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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.stratapt.com/llms.txt

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Overview

Recording a patient payment in StrataEMR does two things: it creates an accurate financial record for the visit and holds the funds as unapplied until the claim is adjudicated. Once the claim processes, StrataEMR automatically applies those funds to the patient’s balance. This guide covers collecting a payment at time of service. For online payments made by the patient through the portal, see Patient Portal Payments.

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Record a Payment at Time of Service

  1. Open the patient’s case in StrataEMR.
  2. Navigate to the Payments page of the Financial section of the case.
  3. Enter the payment amount.
  4. Select the date of service the payment applies to. If the patient is paying for today’s visit, select today’s date.
  5. Select the payment type — cash, check, or credit card.
  6. Add any notes you would like to document for the payment.
  7. Select if the payment is related to an invoice (see below).
  8. Click Add Payment.
Note: The payment is held as unapplied funds until the claim for that date of service is adjudicated. This is expected behavior — the payment has been recorded and will be applied automatically once the payer responds.

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Apply a Payment to an Invoice vs. a Deductible

When recording a payment, you will see a Related to Invoice option. Here is how to use it:
  • Yes: Use this when the patient is paying a known balance on a claim that has already been adjudicated. The payment is applied directly to the outstanding balance on that date of service.
  • No: Use this when collecting at time of service, before the claim has processed. The payment is held as unapplied and applied automatically after adjudication.
Warning: Applying a payment to the wrong date of service or invoice can cause balance discrepancies in the Clarity Panel that are difficult to untangle. Double-check the date of service before saving.

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Mark a Payment as Collected on the Patient’s Profile

After recording the payment, it will appear in the patient’s payment history in the Financial section. You do not need to take any additional steps to mark it as collected — saving the payment record is sufficient. If you are working from a task that prompted you to collect a copay, the task will resolve automatically once the payment is recorded against the correct date of service.
Note: If the task does not resolve after recording the payment, confirm that the payment was applied to the correct date of service. A mismatch between the payment date and the task date of service is the most common cause.

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Authorize.net and Online Payment Timing

If your practice uses Authorize.net for credit card processing, payments collected through the patient portal are batched on a schedule set by Authorize.net — typically within 1–2 business days. The payment will appear in StrataEMR immediately after it is recorded, but the deposit to your bank account follows Authorize.net’s settlement schedule. If you are not seeing expected deposits, confirm the payment was processed successfully in StrataEMR before contacting Authorize.net support.