To provide patients with flexible options and streamline your practice’s payment process, you can make payment requests optional for your online-booked, in-person appointment types - for appointments where payments aren’t enabled.
Patients can then choose to add a payment method via Apple Pay, Google Pay or a stored card they've previously used, or choose to pay directly via your practice reception.
This allows you to seamlessly collect payments through HotDoc for more appointment types with confidence, reducing front desk queues and giving your reception staff greater visibility into patient payment preferences. The patient's card is not charged until you collect this after the appointment.
Please see the guide below for how this works.
How does Flexible Checkout work?
Patients can optionally add a payment method for your online-booked, in-person appointment types at your practice that don’t have payment settings enabled. This excludes your Telehealth appointment types.
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When a patient opts in and selects a payment method, we will write this back to the patient's appointment to indicate that payments via HotDoc is preferred for the patient
You will see an ‘Paying via HotDoc’ status in the Sidebar
- You will see an ‘HD$’ note in their appointment in your book,
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You will see a ‘Paying via HotDoc’ note in their appointment in your book.
You can add a website link with your practice fees if you have this available, which will be shown to the patient in the patient journey so they can understand the estimated costs.
Once the patient has finished their visit, you can charge the patient the final amount on their invoice.
If the patient does not attend their appointment, you can collect a no-show fee.
Please see the sections below for how to set up, what this looks like for the patient when booking, as well as your reception team.
How to enable or disable Flexible Checkout in your Dashboard
Go to Payments > Payments Setup > Account Settings tab:
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Scroll to “Flexible Checkout” and check or uncheck the box:
If you are enabling Flexible Checkout, you can optionally insert a link to your practice fees in the “Website of your fees” section, if this is available on your website. This will be shown to the patient when booking.
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Click the green Save button:
Patient Journey - What does it look like for the patient?
When a patient is booking online and they book for an appointment that does not have payments enabled, they will see the option to add a payment method for their booking. They will also see a link to your website's practice fees if you linked this in your Dashboard settings.
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Most patients who are exempt from payment will not be shown the Flexible Checkout screen.
However, it does not include:
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The patient will then select their existing stored card, add a new payment method, or choose to ‘pay manually at reception’:
The patient will proceed to book their appointment, and in their Appointment History in their HotDoc account, they will see that their selected payment method will be charged via HotDoc after the consult, "Automatic pay after consult"
Reception Journey - How it appears in your Dashboard/Sidebar, and how to collect payment.
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Once patients optionally add their payment method, this will appear in your appointment book, Sidebar, and Dashboard like so:
In the Sidebar: In the “Payments to action” tab, you will see the patient’s appointment with a “Paying via HotDoc" status
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Appointment book - With a note “Paying via HotDoc (Card Stored)” and “HD$” at the beginning of the appointment tile so that you know the patient is paying via HotDoc.
In Best Practice:
In Pracsoft:
In Zedmed:
In the Dashboard: In the “Payments > Booking Activity > Collect ” section, you will see the patient’s appointment details and a 'Paying via HotDoc' tag, and the Estimated cost column will indicate “$-”. This allows you to charge the patient the final amount once they’ve completed their appointment and all item numbers have been added.
Once the patient’s appointment time has passed or the status is in billing, you can collect payment for their appointment.
If collecting in the Sidebar, please see: How to collect payments in the HotDoc Sidebar |
FAQs
How does Flexible Checkout benefit our practice?
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Flexible Checkout helps your practice save time at checkout after an appointment by letting patients choose how they’ll pay when booking online – either via Apple Pay or Google Pay, a stored card or at reception.
In turn, this gives you valuable insight into your patients’ payment preferences, helping you cater towards your tech-savvy patients.
If you’re prone to having long queues at reception or your team is inundated with calls, you can complete more check-outs with speed and ease by processing the Payment in the HotDoc Sidebar.
Do I have to accept the payment via HotDoc if a patient enters their payment details for Flexible Checkout?
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Flexible Checkout allows patients to indicate their payment preference to you; however, you always remain in control of how the payment is processed. If the patient has opted to pay online, you can still process the payment via your reception terminal if required.
What happens if a patient chooses to store their payment details, but we decide to process the payment via the practice instead?
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If you decide to process the payment via the practice instead, HotDoc will not charge the patient’s payment method.
Can I choose to only have Flexible Checkout on for some appointment types?
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When enabled, Flexible Checkout allows patients to store their payment details when booking any appointment type that is bookable online.
As a practice, you still remain in control of how that payment is ultimately processed – whether that be via HotDoc or directly at the practice.
What if a patient inputs their details for Flexible Checkout but we choose to bulk-bill?
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Flexible Checkout allows reception to complete payment in line with the patient’s preference to pay online. However, the practice can still choose to submit a Medicare claim electronically as usual and opt not to proceed with the Flexible Checkout charge.
If a patient prefers to receive their rebate immediately, payment can instead be processed via the terminal, following your usual workflow. As the patient has selected Flexible Checkout as their preferred payment method and the full appointment fee is being collected, reception may also submit an electronic Medicare claim in line with existing clinic processes.
Will Flexible Checkout payments be automatically taken if we use BP Payments Automations?
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If you have Best Practice Payments Automations enabled, HotDoc will collect the payment via Flexible Checkout if you follow the process of selecting ‘Store’ within the BP Invoice.
If you bulk-bill the appointment or the patient pays via a different method, HotDoc will not collect payment.
Can we opt out of Flexible Checkout?
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Yes, you can disable the feature at any time in Payments Settings within your Dashboard.
Is Flexible Checkout available for Telehealth appointments?
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No, it is only for online-booked, in-person appointments.
How does this feature work with patient payment exemptions?
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Most patients who are exempt from payment will not be shown the Flexible Checkout screen.
This applies to:
Individual patient exemptions
Age exemptions (for existing patients)
However, it does not apply to:
Concession card exemptions