From time to time you may notice that a patient's record shows an outstanding account balance even though all their invoices are fully paid. There can be some instances in Genie where the account balance for an account holder will not update automatically. This can occur if the Account History or Demographics window is open at the time of receipting resulting in the account holder record being locked. This article will step you through how to rectify account balance discrepancies to ensure that Genie is reflecting the correct information.
Before you begin
This function can be performed at any time however if you have a large number of balances requiring an update you may wish to consider doing so at a quiet time in your practice. You should bear in mind that some account holders may have more billing data than others (e.g. Medicare) so can take longer to update.
How can you check if there is a legitimate outstanding account balance for a patient?
This can be done by navigating to the patient's account history window and clicking on the Show Outstanding button. If no items display but there is still an outstanding account balance showing, this may indicate that the account balance needs to be updated. Alternatively, a check integrity can be performed to determine whether there are any incorrect account balances. A check integrity can be run by navigating to File > Maintenance and Reports > Monthly and selecting the Check Integrity option. From there, select the Check Data button and allow the check to run to completion. If you require any assistance with rectifying the issues detected in the check integrity, please contact Genie Solutions.
To update an account balance
The update balance button can be found within the account holder record which is accessible from a number of areas within Genie. If you notice that a patient has a balance discrepancy displayed in their Demographics window, you can click on the Account Holder section of the Demographics window to open the 'Editing Account Holder' window and select 'Update Balance'.
Should you need to update an account balance for an organisation, this can be done by navigating to Open > Account Holders and searching for the relevant organisation. Once you have located the account holder, double click on the record and select 'Update Balance'.
Lastly, an update balance can be performed directly from a Check Integrity report. To do this, double click on the account holder within the Problem Accounts section and select 'Update Balance'. Please note that all other problems found within the Check Integrity should be rectified prior to updating the balances for the Problem Accounts.
In all instances, the Update Balance button will appear as below:
