Collect payment information

A necessary result of EMS Emergency Medical Services services is the need to bill patients for services rendered and supplies used for treatment, and to collect payment. You need to collect the necessary information about insurance, to facilitate coverage for the patient and payment for your agency.

1. (If you have not done so already) Access the EHR module in the ESO Suite.

   1. Do one of the following.

      • (If you are already working in the ESO Suite) Click the Home icon in the upper left corner of the screen.

        

      • (If you have not yet logged in) Log in to the ESO Suite.

        1. In a web browser, go to https://www.esosuite.net/EsoSuite.

           The ESO Suite login screen appears.

        2. Enter your user name, password, and agency name, then click Let's Go.

           If MFA multi-factor authentication is enabled, the Multi-factor authentication dialog box appears, displaying one or more methods you can use to verify your login credentials. The number of methods that appear in the dialog box depends on what MFA methods your ESO Suite administrators enabled in the Admin module.

           Click graphics to open them.

           Information on enabling MFA and specific MFA methods is available in the Admin module online help, in Configure multiple-factor authentication.

           Note: If your ESO Suite administrators have disabled MFA ("opted-out"), this dialog does not appear.

        3. (If the Multi-factor authentication dialog box appears) Depending on which buttons appear in the dialog box, verify your login in one of the following ways.

           With an authenticator application.

           1. Click MFA verification via authenticator app.

              The dialog box updates with boxes for entering the numbers of the authentication code, and the ESO Suite sends an authentication code to the authenticator application installed on your device.

              

           2. Open your authenticator application and note the authentication code currently displayed.

           3. Enter the authentication code displayed in the authenticator application.

           4. Click Log In.

           With a text message (SMS short message service).

           1. Click MFA verification via SMS.

              The dialog box updates with boxes for entering the numbers of the authentication code, and the ESO Suite sends an authentication code to the phone number recorded in your PM records and identified with MFA codes.

              

           2. Enter the authentication code sent to your MFA-registered phone number.

           3. Click Log In.

           With an email message.

           1. Click MFA verification via email.

              The dialog box updates with boxes for entering the numbers of the authentication code, and the ESO Suite sends an authentication code to your agency or department email address, recorded in your PM records.

              

           2. Enter the authentication code sent to your agency or department email address.

           3. Click Log In.

      The ESO Suite landing screen appears.

      Click graphics to open them.

      Note: If MFA multi-factor authentication is enabled, you can access and manage your MFA options through the PM module, on the Settings > Account page, as described in Manage a user account. If your agency or department has enabled MFA but has not purchased the full-featured version of the PM module, you can access your own MFA settings by clicking Change my Multi-Factor Authentication settings on the landing screen, then using the Settings > Account page that appears. If your agency has not enabled MFA, the Change my Multi-Factor Authentication settings link does not appear on the landing screen.

   2. On the top side of the home screen, click EHR.

      Tip: If your screen or browser window is too narrow to display all your agency's ESO Suite module icons, an options icon appears on the right side of the icon bar. If you click the options icon, a menu appears containing additional module icons.

      The EHR screen appears, displaying a list of patient records in the EHR module. The most-recent records appear at the top of the list.

      

      Different record status icons can appear in the list.

      Icon	Status
      	Unlocked/Draft The patient record exists in the ESO Suite database, and all crew members listed in the patient record may edit all fields in the record. ESO Suite administrators and personnel with security roles of either EHR Supervisor or EHR Manager can edit non-clinical fields.
      	Mobile The patient record exists on the mobile device, and has not been synchronized with the ESO Suite database. ESO Suite administrators, personnel with security roles of either EHR Supervisor or EHR Manager, and all crew members listed in the patient record can only access a print view of the record. Once the Mobile record synchronizes with the ESO Suite database. the record reflects its current status.
      	Locked The patient record exists in the ESO Suite database, and is locked. Only non-clinical fields can be edited by crew members listed in the patient record, ESO Suite administrators and personnel with security roles of either EHR Supervisor or EHR Manager.

2. (If you have not done so already) Add a new patient record, or search for the existing patient record you want to work with.

   Information on adding or opening a patient record is available in Add a patient record and Search for a patient record.

   The patient record opens and displays the Incident tab, with the Response bookmark selected in the left pane. Fields appear in the right pane for specifying basic information about the incident

   

   If you manually created a new patient record, the Incident Number and State Tracking Number fields populate automatically with ESO Suite-assigned values. You must enter data in all other required fields.

   If you imported data from a CAD Computer Aided Dispatch system, the Incident Number field populates with the data from that source. Other fields in the EHR module may also populate from these sources, depending on what data was recorded in them before the data was imported into the EHR module.

3. At the top of the page, click the Billing tab.

   The contents of the Billing tab appear, set to the Payment bookmark in the left pane.

   

4. (If applicable) Indicate that the patient has no insurance, or that you unable to obtain the information.

   If the patient has not insurance, if they refuse or unable to respond, or if language barriers exist between the patient and EMS Emergency Medical Services personnel, you can indicate that either there is no payment information, or that you were unable to obtain it from the patient at that time.

   In either of these cases, you would not need to collect insurance contact information.

   • On the right side of the Payment section heading bar, select either No Payment Info or Unable to Obtain, depending on the circumstances.

     All the fields in the Payment and Contact for Payment sections disappear, and the messages No payment information for this patient. and No billing contact for this patient. appear instead.

     

5. For Method Of Payment, click Medicare, Medicaid, Insurance, or Other and select the appropriate single option from the menu that appears.

   This is the primary method of payment or type of insurance associated with this EMS encounter.

6. Specify the primary insurance company's information.

   1. (If applicable) In Medicare or Medicaid, type the ID number for the recipient.

   2. For Primary Insurance, click the field or the list icon to the right of the field, then select the appropriate single option from the menu that appears, to identify the name of the patient's primary insurance company.

   3. In each of the following fields, type the necessary information.

      In this field	Type this
      Primary Policy Number	The ID number of the patient's primary insurance policy.
      Primary Insurance Group Name	The name of the patient's primary insurance group.
      Primary Group Number	The ID number of the patient's primary insurance group.

   4. Add, edit, and delete phone numbers for the insurance company's contact.

      1. Under Primary Insurance Company Phone Numbers, click Add Phone Numbers.

         The Add Phone Numbers dialog box appears.

         

      2. For Phone Type, click the field or the list icon to the right of the field, then select the appropriate single option from the menu that appears.

         Example: Answer service, home, mobile, work, and so forth.

      3. For Number, click the number pad icon to the right of the field, then enter the appropriate numerical values from the number pad dialog box that appears.

      4. Click OK.

         A listing for the phone number appears below the Primary Insurance Company Phone Numbers bar.

         

      5. Repeat the previous steps to add additional phone numbers as necessary.

   5. (If necessary) Edit a contact phone number.

      1. On the right side of the listing for the phone number you need to edit, click Details.

         The Edit Phone Numbers dialog box appears, containing fields populated with the information currently entered for the phone number.

      2. Change the information in the fields as needed.
      3. Click OK.
   6. (If necessary) Delete a contact phone number.

      • On the right side of the listing for the phone number, click the delete () icon.

        The listing for the phone number disappears from below the Phone Numbers bar.

7. Repeat the previous step to specify the secondary insurance company's information.