Modifying and Adding to the Fee Schedule

The Nitty Gritty

When a transaction posts to a patient's ledger, whether the insurance ledger or the patient's copayment ledger, it pulls from the Fee Schedule.  Once a fee or payment type has posted to a ledger, it becomes historical in nature. The name of the fee or payment type should not be altered in the fee schedule. Bluntly stated, if you delete the fee label name, or change the name, the patient's ledger historically will reflect the changes.   

A few examples:

• If you change the name of a fee from Retainers to Upper Retainer, every instance of the fee used historically will now reflect Upper Retainer in patient ledger.
• If you change it to Whitening Kit, every instance of the previously used Retainers fee will now reflect Whitening Kit.
• If you remove the Label name, then ledgers will reflect the fee amount but the fee description will be blank on their ledger.

Preloaded Fees with Meaning

The Fee Schedule includes fees that are pre-loaded with Tops and those that you have added.  Fees that were pre-loaded by Tops we prefer you do not modify.  There is a meaning associated with the transaction type/name. Many of the pre-loaded fees you see in the Fee Schedule you won't see in the Transaction Window option (using Action>New Transaction). This is because they are used behind the scenes typically with claim generation.  If you absolutely need to alter the label of the fee, make sure it's as close to the meaning as possible.

For example, the Scheduled Contract Fee is an automatic charge that posts automatically to a patient's ledger based on their active contract schedule.  If necessary for further clarification to patients, you can rename this charge to Orthodontic Monthly Fee.  The meaning is still Scheduled Contract Fee and the CDT code associated should not be altered. Nor should the fee amount. The fee amount is determined by the patient's active contract.

Adding Custom Fees

While you don't have the option to delete a transaction type from the Fee Schedule, you can add custom fees.

Complete the following instructions to add customized charges to your patient ledgers.

1. Go to Tops Ortho > Practice Setup.
2. Type your password and click OK.
3. Go to Fee Schedule.
4. Type your password and click OK.
5. A list of default items display in Account Transaction Type.

6. Click the + icon.
7. In the Label field, type a name for your charges. Note: The Meaning field is not available for customized charges.
8. Check the box for Exclude from Insurance Claims if you do not want this item to display when you generate an insurance claim. Note: Excluding transaction types from claims does not go back in time and remove them from past claims.
9. If applicable, type the CDT code in the Insurance Code field.
10. In the Fee field, type an amount.
11. The new item is now listed as an option in the New Transactions window.

Video Tutorial: