We at Nexion are proud to announce the launch of an exciting new function called 3D-SECURE, allowing your patients to pay their account with you online.

We are expecting to start rolling out this new function to all Nexion clients by the end of this year, initial trials with selected clients have been extremely well received.

How does 3D-Secure work?

• Nexion users will be able to email payment links to patients, these links will enable patients to pay their accounts on-line by credit card with the security of 3D-secure.
• These links can be created one at a time, or users will be able to send multiple email links by uploading an Excel file.
• Clients will be able to check on the status of Links (Pending/ Paid / Posted) on Nexion reports.
• Nexion will notify users via email when a link (amount) is settled.
• Users will be able to post successful payments to the billing system using the existing integration interface.
• Users that are not using the integration will be able to post successful payments as normal.

Please contact Nexion if you are interested in the 3D-Secure function as it will be rolled out in stages.

Nexion on-line receipt book provides complete control of your cash flow.

Replace your regular credit card facility with a comprehensive cash-flow management tool. Nexion receipts all your payments – not just card transactions, provides innovative tools to optimize cash flow, and generates detailed reports, making reconciliation effortless and efficient

Nexion is a digital receipt book, designed to simplify the complex task of remotely managing multiple practices. Because Nexion automatically reconciles the accounts settled at a practice, as well as those paid directly into its bank, head office will always be up to date. In real-time, while saving time. No more waiting for statements from practice managers or doctors. What’s more, Nexion also gives you access to a virtual terminal, so you can process card payments on behalf of the practice. The integrated software is secure and smart.

The subject of Cash Flow Management has become an enigma to most medical practitioners – as it’s perceived to be outside the realm of understanding – and the fear of having to admit that it’s misunderstood results in capitulation on the subject which is then relegated to accountants who only see the paperwork after the fact,—when it’s too late or to practice managers or spouses who in many cases have not much more grasp on the subject than you do.

The truth is – it is not that hard to understand – and more importantly it’s not that hard to manage – and the results of improved cash flow can be exponential – all it takes is for you to take responsibility and be involved.

When it comes to managing your incoming cash flow – your objective is to:

• OPTIMIZE – Making sure that your incoming cash flow is as     much as possible.
• ACCELERATE – Making sure that your incoming cash flow   comes in as fast as possible.
• CONTROL – Making sure that received funds are properly accounted for and end up in YOUR bank account.

In order to meet these objectives, there are two key elements that Nexion provides;

• Nexion ensures you have adequate CHECKS AND BALANCES in place:
• Nexion MAXIMIZES AVAILABLE TOOLS TO COLLECT FUNDS.

Nexion’s ‘digital receipt book’ has been designed specifically for medical practitioners, providing all the necessary tools to ensure that the infrastructure in place to Optimize, Accelerate and you have full control of your cash flow. Since Nexion is integrated into your debtor system we can add efficiency be eliminating multiple manual tasks involved with receiving, receipting and posting funds. Only Nexion gives you a real-time, anytime snapshot of your practice’s cash flow. The

integrated software also includes tools to improve, enhance and streamline cash flow on-the-go.

(1) Nexion ensures you have adequate CHECKS AND BALANCES in place:

For funds received, Nexion’ s on-line receipt book provides a paper trail that allows you to identify and find discrepancies in funds receipted and funds deposited. This paper trail is OUTSIDE and INDEPENDENT of the billing system – otherwise you are checking the billing system against itself. Nexion replaces the old fashioned receipt book – yet gives you the necessary check and balances without unnecessary manual duplication of effort.

Nexion tracks both receipt date AND statement date for every transaction and can provide real time reporting making balancing of your debtor system and the bank account as simple as comparing two reports.

To mitigate the possibility of fraud,

• Nexion receipt numbers and date and time stamps are generated by Nexion and are un-editable.
• Refunds are controlled in that they are cross referenced to the orginal receipt issued and in the case of Card refunds ONLY THE CARD USED ON THE ORIGINAL TRANSACTION can be refunded.
• Nexion allows for real time remote monitoring of till content and keeps track of date/time and amount of bank deposits of cash.

(2) NEXION maximizes available tools to collect funds.

