HotDoc Payments offers a flexible solution to suit your payment needs. There are a few different patient journeys that may occur, depending on how the payment or card details have been requested. This includes: 

• Payment/pre-authorisation for online booked appointments
• Payment/pre-authorisation for practice booked appointments
• Manual payment requests for any upcoming appointments
• Payment requests for immediate charge.

This article will outline the patient's journey for each unique payment workflow and include some frequently asked questions about a patient's payment.  

Payment for online booked appointments
 

1. On your HotDoc bookings page, the patient will select a practitioner, appointment type and time/date. 
   
   
   
    
   • If you have either Bulk Billing exemptions or individual exemptions, then your patients will be screened by your criteria:
     • If a patient is exempt, they will skip adding a payment method and go to Step 5.
     • All other patients must provide card details, as explained in Step 3.
       
        

   • HotDoc provides the patient with the appointment cost you've set. Patients must add or select a payment method.

     - If pre-authorisations are enabled, patients will see that a temporary hold will be placed on their payment method. 
      

     For appointments booked more than 6 days in advance, the hold occurs 5 days before the appointment. For appointments booked within 6 days, the hold goes through immediately.   For further information, please see: Using HotDoc's Payment Pre-Authorisation Feature

     - If stored card settings are enabled, patients will see that they need to add their card to secure the appointment. 

     Pre-authorisation settings enabled: Example if the appointment is within 6 days and the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Pre-authorisation settings enabled: Example if the appointment is within 6 days and the practice is absorbing the processing fee
     Pre-authorisation settings enabled: Example if the appointment is more than 6 days away and the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Pre-authorisation settings enabled: Example if the appointment is more than 6 days away and the practice is absorbing the fee
     Stored card settings enabled: Example if the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Stored card settings enabled: Example if the practice is absorbing the processing fee

2. If they select Add Payment method, they will be able to select between adding their card details or paying via Apple Pay or Google Pay

•  If this is their first time adding a card, they may be prompted to authenticate the request with their bank. The following screen will appear, and they will need to follow their banking institution's chosen authentication method:
  

  The patient won't be able to proceed to the next booking step until they provide a valid payment method.

  
   

3. Once they have added their payment method, the patient will be prompted to confirm if the appointment details are correct by selecting Yes, book. 
   
   
   
   
    
4. They will then be taken to an appointment confirmation screen. 
   
   
   
    

5. The patient will receive the appointment confirmation email and can see the appointment details in their HotDoc account.
   
   - If pre-authorisations are enabled and the appointment is booked within 6 days, the funds will be held until the appointment. 
   - If the appointment is more than 6 days away, pre-authorisation will be held 5 days before the appointment.
   
   In both cases, the patient will see this in their email and HotDoc app. 
   
    

   Pre-authorisation settings enabled: Confirmation email of pre-authorisation received	Pre-authorisation settings enabled: Confirmation of appointment in the patient app
   Stored card settings enabled Confirmation of appointment in the patient app

   For further information about the pre-authorisation patient journey, please see:  Using HotDoc's Payment Pre-Authorisation Feature: The patient journey

   
    

6. Once the patient has been seen for the appointment, you can collect the payment following the instructions in this article: How to collect a payment for a patient's appointment. 
   
    

7. The patient will receive an email once funds have been collected by your clinic and payment is complete. If the fee is passed on, a breakdown will be included:
   
    

   Example if the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Example if the practice is absorbing the processing fee

Payment for Flexible Checkout

1. 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. 
   
    

2. The patient will then select their existing stored card, add a new payment method, or choose to ‘pay manually at reception’:
   
   

    

3. 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"
   
   

Payment for practice booked appointments

There are two patient journeys where payment settings are enabled for practice booked appointments, depending on whether auto cancellation is enabled or disabled. See the two journeys below:

• Auto-cancel appointment setting enabled
• Auto-cancel appointment setting disabled 
  
   

Auto-cancel appointment setting enabled

This patient journey occurs when payment is set up for practice booked appointments, and auto cancellation is enabled when patients don't add their card details within 90 minutes. To set this up, please see How to set up automatic payment requests for appointments
 

The patient will receive an SMS and email requesting a payment method within 5 minutes of booking the appointment.  HotDoc will not send a payment request if the appointment is booked within 5 minutes of the start time.    If the appointment is booked within 105 minutes of start time, HotDoc will send a payment request, but the appointment won't auto-cancel if the patient doesn't add their card details.  It's crucial for the reception team to inform the patient in advance to avoid confusion or concerns about the message being a scam.

 

1. Once HotDoc syncs the appointment, we'll send a request to the patient (via SMS, email, and push notification if possible) to add a payment method. The two examples below show whether you have enabled pre-authorisations or stored card details:
    

   SMS:	Push Notification:	Email:
   SMS sender may be your practice's name, a shortened version or a mobile number.
   Pre-authorisation settings enabled  Click to enlarge images
   SMS sender may be your practice's name, a shortened version or a mobile number.
   Stored card settings enabled Click to enlarge images

   If you've added Bulk Billing exemption settings and the patient meets the criteria, or you've individually exempted a patient, they won't receive a card details request. For more information, see: How to exempt a patient from adding a payment method for their appointment

   
    

2. If the patient is not logged in to their account, they will need to click Continue in the next screen and then add their login details or create a HotDoc account:
   
    

   Upon clicking the link, the patient will be asked to log in to their existing account or create a new one

   Once they click Continue, they can choose to log in if they already have an account or create one

   If they don't have one, they can add their details and click Create account

   
    

3. Once logged in, the patient will see their upcoming appointment with a message advising payment method is required to secure it. They will then click "Select a Payment Method"
   
    

   Pre-authorisation settings enabled Example if passing the fee on to the patient	Pre-authorisation settings enabled Example if absorbing the processing fee
   Stored card settings enabled Example if the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Stored card settings enabled Example if the practice is absorbing the processing fee

   - Note: If the patient doesn’t add card details within 90 minutes of the request, their appointment will be cancelled. They will receive an SMS to inform them that their appointment was cancelled because they did not add their payment details. A 90-minute timer will be visible in their upcoming appointments.
   
   
   
    

4. If the patient has a stored card in their HotDoc account, they can select it.
   
   
   
    Otherwise, they'll be prompted to add a new payment method and press Save.
   - If the details are incorrect or invalid, they'll be asked to re-enter them. 
   - We'll then attempt to store their details for later payment or collect pre-authorisation. 

 

•  If this is their first time adding a payment method, they may be prompted to authenticate the request with their bank. The following screen will appear, and they will need to follow their banking institution's chosen authentication method:
  

5. The patient will then be taken back to their Appointment view and shown that the appointment has been confirmed.
    

   Pre-authorisation settings enabled	Stored card settings enabled

   
    

6. If the patient does not add a payment method and secure a pre-authorisation within 60 minutes of receiving the first message, we will send another request to the patient via SMS or Push Notification: 
   
    

   SMS:	Push Notification:
   SMS sender may be your practice's name, a shortened version or a mobile number.
   Pre-authorisation settings enabled  Click to enlarge images
   SMS sender may be your practice's name, a shortened version or a mobile number.
   Stored card settings enabled Click to enlarge images

   
   
    

7. If the patient has not added a payment method and secured a pre-authorisation within 90 minutes from when they received the first SMS, their appointment will be cancelled and they will receive notification of this via SMS and email:
   
    

   Example of SMS SMS sender may be your practice's name, a shortened version or a mobile number	Example of Email

8. If the patient has added their card details, once they are seen for the appointment, you can collect the payment following the instructions in this article: How to collect a payment for a patient's appointment.
   
    

9. The patient will then receive an email once their funds have been collected by your clinic, informing them that the payment has been completed:
   
    

   Example if the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Example if the practice is absorbing the processing fee

   
    

Auto-cancel appointment setting disabled 

This patient journey occurs when payment is set up for practice booked appointments and auto cancellation settings are disabled. To set up or edit settings, please see How to set up automatic payment requests for appointments

1. Once HotDoc syncs the appointment, we'll send a request to the patient (via SMS, email, and push notification if possible) to add a payment method. The two examples below show whether you have enabled pre-authorisations or stored card details:
   
    

   SMS:	Push Notification:	Email:
   SMS SMS sender may be your practice's name, a shortened version or a mobile number.	Push Notification	Email
   Pre-authorisation settings enabled Click to enlarge image
   Stored card settings enabled Click to enlarge image

   If you've added Bulk Billing exemption settings and the patient meets the criteria, or you've individually exempted a patient, they won't receive a card details request. For more information, see: How to exempt a patient from adding a payment method for their appointment

   
    

2. If the patient is not logged in to their account, they will need to click Continue in the next screen and then add their login details or create a HotDoc account:
   
    

   When they click on the link, the patient will be asked to log in to their existing account or create a new one

