Allocations Setup

Set Allocation settings to determine behavior for payments in Open Dental.

In the Main Menu, click Setup, Account, Allocations.

By default, when entering a Patient Payment, Open Dental automatically suggests Payment Splits (paysplits) allocated to the oldest production items (e.g., adjustments, Pay Plan Charges, procedures) within the family. The paysplits inherit the Clinic and provider associated to the production. However, there are varying levels of paysplit allocation settings, and each are determined by a combination of these settings. The more rigorous settings selected, the greater the information provided on reports and in the patient account.

Quick Allocation Settings

Select from three allocation options to quickly set all the respective allocation setup settings. Individual settings may be changed as needed.

Rigorous Line Item: Requires all payments to be allocated to production. For payments taken before production is completed, it must be designated as Unearned Income to be allocated later. This setting also requires adjustments to be attached directly to completed procedures, with the exception of adjustments created by the Billing/Finance Charges or Late Charges tool. Since these types of adjustments are not attached to a procedure, they cannot be edited, only deleted. This allocation method minimizes the amount of manual editing needed when entering payments and ensure reports and patient accounts are as robust and accurate as possible.

When clicked, the following settings are automatically selected:

Select Rigorous Line Item:

Default: Paysplits are allocated to production or unearned income, and adjustments may be attached to procedures but are not required. This is a flexible allocation method that allows paysplits and adjustments to be created or edited without allocating to production or unearned income (i.e., unallocated paysplits and unallocated adjustments).

When clicked, the following settings are automatically selected:

Select Default:

As long as paysplits are allocated to either production or unearned income, and users are allocating unearned income to production when completed, users will get the full benefits of the Rigorous Line Item selection.

Simple: (not recommended) Paysplits are not allocated to production or unearned income, and adjustments may be attached to procedures but are not required. If paysplits are not manually allocated to production, a single, unallocated paysplit is created. This is the most flexible allocation method, however, unallocated paysplits and adjustments can cause inaccurate reporting and provide less useful information on the account. For example, if a payment is posted to a patient account but not allocated to the procedure it is intended for, the procedure appears unpaid and shows up on the patient portion uncollected report.

When clicked, the following settings are automatically selected:

Select Simple:

This allocation method makes it difficult to allocate, track production and income, or pay providers on income (i.e., collections) later.

Paysplits

Determines behavior if patient payments are required to be allocated to production and unearned income.

Rigorous: Paysplits are automatically created and allocated to adjustments, procedures, and Pay Plan Charges with the oldest outstanding balance. If all production is paid in full, or expected to be paid in full, payments are automatically allocated to unearned income to be allocated to a production source later. Users may modify suggested paysplits or create new paysplits but are required to allocate to production or an unearned income type. Payments to Payment Plans are also required to be attached to a procedure.

Auto-Split: Paysplits and unearned income are automatically created and allocated the same as Rigorous (see above), however, users may modify suggested paysplits or create new paysplits without allocating to production or an unearned income type (i.e., create unallocated paysplits).

Manual: Paysplits must be manually created and may optionally be allocated to production or unearned income. If no paysplits are added, a single, unallocated paysplit is automatically created when the payment is posted to the account. The provider assigned to the paysplit defaults to the patients' primary provider and the Clinic is based on the selected option in Preferences, Default Clinic for patient payments, which may differ from the Clinic and provider of outstanding charges.

Adjustments

Determines whether attaching adjustments to procedures is required. Also determines whether the Clinic and provider assigned to the adjustment is updated to match the Clinic and provider assigned to attached procedures. Setting only applies when adding new adjustments or editing existing adjustments.

Rigorous: Attaching procedures to adjustments is required. Existing adjustments, not attached to a procedure (e.g., Billing/Finance Charges, Late Charges) cannot be edited until a procedure is attached. When attaching a procedure to a new or existing adjustment through the Edit Adjustment window, the Clinic and provider on the adjustment updates to match the attached procedure.

Link Only: Attaching procedures to adjustments is optional. The Clinic and provider assignment are the same as Rigorous (see above) when attaching a procedure to a new or existing adjustment.

Manual: (not recommended) Attaching procedures to adjustments is optional. When attaching a procedure to a new or existing adjustment through the Edit Adjustment window, the Clinic and provider must be manually changed to match that of the procedure.

Note: Regardless of which option is selected,
  • The clinic and provider assigned to new adjustments created through the Edit Adjustment window defaults to the patient's assigned clinic and primary provider.
  • Creating new adjustments through the Procedure Edit window automatically updates the Clinic and provider on the adjustment to match that of the procedure.
  • Linking existing adjustments to a procedure through the Procedure Edit window does not automatically update the Clinic and provider assignment. Either choose an adjustment with a matching Clinic and provider or edit the adjustment to match the procedure.

Treatment Planned Prepayments

Treatment plan prepayments allow users to allocate payments to treatment planned procedures. If payment is attached to a treatment planned procedure, the treatment planned procedure cannot be deleted until the payment is detached from the procedure (see Income Transfer, Detaching Payment from a Treatment Planned Prepayment).

By default, treatment planned prepayments are marked Do Not Show on Account and appears in the Hidden Splits tab in the account. They also do not appear on Production and Income and other reports (e.g., Daily Payments Report), except Hidden Payment Splits Report, until they have been allocated to completed procedures.

Allow prepayments to allocate to treatment planned procedures: Determines whether prepayments are allowed to be allocated to treatment planned procedures.

TP prepayments are non-refundable: Only visible when Allow prepayments to allocate to treatment planned procedures is checked. Determines how the prepayment is handled when the associated appointment is broken.

Default treatment planned procedure unearned type: Determines which unearned type is associated with Unearned / Prepayments allocated to treatment planned procedures. Select the default type from the dropdown menu. Customize options in Definitions: PaySplit Unearned Types. Defaults to Treat Plan Pre-Prepayment.

Miscellaneous

Hide paysplits from Payment window by default: Determines whether the Current Payment Splits and Outstanding Charges grid are hidden on the Payment window.

Show Income Transfer Manager: Determines whether the Income Transfer Manager is an available option in the Account Module, Payment dropdown menu.

Claim Pay by Total splits automatically: Determines the method for entering claim payments As Total. See Receive Claim for details.

Make claim specific income transfers when received: Determines whether an automatic income transfer takes place for overpaid procedures after receiving a claim payment or processing an ERA. An automatic transfer only occurs when the procedure is overpaid and a patient payment is attached.

+/- Adjustments offset each other: Determines whether positive and negative adjustments not attached to a procedure offset each other if their assigned patient, provider, and Clinic combination match.

Additional Allocation Preferences

If using Rigorous Line Item or Default quick allocation settings, or some variation of the two, also consider the following Preferences: