Pausing and Resuming a Payment Plan

Audience: Billing, Revenue, and Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) — anyone using the Staff Experience to manage patient payment plans

1. What is it?

Pause Payment Plan puts a patient's payment plan on hold. While the plan is paused, nothing is drafted, no installments come due, and missed payments don't count against the patient. When the reason for the pause is resolved, staff use Resume Payment Plan to start the plan again.

Pausing is most often used while a patient's financial assistance application is being requested or reviewed, so the patient isn't charged or pushed toward default while a decision is pending.

In HC 5.0 a paused plan may also be shown as frozen. The two words mean the same thing.

Pause and Resume are available for both Provider Plans and financed (PayZen) plans, but the two plan types behave differently once the plan resumes. See section 5.

2. Why it's important for clients

Without a pause, a patient who is waiting on a financial assistance decision keeps getting drafted and keeps getting closer to default. If the application is approved, staff then have to unwind payments and missed-payment history. A pause stops the plan from moving forward so the account stays where it was while the decision is made.

3. Before you start

• You need the Pause Payment Plan permission. The same permission covers resuming.
• The plan must be active to pause it, and paused to resume it.

4. Step by step

Pausing a plan

1. Open the patient's account and go to the Payment Plans tab.
2. Click Payment Plan Actions → Pause Payment Plan.
3. The "Would you like to pause the Payment Plan?" window opens. Review what pausing does with the patient:
   • "Payment will be suspended"
   • "No payments will be due"
   • "An email notification will be sent to the patient"
   • "No statements will be mailed to patients"
4. Under "Please select a reason for pausing the plan," choose one:
   • Requested: Financial Assistance Application
   • Under Review: Financial Assistance Application
   • Other
5. Click Pause Payment Plan.

You'll see "Payment plan paused." and the action is recorded in the plan's history.

What staff and patients see while a plan is paused

• Staff see a banner: "The payment plan is currently paused. To take action, you must reactivate the payment plan from the Payment Plans Actions menu." Most plan actions are unavailable until the plan is resumed, and bills can't be removed from a paused plan.
• Patients see a banner in the Patient Experience: "Your payment plan is currently paused while [your organization] reviews your account(s). You will not be charged while the plan is paused. Please call [your organization's phone number] with any questions."

Resuming a plan

1. Open the patient's account and go to the Payment Plans tab.
2. Click Payment Plan Actions → Resume Payment Plan.
3. The "Would you like to resume the Payment Plan?" window opens. Review it with the patient:
   • "All scheduled, missed payments will be added to the end of the payment plan"
   • "The payment plan will retain the status from before it was paused"
   • "A confirmation email will be sent to the patient"
   • "Payment plan due date is" (the next due date)
4. Click Resume Plan.

You'll see "Payment plan resumed." For financed plans you may instead see "Payment plan is resuming." See section 5.

5. What happens while a plan is paused and when it's resumed

While the plan is paused (all plans)

When a Provider Plan is resumed

The plan picks up where it left off, but runs longer:

• Installments that came due during the pause move to the end of the plan. The unpaid amount is added back to the plan's remaining balance, so the plan runs longer by those payments.
• The pause doesn't count as missed payments. The plan's missed-payment count is recalculated when it resumes.
• Missed payments from before the pause still count. Resuming doesn't forgive them. To clear them, use Forgive Missed Installments (see Forgiving a Missed Installment).
• Future due dates don't change. Installments that weren't yet due keep their original dates. Payment-due reminders start again with the next statement cycle.
• The plan returns to Active.

Example: A patient on a 12-month plan has made 4 payments and is paused for 2 months. When the plan resumes, the 2 installments that came due during the pause move to the end. The next installment keeps its original due date, and the plan now ends 2 months later than it would have.

When a financed (PayZen) plan is resumed

Financed plans are paused and resumed through Flywire's financing partner, which manages the plan's schedule. When you resume a financed plan:

• The request is sent to the financing partner. If the partner is still processing it, you'll see "Payment plan is resuming." and the plan keeps showing as paused until the partner confirms.
• How the remaining installments are rescheduled is set by the financing partner, not by HC 5.0.

6. Things to know

• Pause is not a cancellation. The balance, the bills on the plan, and the plan's history are all kept.
• Set expectations on the end date. When a Provider Plan resumes, payments that came due during the pause move to the end, so the plan finishes later. Suggested wording: "Your paused payments move to the end, so your plan will run a bit longer."
• Resume promptly once the financial assistance decision is made. If assistance is approved, you can cancel the plan with the Financial Assistance Approved reason instead of resuming it.