Advance Transaction

Overview

An advance is a payment received from a patient before the final invoice is generated for an encounter. It is stored as a RECEIPT voucher and is automatically counted toward the encounter's balance.

Advances are encounter-scoped — they belong to a specific encounter and cannot be transferred or adjusted across encounters.

When to Use an Advance

• A patient is admitted (IPD) and pays a deposit upfront.
• A patient is registered (OPD) and pre-pays for an expected procedure.
• A TPA/insurance patient can also pay an advance — hospitals often collect advances from TPA patients as a safeguard since TPA payments can be unreliable.
• At discharge, if the TPA settles the bill, the excess advance is returned to the patient via Return Payment. This is a healthcare business policy — check your organization's practice.

Collecting an Advance

1. Go to the Patient Billing page for the patient.
2. Click Collect Advance.
3. Fill in:

4. Click Submit.
5. A receipt is generated. Click Print to give the patient a copy.

The advance is automatically linked to the patient's current open (in-progress) encounter. It immediately reflects in the encounter balance.

How Advances Settle Against Bills

There is no separate "adjustment" step. The system tracks the encounter balance using standard voucher arithmetic:

• Total Debits (Dr): Sum of all invoices against the encounter
• Total Credits (Cr): Sum of all receipts (including advances) against the encounter
• Balance: Dr − Cr — a positive balance means the patient still owes money

When you create an invoice for the same encounter, the advance already reduces the balance. No manual linking is needed.

Returning Excess Money

If an advance exceeds the final bill for an encounter, the excess cannot be moved to a different encounter. You must:

1. Return the excess via Patient Billing > Return Payment. This creates a PAYMENT voucher.
2. If another encounter is due, collect a fresh advance against that encounter.

How Advances Differ from Regular Receipts

Both are auto-targeted to the in-progress encounter and both create RECEIPT vouchers. The key difference: advances are for pre-billing deposits, regular receipts can be mapped to a specific invoice.

FAQ

Q: Can I collect an advance for a TPA/insurance patient? A: Yes. Hospitals often collect advances from TPA patients because TPA payments can be unreliable. At discharge, if the TPA settles the bill, the excess advance is returned to the patient via Return Payment. This is an organizational policy — follow your hospital's practice.

Q: An advance from encounter A has extra money. Can I apply it to encounter B? A: No. Advances are tied to the encounter. Return the excess from encounter A, then collect a fresh advance for encounter B.

Q: Can one advance be split across multiple bills? A: Not explicitly. All receipts and invoices for an encounter are pooled — the balance is what matters, not individual vouchers.

Q: How do I see outstanding advances? A: The encounter balance on the Patient Billing page shows the net (Dr − Cr) for each encounter. A negative balance means the patient has paid more than billed.

Q: Can I edit or cancel an advance after submitting? A: Voucher editing is restricted to admins only as a fraud-prevention measure. If you are not an admin and need to correct an advance, do not edit the original — instead, create a Return Payment voucher for the same encounter. This reverses the amount and preserves a clear audit trail.