When you generate billing statements, the “balance forward date” defaults to one month earlier. Any patient balance before this date is grouped into a lump sum labeled “Balance Forward” on the billing statement. Often patients aren’t sure what these balance forward charges are. By adjusting the Balance Forward Date, your patients will view a more itemized list of charges which helps them to understand the charges better.
Watch the following video to learn how to set the balance forward date on billing statements. (Duration 0:24)
Here’s an example of a billing statement with a default balance forward date of one month:
Here’s an example of a billing statement where the balance forward date was adjusted to a few months earlier:
Additional Tips
- Be careful when deciding how far back to set the Balance Forward Date. If you set the date too far back, patients may receive statements that are several pages long, which may confuse or overwhelm them.
- To learn more, read the Dentrix Magazine article Reduce Those Pesky Billing Statement Calls.
- To learn more about setting the Balance Forward Date, read Setting Billing Statement Options in Dentrix Help.
Check Your Knowledge
If you have access to Dentrix, check your knowledge with this exercise.
- Switch to the Dentrix demo database.
(Skip this step if you are using the Dentrix Learning Edition software.) - Generate a batch of billing statements for patients with the last name range of A to E and set the Balance Forward Date to two months back. Leave all other settings as they are.