Refunds and Write Offs

This article will provide a brief overview of how to perform Refunds and Write Offs in MediRecords.

Some points to remember:

• The user who raises an invoice should be the one to perform the refund 
• A refund can only be performed if the user is logged into the same location that the invoice was raised in (i.e. if an invoice is raised in Logan Hospital but I am logged in at Sunshine Coast, the refund options will not appear for said invoice)
• Refund a payment and then write the amount off. The amount can only be written off if the refund has been performed first.

Performing a refund:

Select the patient, click accounts and keep note of the relevant invoice number or reference. Go to the payments tab, click the checkbox next to the payment to be refunded, click more and select refund. 

In the refund screen you will be able to edit the amount to be refunded, and you will be able to select the reason for the refund (i.e. duplicate payment). After you click refund, a warning message will appear - "Creating an Adjustment generates a journal entry for reversing the payment amount. Are you sure you want to proceed?" Click yes to proceed with the refund. Next, you will be able to write off the refunded amount.

Writing off:

After you have refunded the payment, click the adjustments tab. There will be a new adjustment showing - this adjustment will also link to the relevant payment. Go back to the invoices tab and you will see that the payment status for the refunded invoice is back to unpaid. The invoice will also show when the original payment was taken, and the refund details. Keep in mind that no changes have been made to the invoice yet, changes have only been made to the payment. You now need to write off the amount from the invoice. Select the check box next to the relevant invoice, click more, and select write-off. In the write-off screen, you can select the reason for writing off (i.e uneconomical to collect), and enter the amount to be written off. You can refund and write off a partial amount on the invoice, or the entire invoice amount. You can refund and write off individual item numbers on the invoice, and you can edit the amounts, so if necessary you could refund and write off just 5 cents.

Once you are happy click the write-off button.

Writing off is the manual adjustment process, different from the adjustments that occur in the claiming screen regarding underpayments/overpayments from Medicare and Health Funds. In the claiming screen, you can accept the payment for a claim, and any adjustments will automatically be made.