date in the field.

If a start date is present but you do not have an estimated completion date, click Yes when prompted and type the estimated completion date in the field.