There are a multitude of tools available to you to collect funds and minimize outstanding debt. Nexion provides multiple ways in which you can collect funds from your patients – this gives you more options to present to patients. Tools available on Nexion include:

• Nexion built in card facility gives you as many card options as possible – besides the standard Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and related Debit card facilities, Nexion offers RCS, Edcon and Buy Aid cards as available payment options.
• Nexion provides virtual card terminal facilities allowing processing of Card transactions over the phone from anywhere Nexion is installed making it as simple and entering card details on your PC screen.
• There will always be cases where there is the will to pay – but the money is just not available – in most cases you are allowing the patient to pay over time – there are debit order systems that allow you to be in control of this process – you no longer have to rely on the patient to send an EFT every month – and your staff will not have to chase these patients every month
• Credit Card preauthorization’s – a tool you have all experienced when you rent a car is also available to you – a simple swipe will reserve the funds on patients card and ensure funds are available once procedures are completed and patient is billed.

Nexion’s digital receipt book makes managing a practice that much easier. It’s simple, secure and saves time – no matter how you receive patient payments. Multiple doctors in a single practice? No problem. Nexion’s integrated software sorts that out, too. You’ll be able to automatically reconcile the accounts settled on site, as well as those paid directly into the bank. Then check the numbers anytime with a click of a mouse – even from home – and free up time for other things.

Nexion’s single system relieves the administration, cost and risks of managing client payments.

Busy professionals who spend hours every day managing client payments can cut this down to minutes and gain full control over their cash flow, thanks to a new innovation from pointofservice payment system provider Nexion. Nexion’s single system relieves the administration, cost and risks of managing client payments.

Nexion’s offering, adopted by 100 medical practitioners since its debut in January 2006 and now entering other service industries, is “a single system allowing businesses to accept, process and reconcile all forms of payment – namely cash, cheques, direct debits, and credit as well as debit cards. This gives our clients all the tools needed to be proactive about receiving payments”, says MD Peter Melchior.

He says the system is embedded in a reporting tool that gives full, detailed, ondemand views into cash flows, right down to client level. This eliminates the need for complex, spreadsheetbased reconciliation between bank statements, deposits and multiple receipt record methodologies at monthend. “That kind of visibility, whenever you want it, means the days of timeconsuming, expensive and oftentimes manual record keeping are over,” says Melchior.

Nexion was born in the medical field, but the innovative and flexible technology that underpins the system has seen it adopted by other businesses. A year after redeveloping the system it has been used successfully by Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) to significantly simplify the process of receiving and collecting student fees. It has done the same for the payment systems of many medical doctors, a growing number of legal practices and even two property companies in the highend hospitality business.

“The contexts may be different, but the headache is the same,” says Melchior. “In the past, medical doctors claimed from a medical aid, but over time many developments have made it necessary for practices to receive ever more payments from private patients. Practitioners have reacted to the need by implementing multiple methodologies for receiving funds, each with their own procedures and reconciliations.

“Managing payments alone is laborious and fraught with the risk of fraud, expensive bad debt or poor accounting skills.”

Enter Nexion, a single system for accepting all forms of payment and recording transactions, coupled with a reporting tool that gives service providers full visibility into cash flow, down to client and transaction level. With Nexion staff liaising with banks to trace payments, the system is bolstered by a managed service that “facilitates the movement of money, securely and proactively”, says Melchior.

The Nexion software package is installed at no charge on a service provider’s PC, attracting only a monthly licence fee and transaction fees. The system simply requires Internet access and a printer. It can be bought as a standalone solution, or integrated with various practice management and accounting applications. Nexion is bankneutral.

About Nexion 

Nexion is a complete payment and receipt management system that allows you to process and manage all forms of payment through one system

Nexion removes the daily hassle of managing payments, and the laborious, complex reconciliation of bank statements, deposits and multiple receipt recording methods at monthends. It gives full, detailed, ondemand views into cash flow, right down to the transaction level, counteracting fraud and bad debt and allowing service providers to focus on their businesses. Since entering the market in 2004, Nexion has been adopted in the medical, legal and educational fields. The Nexion system is supported by a managed service that facilitates the movement of money, securely and proactively. It can be bought as a standalone solution, or integrated with various practice management and accounting applications. Nexion is bankneutral.

www.nexion.co.za

Cash Flow – an issue that is only discussed when there is not enough of it – or when there is a suspicion that everything is not well – be it a growing age analysis or writing off large amounts at the end of the financial year.

The subject of Cash Flow Management has become an enigma to most medical practitioners – as it’s perceived to be outside the realm of understanding – and the fear of having to admit that it’s misunderstood results in capitulation on the subject which is then relegated to accountants who only see the paperwork after the fact,—when it’s too late or to practice managers or spouses who in many cases have not much more grasp on the subject than you do.

The truth is – it is not that hard to understand – and more importantly it’s not that hard to manage – and the results of improved cash flow can be exponential – all it takes is for you to take responsibility and be involved.

What is cash flow — the flow of funds into and out of the practice – your revenues and expenses.

