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

• Payment for online booked appointments
• Payment for practice booked appointments
• Payment 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.

Automatic card detail requests for Online Booked Appointments 

The following patient journey will occur if you have setup card detail requests for your online booked appointments. To see the clinic journey and how to set this up, please see How to setup automatic payment requests for appointments

1. Patient selects their practitioner, appointment type enabled for payments, date and time on your HotDoc bookings page:
   
   
   
   
2. HotDoc will provide the patient with an estimated cost of the appointment based on your practice's settings. They will then be required to their payment method where they can choose from an existing stored card or add a new payment method. 
   
   
   
   
   
3.  Once they've made their selection, the patient will be prompted to confirm the appointment details are correct by selecting Yes, book. 
   
   
   
   
4. The next step depends on if the patient chose an existing stored card or new payment method:
   • the patient chose to use existing card details, they'll be taken to an appointment confirmation screen.
     
     
     
     
   • If the patient chose to add new payment method or is adding their card details for the first time, they'll select Add Payment Method to enter their card details and select Save and Continue:
     Note: If they do not add a payment method within 30 minutes, their appointment will be cancelled.
     
5. Once the details have been successfully entered, they will see a confirmation of their payment method and press continue
   
   
   
6. Once the card details have been successfully entered and stored, the appointment will be confirmed.
   
   
   
7. 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. 
   
   
8. The patient will then receive an email once their funds have been collected by your clinic, informing them the payment has been complete:
   
   
   
   
   

Automatic card detail requests for Practice Booked Appointments 

There are two different patient journeys for card detail requests for practice booked appointments. This is dependent on whether you have enabled or disabled auto cancellation of appointments, if the patient fails to enter their card details. Please see the two journeys below: 

• Automatic card detail requests with auto cancel appointments enabled
• Automatic card detail requests with auto cancel appointments disabled 
  
  

Automatic requests with auto cancel appointments enabled

The following patient journey occurs when you have setup automatic card details requests for practice booked appointments, and you have enabled auto cancellation of appointments if no card details have been entered by the patient. To see the clinic journey and how to set this up, please see How to setup automatic payment requests for appointments

Automatic card detail requests with auto cancel appointments disabled 

The following patient journey occurs when you have setup automatic card details requests for practice booked appointments, and you have disabled auto cancellation of appointments if no card details have been entered by the patient. To see the clinic journey and how to set this up, please see How to setup automatic payment requests for appointments.

1. Once HotDoc syncs the patient's appointment in your book, we will send a request to the patient via SMS and email to ask that they click a link to add their card details.
   
   

   SMS

   email

   
   
   
2. Next, the patient will be directed to create a HotDoc account, or Login 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.
   
   
   
   
4. If the patient has stored their card details in their HotDoc account they can select this, otherwise they will be prompted to add a Payment method by providing their card holder name, email, credit card number, expiry and CVV then press Save.
   
   
   
   
5. If the patient does not enter their details correctly or the details are invalid, we will ask them to re-enter valid details.
   
   
   
   
6. The patient will then be taken back to their Appointment view and shown that the appointment has been confirmed.
   
   
   
   
7. 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. 
   
   
8. The patient will then receive an email once their funds have been collected by your clinic, informing them the payment has been complete:
   
   

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 patients 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 and email to ask that they click a link to add their card details.
   
   
   
2. Next, the patient will be directed to create a HotDoc account, or Login 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.
   
   
   
   
4. If the patient has stored their card details in their HotDoc account they can select this, otherwise they will be prompted to add a Payment method by providing their card holder name, email, credit card number, expiry and CVV then press Save.
   
   
   
5. If the patient does not enter their details correctly or the details are invalid, we will ask them to re-enter valid details.
   
   
   
   
6. The patient will then be taken back to their Current Appointments and shown that the appointment has been confirmed.
   
   
   
   
7. 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. 
   
   
8. The patient will then receive an email once their funds have been collected by your clinic, informing them the payment has been complete:
   
   
   

Payment Request for immediate charge

The following patient journey occurs when you send a payment request for immediate charge in the Payments > Payment Request section of the Dashboard. To see the clinic journey for this request, please see How to create, refund or cancel a HotDoc 'Payment Request'. 

1. The patient will be sent an SMS requesting payment be made for a specific appointment. They will need to click the link within the SMS to proceed.
   
   
   
   
2. Next, the patient will need to provide the following and select Pay:
   -Email
   - Full name
   - Card number
   - CVC
   - Expiry
   
   
   
3. The patient will be provided receipt of payment via email. 
   

Patient payment FAQs  

What if the patient cancels their appointment or does not attend?

If the patient successfully cancels their appointment, HotDoc will remove the option to collect payment for this appointment from the Dashboard. 
If a patient does not attend their booking and has been marked as a 'no show', the practice can choose to collect this fee or cancel this . 

What if the patient's payment method is rejected?

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 practice will receive an email informing them of the unpaid appointment so they can phone the patient directly.

How are refunds handled?

When a refund is processed, the funds can take up to 5 business days to appear back on the patient's payment method. If you are refunding a payment that has already been captured by the processor, the processing fees will not be refunded to you.

To refund a patient after payment has been captured by HotDoc, please see How do I refund a HotDoc Payment to the patient? We will send the patient an email advising their refund is being processed and to expect the funds within 5 business days.

How does a patient claim their Medicare rebate? 

For mixed billing or private billing, we recommend that you charge the patient for the full amount of the appointment upfront and then send the claim electronically to Medicare using your clinical software. Please follow the steps in this article to see how to do this: How does a patient claim their Medicare Rebate for their payment made via HotDoc?