How to Manage Payment Types in ElderSuite

📝 Overview

A payer in ElderSuite is a Payment Type. There is no separate payer module.

Manage Payment Types is the master list of the payment types the center keeps on file. Open Claim Center from the ElderSuite main menu, then click Manage Payment Types in Related Activities. The same list also opens from Client Center.

The list is sorted by name and starts on Active. Payment type details are not typed into this window. Add New or Edit (or a double-click) opens Payment Type Information, where a single payment type is created or changed. Click Save & Close to store it.

This page is the Claim Center destination for that list. It is not the Process Claims submission step.

⚙ How It Works

1. Open Manage Payment Types From the Claim Center

Open Claim Center and click Manage Payment Types in Related Activities.

The list opens inside the ElderSuite main window. Closing Manage Payment Types returns to the main window. Closing Payment Type Information returns to the list.

For a Limited Access sign-in, the Manage Payment Types link is available only when the Manage Payment Types permission is granted for that Center. Without it, the link is grayed out. The Claim Center setting and the Client Center setting are separate, so the link can be available in one Center and not the other. Permissions are read at sign-in, so sign out and back in after the permission is granted.

2. Review Active and All Payment Types

The list starts on Active. Use the View: dropdown to choose Active or All.

Active shows payment types that are not marked inactive. All includes inactive payment types and shows a narrow unlabeled marker column at the left of the list so those rows can be told apart.

Before adding a payer, switch View: to All and check whether that payment type is already on file but inactive. If it is, open it and clear Inactive rather than creating a second record. ElderSuite does not check payment type names for uniqueness.

Payment types named None and All are left out of the list under either view.

3. Add or Edit a Payment Type

Click Add New on the toolbar to start a new payment type. Payment Type Information opens in add mode with Inactive cleared, Pay Rate at 0.00, the pay rate period on Unit, and the other boxes blank.

To change an existing payment type, highlight it and click Edit, or double-click the row. Payment Type Information opens with that record filled in. If the highlighted row has no payment type behind it, Edit does nothing and no message appears. Highlight a payment type first. If the list looks empty, switch View: to All.

Payment Type Information holds one payment type at a time and has no tabs. It opens on top of the list, and the list cannot be used again until this window is closed.

4. Enter the Payment Type Details and Save

The window is divided into Payment Type, Default Billing Codes, Clearing House Payer ID, Pay Rate Settings, and Unit Definitions.

Type the name in Payment Type. That name is the only required field, and it can be up to 50 characters. Fill in the other sections that apply:

• Clearing House Payer ID is the clearinghouse payer identifier used when billing this payment type. It lives on the payment type, not on a clearinghouse connection record. The payment type can save with this box empty. ElderSuite does not check that the value is a real payer ID.
• Default Billing Codes holds the default place of service, procedure, and modifier codes that go on claims for this payment type.
• Pay Rate Settings holds the Pay Rate and the period that rate covers (Day, Month, Unit, or Week). These are defaults. They are pre-filled onto a client when the payment type is assigned, and can then be changed on that individual client.
• Unit Definitions holds 1 Unit = and 2 Units = in hours, used when the payer reimburses by unit of service.

Click Save & Close. ElderSuite writes the payment type and merges it back into the list.

When Pay Rate is changed on an existing payment type, Save & Close can be followed by Update Payment Settings. Yes writes the new rate onto clients assigned that payment type. No leaves those client rates as they are. The payment type keeps the new rate either way. There is no undo on Yes.

5. Retire a Payment Type That Is No Longer Used

Open the payment type and check Inactive, then click Save & Close. It drops out of the Active view and out of the payment type choices offered elsewhere. Existing records that already reference it are left intact.

Delete is on Payment Type Information, not on the list. A payment type that has been used in a transaction cannot be deleted. ElderSuite shows Delete Prevented and keeps the record loaded. Check Inactive and save instead. To use it again later, open it from All, clear Inactive, and save.

⚠ Save Needs a Payment Type Name

Save & Close stores the payment type only when Payment Type contains at least one character that is not a space. If the name is blank, the window stays open and nothing is saved. No message is shown.

Type a name in Payment Type, then click Save & Close again. Closing the window while the name is still blank discards what was typed, with no save prompt.

You can watch a video that walks through these steps: How to Manage Payment Types.

💡 Need More Help?

For step-by-step assistance, click Ask Eddie from within ElderSuite.