I am focussing today on managing the incoming funds – your revenues.

All I will say about managing your outgoing expenses – the funds flowing out –is that it is not all about getting the “cheapest” solution or product – but about getting the product or service that will provide the most benefit to your practice – provide the most efficiency.

Two simple examples

A light-bulb might be cheaper, but if its lifetime is half of the one that costs 20% more – then the cheaper product is not the efficient choice.

If you choose a service provider that necessitates your staff having to fulfil additional tasks to get the job done – they might be cheaper – but the efficiency provided by a more expensive option needs to be explored.

The same consideration should be given to all your expenses, your staff cost, software cost even your choice of card machine – the cheapest is not always the most efficient.

When it comes to managing your incoming cash flow – your objective is to:

OPTIMIZE – Making sure that your incoming cash flow is as much as possible

ACCELERATE – Making sure that your incoming cash flow comes in as fast as possible.

CONTROL – Making sure that received funds are properly accounted for and end up in
YOUR bank account

That’s the WHAT —  The question now becomes HOW – the Key here is your involvement or at the very least understanding – as the first speaker so eloquently stated – you are the CEO of your company – if you are going to delegate the responsibility – there needs to be a level of control of that delegation.

There are four simple pillars that you can easily implement that will provide with the necessary controls:

(1) Make sure you have adequate CHECKS AND BALANCES in place: 

Making sure that your work is billed correctly, and that all adjustments to billing are authorized.  If you do not bill correctly those funds are lost to you forever.

For funds received, there needs to be a paper trail that allows you to identify and find discrepancies in funds receipted and funds deposited.  This paper trail needs to be OUTSIDE and INDEPENDENT of the billing system – otherwise you are checking the billing system against itself.  In most cases the old fashioned manual receipt book is what is used.

Do not be afraid of your receipt book or your billing system — If you suspect there is a problem – pick up this book from time to time – you know how many patients you saw – does the number of receipts match the number of patients you saw?  Does the amount billed match the work that was done? – take a random day and check the billing system?

At the very least you will be setting an example that these things are being looked at.

(2) IMPLEMENT POLICIES and EMPOWER YOUR STAFF to implement them:

The person managing your appointment book is a key person in your practice in that they need to set expectations with patients as to what to expect – when it comes to patient’s payment – but this job can only be done effectively if the practice has clear policies on this subject — and your staff is empowered to implement these policies.

You need to have policies in place for sensitive subjects like:

–       What do you do is a patient tries to make an appointment and has an outstanding balance

–       If there are medical aids that consistently do not pay – do you continue to accept them

–       Are you allowing patients to “promise and EFT” – or was the patient adequately informed of payment options at the time the appointment was made.

–       Is there a policy for how cash and cheques are deposited – or handed to you – your procedure needs to be documented and involve a signoff if you are taking the cash yourself– do not take cash out of the till – you are setting an example that that’s OK.

–       Have a policy for billing adjustments – mistakes happen – and billing needs to be adjusted from time to time – but by reducing billing – you are potentially giving money away — be aware and review billing adjustments when they are fresh in your mind.

Policies are guidelines – your instructions to staff as to what you expect to happen – and guidelines need to be re-assessed from time to time – policies adjusted based on

Patterns identified on your age analysis – if you identify a pattern – and do not adjust your policies – you have only yourself to blame if you have to write off excessive debt at the end of the year.

(3) MAXIMIZE TOOLS TO COLLECT FUNDS in your practice

There are a multitude of tools available to you to collect funds and minimize outstanding debt.  Maximise the ways in which you can collect funds from your patients – this gives your staff more options to present to patients – you do not want to fall back on allowing clients to EFT funds unless you have a relationship with the patient that deserves this trust

Tools that are available include:

–       If you are claiming from medical aid – determine how much the medical aid will pay at the time of billing – there are systems available that will give you this information immediately.

–       Have a card facility that gives you as many card options as possible – I know some cards are expensive – but not accepting American Express because the fee is 2% more – and then waiting 60 days for the money is false economy.

–       If you are in a social-economic market where traditional cards are not prevalent – consider accepting store cards like EDCON and RCS.

–       Have a card facility that allows processing of Card transactions over the phone easily on the PC screen.

–       There will always be cases where there is the will to pay – but the money is just not available – in most cases you are allowing the patient to pay over time – there are debit order systems that allow you to be in control of this process – you no longer have to rely on the patient to send an EFT every month – and your staff will not have to chase these patients every month

–       Credit Card preauthorization’s – a tool you have all experienced when you rent a car is also available to you – a simple swipe will reserve the funds on patients card and ensure funds are available once procedures are completed and patient is billed.

