Member FAQ
1. What authorization do I need?
2. What if I don't have a signed authorization?
4. Do I have to give my patient a receipt every time?
5. I overcharged, how do I correct it?
6. I undercharged, how do I correct it?
7. I forgot to submit a charge...?
8. The patient claims the charge is fraudulent, how should I handle it?
10. Why is the system not accepting a charge from a card that I know is valid?
11. I used the wrong Expiration Date, and the charge was accepted anyway. Is there a bug in the system?
12. When in the Members Only area, I frequently get the error message, "The page cannot be displayed."
13. How soon after I submit a charge on the web site, are the funds transferred to my account?
14. How do I setup my Website to accept credit card payments?
15. My Client's MasterCard is a Medical Expense Plan, and it keeps being declined.
16. How do I add a user for our association?
17. How to get Information for Taxes
18. Instructions for downloading data into Excel
1. What authorization do I need?
Every charge that you submit must be covered by a completed and signed Patient Payment Consent Form. There are no exceptions to getting a signed authorization.
2. What if I don't have a signed authorization?
If you do not have a signed Patient Payment Consent Form authorizing you to make the charge, do not make the charge. The risk is too great. At worst, you could be charged with fraud, lose your license and go to jail. At least, you would have to return the money and pay the penalty of a charge back.
3. How do I fill out the Patient Payment Consent Form to be able to bill the patient's credit card for the remaining balance after the insurance company has paid?
In the section on the form immediately following, "to charge my credit card for professional services as follows:" complete one of the first three statements and have your patient Initial in two places, 1) on the line with the statement that applies, and 2) on the line with the statement that reads, "to charge my credit card for the balance of fees not paid by my insurance company........" Make sure all the rest of the form is completed and have your patient sign it. Give your patient a copy for his/her records.
4. Do I have to give my patient a receipt every time I make a charge?
Yes and no. You have to give your patient a receipt for every charge you make to their credit card. You could give your patient a receipt every time, or you could give your patient a monthly receipt. Use your own judgment and integrate a procedure for giving receipts into your office procedures. Just make sure your patients get a receipt for every charge.
5. I overcharged, how do I void or correct it?
ProfessionalCharges uses "real time" or immediate processing because the credit card payment is for services rendered. Unless the charge was rejected, there is no voiding or correcting it because the settlement processing starts the moment the transaction was approved. If you overcharged or charged the wrong person, you will need to submit a refund or credit. Go to your Account Details page and click on the link Issue Refund.
6. I undercharged, how do I correct it? If you made a mistake and charged less than what the client authorized and expected you to charge, inform the client. Then ask the person if he/she wants you to submit another credit card charge for the difference, or if he/she wants to give you the difference without putting it on the credit card. An alternative would be to send them a bill for the difference, with an explanation. The main concern is to avoid a disputed charge and possible charge back.
7. Two weeks after providing the service, I discovered that the credit card charge had not been submitted for processing. How should I handle this? What problems if any might occur if I submitted the charges this late?
Credit card companies are very concerned about charges occurring before products are delivered or services are rendered. They do not seem to care as much about delayed charges, as long as the consumer (your patient) does not get confused and complain or question the charge. If there is an unusual delay between the date of rendering services and the date of submission of charges, notify your patient that this has occurred. If this is going to be a routine, i.e. charges will not be submitted within 24 hours of the service. It would be wise to add the following notice on the patient authorization consent form: "The date listed on your credit card statement may be different than the actual date of service."
8. The patient claims the charge is fraudulent. Three months ago I submitted charges for a consultation I provided in the hospital. I have just been informed the patient claims the charge is a mistake. How should I handle this?
Depending on the billing cycle, it could be almost a month before the charge shows up on the person's credit card statement. Without an ongoing relationship with the patient it could be easy for the person to forget about your involvement in his treatment. If you have followed the procedures and obtained the person's signature on the Patient Consent Form and if you respond timely to our request for documentation, this type of claim should be resolved easily. Call and remind the person. Send the person a copy of the signed Patient Consent Form, if necessary. If you do not have the signed Patient Consent Form and can not get the person to acknowledge the validity of the charge, a charge back will occur. The money will have to be sent back and a penalty will be imposed by the Card Association. Funds to cover the return and penalty will be withdrawn from your account. The laws protecting consumers against credit card fraud are abundant, but there is little protection for the merchant. Properly signed authorizations, proper documentation and quick response to inquiries are your best protection against charge backs.
9.There are several therapists at our clinic, can we have one membership account with you, or does each therapist have to have an account?
If the Director will take personal responsibility for all submitted charges and all costs for possible refunds and charge backs, then only one membership account is needed.
10. Why is it not accepting a charge from a card that I know is valid?
- Make sure the name is spelled exactly as it is on the card.
- Double check the accuracy of the credit card number and the expiration date.
- We verify the credit card billing address of the card holder as an additional security measure. Make sure the street address and zip code are correct.
- The charge will be denied if the card holder's available credit is less than your charge, and sometimes when the card holder has missed a payment.
- One of the servers involved in the process may be temporarily down.
Resubmit the charge a little later.
11. I used the wrong Expiration Date, and the charge was accepted anyway. Is there a bug in the system?
No, some banks disregard the Expiration Date that is submitted. If the card is valid and the name and address are correct, some banks (but not all) will accept the charge. It is up to the bank issuing the credit card.
