Collections Discrepancy Type

 

A Collections Discrepancy remittance record is created as a placeholder for funds that cannot be posted for one of these reasons:

• No collections adjustment is in place for the patient.
• The charges on the statement from the collection agency do not reference athenaOne charges for collections.

 

Review the collections payment in the remittance record and compare it to patient claims/voided claims to determine whether the payment needs to be applied in athenaOne or in a legacy system, or if the payment needs to be refunded to the patient.

 

Review the patient account to determine whether a new charge should be created or a current charge corrected. Route the remittance record with the matching charge information back to athenahealth for posting.

 

 

Generate an Unpostables Worklist

1. Display the Find Unpostables page: On the Main Menu, click Financials. Under PAYMENTS, click Unpostables. In the left menu, under UNPOSTABLE REMITTANCE, click Find Unpostables.
2. Unpostable status — Select OPEN.
3. Responsible party — Select Practice.
4. Unpostable type — Select Collections Discrepancy.
5. Click Generate Worklist.
   The Unpostables Worklist appears in the Task Bar.

Display the unpostable record

6. From the worklist in the Task Bar, click the Collections Discrepancy bar to expand the worklist.
7. Click the linked unpostable ID number for the remittance record/unpostable in the worklist.
   The Remittance Record page appears in the Workspace.

In the Status section

8. Under Select an action to resolve or reassign record, select the Find matching charges option.

9. Click the Find matching charge link.
   The Match Unpostable to Charge page opens in a new window.
10. Enter the patient information in the search fields (for example, claim ID, patient ID, patient name, etc.).
11. Click Find.
    The search results appear below the Find button.
12. Select the patient. The Possible Charges section appears.
    Note: Charges highlighted in yellow have the highest probability of a match.
13. Select the appropriate charge for the patient.

Add optional instructions and save the updated unpostable

14. If additional instructions are required, select the Add a note or instructions option to display the Note field, and enter a detailed note.
    For example, you may want to specify that only a subset of the unpostable value should be posted to that charge or that multiple claims/patients should be posted with the record amount.
15. Click Select under the charge. The charge or patient that you selected appears under the Find matching charges option.
16. Click Submit.

After you match the Collections Discrepancy record to a claim or patient account, athenaOne takes one of the following actions:

• athenaOne zeroes out and closes the unpostable with the event "Match Identified and Posted."
• athenaOne opens a new corrections payment batch in which the payment posts to the selected charge or patient. The notes on the unpostable specify the payment batch, for example, "Unpostable will be processed in ERA Batch: ____, Corrections Payment Batch: ____."
• athenaOne queues the batch for posting. The payment batch remains out of balance until it is posted and closed. athenaOne imports the images from the unpostable into the new payment batch for viewing when the batch is closed and the payment posts. The notes in the new payment batch reference the unpostable from which the payment batch is being processed: "Corrections batch for unpostable ____."
  
  Note: If the unpostable does not meet the criteria, the unpostable returns to athenahealth for manual review and posting.

 

Generate an Unpostables Worklist

1. Display the Find Unpostables page: On the Main Menu, click Financials. Under PAYMENTS, click Unpostables. In the left menu, under UNPOSTABLE REMITTANCE, click Find Unpostables.
   The Find Unpostables page appears.
2. Unpostable status — Select OPEN.
3. Responsible party — Select Practice.
4. Unpostable type — Select Collections Discrepancy.
5. Click Generate Worklist.
   The Unpostables Worklist appears in the Task Bar.

Display the unpostable record

6. From the worklist in the Task Bar, click the Collections Discrepancy bar to expand the worklist.
7. Click the linked unpostable ID number for the remittance record/unpostable in the worklist.
   The Remittance Record page appears in the Workspace.

In the Status section

8. Review the notes provided by athenahealth.
9. Take the required actions described in the notes.

10. Under Select an action to resolve or reassign record, select the Update status and reassign record option.
11. Update status — Select Posted to Foreign System.
12. Note — Enter detailed information about the actions you've taken.
13. Click Submit.

