In the billing app, the Family Balance feature is designed to streamline automated outreach for accounts with multiple patients. This help article explains how Family Balance works, how to manage manual payment requests, and key details about automated messaging to ensure effective communication with your account holders.
Family Balance
Family Balance consolidates the financial status of a family account into a single balance for automated outreach purposes. Here’s how it functions:
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Single Balance: The family account is treated as one unified balance.
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Impact of Credits: If there’s a credit on the account, it reflects in the family balance. As a result, no automated messages will be sent to the patient or account, even if individual balances might suggest otherwise.
This approach simplifies outreach by focusing on the overall financial standing of the family account.
Payment Requests
To message an individual within a family account separately, you’ll need to send a payment request manually. Follow these steps:
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Go to the "Create a Payment" popup in the billing app.
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Select the "Payment Request" option.
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Complete the prompts to send a tailored message to the specific individual.
This manual method allows you to target communication when automated outreach isn’t suitable.
Account Detail Page
The account detail page offers a clear view of the family balance. On this page, you can access:
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Overall Family Balance: The total balance for the account.
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Breakdown by Patient: A detailed list of credits and balances for each patient within the account.
This breakdown helps you understand the financial details of the family account and make informed decisions about payments and outreach.
Automated Outreach
For automated messaging, the guarantor is the key contact. Here’s what you need to know:
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Primary Contact: The guarantor is always the recipient of automated messages about the family balance.
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Contact Information: Ensure the guarantor’s contact details (e.g., phone number or email) are accurate and up-to-date in the patient or account record.
Having reliable contact information for the guarantor is essential for successful automated outreach.
Individual Balances
If you prefer to manage individual balances and send automated messages to specific patients about their own balances (rather than treating the account as one family balance), this can be configured. To set this up:
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Contact your account manager.
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Explain your preference for individual balance messaging.
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Your account manager will adjust the system to meet your needs.
This option provides more flexibility and allows for personalized automated outreach tailored to your office’s workflow.
Conclusion
The Family Balance feature, combined with manual payment requests and automated outreach options, gives you the tools to manage billing communications effectively. Whether you’re reviewing the family balance breakdown on the account detail page or configuring individual balance messaging with your account manager, the billing app offers flexibility to suit your needs. For any questions or assistance, reach out to your account manager for support.