Payments & collections

Take a payment and manage front-desk card readers

Take payment opens the same patient payment window from the calendar’s right-click menu, the visit preview, Billing, Patient Information, the toolbar, and Home. When no patient is selected, choose the patient first. Administrators can collect; staff need permission to collect payments and read patient invoices. A physician login alone does not grant payment collection.

1. Check the patient and invoice. Review the balance and choose the invoice or charge you intend to collect. The window also offers the invoice’s saved-card, cash, check, and external-card actions when available.
2. Collect on a desk reader. In Collect on card reader, choose What to collect when the patient owes on more than one charge: Full balance · $X (Everything due now (3 charges) in one tap, chosen first) or One charge. For one charge, pick the charge. Enter Amount to collect (a partial payment is allowed), select a ready Card reader, start collection, and ask the patient to tap, insert, or swipe. Wait for the paid confirmation before taking another payment.
3. Full balance in one tap. The patient pays once, and Hero applies that one payment across their open charges. The paid screen reads Paid $120.00 toward the full balance, then Remaining balance: … or The full balance is paid. The payment is listed under Payments on account in the invoice panel, with Refund. When part of the balance waits on a secondary claim, or a charge can’t take a card right now, the full balance isn’t offered: “The full balance can’t be collected in one payment right now. Refresh the balance, or collect one charge at a time.”
4. Resolve an uncertain result before retrying. Checking with the reader… means Hero is still finding out what happened. Use Check again and check the payment history. Do not start another payment while the result is unknown. Other card collection on the same charge waits while a payment is in progress; while a full-balance reader payment is in progress, every other card checkout for that patient (the portal, a typed or saved card at the desk, an urgent-care copay) waits too: “A card payment for this balance is in progress at the office. Try again in a few minutes.”
5. Stop the reader explicitly. Use Cancel payment to stop an unfinished reader payment. Closing the window does not stop the reader. If the balance changed before collection, review the new amount before continuing.

Remove a copay that isn’t owed

When an unpaid copay shouldn’t be owed (for example a hospital or surgery visit, or the amount is wrong), press Remove copay on the invoice, in Take payment, the chart’s Invoices & Charges, or Patient AR. The Remove copay window says “Remove the $25.00 copay. The patient will no longer owe it.”; choose the Copay if the invoice has more than one, type a Reason, and press Remove copay. The removal and its reason are recorded on the patient’s billing timeline. The button shows only to administrators and staff allowed to issue refunds, write-offs and adjustments, and only on a copay with nothing paid toward it. A copay with a payment, discount, payment plan or claim on it can’t be removed: “This copay has been paid. Refund the payment instead.” or “This copay has a payment, discount, payment plan or claim on it, so it can’t be removed.”

Hero doesn’t charge an office copay at all for a visit at a hospital or surgery center, or for a post-op visit (a visit type whose usual code is 99024, or a visit already billed with 99024); the booking quote reads No office copay (hospital or surgery center visit) or No office copay (post-op visit). Which office copay is collected is set in Collections & Fees.

Register a reader

An administrator or staff member with billing-settings permission opens Billing → Configuration → Card readers. Finish Stripe setup and register the office for card readers if the setup banner asks for it. Click Add reader, fill in Reader name, Office, and Registration code, then Add reader. Get the code from the reader’s Settings → Generate pairing code.

The registry shows Online, Offline, or Unknown status, plus In use during a payment. Use Refresh to check again, Rename to give the reader a recognizable desk name, or Use for payments to make it available to staff. A reader at an inactive office is unavailable. The Bluetooth M2 reader pairs in the kiosk iPad app; it is managed separately from desk readers.

Refund a patient payment

Use Refund on the Payments tab or the invoice’s payment history, or Issue Refund in Patient AR → Payment Activity. Administrators and staff with refund permission can return money without receiving permission to write off balances, waive fees, or move credits. Staff with broader billing-adjustment permission can also refund.

Enter the refundable amount and a reason, then confirm the destination shown in the dialog. A partial refund is allowed. For a card payment originally taken on an outside terminal, return the money through that terminal first; Hero records the refund. Membership dues use the separate membership refund workflow.

Offer discounts and coupon codes on self-pay charges

Discounts start off. An administrator or staff member with billing-settings permission opens Billing → Configuration → Discounts & Coupons to enable them.