 

Write the refund check and send it to the patient, then record the transaction in athenaOne.

Note: Write down the number of the refund check that you sent to the patient. You will need the check number when you create the payment batch.

 

Generate an Unpostables Worklist

1. Display the Find Unpostables page: On the Main Menu, click Financials. Under PAYMENTS, click Unpostables. In the left menu, under UNPOSTABLE REMITTANCE, click Find Unpostables.
   The Find Unpostables page appears.
2. Unpostable status — Select OPEN.
3. Responsible party — Select Practice.
4. Unpostable type — Select Collections Discrepancy.
5. Click Generate Worklist.
   The Unpostables Worklist appears in the Task Bar.

Display the unpostable record

6. From the worklist in the Task Bar, click the Collections Discrepancy bar to expand the worklist.
7. Click the linked unpostable ID number for the remittance record/unpostable in the worklist.
   The Remittance Record page appears in the Workspace.
   Important: Make a note of the amount and ID of the record. You will need this information to continue the refund process.
   

Create the negative deposit batch

8. On the Remittance Record page, under the Payment Batches heading, click Create New Batch.
   The Prepare Deposit Batch page appears.
9. Scroll down to the Enter Deposit Batch heading.
10. Deposit Date — Enter today's date as the deposit date.
11. Bank Account — Select the bank account.
12. Deposit Amt — Enter the deposit amount. This amount will be a negative number that is equal to the unpostable amount you are refunding (for example, if the unpostable amount is $50.00, the deposit batch total will be: -$50.00). Write down this amount because you will need to use it throughout this process.
13. Bank Deposit Type — Select the bank deposit type. Generally, you should select Cash & Checks.
14. Checks Deposited By Site? — Select Yes.

Under the Enter Payment Batches heading

15. Target Amount — Enter the target amount of your payment batch. The target amount should be the same as your deposit amount (a negative amount).
16. Check # — Enter the number of the check that you used to refund the patient.
17. Notes — Enter a note indicating "refund for remittance record ID#___."
18. Click Save. The page refreshes with the new information.
19. Locate the yellow Payment Batch Detail line where the Parent ID column is populated with the text "PARENT."
20. Click update.
    The Edit Payment Batch page appears.

On the Edit Payment Batch page

21. Click the assign to (your username) button to the right of the Opened by field. The page reloads.
22. Click Save.
23. Click the record ID link in the Unpostables Worklist to redisplay the Remittance Record page.

Update the Remittance Record as a refund

24. In the Status section, under the Select an action to resolve or reassign record heading, select the Update status and reassign record option.
25. Update status — Select Refunded Payer.
26. Note — Enter a note indicating that this record is being refunded with an offset unpostable.
27. Click Submit to save the record with the updated record details. The unpostable changes to CLOSED status.
28. In the Payment Batch Status Summary section, click add unpostable. The Add Unpostable page appears.

Create the offset unpostable record

29. Amount — Enter the amount of the offset unpostable. This unpostable should be the exact opposite of the unpostable record that is being refunded (for example, if the unpostable record that is being refunded is for $50.00, the offset unpostable created for the purposes of refunding should be -$50.00).
30. Type — Select Offset.
31. Note — Enter a note indicating "refund for remittance record ID#___."
32. Click Save.
33. In the Payment Batch Status Summary section at the top of the page, click manage unpostables.
    The Find Unpostables page appears, with the Payment batch ID field populated with the batch you need.

On the Find Unpostables page

34. Click Generate Worklist at the top of the page. The offset remittance record/unpostable you created appears in the Task Bar.
35. In the Task Bar, click the record ID link to display the Remittance Record page in the Workspace.

Close the offset unpostable and close the payment batch

36. In the Status section, under the Select an action to resolve or reassign record heading, select the Update status and reassign record option.
37. Update status — Select Recorded in General Ledger.
38. Click Submit to close the unpostable.
39. In the Payment Batch Status Summary section, click close payment batch.