Paying laboratories

When a laboratory charges your clinic for the work it does, turn on The clinic pays this laboratory in its Billing settings. Each lab order then carries a lab fee: what the clinic owes that lab for the order.

Not the patient’s bill

Lab fees are money between the clinic and the laboratory. The patient is billed separately on an invoice, usually at the lab’s price, while the lab fee comes from the lab’s cost.

How the fee is set

• When an order is placed, its fee is the sum of the lab costs of its tests and panels. Cancelling a test takes its cost off.
• It becomes due at the lab’s cost point: When the specimen is sent (collection or dispatch, even if cancelled later) or When results come back. Before that, it shows Not due yet: “The fee becomes payable once the order reaches the laboratory’s cost point.”
• With Manage laboratories, tests and panels or Update accounts, you can Add fee, Edit fee or Remove fee on an order, but only while nothing has been paid on it: “This lab fee already has payments. Refund them before changing the fee.”

Fee status	Meaning
No lab fee	The clinic doesn’t pay this lab, or the fee was removed.
Not due yet	Not yet at the cost point.
Unpaid	Due, nothing paid.
Partly paid	Part of it paid.
Paid	Fully paid.

Pay a laboratory

From the laboratory’s Orders tab (staff who can see costs: Manage laboratories or Read accounts; to pay you also need account access):

1. Tick the unpaid orders. The bar shows how many are selected.
2. Select Pay # orders. One payment covers them all.
3. Choose the account, method, date and reference.

Or pay a single order with Pay laboratory on the order. Each order can only be paid up to its fee: “Lab order accession: at most … can be paid.”

Payments are finance transactions of type Laboratory (“Paid to laboratory”). They follow your accounts’ approval rules. Until approved, they show as awaiting approval. Voiding or deleting the payment un-pays its orders automatically.

Refunds from the lab

If the lab pays money back (for example for a cancelled test), select orders and Refund # orders, or Record refund from lab on one order (“Refunded by laboratory”).

The laboratory statement

The laboratory’s Statement tab shows, for a period, the fees that became due and the approved payments and refunds, with the running balance owed. With Print on, print it with your laboratory statement footer.

Dashboard and reports

• Owed to laboratories widget: what the clinic owes each lab.
• Lab fees owed report template, and the Laboratories data source (order volume, turnaround, fees owed).