4 Reasons to Use Your EHR for Client Payments
Cutting costs by not accepting credit card payments. How cost effective is this practice?
I often see therapists trying to cut down costs by not accepting credit card payments through their EHR. Instead, they take other payment methods like Zelle, Paypal, Venmo, or other payment platforms separate from their EHR.
How much are you really saving by choosing this method?
Let’s do the math:
Let’s say your practice collects around $150,000 a year in credit card payments. You’re going to pay about $5,000 a year in fees. If your practice collects around $350,000 you’re going to pay around $10,000~$12,500 a year.
Now that we’re clear on those numbers, let’s consider what’s involved in that process.
If you’re not using your EHR to process those credit card payments, most likely you go through the following tasks:
Track each payment that comes through various channels (ideally daily).
Update those payments in your EHR (ideally daily).
If you’re behind on them, send manual reminders to those who haven’t paid and run the risk of never receiving the cash for many of those payments.
Reconcile the other payment method accounts. For example, PayPal works like a bank account. Stripe, Square, and similar platforms also need to be reconciled monthly as part of your bookkeeping.
Reconcile your EHR payments. In other words, ensure that all the payments received match the information in your EHR.
What are some of the risks in that process?
One of the most important aspects of your therapy practice is HIPAA compliance. By using other platforms to receive payments, you’re likely violating their terms and conditions and risking having your account shut down.
With a payment method like Zelle, the person’s name shows up on your bank statement, which then gets fed into your accounting software. According to QBO’s terms, they’re not HIPAA compliant and should not be used to store PHI.
If you’re working with an accounting firm or a bookkeeper, that information will be visible to them.
At this point, there are already three different places that should not have come in contact with your client names but did.
Business operations
Moving on to the operations of your therapy practice, this process will create a lot of roadblocks. Have you heard of, or have you worked on, implementing systems and processes that are easily carried out? SOPs and systems, as they’re commonly referred to, are clear step-by-step processes that you have documented for tasks that occur frequently. Think of it like a really good checklist that allows the person completing the job to ensure they’re completing tasks according to your standards (even if it's just you). It also helps minimize your mental load because you won’t have to repeat yourself all the time or remember the little details that usually make the most difference. This also allows you to train someone or delegate that task. The overall goal is for your business to operate smoothly without your input on every single stage, making the process of overseeing the big picture much easier and faster.
Repeatable tasks are key to the sustainability of the process. If you add “if - then” at every stage, you will be required to be involved every step of the way, and the process will be forced to pause and tweak at every level. By the way, the concept of systems or SOPs work for every area of your business. From the moment you turn the lights on until you’re off for the day, you can create checklists and automate them by using project management tools that allow you to track all your tasks and prompt you and your team to complete them at specific deadlines. If you haven’t already looked into this, I encourage you to do so and start today!
Can you outsource this process?
Outsourcing this whole process could be possible. Can it cost less? Maybe. Given that the stakes of the process are so high, you would most likely need a clear SOP for the person in charge, a signed BAA, and your frequent supervision. Doable, yes. But in my opinion, entirely manual processes to track payments increase your chances of not getting paid and increase the chances of mistakes in the billing and bookkeeping process.
Using your EHR to collect payments
Typically, your EHR will have a credit card processor included in it. For example, SimplePractice used Stripe. Depending on your payment terms, you can implement clear terms that allow you to charge the credit card before the session. Since all the information is in the same place, each payment will be automatically linked to the client, and based on your settings, you will receive those deposits (Stripe calls them payouts) daily or weekly. If you accept insurance, you can also bill them through the same platform. You will be able to run reports within your EHR showing your revenue and payments details, and a summary of the payouts in order to reconcile your bank statement. You won’t see any client names fed into your bank statement or accounting software.
All this to say, those credit card fees feel like a service cost to me. It’s like having someone doing all those tasks for you on a daily basis.
In short, by using the payment platform included in your EHR, you will be able to dramatically reduce the admin load, separate your billing from your accounting, make it super simple to follow HIPAA regulations, and streamline your processes so that you can create and implement systems.
Does it come with a cost? Yes, for sure. Is it worth it? That’s for you to answer for yourself.
Most of my clients use this EHR and they really enjoy it. I’ve partnered with them to extend you a 2 MONTHS free trial (vs 30 days if you do it on your own). Use my link to sign up to get the offer. And check out my Resources page, where I share more products I recommend!