(4) Last – but certainly not least important – BE INVOLVED – it’s not hard – here is a guideline of simple things to review with your practice manager on a monthly basis:

–       Your billing – does it match your expectations for the month – does all the work you did / patients you saw reflect on the billing – Are you aware of all billing adjustments made.

–       Check that the total on your receipt book matched the total received according to your billing system – pick random days and check.

–       Review practice policies – and review them in conjunction with your age analysis – focus on patterns that emerge from your age analysis– and adjust your policies accordingly.

–       Make sure you have provided your staff with as many tools as possible to collect funds – review tools available and their implementation

By becoming involved – you will get to the point where conversations about cash flow do not revolve around the age analysis alone – but with understanding of the true health of your practice – you have the peace of mind that you are in control of your practice.

Integration gives 700 practices a closed loop payments system

Health Focus, one of the country’s leading healthcare practice management systems, has been integrated with South African developed Nexion, providing a single system for accepting, processing and reconciling all forms of payment to medical practitioners.

As a result, Health Focus’s approximately 700 Eminance users can for the first time, on activating the integration, manage the entire payment cycle without any manual processes extraneous to it. This throws a net of compete security and control around a previously multi step, disintegrated practice management solution, the companies say.

“For credit card payments our users used to have to enter a due amount in Health Focus, then swipe the card through a separate credit card machine for authorisation, and finally enter receipt details back into the system once payment was received,” says Gert van Eeden, development director at Health Focus. “There was a clear need to simplify, improve control and secure this unwieldy procedure, by streamlining the way our users take, process, and matching payments back automatically.”

Van Eeden explains that doctors are increasingly running their practices as ‘cash businesses’ that take payment at the point of service. “Nexion is the way to achieve that efficiently. As a result of linking up, Health Focus users can now manage payments in one seamless electronic sequence, by enhancing Health Focus via the payment facilitation processes of Nexion.”

Peter Melchior, MD of Nexion ads: “Nexion’s integration with Health Focus automates the last manual task in the process of receiving payments. It closes the loop by electronically picking up the invoice that used to land on the floor, eliminating the need to manually process payments and then having to manually reconcile them back to the the original figure captured.

“And in doing so, it also prevents fraud, by immediately matching payment to the system. Beforehand, a practice would have to wait for highlevel monthend bank statements to try and match payments.” As an added benefit of a truly automated, integrated solution, says Melchior, users of Health Focus do not key in any payments, removing the opportunity for human error.

Nexion will install its software and manage the integration into the existing business system or multiple systems. This Integration requires a few simple steps.

The systems are being piloted in concert for the first time since the integration project was undertaken in November 2006. According to Van Eeden, Health Focus undertakes as many as 15 integration projects with other software solutions per year. As a standalone application, Nexion has revolutionised the payments of 100’s of medical practices since 2006.

The company’s future is looking bright as it starts leveraging integrated platforms and gaining favour among service providers other than medical practitioners, including legal and educational markets. Nexion targets an install base of 600 practices and institutions by year end, and makes use of a computer centric sales channel with access to its markets.

The software has no upfront charge, and the service attracts only a monthly licensing fee and per transaction charge. Nexion is backed by a 24/7 service centre, supporting installations and moving money on behalf of practices – securely and pro actively. Nexion is bank neutral.

About Nexion

Nexion removes the daily hassle of managing payments, and the laborious, complex reconciliation of bank statements, deposits and multiple receipt recording methods at month ends. It gives full, detailed, on demand views into cash flow, right down to the transaction level, counteracting fraud and bad debt and allowing service providers to focus on their businesses. Since entering the market in 2006, Nexion has been adopted in the medical, legal and educational fields. The Nexion system is supported by a managed service that facilitates the movement of money, securely and pro actively. It can be bought as a standalone solution, or integrated with various practice management and accounting applications. Nexion is bank neutral and has a 24/7 service centre.

