View Account Entry screen. View Video, 2 min. 15 sec.

Track Patient Portion
Each account has a Total Balance and another dollar amount called the "Amount Due Now." The Total Balance is the amount owed by this account to date, and it includes both what is expected from the patient and the insurance. The Amount Due Now is what you are expecting the patient to pay now, and generally is used to represent the patient portion of charges. The Track Patient Portion question regulates how the program handles the Amount Due Now. If you answer "No" to the Track Patient Portion question, the Balance and Amount Due Now simply will remain equal. For example, if you post a charge for $100, the Balance will increase by $100 and the Amount Due Now will also increase by $100. This means the patient will owe the entire amount of the charge at the time the charge is posted. If you answer Yes, the Amount Due Now will be used to represent the patient portion of the balance only, with the remainder considered owed (for the time being) by the insurance.

Benefit Calculation
This question is only asked if the Track Patient Portion item was answered Yes. There are two choices for Benefit Calculation, "Automatic" and "Manual."

Manual Benefit Calculation
With this choice, as posting proceeds, the Balance will increment with the fee. However the Amount Due Now will not increase unless you manually change it. You may manually set the Amount Due Now to be any amount you desire (as long as it's not larger than the Balance). The purpose is to closely approximate what the patient portion of the charges will be. The patient is supposed to pay the Amount Due Now immediately. After the insurance payment is received, any remaining balance will be billed to the patient. Manual Benefit Calculation can lead to an account having a positive Balance with the Amount Due Now remaining at zero. If this was left unattended, the patient would never be billed. To counter this, a special parameter of the Accounts Receivable report called the "Zero Due Now Tracker" finds accounts with positive Balances and zero Due Nows that look suspicious and presents them to you in a report.

Automatic Benefit Calculation
The Automatic Benefit Calculation feature will increment the Amount Due Now based on the insurance benefits entered into this patient's Benefit Plan record.

Insurance Button
If you selected Yes for the "Insured" option, the Insurance button will become enabled. After filling out the Responsible Party screen, click the Insurance button to access the Insurance Subscriber screen. This screen is discussed in detail in the Insurance Subscriber section.