The Bill Payment screen is displayed when choosing Pay Now after searching for a bill. It allows an admin to capture payment towards the bill. 

How would you like to pay?

You may choose to pay immediately, schedule a payment on a future date, or set up a payment plan (if enabled for the provider in configuration). Then, choose a payment method of credit card or ACH (if enabled for your provider in configuration) and enter payment details. You can also access any cards on file from the guarantor's digital wallet. Or securely capture payment via an encrypted USB swiper or EMV card reader (chip or contactless).

The default is to pay the balance in full, but the admin can adjust the payment amount using the pencil icon next to Total Due.

Figure 81 - Bill Payment

Pay Now

Choose Pay Now to submit a payment immediately.

Pay Later

Choose Pay Later to schedule a payment on a specified date in the future. It must be within 60 days.

Payment Plan

Choose Payment Plan to setup a payment plan to pay off the bill balance over a series of installments. A payment plan can be set to draft installments weekly, bi-monthly (twice per month) and monthly in Admin Configuration. This will be shown once the installment count is chosen. If the admin chooses a bi-monthly plan, the start date must be the 15^th or 30^th (28^th or 29^th for February) to keep installments at twice per month. PatientPay will present plan options based on the balance due for the bill. Once the user chooses an option, the plan's total cost is provide including interest and annual percentage rate (APR). If the option requires a minimum down payment, that is prefilled. The patient/guarantor can always pay more to reduce the installment amount or interest paid. If the plan option requires a setup fee, that is also populated in the Payment Summary section's breakdown of fees.

Once the admin has chosen the plan option, set the down payment, and chosen the plan start date, they will proceed to the Payment Method section to select a payment method before submitting payment.

Figure 84 - Setup Payment Plan

The first time a patient/guarantor enrolls in a plan, the Payment Plan Communication Preferences dialog will be displayed to prompt for the email and mobile number. This is to ensure we have either email or phone number on file for communication on when a plan is about to draft an installment, receipts, payment failures or plan cancellations.

Figure 86 - Communication Preferences

If Admin Configuration for payment plans is configured to require the patient/guarantor to sign a plan agreement, upon pressing Submit Payment, the plan agreement will be presented for review/signing.

After checking each required box and electronically signing the document, the ACCEPT AND PAY button will be enabled.

A success message will pop up once the payment plan is set up.

Figure 87 - Payment Plan Setup Successfully

To access the signed plan agreement after plan setup, simply click the Payment plan setup successfully in Admin hyperlink in Bill History and a PDF of the agreement will be downloaded to the browser.

Payment Method

This section allows the admin to specify the payment method to use for the bill payment. This is controlled by the available payment methods configured for the provider in Admin Configuration. Any saved cards or bank accounts on file will be presented first for convenience. You can edit or delete a card on file using the icons next to each payment method. The delete icon is disabled if a payment method is enrolled in an active payment plan, subscription or Auto-Pay.

Figure 80 - Choosing a Payment Method

Using USB Card Swipers

USB card swipers can be used with Admin’s payment screens to enter a new Credit/Debit card. Once you have chosen the “New Credit/Debit Card” option, you can swipe the card from anywhere on the Pay Now or Create Payment screen and it will automatically populate the card number and expiration date. You will still be required to manually enter the CVV and billing zipcode. To learn more about the supported USB card swipers, visit here.

Using EMV Card Readers

EMV Card Readers (aka chip readers) can be used with Admin’s payment screens to enter a new Credit/Debit card. The transaction is encrypted end-to-end for additional security. If your organization has card readers configured in Admin Configuration, the drop-down list will let you select the device using a friendly name. Upon pressing Submit Payment, PatientPay will communicate with the device through your organization's payment processor. The patient/guarantor will be prompted to insert their card into the chip reader or use the touchless reader to submit payment. They will be asked to confirm the payment amount and their billing zipcode to secure the transaction. To learn more about the supported EMV card readers, visit here.

Payment Summary

The Payment Summary section summarizes the payment before you submit.

If you have Payment Locations defined for the provider for which you are paying the bill, the Bill Payment screen will display a location drop-down and require a selection before submitting payment. This populates the payment location on the Transaction Report and Transaction Detail screen.

Figure 83 - Payment Location Selection

The admin must press Submit Payment to finalize the transaction. The Review and Confirm Payment dialog is displayed after pressing Submit Payment to confirm the admin is ready to submit payment.

Figure 82 - Payment Confirmation

Updating Payment Plan

Once a payment plan is set up, admins will have the ability to update the installments, update the payment method, update installment date, cancel a payment plan or make a partial payment. If a bill is currently enrolled in a Payment Plan and you choose Update Plan from the Bill Summary screen, you will be shown the Make Payment screen with options to update your payment plan.

Figure 88 - Update Payment Plan

You have the following options:

• Update the number of installments
• Update the payment method used for payment plan installments (e.g., card on file expires)
• Update the installment date to a future date (must be within 60 days)
• Stop / cancel the payment plan
• Make partial payment

Update Installments

Admins can update the installments within available tiers or customize installments (if enabled for the provider in Admin Configuration and user has permissions). The Update Installments option will display a list of available plan options based on the current bill balance. If any of the plan options includes interest, the summary for the option will outline the total interest and annual percentage rate (APR). Down payment and setup fee will not be charged when updating a payment plan.

