How should I collect payment for private GP appointments?

Benefits of collecting payment online

Collecting payments for private GP services online is the preferred way of collecting payment for a number of reasons:

Invoicing in arrears

Historically most traditional private GP services operated on an invoicing in arrears basis. This meant that at any point in time, a practice could be carrying tens of thousands of pounds of ageing debt, a percentage of which would not ever be recovered.

This is also a very admin heavy way of collecting payment as it will involve a member of staff raising and issuing the invoices as well as chasing payment which is unpaid.

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Collecting upfront payment

More recently, as patients have become more familiar with paying for services online upfront at the point of booking, many private GP services have started collecting at least some payment or payment details at the point of booking.

It is now common for private GP patients to pay for their consultation time when booking online or over the phone.

Having a professional website and the facility for your patients to book online can drastically reduce the admin time required for invoicing and cuts down aged debt.

You need to consider your cancellation policy and how you will manage any refunds to patients who have already paid for their consultation but wish to cancel.  

What software can I use to collect payment?

We recommend using the billing system Hero Health, a tool that facilitates online booking and prepayment at the time of booking either via credit/debit card or direct debit.

For the costs of any services which arise during the appointment such as pathology or tests, you can raise an invoice within the consultation where customers can pay via SMS with Apple Pay before they leave the clinic.

With Hero Health, any unpaid invoices are chased automatically via SMS or email, so the ageing debt levels are negligible.