Accepting cards with SynchPay

FOX takes card payments in several places: over the phone, through the FOX Patient Admin Portal, through the patient portal, by text link, on a recurring schedule, and from mailed statements. This article explains each one: who enters the card, whether the $3 convenience fee applies, when it goes live, and where to find the payment afterward.

For step-by-step instructions on charging a card over the phone, see How to take a card payment by phone.

Debit cards never carry the $3 fee in any channel. Neither do bank payments through SynchPay (account-to-account, or A2A).

SynchPay is launching in stages, and your team goes first:

1. Staff first. Billers and phone staff start taking payments in the SynchPay portal before patients see anything new. Early issues land with trained staff, not with patients.

2. One outlet, then all outlets. The launch starts with one outlet for one week. If there are no problems, the remaining outlets follow.

3. InstaMed stays on during the transition. FOX runs InstaMed alongside SynchPay until the switch is complete. Payments made in InstaMed stay in InstaMed.

4. Patient-facing channels follow. The FOX Patient Admin Portal integration goes live next, then the patient portal.

This is the main channel at launch, and it replaces taking phone payments in InstaMed.

• Who enters the card: You do, while the patient is on the phone.

• Card on file: Select the patient's saved card and charge it.

• New card: Enter the card details. The card is then saved to the patient's profile.

• Someone else is paying: Enter the payer's name and billing address in the billing address section, so the payer's details don't land on the patient's profile.

• Fee: $3 on credit cards, added automatically when you set the card type to Credit. There's no fee when you set it to Debit. Ask the patient which it is; SynchPay can't tell from the card number.

• Where the payment appears: Right away, in the table at the bottom of the patient's profile and in the Payments list.

Full steps and the fee script: How to take a card payment by phone.

When you start a new card payment, the portal may let you text the patient a secure link to enter their own card details instead of reading the number to you.

• Who enters the card: The patient, on their phone.

• Why use it: You never hear or handle the card number, and the patient can check their card at their own pace.

• Fee: To be confirmed.

This option was shown in an August demo but not in the Sept. 10 training. Check with your supervisor before using it.

When you send a patient a SynchPay payment request by text, the payment screen shows two choices: pay from their bank account through SynchPay, or pay by card.

• Who enters the card: The patient, on their phone.

• What to encourage: The bank option. It's free for the patient and doesn't bounce.

• Fee: To be confirmed for the card option on this screen.

See How patients pay with SynchPay (account-to-account).

After launch, you'll also be able to take card payments without leaving the FOX Patient Admin Portal. A SynchPay payment window opens inside the portal with two options: Pay with credit card or Pay with SynchPay.

• Who enters the card: Staff.

• Saved cards: The patient's saved cards appear in the window. You can also add a new card.

• Fee: $3 on credit card payments for patient balances (what the patient owes after insurance). No fee for wellness private-pay patients, whose cards are usually saved on file for future charges rather than charged right away.

• Pay with SynchPay: Staff won't log in to the patient's bank. This option is being updated so it texts the patient a link to finish the payment on their own phone. Until that update ships, it may be hidden.

• Where the payment appears: In the FOX portal and in the SynchPay Payments list. Each payment is tagged with the outlet it came from.

Patients will be able to pay their own balances online through the FOX patient portal, with SynchPay processing the card.

• Who enters the card: The patient.

• Fee: None. Patients paying on their own are never charged the convenience fee.

• Saved cards: A card that staff saved for a patient shows up in the patient portal once the patient registers.

• Status: Later phase, after the admin portal.

FOX's system can send patients a one-time link to pay a specific bill. There are two types:

Some links are single-use: the patient pays without saving the card. Others let the patient choose whether to save it.

• Fee: To be confirmed.

• Status: Later phase, through the FOX portal integration.

FOX charges some patients on a schedule, such as wellness private-pay patients billed every two weeks after service and recurring charges that run on the 1st and 15th of each month.

• How it works today: Scheduled charges run against the patient's saved card through FOX's system.

• What's coming: Recurring card authorization inside SynchPay, where the patient approves future charges up to a set limit, is coming soon. Bank payments already support it. SynchPay payment plans of up to 18 months are also in development.

• Fee: To be confirmed.

• If a scheduled charge fails: Treat it like any declined card. See How to confirm a patient's payment went through.

Some patients write their card number on the payment slip of a paper statement and mail it back. You enter these in the SynchPay portal as a phone payment (channel 1).

• Credit or debit: The current statement form lists card brands but doesn't ask whether it's a credit or debit card. An updated form removes American Express and adds a debit option. Until it's in use, follow FOX's SOP for these payments.

• Amex on a mailed slip: SynchPay can't process it. Contact the patient for another payment method.

• Coming later: Statements will include a QR code that takes patients to a FOX and SynchPay page where they can pay on their own.

Some insurers pay FOX with a virtual card number instead of a check or bank deposit. FOX processes these through PayTrace today.

• Status: Virtual cards will be tested through SynchPay during the first week after launch. Until your supervisor confirms the test passed, keep processing them the way you do now.

• Fee: To be confirmed. The convenience fee is a patient fee, so it likely doesn't apply to insurer payments.