Getting Started > Setting Up Statements and Messages

Setting Office-Wide Statement Defaults

To set up statement defaults:

1. Select File > Preferences > Statement setup. You are prompted for your initials and password, which you must enter to continue. The Office Wide Statement Setup window is displayed.

2. Check the appropriate boxes in the Should we print area.

• Print mail statements  Select this option to print mail statements.

• Minimum balance to print  Enter the smallest amount for which you will print a statement in this field.

• Print zero balances  Select this option to print the amount that pays off the balance. This tells the system to print one statement for the patient after a $0.00 balance is achieved and then stop.

• Print credit balances  Select this option to print statements for accounts with credit balances.

3. Check the appropriate boxes in the When to print area.

• Billing cycle  Check monthly for monthly statements, or check in days __ and enter the number of days for the billing cycle if you want to send statements more frequently than once a month.

• Day of month to print  For daily billing, type 0 in this field to have PracticeWorks calculate the appropriate billing date for each account. If you do not want cycle billing, you can enter a day, such as 10, so that statements are due to be printed on the 10th of every month.

• Reset when balance paid  If you entered 0 as the day of the month to print, select this option to reset each account’s statement cycle when it is paid off.

• Reset when ins pmt received  If you entered 0 as the day of the month to print, select this option to send a statement and reset an account’s statement cycle whenever you post an insurance payment to the account.

• New activity delay __ days  This field determines how many days to wait after an account goes from a zero balance to a positive balance (usually after a visit), before the first statement is sent.

• Delay until ALL insurance clears  Select this option ONLY if you want to wait for all insurance payments on the account to clear before sending a statement to the patient. Checking this box results in no statements being sent to a patient if there is an outstanding insurance claim.

4. Check the appropriate boxes in the What to print area.

• Print amount due and date  To print specific payment instructions, select this option and set the number of days you want between the statement date and the due date. It is recommended that you check this box and set the due date to 10 - 25 days from statement printing. Do not set it to more than 29.

• Subtract ins estimate from amt due  Select this option if you want the insurance estimate amount to be subtracted from the amount due. It is recommended that you check this box.

• Claim is stale after __ days  Type a number in this field if you select the preceding option. This enables you to set a time to wait for insurance to pay before you ask the patient to pay the full balance.

• Print procedure code  To print ADA codes on your statements, select this option. This is useful if you do not accept assignment of benefits and do not print insurance forms for your patients.

• Print provider information  To print the name of the provider who performs each procedure, select this option.

• Print account age message  Select this option to print the 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, or 120 days information on statements.

• List outstanding claims  Select this option to print information about the patient’s outstanding insurance claims on statements.

• Transactions to print  Select either since last statement to print only new transactions on the account, or details of balance to print all the transactions still reflected in the account balance.

5. Enter the appropriate information in the Charges to add area.

• Do not select Charge interest on your first statement run.

• Charge interest  Select this option to charge interest on an outstanding balance.

• Charge interest on pay plan  If you use payment plans, you can select this option to charge interest on the entire account balance, including the amount deferred to the payment plan. If you do not select this option, interest is charged only on the amount due.

• Monthly interest rate  If you charge interest, enter a percentage in this field. Multiply this number by 12 to determine the annual interest rate you are charging. For example, a monthly rate of 1.5% equals an annual rate of 18%.

• Minimum interest charge  If you want PracticeWorks to assess a re-billing fee instead of a small interest charge, enter an amount in this field. When interest is calculated and it is less than the amount in this field, this amount is charged and referred to as a re-billing fee.

• Interest grace period (days)  Enter a number in this field to determine how many days to wait from a transaction date before charging interest.

• Minimum balance to charge interest  Enter an amount in this field to avoid charging insignificant interest amounts to small balances. This should match the amount in the Minimum balance to print field.

• Late charge  Type an amount in this field if you want to charge your patients for not remitting payment by the due date.

• Late charge grace period (days)  If you elect to have late charges, you can set a grace period in this field. This number, when added to the number of days from the statement that payment is due, should not be greater than 29.

6. Check the appropriate boxes in the Walkout statement options area. These apply only to walkout statements.

• Print amount due  Select this option if you want the current amount due for each account to print on walkout statements. This amount is the amount due from the last mail statement, minus any payments received.

• Print walkout statements after checkout  Select this option if you want the Print and Submit Options window, which pops up after checkout, to default to having this option checked.

• Print today’s date in DUE DATE  Select this option if you want the amount to be due right away.

7. Click OK.

Related Topics

Selecting Statement Setup Options

Setting Up Statements and Messages

Defining Statement Messages

Preparing and Printing Statements