Refund Checks In Process

athenaCollector

athenaOne for Hospitals & Health Systems  

This page allows you to view a list of refunds that have been approved and record the refund check numbers. After you record and save a refund check number, the refund check disappears from the list of refunds in process.

 

On the Main Menu, click Financials. Under REFUNDS, click Refunds in Progress

 

 

 

  1. Display the Refund Checks In Process page: On the Main Menu, click Financials. Under REFUNDS, click Refunds in Progress.
  2. Date — Enter the appropriate date range or select a pre-populated range.
  3. Payment method — Select a payment method.
  4. Provider group — (appears if your practice is an athenaEnterprise organization) Select a provider group.
  5. Click Find Refund Checks In Process to display transactions.
    A table of refund checks in process appears.
  6. Add Check # — Enter the refund check number. You can tab between fields if you are entering more than one.
  7. Click Save.
    Note: Click Download as CSV to download a list of these transactions, along with address information, to a file. The CSV report also contains a Transaction ID column, which provides a unique identifier for each refund check.

 

  1. Display the Issue Patient Refund page: On the Patient Actions Bar, click Billing, and then click Issue Patient Refund.
  2. Refund as — Select Cash, check or non-athena system refund.

  3. Unapplied — Click the checkbox next to Refund Amount and enter the amount to be refunded. The maximum amount that you can refund is equal to the patient's credit balance.

  4. Method — Select the payment method of the refund. This method is most commonly a check.
    Important: athenaOne cannot issue actual refund checks for you. You must generate the refund check from the relevant practice bank account checkbook or using another refund method that you manage within your practice. If you use athenaMailbox, in most cases, patient refunds issued with a Payment method type of Check can be issued from your local/TOS bank rather than U.S. Bank. A Cut Refund Check Remittance Record will be created for refunds using U.S. Bank.

  5. Check # — Leave this field blank.

  6. Deposit location — Select the deposit location where the check will be deposited. The Bank Account menu selection is updated automatically.
  7. Refund total — This total reflects the amount that you entered under Refund Amount (in Step 3).
  8. Date of service — Enter the date of service that the money is being refunded for (if applicable).
  9. Refunded for department — If the refund is attached to a particular department, select the department.
  10. Note — Enter a note regarding the refund.
  11. Click Post Refund. The posted refund appears in the list on the Refund Checks In Process page. (After the accounting department issues the check, you can fill in the check number on the Refund Checks In Process page.) The refund also appears in the patient's Billing Summary as a transaction of type UNAPPLIED CREDIT with a reason REFUND.

 

 

 

The Refund Checks In Process page displays all refunds — both to patients and payers — that have been posted, but do not have check numbers associated with them (assuming that a refund will be issued as soon as a check is cut).

 

For insurance refunds, if you do not have the check number at the time that the refund is posted (if it was not entered from the Payment Batch or Issue Insurance Refund page), the refund appears listed on the Refund Checks In Process page.

 

To manage patient refunds, you can set up policies to identify and refund eligible patient balances automatically using the Patient Refund Policies page. A refund policy specifies the criteria that a patient account must meet in order for your practice to issue a refund to a patient.

 

You can also issue refunds manually on the batch scale using the Patient Refund Worklist if your practice prefers to have an additional approval step in the refund process. To use the Patient Refund Worklist, you must first set up at least one policy on the Patient Refund Policies page.

 

Note: Patients who do not have a primary department listed cannot be refunded. If you set up an automated policy, these patients will not be automatically refunded.

 

Tip: You can also add a refund check number via the Add Check / CC Number page.

 

 

If your practice records refunds and enters refund check numbers separately, run the Refund Checks In Process worklist and enter check numbers on a weekly basis.

 

 

 

Column headings
Provider Group Provider group for the refund check. This column appears for athenaEnterprise organizations.
Patient ID

ID number of the patient to whom you are sending a refund check.
Patient Name

Name of the patient to whom you are sending a refund check.
Insurance Package

Name of the insurance package associated with this refund.
Payment Method In most cases, this column displays "CHECKS."
Date Of Service

Date of service associated with this refund.
Date Requested

Date that the refund was requested (via the Issue Insurance Refund or Issue Patient Refund page).
Created By

Username of the person who posted the refund.
Amount

Amount of the refund.

 

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