Send Encounters to Pre-Collections/Collections

The Bill Date associated with the Collections Agency on the Encounter Dashboard reflects the date that the Encounter was sent to Collections.

To place an Encounter in Pre-Collections, the Encounter must have an outstanding Patient balance.

• If an Encounter is in Pre-Collections/Collections, a banner will display at the top of the Encounter Dashboard.

• There are several ways to place an Encounter in Pre-Collections.

• Maximum Dunning Count
• Encounter Dashboard
• Patient Dashboard
• Pre-Collections Worklist

Dunning Count Maximum

Once an Encounter reaches the maximum Dunning Count with no Payments, it is put in Pre-Collections automatically.

Encounter Dashboard: Send to Collections

Sending to Collections from the Encounter Dashboard, adds it to the Pre-Collections Worklist and displays a banner on the Encounter Dashboard and the Patient Dashboard.

1. From the Encounter Dashboard, select the To Collections button.

2. Select the Collection Agency
3. Select Save [F2].

The To Collections button changes to Remove From Collections.

Patient Dashboard: Send to Collections

When sending Encounters to Pre-Collections from the Patient Dashboard, the Encounters will be added to the Pre-Collections Worklist, and a banner will be displayed on the Patient and Encounter Dashboards.

1. From the Select Action dropdown, choose Send to/Remove from Collections.
2. Select the checkboxes beside the Encounters to send to Pre-Collections.
3. Select the Apply button.

4. Send Encounters with Patient Balance to Collections will be selected by default.
5. Select the Collection Agency.
6. Note: Optional
7. Select Save [F2].

• The banner on the Patient Dashboard has a View link that navigates to the Pre-Collections Worklist.
• A new Collection Balance field is added to the Balance panel.

Zero Balance

An Encounter with a zero Patient Balance will not be sent to Collections.

• If an attempt is made on the Encounter or Patient Dashboard to send an Encounter to Collections, a Validation Error will be displayed.

• This prevents the Encounter from being sent to Collections.
• Close the pop-up.

• If multiple Encounters are selected on the Patient Dashboard, a Validation Warning will display.

• The Encounter(s) that have a balance will be sent to Collections, but any Encounters with a zero Patient Balance will not.
• Select Save & Continue.

Make a Pre-Collections Worklist

Make a Pre-Collections List to send the Encounters to Collections.

Alert: Before you Make a new list, make sure that all Set Actions have been applied.

• If you make a new list and select Clear the current list, you will delete all Set Actions that have not been applied.

The purpose of a new list is to update the list with the latest Payment information.

Select Statements on the Left Side Menu, and then select the Pre-Collections button at the bottom of the screen.

1. Select the Make List button.

2. Enter the Criteria for your list.
3. Select Clear current Pre-Collections list checkbox.

• The purpose of clearing the list is to remove the ones that have already been sent to Collections and to update the list with the most current Pre-Collections Encounters.

4. Select Run.

5. Use the checkboxes to select the Encounters manually

• Use the Select button to choose criteria for the Encounters that you want to Send to Collections and to select/unselect all of the Encounters in the list.

Select Button

The Select button function is an optional function, but can be helpful when:

• The Pre-Collections list is long;
• You want to select specific Encounters with a specified insurance, provider, amount, etc.;

• You want to Select/Unselect All.
• See Examples for Use of the Select Button.

Set Action

6. Select the Set Action button.

7. In the Choose Action dropdown, select Send to Collection.
8. Collection Agency 1

• Select the Collection Agency.

• If you are sending to a "dummy" collection Agency for the purpose of taking the Encounters out of your A/R, set up the "dummy" Collection Agency in the Insurance Library.
• If you are really sending the Encounters to a Collection Agency, select it here.

9. Select Run.

Apply Action

10. Select the Apply Action button.
11. Select the Run button.

Warning: If you have several Actions Set, all will be Applied when Run is selected. The checkboxes on the Set Action line items do not work when using Apply Actions. See example below.

Example of several Actions that have been set:

Place the Pre-Collections List into Collections

Placing an Encounter in Pre-Collections does not actually place the Encounter into Collections.

In Collection

The In Collection process puts the selected Encounters into Collections and creates a spreadsheet to send to a Collection Agency.

1. Select Statements on the Left Side Menu.
2. Select the In Collection button at the bottom of the Statement/Invoices Management Dashboard.

3. Select the Encounters to send to Collections.

• You can use the Transaction No. and additional selected Encounters options.

4. Select the Collection Agency Spreadsheet button.

5. Transaction No.: Send Encounters with the same Transaction No.

• If all Encounters were sent from Pre-Collections at the same time, they will all have the same Transaction No.

6. Agency ID: Select the Collection Agency
7. Date Span, Date Entered From, and Date Entered To: Only send Encounters that were sent to Collections in a specific Date Range.

• This is helpful when you are sending individual Encounters to Collections during a specific date range.

8. Sent: Select Exclude to not pull Encounters that have already been sent to collections.

• This is used for pulling a list of Encounters that were sent to the Collection Agency on a specific Date.

9. Total By: Select Encounter or Patient.

• By Patient can be beneficial to the Collection Agency.

10. Include Selected Encounters: If you selected Encounters on the previous screen, select the checkbox.

• The Transaction No. can be used along with the selected Encounters.

11. Update records as Sent: When Run is selected, the Encounters will be updated with a Sent Date.

• If the Encounters are being sent temporarily to a "dummy" Collection Agency, do not select the checkbox if you plan to send these to a Collection Agency later.

12. Select Run [F2].

The Sent Date will be added to the In Collections screen.

Select Button Examples

Example 1: Select Encounters with a Guarantor Balance less than or equal to $100.00 that have no Action on them.

1. Choose the Select button.

2. From Select/Unselect dropdown, choose Select.
3. For Action: Choose Records with no Action from the dropdown.
4. Guarantor Balance less than or equal to: Enter 100.00
5. Select Run.

• You can sort by Amount by selecting the Guar Bal Column title.

Example 2: Unselect items that have been previously selected.

1. Select/Unselect: Choose Unselect All.
2. Select Run.

Example 3: Select all lines that have AK as the Billing ID.

1. Select/Unselect: Choose Select.
2. Billing ID: Choose AK using the Lookup icon.
3. Select Run.

Example 4: Remove Medicaid with balances greater than or equal to $100.00 with Records with no Action.

1. Using the Select button, Select/Unselect: Choose Select.
2. For Action: Choose Records with no Action.
3. Insurance: Choose Medicaid.
4. Select Run.
5. Using the Set Action button, select Delete
6. Select Run.
7. Using the Apply Action button, select Run.

Learn More

Collections/Pre-Collections Overview

Add a Collection Agency

Reset the Dunning Count from the Pre-Collections Worklist

Remove/Delete Encounters from the Pre-Collections Worklist

Pre-Collections Worklist

Create a Spreadsheet to Upload to a Collection Agency

Collection Payments

Transworld Collections