1. Choose the ways staff and patients may discount. Let staff give discounts allows staff with discount permission to enter a dollar or percent reduction and a reason. Set Largest discount without a Billing Manager if you want a limit; larger discounts need billing-adjustment permission. Customize Discount reasons. Turn on Use coupon codes for practice-created codes, and optionally Patients can enter codes in the portal. Save the settings.
2. Create a code. Under Coupon codes, create a code with its discount, eligible visit types, visit-date range, and total and per-patient use limits. First visit only limits it to a patient’s first visit with the practice. Patients can enter this code in the portal also needs the practice-wide portal switch. Once used, a code’s text and discount cannot change; turn it off and create another.
3. Apply it to the invoice. Choose Apply discount on an eligible self-pay charge. Enter the discount and reason, or the coupon, then use Review discount or Check code. Review the resulting amount before applying it. Entering a coupon needs payment-collection or discount permission.
4. Correct a mistake. Remove discount restores the discounted amount to the invoice and releases a coupon use. Review the new balance before confirming. Past discounts keep the reason recorded at the time.

Add sales tax to selected account charges

Sales tax starts off. An administrator or staff member with billing-settings permission opens Billing → Configuration → Sales Tax, adds a rate and effective date, then turns on Charge sales tax. Your practice chooses the rate and which items are taxable. One rate applies across all practice locations.

1. Set the rate before issuing charges. Rates take effect on practice-local calendar dates. Schedule a later rate when needed; changing a rate does not change an already-issued charge.
2. Choose tax for each account charge. Open Patient Information → Invoices & Charges → Issue a charge and select Charge sales tax for a taxable item. Review the subtotal, tax, and total before issuing. Visit fees and insurance claims are outside this feature.
3. Review collections. Billing → Reports includes a sales-tax report while tax is enabled or the practice has rate history. Issued invoices and patient-facing totals retain their tax after the switch is turned off.

Add a card fee to credit card payments

A practice can add a card fee when a patient pays with a credit card, to help cover what card processing costs it. It is off until someone who manages billing settings turns it on in Billing → Configuration → Card Fee (right after Sales Tax). Others can see whether it is on, but not change it. It works only when your practice takes online payments through Stripe.

1. Read where it applies. “Credit cards only. Debit and prepaid cards never get a card fee.” It applies to card payments in the patient portal (including paying when booking) and to on-screen card entry at the front desk (Collect card payment): “Never on card readers, the kiosk, saved-card or automatic charges, payment plans, memberships, or bank payments. Payments in the patient mobile app do not add the fee yet.”
2. Turn it on and set the rate. Tick Add a card fee to credit card payments and enter Card fee rate (%), from 0.01% to 3.00%. What patients see before they pay shows the exact sentence, for example “A 3% card fee is added when you pay with a credit card. There is no card fee for debit or prepaid cards. You will see the fee before you pay.”
3. Confirm and save. Turning the fee on, or changing its rate, needs the confirmation box ticked: “I confirm that this practice is allowed to add a card fee where it operates, that we have given the notices the card networks and our state require before charging one (including notifying our card networks or payment processor where required and posting the fee at our location and online), and that the fee is not more than our cost of accepting credit cards. Hero adds the fee only to credit cards, shows it to the patient before they pay, and never charges more than 3%.” Save; Hero confirms, for example, Card fee saved: 3% on credit card payments. The status line then reads On: 3% card fee on credit card payments., with who confirmed it and when, and Changes lists every change with who made it.

At the front desk

In Collect card payment, the window says the fee is added to credit cards (and the most it can be here) and what the patient sees. Enter the card and press Review total: Hero checks the card and shows Amount for this charge, the card fee line (for example Card fee (3%, credit card)) and the total. Tick “The patient has been told about the $3.00 card fee and agreed to pay it.” before Charge $103.00 becomes available. A debit or prepaid card shows why there is no fee and needs no tick. Use a different card starts again.

In the portal

Wherever a card payment starts, the patient sees the practice’s sentence. After entering the card they see Review your payment: Amount due, the card fee (or why there is none) and Total, then press Pay $103.00. If the numbers change before they pay, they are shown the new ones. Apple Pay, Google Pay and Link aren’t offered while a card fee applies.

On receipts, refunds and reports

• The fee is kept beside the payment, never inside it, so it is never part of the bill. Receipts and the Payments list show Card fee (3.00%, credit card) and Total charged to card; an invoice’s payment row adds plus $3.00 card fee (not part of the bill); a statement notes Card fees paid: $3.00 — not part of your balance; and the Day Sheet lists Card fees collected and Card fees refunded separately from collected payments.
• A refund returns the card fee automatically: “Card fee refunded automatically. The card fee on this payment ($3.00) goes back to the card too: all of it with a full refund, or a matching share with a partial refund.”
• Turning the fee off stops adding it to new payments; payments already made keep their fee. If the confirmation wording changes, the fee pauses until someone reads the new wording, ticks the box and saves again (Paused: no card fee is added right now.).

