There may be instances when you will need to capture extra costs from the patient. This could be because:

• The patient initially qualified for a bulk-billed appointment but now does not
• The patient did not attend their appointment
• You want to collect funds for a late invoice or debt
• The patient has engaged in additional services that require the capturing of extra funds
  

In these cases, you can create a Payment Request to capture the additional costs from the patient. If the patient is eligible for a Medicare rebate, once the payment status has moved to 'Paid' you can submit the claim for the patient or alternatively send them through their receipt/invoice so they can claim online. 

How to view or create a Payment Request

1. In your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Payments > Payment Requests. Here you can see the history of any payment requests you've already created. Select New Payment Request to create a request:
   
   
   
   
2. In the New Payment Request box, search for the patient you would like to send a payment request to, then click Select:
   
   
   
   
3. The next page will show the patient's details as well as their four most recent appointment history (from the last 30 days). If you would like to link the payment to a specific appointment, you can choose which one from this list using the Select button. Alternatively, you can skip this step by selecting Skip Step:
   

   Please note for Best Practice customers: We will also show a column with the invoice number in Best Practice. If you have the automatic receipt feature enabled, we will automatically receipt an invoice if you have selected an appointment with an outstanding invoice.

   
   
   Note: Invoice Number column shown for Best Practice customers only
   
   
4. The last stage will ask you to enter and verify the Payment Request details, then press Send Now to send the request. Please verify: 
   
   - The mobile number you would like HotDoc to send the request to
   - The Practitioner who took the appointment
   - The description you would like to appear in the SMS sent to the patient
   - The overall amount you are charging
   - Any optional reference notes for your own records
   

   example where patient is covering the processing fee	example where practice is covering the processing fee

   
   
5. You will see the payment request appear in your list with a Requested status:
   
   
   Note: Invoice Number column shown for Best Practice customers only
   
   
6. The patient will then receive an SMS with a link to pay. Once they've selected the link, they will be taken to the payment page to enter their credit card details:
   
   

   This is an example of the SMS reminder	This is what they will see if you are not automatically passing the fee onto patients	This is what they will see if you are automatically passing the fee onto patients

   
   
7. Once the patient has paid, in your Dashboard the payment status column will change to 'Paid'. If the patient is eligible for a Medicare rebate, you can then submit this claim for the patient, or alternatively send them their receipt/invoice from your practice software so they can make a Medicare claim online. 
   
   
   
   

How to refund a Payment Request

1. In your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Payments > Payment Requests:
   
   
   
   
2. Select Refund next to the payment you wish to refund:
   
   
   
   
3. A box will pop up to ask if you are sure. Select Yes, Refund to continue:
   
   
   
   
4. The payment request status will move to Processing Refund.
   
   
5. Once processed, the payment request status will move to Refunded and the patient will be sent an email advising them of the refund and that the funds will be returned within 5 business days.
   
   

How to cancel a Payment Request

There may be cases where a payment request has been sent, but the patient has already paid via a different method e.g. over the phone or in person. In this instance, you may wish to cancel the initial request so the patient does not pay twice.

1. Select the Cancel button next to the payment request:
   
   
   
   
2. Select Yes, Cancel if you wish to continue with the cancellation:
   
   
   
   
   
3. You will then see a confirmation of the cancellation in the Dashboard:
   
   
   

What if a patient does not pay?

We recommend that you routinely check the HotDoc Dashboard to make sure that the Payment Requests are "Paid". However, there may be times when a patient does not pay even after sending a payment request.

1. If a patient doesn’t pay even after sending a request, the Payment Status will remain “Requested”. You can resend an SMS to the patient by clicking on the Resend button, which will appear 24 hours after the previous SMS was sent:
   
   
   
   
2. Hit Yes, Resend to confirm that you wish to resend the payment request.
   
   
   
   
3. You can resend an SMS up to 3 times. If the patient still has not paid after 3 SMS attempts, please consider payment via phone.