Charges and payments

A service charge references the encounter, describes the service, records the amount and carries a status from draft through approved and invoiced, or voided. A payment references the patient and records receipt date, amount, reference and confirmation state. These are separate records: an approved charge is a decision about a service amount, while a confirmed payment records money received. The Clinical Coordinator can review draft charges against the care episode before recording the next status.

• Encounter charge. The coordinator checks service description and amount against the linked visit.
• Patient receipt. A payment references the patient, receipt date and reference rather than the encounter.
• Separate states. Charge approval, invoicing and payment confirmation answer different questions.

Agree who may enter and approve a charge, when it is invoiced and when a void is appropriate. Set the naming convention for service descriptions and payment references so staff can reconcile records later. Decide how the practice handles a refund and how staff compare a receipt with existing billing records. The core charge and payment records should retain enough identifiers for a person to compare them with that external system.

Use an encounter with one service charge. The coordinator checks the encounter, description and amount while the charge is draft, then records the approved status only after the practice’s decision. Inspect a patient payment with a receipt date and reference; verify its recorded state before treating it as confirmed. Test a mistaken amount separately using the voided charge state, so the original decision remains visible.

Before opening a new operating cycle, compare one invoiced charge and one confirmed payment with the patient and encounter references. The payment does not carry an encounter link, so staff should use its reference and received date when reconciling it with the billing record. A refund has its own payment status. Keep a voided charge visible during the review so the next coordinator can understand why the amount was removed from the current queue.

• Draft charges — Open the relevant records and check their current status before work begins.
• Payments awaiting confirmation — Inspect the linked person, date and evidence before the next handoff.

Follow the care process and the access model. For setup sequence, see implementation.