   Once they click Continue, they can choose to log in if they already have an account or create one

   If they don't have one, they can add their details and click Create account

   
    

3. Once logged in, the patient will see their upcoming appointment with a message advising a payment method is required. They will then click "Select a Payment Method"

   Pre-authorisation settings enabled Example if passing the fee on to the patient	Pre-authorisation settings enabled Example if absorbing the processing fee
   Stored card settings enabled Example if passing the fee on to the patient	Stored card settings enabled Example if absorbing the processing fee

   
    

4. If the patient has a stored card in their HotDoc account, they can select it.
   
   
   
    Otherwise, they'll be prompted to add a new payment method and press Save.
   - If the details are incorrect or invalid, they'll be asked to re-enter them. 
   - We'll then attempt to store their details for later payment or collect pre-authorisation. 

•  If this is their first time adding a card, they may be prompted to authenticate the request with their bank. The following screen will appear, and they will need to follow their banking institution's chosen authentication method:
  
   

5. The patient will then be taken back to their Appointment view and shown that the appointment has been confirmed.
    

   Pre-authorisation settings enabled	Stored card settings enabled

   
    

6. Once the patient has been seen for the appointment, you can collect the payment following the instructions in this article: How to collect a payment for a patient's appointment. 
   
    

7. The patient will then receive an email once their funds have been collected by your clinic, informing them that the payment has been completed:
   
    

   Example if the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Example if the practice is absorbing the processing fee

   
   

Manual card detail request for upcoming appointment 

The following patient journey occurs when you have performed a manual request for patients' card details for their upcoming appointment booked via HotDoc or through the Practice directly. To see the practice journey for this request, please see How to manually request patient card details for an upcoming appointment.

Note: We will not cancel the patient's appointment if they do not enter their card details.

1. Once you have sent the manual request, we will send a request to the patient via  SMS & email (if both are available), plus a push notification will also be sent if possible to ask that they click a link to add their card details.
   
    

   SMS:	Push Notification:	Email:
   SMS The sender of the SMS may be listed as your practice's name, a shortened version or a mobile number.	Push Notification	Email
   Click image to enlarge

   
    

2. Next, the patient will be directed to create a HotDoc account or log in to their existing account. 
   
   
   
    

3. Once logged in, the patient will be shown their upcoming appointment along with a message advising that a payment method is required to secure their appointment. The patient will click Select a Payment method.
   
    

   Example if the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Example if the practice is absorbing the processing fee

   
   If the patient has a stored card in their HotDoc account, they can select it.
   
   
   
    Otherwise, they'll be prompted to add a new payment method and press Save.
   - If the details are incorrect or invalid, they'll be asked to re-enter them. 
   - We'll then attempt to store their details for later payment or collect pre-authorisation. 

•  If this is their first time adding a card, they may be prompted to authenticate the request with their bank. The following screen will appear, and they will need to follow their banking institution's chosen authentication method:
  

5. The patient will then be taken back to their Current Appointments and shown that the appointment has been confirmed.
   
   
   
   
6. Once the patient has been seen for the appointment, you can collect the payment following the instructions in this article: How to collect a payment for a patient's appointment. 
   
    

7. The patient will then receive an email once their funds have been collected by your clinic, informing them that the payment has been completed:
   
   
    

   Example if the practice is passing the fee on to the patient	Example if the practice is absorbing the processing fee

Payment Request for immediate charge/Debt Prevention

The following patient journey occurs when you send a payment request for immediate charge in the Payments > Payment Request section of the Dashboard, or for any automatic Debt Prevention(BP Only) requests sent.

1. The patient will then receive a message with a link to pay via the following channels:

   • Push notification sent to the HotDoc app – If the patient does not complete the payment request, we'll send an SMS 2 hours later*
   • Email sent to the email address in the patient's file – If we're unable to send a push notification, and the patient does not complete the payment request, we will send an SMS 2 hours later*
   • SMS sent to the mobile number in the patient's file – If we cannot contact the patient via push notification or email.

   Push Notification	Email	SMS

2. The patient will then be required to enter their payment method and make the payment.
   
   
   
   If the patient has a stored card in their HotDoc account, they can select it.
   
   
   
    Otherwise, they'll be prompted to add a new payment method and press Save.
   - If the details are incorrect or invalid, they'll be asked to re-enter them. 
   - We'll then attempt to store their details for later payment or collect pre-authorisation. 

3. The payment will be confirmed, and the patient will be provided a receipt via email.

Patient payment FAQs