12. When in the Members Only area, I frequently get the error message "The page cannot be displayed."
If you are getting the error message immediately when you request a page, something in your computer is likely the cause of the problem. Below I have listed some things you can do that might solve the problem. If the error message occurs after several seconds and your browser times out, the cause of the problem is likely on the Internet.
If the problem is on the Internet there is not much you can do. Try logging off the Internet and then logging on again using a different access number, or wait awhile and try getting the page later.
Unless you lost your connection or a server is down, you should be able to get the page by clicking on the refresh button, or by clicking on the back button and trying the page link again. This may happen if the Security settings in your browser are not set right for SSL. Follow the instructions on the error message or the help documentation in your computer to check your Security settings.
Third party cookie managers, pop-up ad stoppers, ISP connection optimizers, download managers, and other memory resident programs and browser plug-ins can cause the problem. Try turning them off and adjusting your computer's configuration so the miscellaneous programs only load into memory when you need them. If you are using any of the programs that are designed to work with your browser and the Internet, make sure you have the most current, up-to-date versions. Visit the support area of the maker's Website and look for the fixes or work-a-rounds for know issues.
If you continue to get the error message, here are some other things you can do that will likely clear it up.
- Microsoft frequently comes out with updates and new fixes. Make sure you have the latest fix by running the Windows Update feature.
- Clear your cache and the temporary Internet files. You can do that by clicking on the Tools menu and selecting Internet Options. In the middle section of the window that pops up, click on Delete Files. Check the box for Delete all offline content, and click on OK.
- If you still get the error message, select Internet Options again and in the lower section, click on Clear History and select yes from the small window that pops up. Then in the middle section of the Internet Options window click on Setting, and move the slider a notch or two to the right to increase the amount of disk space to use.
- If you still get the error message, delete the cookies stored on your system by selecting Delete Cookies in the Internet Options window.
- If you still get the error message, select Internet Options again, then the Advanced tab and unselect "Show friendly HTTP error messages." Also unselect "Do not save encrypted pages to disk" in the Security section.
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If you are using Windows 98, run the repair tool for IE. From the Programs menu select Accessories,
then System Tools, and then System Information. From the Tools menu
select Internet Explorer's Repair Tool and follow through with the repair.
If you are using Windows XP use the Internet Explorer Troubleshooter. You can find it by selecting Help and Support from the Start menu, clicking on Index on the Tool Bar, typing in Internet Explorer in the search window, and double clicking on troubleshooter. You can also repair Internet Explorer by going to the Control Panel, selecting the Add or Remove Programs, clicking on the Add/Remove Windows Components, removing Internet Explorer, and then adding Internet Explorer. - Here is another fix for advanced computer users. Don't use this fix unless you know what you are doing. If you still get the error message, look for copies of Wisock.dll, Winsock32.dll, Wsock.vxd and Wsock32.vxd that are not located in the Windows\System folder, and rename them with .tmp as the new file extension. If this fixes the problem but one of your Internet programs no longer works properly, check the Website of the malfunctioning program for an update or assistance.
- If you are an advanced computer user, Microsoft has several other fixes in their knowledge base. Search on "Troubleshooting Browsing Error Messages in Microsoft Internet Explorer."
13. How soon after I submit a charge on the web site, are the funds transferred to my account?
Three days after you submit a charge, an ACH order is issued to transfer the funds from our bank into your bank. It will usually take one business day for the funds to arrive into your bank account.
14. How do I setup my Website to accept credit card payments?
Put your curser on My Account in the blue bar across the top of the page and click on My Quickpay Link in the drop down menu. Your Quickpay Link will bring up our payment page with your name in the form. Click on it to see the form. There are two versions: One is a simple link, the other is for use if your website uses frames. Have your Webmaster put the appropriate link in your Website.
15. My Client's MasterCard is a Medical Expense Plan. It is to be used for medical expenses only, when I attempt to make a charge, it was denied.
Medical Savings/Flex plans should go through without a problem. If you get a denial, check to make sure you have the most recent CVV number. If all your input is correct, have your client call the company and inquire about the problem.
16. How do I add a user for our association?
Log on to ProfessionalCharges.com. In the upper right area of the submit charges page you will notice the link Edit Association Info Click on that link, and you will be sent the Update Association page. In the second window area labeled Identifying and Contact Information: you will notice another link Add new user to association account Click on that link and you can add your new user information. Make sure to click on the add new user button when complete.
17. How to get Information for Taxes?
Here is how to get a cost breakdown:
- Enter the site with your username
- Scroll down to the bottom and do a search for the date range you are interested in
- Leave the name and amount blank
This will give you totals for the time period you choose. The Total Adjusted amount is the transaction fees we took out of your charges. For IRS, the Total Deposited is the amount you received from us for your charges.
Any debits for membership renewal, refunds or chargebacks can be used for IRS deductions. Here is how you can find that information: Put your curser on My Account that is in the blue bar across the top of the page. Click on the Debits & Credits to My Account link in the drop down menu. That will take you to a page that shows all the debits and credits to your bank account other than the charges you made for your professional services.
18. Instructions for downloading data into Excel
To get all your data into an Excel spreadsheet, click on the download data link at the bottom of the table on your Account History page.
To get a defined set of data: First do a search, then click on the download link.
Each row of data will be separated by a line break. The delimiter is a pipe (black slash). Since there are commas in the data the data is separated by a pipe.
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