Chapter 28: Patient Billing, Posting Patient Payments, and Collecting Fees Flashcards
account history
a patient ledger within a practice management system may be called an account history. Generally, account histories follow the same organized plan used for ledger records of patients. The account history automatically shows the balance of the account and the number of days the account has been due.
aging of accounts
dividing accounts into categories according to the amount of time since the first billing date; way to identify accounts according to the length of time the accounts have been delinquent.
alpha search
look by alphabetical order
antagonize
to annoy; to arouse opposition
at the time of service (ATOS)
when service is rendered; real time
bankruptcy
the state of being bankrupt, being legally declared unable to pay debts; a petition to a court by an individual who is stating that they cannot pay any debt incurred.
date of service (DOS)
the calendar date a service begins or is provided
expended
spent or used, as with money or energy
idle
uninvolved; doing nothing
nonsufficient funds (NSF)
meaning the patient does not have enough money in the bank account to cover the amount of the check
outsourcing
an arrangement by which a task, operation, or job that could be performed by employees within a company is instead contracted to another company; generally viewed as contracting out a specific business function to another company rather than having your own company manage that specific work
practice management (PM) system
this category of software provides the medical office the electronic component to deal with day-to-day financial and administrative operations of a medical practice. The PM software is often integrated with an electronic medical record (EMR) system. This allows information to be pulled from the EMR and populated in the financial components of the patient account.
skip
a person who has disappeared or moved to avoid payment of bills
termination
ending
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
federal law designed to protect consumers in credit transactions; it specifies that when there is an agreement between the physician and a patient to accept payment in more than four installments, the physician is required to provide disclosure of finance charges.
