FAQs | Auto Payments

1. About Auto Payments

1.1. What’s Auto Payments?
Your Halaxy can process your patient appointment fees automatically for you, without you needing to handle cash or manage an eftpos facility. In fact, with auto payments, you don’t need to handle payments again!

Halaxy removes your practice administration by enabling you to process payments electronically via Halaxy, so you can separate the financial and clinical relationship with patients.

Auto payments is currently available for Australian-based practitioners and will be extended to practitioners in other countries over the coming months.

Read more about the benefits of processing payments via Halaxy below, on section 3.

1.2. What do I need to do to start processing payments via Halaxy?
All you need to do is to save the patient's payment details for future use. No matter whether you see the patient once or 20 times, the payment can be automatically processed for you at the time of the appointment, so you and your practice can focus solely on treating patients.

Learn how to add patients’ payment details
Learn how to process payments via Halaxy

1.3. How are the patient payment details stored?
When you save your patients’ payment details in your Halaxy, the full card details aren’t actually stored in Halaxy, for added security. Once the credit/debit card details are added, they are stored in our payment gateway system (Braintree, a global payments system, owned by PayPal) which is secure and encrypted, so no one in Halaxy has access to the details.

1.4. Who pays the payment processing fee?
You can choose to pass these fees on to your patients, or to pay the fees yourself. If you chose to pass them on to your patients, you can then choose if this is done every time or on an optional basis.

Learn how to assign payments processing fees to patients

2. Auto Payments New Rates

2.1. What is changing with Payments?
From the 14^th February 2019, Halaxy is offering new lower rates for practitioners processing payments via Halaxy in Australia.

Every single group that is currently processing payments via Halaxy’s payment gateway will now save money. The amount that you’ll save depends on the volume of invoices processed via Halaxy in a 90-day period.

Here is an example: A group processing $48,500 worth of invoices over a 3-month period will secure a rate of 1.8% + $0.75. They currently have 101 appointments per month, and on average an appointment is $160 (Inc. GST). Previously they would have paid $424 per month in transaction fees, now they will be spending $367. This means that they will now be saving $230 per year on transaction fees.

As you can see below, the more you process payments via Halaxy, the more you save:

*Percentage plus transaction fee.

2.2. Why is Halaxy offering lower rates?

We’re now one of the largest practice management software providers in Australia, so more practitioners are processing payments via Halaxy. We can now pass the savings onto you, benefiting not only your practice but also your patients.

Auto payments processing is key to freeing practitioners from administration, so you can focus on treating more patients.

By offering one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest online payment option for practitioners in Australia, we’re making auto payments more affordable for more practitioners - and, therefore, making healthcare better.

2.3. How is my payment band calculated?

It’s very simple - whenever a payment is processed via Halaxy, the dollar amount is added to the total value of invoices processed in the past 90 days, which is cumulative and refreshed every day. The more payments you process in a 90-day period, the greater your chance to move to the next band and save even more.

For example: Let’s say you are a solo Cosmetic Surgeon and you have processed only four invoices via Halaxy in the past 90 days to the accumulative value of $60,000 ($15,000 per invoice). One was processed on 5 days ago, one was processed 15 days ago, one was processed 48 days ago, and one was processed 89 days ago. Presuming you process no more invoices via Halaxy’s payment gateway, in two days your accumulative total will drop from $60,000 down to $45,000, meaning that you will move from Band 1 back to Band 2.

This calculation considers the total amount of payments processed by your practice group, so all practitioners in your practice can contribute to the total amount processed.

2.4. How will I know what payment band I have achieved?

If you’re already processing payments via Halaxy, when you go to the Payments Settings page in Halaxy, you will see:

·  Your current rate (payment % + transaction fee);
·  Your accumulative transaction total from the past 90 days;
·  The amount required to unlock the next payment band rate.

Your Payments Settings page should look like this:

3. Why should I process my payments via Halaxy?

Auto payments benefit you and your patients. Here’s why:

3.1. Save payment details and save 4 minutes per appointment
By processing payments automatically via Halaxy, practitioners are saving on average 4 minutes per appointment – which they can spend completing case notes or seeing more patients; and reception staff can focus on assisting patients, creating a better experience in the waiting rooms.

And the benefits are beyond electronic payments management – saving 4 minutes per appointment leads to increased revenue, less hassle and it means patients can get on with their day.

Bonus: it also allows you to charge for no-shows or late-cancellation fees, if you choose to do so.

3.2. Consistent and competitive rates with no hidden fees
Unlike traditional physical and online terminals that can charge different rates depending on the card type (i.e. AMEX, Mastercard, Visa), Halaxy has consistent rates according to your payment band, and no nasty surprises with inconsistent merchant fees.

With the new payment bands, if you process more payments via Halaxy you can secure even better rates.

And it gets even cheaper if you consider the time you end up saving via our payment gateway - we estimate that you will get back 6 to 7 one-hour appointments per month!

3.3. Coming next week: Patients will be able to add their payment details via the Patient Portal saving you time and helping patients
Your patients will soon be able to add and maintain their own payment details via Halaxy's patient portal - similar to how they pay for utilities, transport (e.g. through Uber) and other services. This means that even at the very start of processing their appointment fees, you won’t have to enter their payment details yourself.

3.4 It benefits payments too
With payments handled through Halaxy securely, patients can get on with their day straight after their treatment, and many report that they perceive the practice to be calmer and more focused on caring.

3.5 Auto payments help you manage your cash flow better
As you know, payments can be automatically processed via Halaxy at the time of the appointment or at the end of the day, without you needing to do anything. When the previous days’ transactions are all batched or transmitted individually and arrive at the same time, it’s easier to manage your practice’s cash flow.

Couldn’t find what you were looking for? Check the Payments FAQs in the Halaxy Manual or contact us on community@halaxy.com.