Billing statements

Billing statements provide guarantors with a record of the financial transactions in their accounts.

Printer-generated billing statements can save you the cost of pre-printed forms without losing the professional look of pre-printed forms. If you intend to use pre-printed forms, be sure to purchase forms that are supported by Dentrix Enterprise.

Notes:

Before you generate billing statements, specify which billing statement form to use and what contact information to include on billing statements.

Generating a report in Office Manager requires the "Reports" security right. Viewing or printing a report in the Batch Processor requires the "Batch Processor, Print/Display Reports" security right.

To generate billing statements

In Office Manager, on the Reports menu, click Billing.

Notes:

Whether the billing statement option appears on the menu or not is determined by a setting.

Also, this option is available only if your user account has been granted the "Reports" security right.

If applicable, do one of the following:

If the Password - Print Billing Statements dialog box appears, user verification has been assigned to the "Print Billing Statements" task. Do one of the following:

If your user account has been granted the "Print Billing Statements" security right, enter your credentials in the User ID and Password boxes, and then click OK.

If your user account has not been granted the "Print Billing Statements" security right, have a user with permission temporarily override this restriction so you can generate statements this one time. The overriding user enters his or her credentials in the User ID and Password boxes and then clicks OK.

If a message appears, informing you that you do not have rights to this operation, your user account has not been granted the "Print Billing Statements" security right. To have a user with permission temporarily override this restriction so you can generate statements this one time, do the following:

On the message, click Yes.

In the Password - Print Billing Statements dialog box, the overriding user enters his or her credentials in the User ID and Password boxes and then clicks OK.

The Billing Statements dialog box appears.

Set up the following options:

Statement Date - This date is used as the cutoff date for the statements. All statement calculations will be as of the date entered in this box.

Balance Forward Date - The total of all outstanding procedures posted will be calculated as of this date. The total balance forward amount will show on statements rather than an itemization of procedures from a previous statement.

Select Guarantor - The guarantors who may be billed. To specify which guarantors may be billed, do one of the following:

To include all guarantors, type <ALL> for both From and To.

To include a specific range of guarantors, enter or select the starting guarantor (alphabetically by last name) of the range for From and the ending guarantor of the range for To.

To include a specific guarantor, enter or select the same guarantor for From and To.

To include an open-ended range of guarantors, enter or select a guarantor for either From or To, and type <ALL> for the other option.

To select a guarantor for From or To, do the following:

Click the corresponding search button .

The Select Patient dialog box appears.

In the Enter Last Name box, enter the last name of a guarantor.

Note: For information about all the search options that are available in the Select Patient dialog box, refer to the topic about selecting a patient.

Do one of the following:

Double-click the correct guarantor in the list of results.

Select the correct guarantor in the list of results, and then click OK.

Run Report - How you want to generate the statements. Select one of the following options:

By Provider - To generate statements by provider. With this option selected, to specify the providers whose patients may be billed, do one of the following:

To include all providers, type <ALL> for both From and To.

To include a specific range of providers, enter or select the starting provider (numerically by ID) of the range for From and the ending provider of the range for To.

To include a specific provider, enter or select the same provider for From and To.

To include an open-ended range of providers, enter or select a provider for either From or To, and type <ALL> for the other option.

To select a provider for From or To, do the following:

Click the corresponding search button .

The Select Provider dialog box appears.

Either leave the ID and Last Name boxes empty to get a list of all providers, or enter all or part of a provider's ID or last name in the ID or Last Name box, respectively, to search for a provider.

Under Search By, select one of the following options: This Clinic, to search for the provider in the clinic that you are currently logged in to; All Clinics, to search for the provider in all clinics; or My Clinics, to search for the provider in the clinics to which you have been granted the "My Clinics, Select Provider " security right.

Notes:

The All Clinics option is available only if your user account has been granted the "View All Providers" security right for the Central clinic and if your user account has not been granted the "My Clinics, Select Provider" security right for the clinic that you are currently logged in to.

The My Clinics option is available only if your user account has been granted the "My Clinics, Select Provider" security right for at least one clinic and if your user account has not been granted the "View All Providers" security right for the Central clinic.

Either select the All Providers option to include providers who are associated with clinics (and who have a Log On User ID), or select the In ApptBook option to include providers who have been set up in Appointment Book.

Click the search button .

The matching primary and secondary providers appear in the list.

Select the correct provider.

Click OK.

By Clinic - To generate statements by clinic. With this option selected, to specify the clinics whose patients may be billed, do one of the following:

To include patients in any clinic, select the All checkbox.

To include patients in a specific clinic, do the following:

Click the search button .

The Select Clinic dialog box appears.

Note: If your user account has been granted the "View All Patients" security right for the Central clinic, the ID and name of all clinics appear in the list; otherwise, the ID and name of each clinic for which your user account has been granted the "My Clinics, View" security right (in the "Practice/Clinic Setup" category) appear in the list; however, if your user account has not been granted that right to any clinic, only the ID and name of the clinic that you are currently logged in to appear in the list.

In the list, select the correct clinic.

Click OK.

Select Billing Type - The billing types of patients who may be billed. To specify billing types, do one of the following:

To include all billing types, select the All checkbox.

To include specific billing types, do the following:

Click the corresponding search button .

The Select Billing Types dialog box appears.

If the list is long, to search for a billing type by ID, enter an ID in the Billing Type Search box, and then click the search button . The matching billing type is selected automatically in the upper list.

In the upper list, select one or more billing types.

Note: To select multiple billing types, click a billing type, and then, while pressing the Ctrl key, click the other desired billing types. To select a range of adjacent billing types, click the first billing type of the desired range of billing types, and then, while pressing the Shift key, click the last billing type of the desired range of billing types.

Click Add.

Repeat steps b-d as needed to add other billing types.

Note: To remove a billing type that you added, select that billing type in the lower list, and then click Remove.

Click OK.

Minimum Balance to Bill - Statements may be generated for accounts with a balance that is equal to or greater than a specified amount.

Note: For example, with .01 entered, statements may be generated for accounts with a balance of at least one cent.

Include Credit Balances? - With this checkbox selected, statements may be generated for accounts with a credit balance. With this checkbox clear, statements will not be generated for accounts with a credit balance.

Statement Message - A message to be included at the bottom of each statement.

Notes:

This box is available only if the Use same Statement Message for all checkbox is selected; in which case, this message will be the default message either on statements generated from this computer or on statements generated for all clinics from any computer (depending on whether the Use log-on clinic settings for all statements checkbox is clear or selected).

To check the spelling of the message text, click the Check Spelling button (this button is available only if a certain preference setting has been enabled).

In Ledger, you can create a custom billing statement note for any individual guarantor.

To save changes to the message, the Save As Default checkbox must be selected when you click OK.

Message examples:

"Insurance Estimates ('Ins. Est.') and 'Please Pay' amounts based on insurance estimates are provided as a courtesy. In the event that your insurance carrier pays less than the estimated amount, you are responsible for the unpaid balance."

"All payments are due on or before the 5th day of the month."

Use log-on clinic settings for all statements - With this checkbox selected, the current settings for the clinic that you are logged in to will be applied to all clinics. Use this option if you want everyone to have the same default statement settings for all clinics while logged on to any computer; otherwise clear this checkbox.

Note: To update the default settings for all clinics, the Save As Default checkbox must be selected when you click OK.

Use same Statement Message for all - With this checkbox selected, the same message appears on statements that are sent to patients of any clinic. With this checkbox clear, the custom message that is specified for a given clinic appears on statements that are sent to patients of that clinic; however, if the clinic does not have a custom message specified, no message will appear on statements that are sent to patients of that clinic.

Options - The options that determine which accounts may be billed and what to include on the statements:

Skip Accounts with Claim Pending - With this checkbox selected, an account is skipped if the patient has any outstanding claims for which the guarantor portion of the balance is less than the specified amount. With this checkbox selected, enter an amount in the If Patient Portion Less Than box.

Procedures With Claims Pending - Select one of the following options:

Current - To include procedures that were posted in the current month for which a claim has been created and is still pending (not received).

All - To include all procedures that were posted for which a claim has been created and is still pending (not received).

None - To exclude all procedures for which there is still a claim pending.

Print Insurance Estimate - With this checkbox selected, the amount that dental insurance is estimated to pay on pending claims appears on statements.

Print Agreed Payment - With this checkbox selected, a box labeled "Please Pay This Amount," which reflects the patient portion of the balance, appears on statements. If a payment plan has been set up, the payment amount that is required for that time period will appear instead.

With this checkbox selected, to have the "Please Pay" amount exclude the entire amount that has been billed to insurance on a pending claim even if some of it is a patient portion, select the Exclude Outstanding to Insurance checkbox; the patient portion of the claim will only appear on a statement after the claim has been paid by insurance.

Print Practice Information - If you are using a pre-printed form, and your practice information is not already printed on the form, this checkbox should be selected; otherwise, this checkbox should be clear so your practice information is not printed on statements.

Note: This checkbox is available only if the default billing statement in the Practice Defaults is not "Full Form/Download Form;" with "Full Form/Download," the practice information will be printed automatically.

Print Account Aging - With this checkbox selected, an aging summary appears on statements.

Note: This checkbox is available only if the default billing statement in the Practice Defaults is "Full Form/Download Form."

Allow Credit Card Payment - With this checkbox selected, credit card payment options appear on statements.

Note: This checkbox is available only if the default billing statement in the Practice Defaults is "Full Form/Download Form."

If Not Billed Since - With this checkbox selected, accounts for whom a billing statement has already been printed since the specified date are skipped. With this checkbox selected, enter a date in the box (for example, one month prior to today).

Notes:

The specified date is compared to the last statement date that appears in each account's Ledger record.

This option works well if your practice prints billing statements in Ledger when an insurance payment is received for an account. Cyclical billing can be utilized as statements are printed for individual accounts throughout the month and then printed in Office Manager in a batch to ensure that each account has received a statement for the month.

Only Bill Accounts Aging - With this checkbox selected, only accounts with a balance that is the same age or older than the specified aging bracket may be billed. With this checkbox selected, select one of the following options: Over 30, Over 60, or Over 90. With this checkbox clear, accounts with a balance of any age may be billed.

Select Report Types - What to generate for accounts that meet the specified criteria. Select or clear any of the following checkboxes (but at least one checkbox must be selected):

Billing Statement - To generate statements.

Mailing Labels - To generate mailing labels with each guarantor's name and address. With this checkbox selected, in the Columns box, enter the number of columns of labels that your label sheets have on them.

If you generate statements using the same charges and options each time, to save these settings for the next time that you access the statement options from this computer (or from any computer if the Use log-on clinic settings for all statements checkbox is selected), select the Save As Default check box.

Note: You must click OK with the Save As Default checkbox selected to update the default settings.

Click OK.

If a message appears, indicating that many patients are selected and that printing a lot of statements may take a long time, do one of the following:

To change the guarantor range, click Yes. You are returned to the Billing Statements dialog box. Change the guarantor range and other options as needed, and then click OK.

To continue, click No.

The statements are sent to the Batch Processor.

Do one of the following:

Preview and then print the statements.

Note: When you print the statements, the last statement date is updated for all the accounts with statements that were generated even if you do not print all the statements, which may not be a desired outcome.

Print the statements (with the possibility to first preview them and verify which ones to print).

Notes:

If the option to verify billing statements has been enabled, before any statements are printed, you can preview them and select which ones to print. The last statement date is updated for only the selected accounts.

If you do not verify which statements to print, all the statements are printed. The last statement date is updated for all the accounts with statements that were generated.

Send the statements with QuickBill (legacy version) (with the possibility to first preview them and verify which ones to send).

Notes:

If the option to verify billing statements has been enabled, before any statements are sent, you can preview them and select which ones to send. The last statement date is updated for only the selected accounts.

If you do not verify which statements to send, all the statements are sent. The last statement date is updated for all the accounts with statements that were generated.

Send the statements with QuickBill (with the ability to first preview a summary of each and select which ones to send).

Note: The last statement date is updated for the accounts you select in QuickBill to send statements to.

Important information this report provides

Payment Slip - The portion of the billing statement that can be cut off and returned with the payment.

Financial Transactions - The financial transactions posted to the guarantor’s account since the previous billing statement.

Financial Summary - The guarantor’s current balance, prior balance, and total of credits and charges applied during the current billing cycle.

Note: If Print Account Aging is selected for the default billing statement settings, this section displays the guarantor’s aged balances.

Credit Card Information - If Allow Credit Card Payments is selected for the default billing statement settings, the credit card information lines appear on the payment slip.

Dunning Message/Guarantor Note - If a guarantor note has been entered for a guarantor, the note prints on the billing statement. If no guarantor note has been entered, the appropriate dunning message is printed.

Insurance Estimate Box - If Print Dental Insurance Estimate is selected for the default billing statement settings, the insurance estimate box appears on the statement.

Statement Note - If there is a note in the Statement Message box for the default billing statement settings, the text of that note appears on the statement.

Please Pay This Amount Box - If Print Agreed Payment is selected for the default billing statement settings, the "Please Pay This Amount" box appears on the statement.