Best Practice

• How does HotDoc Payments work and how do I set this up?
• What is the fee for using Payments?
• What are Stripe and Pin Payments?
• Will HotDoc appropriately screen for eligible private patients?
• How will the practice get paid?
• How do I collect a payment for a patients upcoming appointment?
• We are using Stripe and we have set our preferences for a daily payout - why is the first payout taking longer?
  
• Does HotDoc Payments work with appointments made over the phone or directly at our practice?
• If an existing appointment type is changed to a type set for automatic card detail requests, will the request send?
• How do I set up payments for an appointment type?
• What is the patient experience for HotDoc Payments?
• How will a patient receive their Medicare Rebate?
• Can the usage fees be passed onto the patient?
• What if the patient's stored payment method is declined? Will the practice be charged a fee?
• What if the practitioner decides to bulk bill the patient instead of using the private fee?
• What do I do if the patient needs to be billed for a different consult type, has a concession card or is under the age of 16 years old?
• Can we verify if the patient's stored card details has sufficient funds prior to collection?
• Why was the patient charged $1 after booking their appointment?
• What do I do if the patient does not attend their appointment?
• When does the Best Practice invoice amount sync through to HotDoc?
• Can I add the Payments processing fee to the Invoice in Best Practice?
• I have created my invoice in Best Practice. Why hasn’t the invoice amount synced through to HotDoc?
• How do I reconcile the Payment in Best Practice?
• HotDoc hasn’t synced an invoice amount. Can I still collect funds? 
• A patient with a stored card did not attend their appointment. Can I charge a non-attendance fee?
• Does invoice sync work for appointments made over the phone?

How does HotDoc Payments work and how do I set this up?

Once a mixed/private practice is set up with a Stripe or Pin account, they can securely accept payments during the online bookings process for their appointments, or for practice booked appointments made directly through your practice. See Getting Started with Payments for more information.

What is the fee for using Payments?

HotDoc will charge 2.75% +30c per transaction. This charge includes the Stripe or Pin Payments fees.

What are Stripe and Pin Payments?

Stripe and Pin Payments are secure payment platforms, which allow HotDoc to accept a payment on your behalf. As part of HotDoc Payments, you will need to set up an account through Stripe or Pin Payments.

Will HotDoc appropriately screen for eligible private patients?

Yes. As part of the online booking process, patients can be screened for private billed or bulk billing eligibility using a series of questions.

How will the practice get paid?

Depending on your payment provider, you can choose how often funds are paid out into your account, or it can be done fortnightly. HotDoc Payments will also have reporting options so you can reconcile payments with your payment provider. See How do I view Payments Reporting in the Dashboard?

How do I collect a payment for a patients upcoming appointment?

You can do this in your HotDoc Dashboard using the instructions How to collect a payment for a patient's appointment.

We are with Stripe and we have set our preferences for a daily payout - why is the first payout taking longer?

Stripe may have different processing times for first payouts based on their own processing structure. You can find more information on this from Stripe's support page: https://support.stripe.com/questions/waiting-period-for-first-payout-on-stripe

Does HotDoc Payments work with appointments made over the phone or directly at our practice?

Yes, you can set up card detail requests for upcoming practice booked appointments. These can be set to send automatically for all appointments booked for that type, or can be sent manually for individual appointments. See How to setup automatic payment requests for appointments, and How to manually request patient card details for an upcoming appointment for how to do tis. 

If an existing appointment type is changed to a type set for automatic card detail requests, will the request send?

Yes, if the type is changed to one that’s set for automatic requests, the patient will be sent a message asking for their card details. We will only do this automatically if the appointment start time is not within 45 minutes. If it is, please see What happens to a patients payment details if I modify their appointment? for what to do next.

How do I set up payments for an appointment type?

See How to setup automatic payment requests for appointments to set up payments for any online or practice appointment types. 

What is the patient experience for HotDoc Payments?

See Payments - The Patient Journey for more information.

How will a patient receive their Medicare Rebate?

If using HotDoc Payments, 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. See How does a patient claim their Medicare Rebate for their payment made via HotDoc? for more information.

Can the usage fees be passed onto the patient?

It is recommended that any fees you wish to charge the patient are incorporated into the overall fee that is entered into the HotDoc Dashboard under the payments section of the appointment type. 

What if the patient's stored payment method is declined? Will the practice be charged a fee?

The practice will not be charged for a declined transaction. If the payment method is declined, we will send the patient an SMS informing them to add a new payment method. 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.

What if the practitioner decides to bulk bill the patient instead of using the private fee?

As we use a stored payment method, if a doctor decides to bulk bill, you can cancel the fund collection using the instructions here How do I cancel a HotDoc Payment?

What do I do if the patient needs to be billed for a different consult type, has a concession card or is under the age of 16 years old?

If the patient requires to be billed for a larger or smaller amount than what has been estimated, you can edit the amount that the patient is charged when you capture the payment. Please see How to collect a payment for a patient's appointment for how to do this. 

Can we verify if the patient's stored card details has sufficient funds prior to collection?

No. We only verify that the card is valid. We don't have the ability to check if there are sufficient funds until we actually try to make the full charge.

Why was the patient charged $1 after booking their appointment?

When a patient adds a card to their account, an automatic charge will be processed of US$1.00. In all cases the patient is never charged the amount. It’s always only a ‘pre-authorisation’, so they don’t incur any international fees etc.
This is standard practice when verifying card details. Some card providers make the verification and cancel it almost immediately. Others might leave it pending for a day or two.

What do I do if the patient does not attend their appointment? 

You can cancel or collect the payment using the instructions in this article How do I cancel or collect a payment if a patient did not attend?  

When does the Best Practice invoice amount sync through to HotDoc?

HotDoc will sync the invoice amount from Best Practice after you click the “Store” button in Account Details. If you go to the Dashboard > Payments > Online Bookings, this amount will appear in the column Act ($). It can take up to 5 minutes for this to appear. Please see How to collect a payment for a patient's appointment for more details.

Can I add the Payments processing fee to the Invoice in Best Practice?

Yes. When you are creating an Account for the patient, click “Add Item” to create a new item for the processing fee.

I have created my invoice in Best Practice. Why hasn’t the invoice amount synced through to HotDoc?

There are a few scenarios where we are unable to sync the invoice amount. 

• If you have already completed the payment in Best Practice.
• If you created more than one account for the same appointment in Best Practice. 
• If the Account is not linked to a patients appointment.
  

Please see Why wasn't the invoice synced to the Dashboard? for more information.

How do I reconcile the Payment in Best Practice?

After a patient has paid via HotDoc Payments, the status for the Payment will update to “Paid” in the Dashboard. You can then receipt the funds in Best Practice from the patient’s Billing History. Selecting the relevant invoice will bring up the “Payment Details” screen. From here, you can enter the paid amount in the “Direct Credit” field and click “Pay Now”.

HotDoc hasn’t synced an invoice amount. Can I still collect funds? 

Yes, you can manually adjust the amount to collect from the patient. Please see How to collect a payment for a patient's appointment for more details.

Does invoice sync work for appointments made over the phone?

No, at this stage, invoice syncing only works if the appointment was booked through your practice's HotDoc bookings page. However, you can send ad-hoc payment requests to your patients through the Payment Requests section. See Creating a Payment Request for more information.