View Patient Account
Use the View Patient Account task to access account information about a specific patient; including charges, transactions, payments, patient statements, appointments, and encounters. You can print reports based on specific filters; and if you have the required permissions, you can also reprint copies of recently printed paper claims. You can also enter notes and attach them to charges, the patient journal, and to patient statements. And lastly, you can change the collection category for a patient.
To access this task, do the following:
1. On the Patients menu, click View Patient Account.
The information accessible within the View Patient Account task is basically the same information found under the "Account" tab of an existing patient record. However, there are some slight differences between the two screens of which you should be aware. When you open the View Patient Account task, you will need to first select a patient prior to viewing the patient's account information. (On the other hand, if you were to open an existing patient record and then navigate to the "Account" tab of that record, since the patient record will have already been opened you do not have to take this extra step.)
Another difference between the two screens is that when you are in the View Patient Account task, you will see two rows of buttons on the Task Button Bar; the top row contains commands associated with the list area of the screen, and the bottom row contains only a Close button to close the task. On the other hand, when you are under the "Account" tab of an existing patient record, you will see two rows of buttons; the top row contains commands associated with the list area of the screen, and the bottom row contains commands related to the entire patient record (e.g., clicking Save would save any edits made to an existing patient record, clicking Delete would delete a patient record, etc.).
The View Patient Account task was created as a separate task to allow users to more quickly access a patient's account information directly from the Patients menu, However, know that you can perform the same functions described below while under the "Account" tab of an existing patient record.
2. Note that the View Patient Account task is separated into three areas, as described below.
The top area of the screen is where you will select the patient. Enter the patient's name or ID. Once you do this and tab from the field, the system will automatically search for the patient. If found, the full name of the patient will be displayed in the patient field with a solid underline so that you know a match was found. If there are two or more patients that match your query, a green dashed underline will display under the name that you entered indicating that there are two or more patients that match your query. Double-click on the name, and select the correct patient from the patient browser. If no match was found, a red squiggly line will appear under the name that you entered, double-click on the name, and use the search bar to locate the patient. For more information on locating a patient using the search function, see the relevant steps in Find Patient.)
After selecting the patient, if a guarantor and/or employer were entered on the patient record, that information will be displayed directly below the patient's name.
Next, the default case recorded on the patient record will be displayed within the Case field. If there is more than one case set up in the patient record, the Case field will default to "All Cases." You can select a specific case to view only activity related to that case by selecting the case from the drop-down list.
Once the patient and case are selected, the information about the primary and secondary insurance company related to the case will be displayed. Also certain other information will be displayed (e.g., collection category, statement note, last diagnosis, date of last visit, date of last payment, date of last statement, and the total dollar amount of unapplied payments).
The lower section of the screen will display a summary of charges for the case selected. Alternatively, by selecting a different item from the drop-down list in the Show field, you can quickly access other information associated with the patient case; including transaction detail, recent payments, recent statements, recent appointments, or recent encounters.
You can also use the additional filters within this section to filter a list by certain parameters. For example, you can view a list of charges based on a specific date range, a specific provider, and/or a specific status (e.g., All Charges, Open Charges, or Settled Charges); or you can view a list of transactions based on a specific date range, a specific provider, and/or a specific transaction type (e.g., All Transactions, Financial Transactions, Adjustments, Charges, Payments Received, Payments Applied, etc.).
Just below the list area is the Task Button Bar, which allows you to perform various functions related to the transactions area of the patient account. The button functions include the following:
Open: You can open most items within a list by clicking once on the item and then click the Open button; or simply double-click on an item to open it.
Add Note: To add a note to a specific charge, to the patient journal, or to a patient statement, click the Add Note button on the Task Button Bar; and then do the following:
To add a note to a specific charge, first select "Charges Summary" and then click once on the charge line item to select it, click the checkbox labeled Add note to charge, and then enter the note. Click the OK button on the right of the note section to save the note. Once saved, a check will appear in the checkbox to the left of the selected line item. To view a note that has been added to a line item, double-click on the item to open it and then click the " MEM - Memo" item within the list of transactions related to the charge.
To add a note to the patient journal and to the list of transactions, click the checkbox labeled Add note to patient journal, and then enter the note. Click OK to save the note. Once saved, this note will be added to both the Transactions Detail list as well as to the journaled notes area under the "General" section of the patient record.
To add a custom note to the next patient's statement, click the checkbox labeled Add note to patient statement, and then enter the note. (This message should not exceed 250 characters, including spaces between words. If you use all upper case characters, you may want to test a couple of statements with the vendor first before sending out a batch of statements.) Click OK to save the note. Once saved, this note will be printed on all future statements until you change or remove the note. The note will also display at the top right of the account screen. To remove a statement note, click the Clear Statement Note button. (Please be aware that when printing statements for this patient, any custom statement note that has been entered under the "Account" tab of a patient record, will replace any note that might have been added to the Global Message 2 text box in the Patient Statement Options task.)
Change Collection Category: To change the collection category for a patient, click the Change Collection Category button, select from the drop-down list of predefined categories, and then click OK. Note that once you click OK, the name of the new collection category will display at the top right of the account screen. Any Collection Alert message corresponding to the category selected will appear at the top center of various screens related to the patient. The Collection Alert message will be displayed in addition to any Patient Alert message that may have been entered under the "Alerts" tab of a patient record.
Note that when you create a new patient record, the collection category for that patient automatically defaults to "Current." However, the business office has the option at any time to change the collection category for any existing patient in the system. The list of collection categories in the account screen correspond to the collection categories that have been previously defined in the system. For more information, see Collection Categories Setup.)
Print Report: This button appears when you select either "Charges Summary" or "Transactions Detail" from the Show drop-down. Clicking the Print Report button prints a report based on your filtering selections (i.e., the printed report should match the contents of the list area).
Reprint Claim: This button appears when you select "Transactions Detail" from the Show drop-down. Selecting a recently printed paper claim and then clicking the Reprint Claim button reprints the claim. (Note that this button will be disabled if you do not have the required permissions to reprint claims.)
Note: To print a patient statement, you must first select "Recent Statements" from the Show drop-down and then double-click on a statement to open it. Once opened, click the Print button at the bottom of the statement.
3. To close the View Patient Account task, press the Esc key on your keyboard, or click the Close button on the Task Button Bar.
Still need help? Contact support here.