Charge a Copay

Charging clients for a copay is an extremely common practice for businesses that accept insurance. Every provider employs a different strategy, whether it be charging the client at their appointment, sending a bill retroactively, or charging the card on file at some point after the appointment. 

With Healthie, there are a variety of different strategies for charging clients for a copay within their account. It is always best practice to have a client credit card on file, so that you can enforce any payment policies. From there, you can create a package, send the client an invoice, or even charge them for a one-off payment in order to collect the copay. 

Send the Client an Invoice

Another option is to send them an invoice for their copay after the appointment. When you create an invoice for a client, they will receive an email notifying them that they should fulfill their invoice. They will then be prompted with a link to fulfill the invoice, using a payment method on file, or by entering a payment method if no such method exists. If the invoice isn’t paid after 5 days, the client will be sent an email reminder to ensure timely payments; they will also receive notifications in their portal until the invoice is paid. 

To streamline your billing workflows, you can also associate an invoice with a CMS-1500 form. When creating the invoice, be sure to select the Invoice type as “CMS-1500,” and you can select the specific claim the invoice is for. This way, you can easily ensure each appointment in which the client owes a co-pay is accounted for and paid for. Be sure to make the invoices as Paid/Unpaid as well, so that co-pays don’t fall through the cracks and cost your practice money. 

Charge a Client for a One-Time Payment

You can also directly charge a client’s card for a co-pay, without sending an invoice. On the Billing page, you can select the drop down menu to charge the client and enter a reason, co-pay in this case. The client will receive a confirmation receipt of service purchased. The receipt will indicate the Charge Reason that you entered, as well as the price of what was purchased. 

It is best practice to alert the client beforehand that you will be charging them for the copay. You can tell them at the end of their appointment if you know the copay amount, or send them a quick chat message to confirm you can process the payment.  This is a better strategy for clients who may be forgetful with payments

Note: For a Client's name to appear in your Charge Client drop down, he/she must have a card number on file. If you do not have a client's card on file, please first enter the client's billing information by going to their Profile > Actions > Edit Client Info. 

Create a Package for the Copay Amount

One option to charge a client for their copay is to create a package for the copay amount. Creating a package is convenient for recurring appointments in which a copay of the same amount is required for each appointment. You can build custom Healthie packages with automatically recurring payments. If you have your session every week, you can set the package to charge your client once a week for a set period of time. 

Recurring payments are charged to your client based on the date that they purchased their package. For example, if they purchased a weekly recurring package on a Friday, they will be charged the following Friday automatically. Your client will automatically receive a confirmation email/receipt of their purchase after every transaction.