View Charge Entry screen. View Video, 2 min. 29 sec.

Started And Finished
The status designations Started and Finished have been especially designed for multiple-appointment procedures.  When you record a procedure with the Started option the Start Date will be recorded.  The Finish Date will be left blank.  The entire charge will be charged on the Start Date.  From an accounting point of view, Started and Done will have the same effect.  When the procedure is completed this Started procedure will be edited and re-recorded using the Finished status option.  At that time the Finish Date will be recorded but no new charges will be added to the account since the entire fee was added when the procedure was first posted.

Using the Done option for multiple-appointment procedures is fine, but it has certain drawbacks.  A case in point:  assume you are going to use the Done status entry for a crown.  Remember, in that case, multiple-appointment procedures are not posted until the last visit when the procedure is actually completed.  The fee for the crown is $400.  At the end of the first visit, you may be expecting some or all of the payment.  Assume the patient pays the entire $400. On the patient's billing statement, the Balance will now read $-400 (negative $400).  Since you are waiting for the last appointment to post the procedure, the $400 for the crown has not been added to the patient's Balance. However, the payment, which was posted, is subtracted from whatever the Balance is, in this case zero. Furthermore, the patient's billing statement, which normally details what was done that day, will be blank, again, because it was not yet posted. And also, even though you may have spent an hour doing the crown preparation and impression, nothing will show up on the Day Sheet report except the payment.  Finally, if you wish to print an insurance form for this item after the crown prep you cannot because it has not been posted. Using the Started choice will have several effects that will solve these shortcomings.  The Started option is used on the first appointment of a multiple-appointment procedure.  The Finished status option is used on the last appointment of a multiple-appointment procedure. The following paragraphs will describe the effects of the Started and Finished status options.

The Started option has many of the same effects as the Done option.  The fee for the procedure is added to the patient Balance immediately, and the procedure will appear on the patient's billing statement.  The procedure will also appear on the Day Sheet Report with its full fee.  The procedure may be printed on an insurance form and sent for payment.  The date used for the insurance form will be the date the procedure was posted as Started.  The Finished Date will be left blank for the time being. When printing an insurance form for a procedure that has been Started (but not Finished), the Start Date will be the one used on the insurance form. After a procedure has been posted as Finished and the Finished Date field is no longer blank, it is the Finished Date that will be used for insurance form printing.

On the final appointment of the multiple-appointment procedure, the procedure will be accessed again by clicking on its Edit button.  The Mark Started Procedure As Finished screen will open. Just click the Mark As Finished button to set the procedure to Finished. The Finished Date field, which was formerly blank, will now display whatever the current date is.  This can be modified if desired.  With two exceptions, all areas of the program consider the Start Date as the date for that procedure.  The Finish Date will be used on insurance claim form print-outs (for Finished procedures) and the Day Sheet Report will display both the Start and Finish dates.