Import Patient Payments

Patient payments often arrive as a file rather than one at a time at the counter. Import the file and each row posts the way a counter payment does.

Before You Start

Use the Patient payments (CSV) template that ships with ClaimPod, or add a Payment table to a template of your own. Each row needs an amount, the date the payment was received, and something that says whose money it is: the patient’s account number, the statement number from the stub they returned, or the claim number.

Upload the File

1. In the sidebar, select Imports.
2. Select Upload.
3. Choose the file and the Patient payments (CSV) template.
4. Select Upload.

Result: the run’s Payments tile counts what was staged, what posted, and what was already on the books. Each posted payment is applied to the patient’s open balances oldest first; a row that names a claim number pays that claim. Money beyond what is owed settles on the newest claim and shows as a credit on the row.

What a Row May Carry

Column	Required	Notes
Account number, statement number or claim number	One of them	When a row carries more than one, they must all point at the same patient.
Amount	Yes	Greater than zero.
Payment date	Yes	The day the money was received.
Method	No	Cash, check, card or ACH. The standard template reads CHK, CC, CASH and EFT; anything else files as other.
Check or reference number	No	Kept on the ledger entry.
Payment ID	No	The file’s own identifier. Map it when the file has one.
Memo	No	Kept as the entry’s note.

Re-sending a File

ClaimPod remembers every payment it has posted from a file, so a cumulative export never posts a payment twice. Repeated rows show as duplicates on the run, not as errors. The file’s payment ID is the key when it is mapped; otherwise the patient, amount, date and reference together identify the payment, whichever number the file used to name the patient.

Fix a Rejected Row

A row is rejected when its account, statement or claim number is unknown, when the numbers name different patients, or when the amount is not a positive number.

1. Open the run’s import review queue from Work Queues.
2. Correct the field the row’s message names.
3. Select Complete.

Result: the row is retried and the payment posts.

Caution

A payment dated in the past still appears under payments received on the patient’s next statement. A statement reports what arrived since the previous one was printed, whatever date the file gives.

Related: Upload an Import File · Review an Import Row · Import Mappings