Pegboard System and Banking Procedures in Bookkeeping

the pegboard system of bookkeeping is sometimes called write-it-once system NSF stands for nonsufficient funds a restrictive endorsement stamp is used to stamp on the back of a check to signify "for deposits only" when reconciling a bank statement the checkbook entries should be checked against the bank statement if a check has been deposited and is now returned because of insufficient funds, it will be necessary to call the bank that returned it and verify availability of funds so the check can then be redeposited the most common methods of tracking a patients balance is the pegboard system and computerized financial systems the pegboard system consists of day sheets, ledger cards, encounter forms, receipt forms the parent responsible for payment if the child is not insured with a contracted insurance carrier the guarantor the number required by the CMS on claims for clinical diagnosis services is called NPI national provider identifier the advanced beneficiary notification form is used primarily for medicare patients a patient encounter form is also called a charge slip, a superbill in most practices there is a need to have cash available on a daily basis to make change for a patient paying cash for services when a check must be guaranteed for the amount in which it is written a ___ is issued cashiers check restricting the use of a check should it be lost or stolen may be done through special endorsement the ledger is placed under the charge slip or encounter form in a pegboard system and aligned before posting a refund on a patients account will usually occur when the insurance carrier pays more than anticipated information that is included on an encounter form includes requested return visit, patient account number previous balance petty cash should be balanced each day before closing on a patient account or ledger the credit column is on the right and is used for entering payments the management of the business details of a practice usually becomes the responsibility of the medical assisting staff for medicaid patients a form officially known as ___ is the only legal means a clinic has to collect payment on charges not allowed by medicare advanced beneficiary notice the one advantage to the ambulatory care setting that accepts credit/debit cards is that the monies for fees charged are usually available within 24hrs the amount of cash on hand for the purpose of petty cash is usually within the range of $75 - $100 a record of daily patient transactions used in conjunction with pegboard system ledger small cash sum kept on hand in the office for minor or unexpected expenses petty cash decreases the balance due credit replaces all other identifiers used by providers for reimbursement and other transactions with private payers and the government national provider identifier NPI as a noun, this term denotes "the amount owed" as a verb the term means "to verify posting accuracy" balance accounting function that describes the act of recording financial transactions into bookkeeping or accounting systems posting increases or decreases to a patient account not due to charges incurred or payments received adjustments sum owed by a business for services or goods received accounts payable sum owed to a business for services or goods supplied accounts receivable six habits essential to creating and maintaining accurate paper financial records use black/blue ink, neat and clear handwriting, align columns carefully, stay within columns, be careful with decimals, double-check math features that may be a part of the checking account interest paid, monthly fees, checking charges, atm access, after hours deposits, initial deposits and balance requirements, overdraft protection, fees for checks rules to ensure that checks are properly written and recorded confirm numeric and written amounts agree, check spelling, follow clinic procedure, check signed by authorized signer, confirm that check is payable to correct payee and current date is used reasons why it is important to ensure that proper control is utilized when purchasing supplies and equipment avoid purchasing unnecessary items, avoid duplication of items, provide system to pay only for what is ordered and received what should be done to verify that the correct items and quantities have been received double check items and quantities received to what is listed on the copy of the purchase order cashiers check used when a check must be guaranteed for amount in which it is written, check to verify acceptance policy certified check depositor's own check the bank has "certified" with the date and signature to indicate check is good for amount written money order usps, western union, purchased with cash and are similar to cashiers checks voucher check check with stub attached that can be used to indicate invoice dates and services travelers checks convenient, safer than cash when traveling come in $20, $50 $100 require signature when used three reasons why adjustments may sometimes be made to a patients account insurance payments, personal discounts write offs or any other subtractions for the account what is an endorsement transfer rights to whoever holds the check the best method of endorsing checks in the ambulatory care setting a blank endorsement is signature only, danger is if it is lost or stolen someone else could cash the check accounting is the monitoring of financial status and activities bookkeeping is actual daily recording of accounts or transactions of the business how to establish and maintain a petty cash system keep separate from cash drawer for patients payments. co-payments, do not use to pay bills or make large routine purchases. keep amount small 75-100 must be carefully maintained and balanced at the end of the day charges for some daily routine visits may be submitted to an insurance carrier and the clinic may not know portion covered until it is received from the carrier medicare/medicaid are mandated to charge every patient the same amount for similar services adjustments may occur with patients who have medicare/medicaid, blue cross and private health insurance generates financial information for the ambulatory care setting and is defined as a system of monitoring the financial status of a facility and the specific results of its activities accounting the actual daily recording of the accounts or transactions of the business is a major part of this accounting process bookkeeping total amount of money owed to the medical facility by patients is accounts receivable ways to track a patients balances computerized financial systems, pegboard NCR no carbon required day sheet provides complete and up to date information about accounts receivable status at a glance the ____ of medical facilities use computers for bookkeeping majority a ____ is hired to design a customized program although this can be more expensive than purchasing mass-produced software consultant debit entering charges and a brief description of services credit column is at the far right of the debit column and is used for entering payments balance column is at the far right and is used to record the difference between the debit and credit columns and shows any amount used to indicate any insurance payments, personal discounts or write offs or any other subtractions for the account that need to be recorded adjustments when making an adjustment intended to increase the balance, a ___ entry in parentheses is made to show that you reverse the unction when you balance negative entry, add instead of subtract the amount all financial transactions for professional services are posted on a day sheet or daily ledger ____ is balanced to provide a complete picture of all patient financial activity for that day day sheet a major disadvantage of day sheet is that an error made in one place is going to carry through to all other forms the _____ figure shows how much is owed to the provider by all patients to dare allowing management to see the total outstanding balance at a glance accounts receivable _____ forms used for payments on accounts usually are not customized with other than the name, address and phone number of the practice preprinted receipt in the pegboard system when the last day sheet for the month has been balanced, it is necessary to verify that the month-end figures on the day sheet agree with patient accounts reconciling the month-end sheet to the patient ledgers is accomplished by adding all the open balances on the ledgers and verifying that the total agrees with the end-ofmonth accounts receivable balance on the last day sheet of the month " checks and balances" when a mistake is caught immediately the payer can stop payments on the missing check or credit or debit card slip and a new payment can be made total practice management system advantages include auto encounter form, calculates charges for monthly billing statements, created & updates patient account, adds new names to the list of patients, daily log, transfers data to produce insurance forms, lists checks received each day, auto ages accounts at each billing cycle and created billing statements the ____ account is the primary account type the MA will use checking computerized patient account lists clinic visits, procedures/codes, charges, payments, adjustments. money market accounts often pay a higher rate of interest may require a higher initial deposit and maintenance of a higher balance, useful when access to money is not needed frequently another means of ensuring that the accounts receivable is accurate for the previous month bank statement