Schedule installments and collect them automatically

A payment plan can simply record an agreed schedule, or collect installments from an authorized saved card. Automatic collection starts off and requires Stripe. An administrator or staff member with billing-settings permission opens Billing → Collections & Fees → Saved card & autobilling → Payment plans, turns on Collect payment-plan installments automatically, and saves the page. Review Agreement wording and its Preview before enrolling patients.

1. Create the schedule. In Patient AR, choose Plan for the patient. Review the number of payments, frequency, start date, and installment preview. Automatic plans cover the full eligible balance; if the patient is paying part today, record that payment first.
2. Choose automatic payments deliberately. Select Charge each installment to the patient’s card on file. Review the card and agreement, then confirm that the patient authorized these payments and that you documented the authorization. Authorization reference (optional) can identify the signed form or conversation. Without automatic payments, the plan records the schedule and staff record each payment received.
3. Follow the installment history. Plan history shows paid and remaining amounts, installment outcomes, and patient notices. Automatic collection runs on due dates, with retries 3 and 7 days after a failed attempt and email notices for failures. Use a displayed collection action only after reviewing the installment’s current status.
4. Change or stop the arrangement. Print agreement opens the saved agreement. Revise terms prepares a revised plan; review the new authorization before saving. Stop automatic payments stops new card charges while preserving the plan. Cancel plan ends the arrangement. Neither action erases the patient’s unpaid balance.

Pay providers from the money that came in: Provider Payouts

Provider Payouts is a report in Billing → Reports for practices that pay clinicians from collections. Pick a pay period, see what each provider brought in (insurance and patient payments, less refunds and insurance takebacks), then close the period. Anything that comes in later shows up in the next period. It is off until your practice turns it on.

1. Turn it on. At the bottom of Billing → Reports, the Provider Payouts report card has an On/Off switch. Administrators, the practice owner, and staff who may change billing settings can use it; everyone else sees “Someone who manages billing settings can change this.” Turning it on adds Provider Payouts to the quick reports. Turning it off hides the report and keeps every closed pay period: “Closed pay periods are kept. Turn it back on to see them again.”
2. Open the report. Choose Provider Payouts under the quick reports. It opens on the Open pay period, from the start of the period through today. The very first time, pick where your first pay period starts in From (it starts on the first of this month): “Money before that date is not part of any period.” After you have closed a period, From is fixed: “Starts the day after the last closed period”. Set Through, and optionally one Provider (or Not applied to a visit yet), then press Show open period.
3. Read the totals. One row per provider, with how many visits their money paid for: Insurance payments, Patient payments, Refunds and takebacks, Changes to closed periods, and Net collections, plus an All providers total. Money not applied to a visit yet is its own row, Unassigned (not applied to a visit yet). A period with nothing in it reads “No payments or refunds in this period.”
4. See it visit by visit. Summary shows one row per provider; click a provider to open their visits, and click a visit to see each payment and refund on it (Date, Type, From, Amount). Detailed lists every visit under each provider, with Visit date, Patient, Claim, Billed, Insurance, Patient paid, Refunds and takebacks, Changes to closed periods and Net, a Total for … line per provider, and the All providers total. Hero remembers your choice in this browser. Patient money that isn’t on a visit is listed as Not tied to a visit, with the patient’s name on each payment.
5. Download it. CSV, Excel or PDF follow the view you are on: the Detailed download adds the visit-by-visit table.
6. Close the period. Close this period (for administrators, the owner, and staff who may change billing settings) opens Close this pay period? with each provider’s Net collections and Provider share: “These totals are saved and never change. Anything that comes in later, even if it is dated in this period, goes into the next period.” Press Close period. The next open period starts the next day. A period can’t end after today.

Provider share

To see what each provider is owed, set their share: in the Share % column choose Set (or Change), enter a percentage from 0 to 100 with at most two decimals, and press Save. Provider share is the provider’s Net collections times that percentage, rounded to the cent, and in Detailed it is split over their visits so the visits add up to it. Shares are set by the same people who can close a period, and not while you are viewing a closed period; a closed period keeps the shares it was closed with. Leave the box empty and save to clear a share.

Reopen a period to fix a mistake

Administrators and the practice owner can reopen the most recent closed period with Reopen. Reopen this pay period? says: “Use this only to fix a mistake. The saved totals are removed and its money goes back into the open period, so you can close it again. This is recorded.” Type why under Why are you reopening it? (at least 5 characters) and press Reopen period. Only the latest period can be reopened.