Figure 89 - Update Installments
 

Choose your plan option and press Update Plan to commit your changes. The blue box will summarize the installment breakdown until the balance is paid in full.

Figure 90 - Choose Installments

Update Payment Method

Admins can modify the credit/debit card or ACH details used for an active payment plan should the expiration date or other information change. The current payment method is displayed so that the user can decide if it needs to change:

Figure 91 - Update Payment Method

Update Installment Date

Admins can modify installment date within the next 60 calendar days. The date can be entered via keyboard or using the date picker.

Figure 92 - Update Installment Date

Stopping / Cancelling the Payment Plan

Admins can stop a payment plan by choosing the Stop Payment Plan option. Once a reason is provided and Update Plan is pressed, the payment plan will be cancelled, and the patient/guarantor will receive notification via email / SMS text. The bill will go back to Due status (or Suspended status if the previous status was Suspended).

Figure 93 - Stop Payment Plan

Make Partial Payment

Admins can accept a partial payment on a bill that has an active payment plan set up. The payment plan will be automatically adjusted after partial payment is made.

Payment Plan Business Rules

PatientPay receives balance updates via Ingestion, as well as updates via patients/admins that can influence the disposition of an active payment plan. Below outlines the business rules around payment plan updates and behavior.

Plans with Interest

The following outlines the business rules for payment plans that charge interest:

• If the balance increases via Ingestion, the plan is cancelled as it breaks the signed agreement with the patient/guarantor in terms of installments and interest; the patient/guarantor is notified via email / SMS text so they can setup a new payment plan
   
• If the balance decreases via Ingestion or partial payment, the plan continues with the same installment amount and the number of installments decreases (recalculating interest based on new balance)
   
• If patient or admin chooses Update Plan > Change Installments
  • Existing plan’s remaining installments in ledger are updated based on selected plan option and adjusted balance
  • Existing payment method is kept intact
  • Do not collect setup fee or down payment a second time
  • Patient/guarantor is asked to sign a new plan agreement and overwrite existing plan

Plans without Interest

The following outlines the business rules for payment plans that charge interest:

• If the balance increases via Ingestion, keep the same installment amount and increase the number of installments
   
• If the balance decreases via Ingestion or partial payment, keep the same installment amount and decrease the number of installments
   
• If patient or admin chooses Update Plan > Change Installments
  • Existing plan’s remaining installments in ledger are updated based on selected plan option and adjusted balance
  • Existing payment method is kept intact
  • Do not collect setup fee or down payment a second time

Auto-Pay

If the Auto-Pay feature flag is enabled for an provider, the admin will have the option to enroll the patient/guarantor in Auto-Pay when paying a bill. This allows a new bill to be paid automatically using the card or bank account on file. Below is the toggle switch for Auto-Pay on Admin’s Pay Now screen. It will appear below the New Credit/Debit Card or ACH.

Figure 94 Auto-Pay Enrollment

Upon toggling Auto-Pay on, the admin has the option to specify a maximum amount for any bill for the selected provider. The default is blank which means no maximum (all bills are paid automatically). If the provider has a default maximum configured, it will be prefilled here and the admin can change the value at any time.

Upon pressing Submit Payment, the payment will be made immediately for the current bill, and the payment method will be enrolled for Auto-Pay for this provider for any new bills. The next time a new bill is created for this provider, the payment method will be queued up for a scheduled payment. At that moment, the patient will receive email/text communication confirming bill payment is set up. Three days prior to the draft of payment, the guarantor/patient will receive email/text communication indicating their card or bank account is about to be drafted. They can login to the Patient Portal using the secure link provided and cancel the scheduled payment or pay the balance in full.

Once a payment method is configured for Auto-Pay for a given provider (only one is allowed per), the Auto-Pay badge will be shown in the listing. This lets the admin know which payment method, if any, is configured for Auto-Pay.

If they wish to unenroll Auto-Pay, they can simply edit the payment method from the bill payment screen or via Guarantor Details > Payment Methods.

Figure 95 - Edit Payment Method / Auto-Pay

Technology Fee

If the Service Fee feature flag is enabled for an provider, and the bill amount exceeds the configured threshold, the Pay Now screen will automatically calculate a technology fee and apply it to the payment when paying with credit/debit card. This includes cards on file. A fee is not calculated when using Bank Account/ACH. Providers use this feature to pass on card processing fees associated with higher bill balances.

Below the New Credit/Debit Card payment method, a message is displayed to the admin explaining the fee (configurable in Admin Config). Additionally, a “Technology fee” line item is added to the bill payment summary so the admin is aware of the fees included. The fee percentage is also configurable in Admin Config). If the edit makes a partial payment, and the updated bill amount falls below the threshold, the fee will be $0. Below we show the Bill Payment screen when Service Fee is enabled.

Figure 96 - Admin Pay Now Technology Fee