With a brand new package created and at your disposal, it looks like you’re just about ready to start learning more about how to use these packages out in the wild. This guide will go over some of the main functions and aspects of working with Packages, including: selling and redeeming a package; working with no shows, expiries, and refunds; as well as reviewing all the newfound package information you’ve acquired for a particular patient.
Note: We always recommend checking with your regulating body to ensure this feature allows you to follow your local guidelines.
Read on, or feel free to jump straight to a particular section:
- Selling a Package to a Patient
- Redeeming a Package to a Patient
- No Shows and Packages
- Reviewing a Patient’s Package
- Package Expiry
- Refunding a Package
Selling a Package to a Patient
Once you’ve gotten your brand new package deal set up and ready to go, you can start to extend this offer to your clients. When it comes to selling a package, it functions very similarly to a standard product sale— there are several different areas where you will be able to invoice a package.
#1 - Patient Profile > Billing > Purchases area, and click New Purchase
#2 - Patient Profile > Billing > Packages, and click New Package
#3 - Schedule > Appointment Panel > Drop-Down and select Add Items
Regardless of how you access the Sale Page, you’ll be able to search for a package from the drop-down.
If your clinic compensates practitioners when the package is actually redeemed towards a session, you will want to leave this purchase unassigned— this is the more common scenario!
However, you will have the option of assigning a staff member to this sale if you wish for them to receive compensation for the initial upfront purchase of the package instead. If this is the case, to prevent compensating a provider twice for a particular package sale, you will want to be sure to unassign any upcoming appointments that will be covered by this package.
📍NOTE: Typically with many package arrangements, staff members are not compensated up front for the collected lump sum, but rather receive commission on the day that the package is redeemed towards an appointment. If this is the case for your clinic, leave this set to No Staff Member.
You can receive a payment right away from this screen at the top of the page following the standard payment checkout workflow using the Receive Payment button at the top of the page.
Redeeming a Package Use for a Session
Now that your client has purchased their package, it is now available to be redeemed for any upcoming sessions.
When booking a new appointment for the patient, if the treatment type selected falls under the eligible items for the package they have purchased, a new Packages section will appear. From here you can choose whether or not you would like to redeem a use of the package to cover this session or proceed as normal without using the package.
💡Note: More often than not, a patient with a package will likely want to redeem a use of their package towards their session if it is an eligible appointment type. For that reason, Jane will try her best to be helpful and pre-select the package for you during the booking flow.
If a package is not applied during the time of booking, you will still be able to add it onto the appointment under the Billing Info section. This is also the same area where the package can be removed if it was applied by mistake.
📍 Note: A package can only be removed from an appointment if it has not yet been arrived.
Once a package is applied and the appointment is arrived, the total billed to the patient will match the value that has been set under Patient Pays for this treatment or class type under the Package Settings.
Most often, clinics do not want to charge the patient anything additional per appointment, since the cost of the session had been covered by the upfront fee. In this case, the Patient Pays field would have been set to $0.00, and no further action is required since the appointment is now considered paid.
However, if a patient is to be charged a non-zero amount per appointment in addition to any upfront fee that was collected, the patient total will be adjusted to reflect this amount. In these cases, one would have to proceed with collecting any additional payment from the patient using the standard payment checkout procedure.
No Shows and Packages
What happens if an appointment was booked using a package, but the patient doesn’t show up? Jane will present you with the option to choose whether you would like to either:
- Option 1: Cover the no show by redeeming a package use for this session, or
- Option 2: Opt not to redeem a package use for this session, and choose one of the clinic’s existing No Show Fees to invoice for this appointment instead
In the case of Option 1, redeeming a package usage for a No Show would behave exactly the same way as if the appointment was arrived — the amount that the patient is billed will match whatever the Patient Pays amount has been set to in the Package settings. This is will also increment the total number of uses redeemed by one.
With Option 2, the package will not be used and instead, Jane will charge one of the standard clinic no show fees instead.
If you’ve made a mistake with your selection, you can always undo the no show by clicking on the button a second time, then redoing the process.
Reviewing a Patient’s Packages
If you want to review the status of a patient’s package, you’ll be able to do so by visiting the Patient’s Profile > Billing > Packages area. You will be able to review the date the package was purchased, how many uses are remaining, and when it will expire.
If you click on the View button, a detailed breakdown of the package will be available to review, including the specific invoices that the package has been redeemed towards.
There are also two reports, the Package Sales and Usage Reports that come in handy if you are interested in this type of information across all packages that have been sold and redeemed across the entire clinic.
Package Expiry
If a package has expired, it can no longer be redeemed towards an appointment, even if there are available sessions remaining.
From this show screen, clinics will be able to modify the expiration date of a package if desired. This can be used to either extend the validity of a package longer than the default preference if a patient requires an extension.
Leave the date field blank if you wish to set the package to no expiry.
If an appointment that is covered via a package is rescheduled to a date that is after the package expiry date, you will receive a notification indicating that the package must first be removed OR the expiry date must be adjusted prior to moving it.
Refunding a Package
You might run into a situation where a patient does not redeem all of the available uses of a package, and you would like to offer a refund of the remaining sessions. There are two places to initiate a Package refund:
#1 - Patient Profile > Billing > Purchases, click on the drop-down arrow next to the invoice and select Refund Package.
#2 - Patient Profile > Billing > Packages, click View next to the relevant package to bring up the show page, then click on the Refund Package button.
Regardless of where you instigate the refund, you will be presented with a pop-up asking to confirm whether you wish to refund this package.
Due to variations in refund regulations of package deals across locales and disciplines, the amount that you would like to return to the patient is fairly flexible. Jane will provide a suggested amount which is calculated by taking the original package price and dividing it by the number of uses to get a per-use value. She will then multiply this amount by the number of remaining sessions to offer a suggested refund amount, although you can override this value to any amount between $0 and the total amount originally collected.
Wait— you’re not quite done yet! Once the refund has been initiated, the specified amount will become unapplied and available as credit so that it can be properly refunded to the desired payment method of your choosing. This can be done by viewing the original Payment itself— check out our guide on Refunding a Patient Payment for a quick refresher on how to finalize this second half of the refund.
📍 Note: A friendly reminder that refunding the package will automatically invalidate the package, meaning that any remaining uses of the package can no longer be redeemed.
If you have any questions about working with packages, don’t hesitate to send us an email to [email protected] and we would be happy to guide you in the right direction.