HotDoc Payments is a service that allows patients to be automatically charged for a consultation that they have booked via the HotDoc Online Booking page. 

How does the patient pay?

A patient may attempt to create an online booking with their HotDoc account for your clinic. See Online Bookings Patient Journey to learn more about this. 

1. After a patient selects an appointment type, practitioner and time, they will be directed to either enter a new payment method, or choose from an existing method they have already attached to their HotDoc account:
   
   
   
2. The patient will then see a confirmation dialogue confirming their appointment choice:
   
   
   
   
3. If the patient is yet to add a payment method to their account, they will be prompted to do so after selecting Yes, book now. The patient must select Add payment method and must add a method within 30 minutes of making their booking:
   
   
   
   
4. The patient will then be asked to fill in the following fields to add a payment method:
   
   
   
5. The patient is able to see the appointment in their Appointments tab once booked:
   
   
   
   
6. Once the patient has attended their appointment and it has been marked as seen or gone (depending on your clinical software), they will see the charge in the app and an email will be sent to them to confirm that their payment has been successful:
   
   
   
7. If the patient does not add a payment method within 30 minutes of requesting the booking, HotDoc will cancel the appointment request automatically and the patient will receive an email to inform them of the cancellation:
   
   

What if the patient cancels or does not attend?

There may be times when a patient decides to cancel in advance, or does not attend their appointment time.

• If the patient successfully cancels their appointment, HotDoc will not automatically collect payment. 
  
  
• If a patient does not attend their booking and has been marked as a 'no show', HotDoc will not automatically collect the payment via the method nominated on their account. The clinic can choose to collect this fee by selecting the Collect button next to the patient's appointment in Payments > Online Bookings:
  
  
  

What if the payment method is rejected?

There may be times when HotDoc is unable to charge the patient's nominated payment method after the appointment has been marked as seen or gone (depending on your clinical software):

• If the payment method is declined, we will send the patient a SMS informing them to add a new payment method
  
  
• If the payment method has insufficient funds, we will send the patient a SMS informing them to either add funds or use a new card.

HotDoc will then try the charge again 24 hours after the first charge. If we are unable to take the funds at that point, the clinic will receive an email informing them of the unpaid appointment so they can phone the patient directly.

How are refunds handled?

If you wish to provide a refund to the patient after HotDoc have already taken the pre-authorisation, please see How to issue a Refund.

We will then send the patient an email to let them know that the refund is being processed and to expect the funds back into their card within the next 5 business days.

How does a patient claim their Medicare rebate?

When a claim is sent to Medicare as a privately paid appointment that the patient has paid for in full, it triggers a payment from Medicare to the patient's nominated bank account.

You can learn more about sending the claim to Medicare with the links below:

• Medicare Online options for health professionals
• BP Online claiming for private
• Online claiming with Pracsoft
• Patient claim with Zedmed

The patient will receive an email after their appointment to confirm the full charge you have set in the HotDoc Dashboard. The email will also contain some links on how to make a Medicare claim and how to check if Medicare has the patient's latest bank details to assist them with the rebate:

Example of email confirming charge and rebate links