Refunding payments by line item

You can post a refund by line item for any type of payment (such as cash, check, or credit card). When you itemize the refund amount, you apply a specific refund amount per procedure/charge associated with a payment. You can use this refund method if, for example, you need to refund amounts only for certain charges that are associated with the payment. This refund method can help ensure accurate provider production and collection totals if the payment being refunded has been applied to multiple procedures that were performed by different providers.

Notes:

• For alternative steps on posting a refund by line item for a credit card payment, see the topic about refunding credit card payments by line item. You can use this refund method only if the payment was posted through Dentrix Ascend Pay.

• For steps on posting a full or partial refund without itemizing the refund amount for a credit card payment, see the topic about refunding credit card payments. You can use this refund method only if the payment was posted through Dentrix Ascend Pay.

• For steps on posting a refund for a credit card payment with a surcharge, see the topic about refunding credit card payments with surcharges. You can use this refund method only if the payment was posted with a surcharge through Dentrix Ascend Pay.

• For steps on posting a charge adjustment to record a refund, see the topic about posting charge adjustments.

To refund a payment by line item

1. If the correct patient is not already selected, use the Patient Search box to access the patient's record.

   

2. Do one of the following:

   • If the patient's Overview page is not already open, on the Patient menu, under General, select Overview. The patient's Overview page opens. Click (or tap) the Ledger box.

     

   • On the Patient menu, under Financial, select Ledger.

   The patient's Ledger page opens.

3. Expand the Charge (+) Adj. button's menu, and then select Refunds.

   

   The Enter Refund Adjustment Amount dialog box appears.

   

4. From the Original payment list, select the payment for which you are posting a refund.

   The associated charges appear.

   

5. For Refund method/type, do one of the following:

   • If the Original payment is a check payment, cash payment, patient financing payment, EFT payment, or credit/debit card payment that was not processed through Dentrix Ascend Pay, Record External Refund is selected automatically and cannot be changed. With this option selected, a refund will be recorded in the ledger, but nothing will be processed (no movement of any funds will be initiated). Skip to the next step.

   • If the Original payment is a credit/debit card payment that was processed through Dentrix Ascend Pay, select one of the following options from the list:

     • Record External Refund - Select this option to record a refund in the ledger without returning funds to a credit/debit card (no movement of any funds will be initiated).

     • Original Payment Method - Select this option to return funds to the credit/debit card that was used for the original payment.

     • Worldpay IQ Portal - Select this option to open the Worldpay IQ portal on a new browser tab and handle the refund on that website. After that, come back to this point and select Record External Refund.

     • Lanes - Select one of the payment devices (card readers) to put funds on a credit/debit card that was not used for the original payment. Later, the cardholder will need to interact with the payment device.

     • Saved Cards - If the patient has any cards on file, select one of those saved cards to put funds on that credit/debit card.

6. For Refund date, do one of the following:

   • If Record External Refund is selected as the Refund method/type, the Refund date is today's date by default but can be changed. To change the date, click the box to open a calendar, and then select the correct date of the refund.

     

   • If Original Payment Method (under Quick options), a card reader (under Lanes), or a card on file (under Saved Cards) is selected as the Refund method/type, the Refund date is the date of the original payment and cannot be changed. Skip to the next step.

     

7. By default, the Refund amount is the amount of the original payment. If necessary, change the amount to reflect the correct amount of the refund.

8. To distribute the Refund amount proportionally to all associated procedures, click the Distribute proportionally button ; otherwise, skip to the next step.

   One of the following occurs:

   • If the Refund amount equals the payment amount (it is a full refund), for each line item, the applied amount (in the Payment column) is inserted in the Refund box automatically.

     

     

   • If the Refund amount is less than the payment amount (it is a partial refund), for each line item, a portion of the total refund amount is inserted in the Refund box automatically. The portion of the total refund amount that is entered as the refund amount for a charge is equal to the ratio of the applied amount (in the Payment column) to the total payment amount.

     

     

9. Do one of the following:

   • If you skipped the previous step, for each charge, in the Refund box, enter the amount of the total refund to be applied, or leave 0.00 entered.

   • If you want to change the amounts proportionally distributed between the charges, in the Refund box of any charges, enter the amount of the total refund to be applied.

   Notes:

   • If the sum of each box in the Refund column does not equal the Refund amount, the total at the bottom of the Refund column is displayed in orange text.

     

   • If the sum of each box in the Refund column equals the Refund amount, the total at the bottom of the Refund column is displayed in green text.

     

10. On the Tags tab, add tags to the refund as needed.

11. On the Notes tab, enter any notes regarding the refund.

12. Click Apply Refund.

    

    Note: This button is available only if the total at the bottom of the Refund column equals the Refund amount.

13. If a card reader was selected as the Refund method/type (in step 5), the cardholder interacts with the payment device to process the refund using the debit/credit card of choice; otherwise, ignore this step.

    A refund adjustment appears in the patient's ledger.

    Notes:

    • If a refund is split between providers, an adjustment appears for each provider.

    • The adjustment type for a refund adjustment depends on the selected Refund method:

      • If Original Payment Method is selected as the Refund method, the "Credit Card Partial Refund" adjustment type is used for a refund adjustment.

        

      • If Patient Refund is selected as the Refund method, the "Patient Refund" adjustment type is used for a refund adjustment.