Processing e-checks

 

E-checks (electronic checks) are checks scanned at the practice level.

Payments can be made using business/corporate e-checks or personal e-checks.

 

athenaOne determines the type of check based on reviewing the number in the top right corner and the numbers in the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) line at the bottom, regardless of the check type selected in the Collect Payment page and who is paying (patient or payer).

 

Note: If the account number, check number, or routing number is missing (or invalid) on the check you are scanning, athenaOne displays a warning message and does not process the check.

 

If you do not want athenahealth to process your business/corporate e-checks, you can collect the payment at time of service, record in the patient activity page as "cash/other" and payment method: check, and not scan the check. This will get posted immediately and then the check can be deposited at a local bank.

 

	Business/Corporate e-check	Personal e-check
MICR line format	The number in the top right corner of the check matches the first set of numbers in the MICR line.	The number in the top right corner of the check matches the last set of numbers in the MICR line. (MICR line format: Routing# Account # Check# )
Processor	athenahealth Financial Processing Services (FPS) team processes business and corporate e-checks with U.S. Bank.	Elavon
Processing time	Scanned checks are processed in one to seven days.   Important: Please take the one-to-seven-day processing delay into account when planning for month-end reconciliation.	One business day before 8 PM (EST) otherwise the next day.
View payment activity	Do not submit these checks to U.S. Bank manually, as it will cause duplicate records. Print or Save the receipt before you close the receipt window. Otherwise, you must wait until the check is processed before printing the receipt. After a business or corporate e-check is scanned, processed, and posted to the claim or patient account, you can view the transaction on the Patient Activity page. The receipt does not appear on the E-Payment Activity page or the Nonpatient Payment Activity page. Note: Business and corporate e-check payment information does not appear on the Manage Time-of-Service Money page, Time Of Service Payment Summary page, or the Time of Service Collections report.	Payment is reflected automatically in E-payment activity page / patient activity page