Having streamlined the cash flow and accounts administration of 100 medical practices.
since inception in 2006, Nexion has entered the healthcare mainstream following its integration with SA’s major practice management software packages – Health Focus, Med-e-Mass and GoodX. Integration with top packages wrests control over cash flow from medical funds

Having streamlined the cash flow and accounts administration of 100’s of medical practices
since inception in 2006, Nexion has entered the healthcare mainstream following its
integration with SA’s major practice management software packages – Health Focus, MedEDI, Vericlaim, Med-e-Mass and GoodX.
A single system for accepting, processing and reconciling all forms of payment, Nexion
has the business-transforming effect of speeding up practice cash flow, increasing
collections, cutting through admin clutter and, ultimately, giving control over earnings
back to doctors.
Nexion MD Peter Melchior says the need for an automated, closed-loop payments
system has become pronounced of late, as doctors grapple with the burdens of an ever
greater need for taking payment at the point of service.
“The number of people that have comprehensive medical coverage is diminishing,” he
says. “And for the ills that they are covered, medical aids put a limit on the fees that may
be claimed, leaving it up to the practitioner to recoup the shortfall. Many patients aren’t
covered at all, leaving an even more pressing need for taking payment at the point of
service.”
Melchior says another problem doctors suffer from concerns the levels of cash “trapped
inside” their accounts receivable, in terms of the cost related to collecting payments, the
time and effort managing and reconciling these payments and the time it takes for
patients to pay. “Practitioners can generate significant savings on the money they spend
on collecting funds in the traditional ways – including employing resource-heavy
accounts admin; chasing and sacrificing interest on delayed payments; writing off bad
debts; and paying punitive bank costs by using Nexion.”
He says Nexion gives practices the tools to be proactive about collecting funds at the
point of service (minimising bad debts and speeding up cash flow); requires no upfront
investment; manages payments at bank-competitive rates; allows practices to get
commitments to pay prior to surgery; saves time spent reconciling and balancing to
bank statements, with no additional spreadsheets and disparate systems; provides
visibility into cash flow; minimises fraud risk by providing one source of receipts; and
provides comprehensive reporting by practice or practitioner.
Health Focus
Gert van Eeden, development director at Health Focus, the second largest practice
management system in the country with a client base of 700 practices, says Nexion’s
integration has been a great enabler for users of the Eminance package.
“For the first time they can manage the entire payment cycle without any manual
processes extraneous to it. This throws a net of compete security and control around a
previously multi-step, disintegrated system,” he says.

Unlock the cash tied up in multiple traditional accounts receivable systems.
Local payment software innovation Nexion is allowing increasing numbers of GPs to improve their cash flow position, by reducing the cost of collecting receivables.

Unlock the cash tied up in multiple traditional accounts receivable systems

Local payment software innovation Nexion is allowing increasing numbers of GPs to improve their cash flow position, by reducing the cost of collecting receivables.

It does so by generating significant savings on money currently spent on collecting funds in the traditional ways – employing resourceheavy accounts admin; chasing and sacrificing interest on delayed payments; writing off bad debts; and paying punitive bank costs.

Peter Melchior, the founderMD and designer of Nexion, a single system for accepting, processing and reconciling all forms of payment, explains that the cost of managing accounts receivable is often overlooked when scrutinising cost efficiencies.

“A lot of focus is being placed on identifying cost savings to make the practice more efficient, but the cost of collecting funds entails much more than just the cost of the bank transaction or credit card fee. Doctors spend inordinate amounts on collecting funds in disparate ways, with different reconciliation methods for credit and debits cards, direct debits, cash, EFT payments and cheques.”

Mechior says managing one’s receivables through Nexion can make the difference between a marginal practice and a flourishing one.

The costs of collecting funds in the traditional ways are:

• The cost of funds themselves – missed interest on cash flow delayed;
• The high cost of bank charges;
• The cost of bad debt (writing off amounts);
• The high cost and bad PR of invoking debt collectors
• The cost of staff and time spent on reconciling, balancing and tracking receivables, and sending statements;
• The lack of transparency into cash flow, and thus an inability to focus on problem areas; and
• The cost of fraud, to which a disparate system is vulnerable.

Nexion alleviates these by:

• Giving practices the tools to be proactive about collecting funds at the point of service (minimising bad debts and speeding up cash flow);
• Requiring no upfront investment and managing payments at a competitive rate to current bank charges;
• Providing patientfriendly tools to pay on terms, enabling collection of old bad debt;
• Allowing practices to get commitments to pay prior to surgery, to collect shortfalls;
• Saving practices time spent reconciling and balancing to bank statements, with no additional spreadsheets and disparate systems;
• Providing visibility into cash flow, providing the tools to identify bottlenecks and allowing doctors to run their practice like a business;
• Minimising fraud risk by providing one source of receipts; and
• Providig comprehensive reporting by profit centre or practitioner providing management information.

Mechior adds that Nexion is even more relevant in view of two distinct trends in healthcare – one being that fewer patients today have comprehensive coverage, the other that medical insurance does not always cover the full doctor’s fee.

“The result is that the doctor is left with the task of collecting fees or the difference between what the medical aids pay and what is due. Nexion provides the tools to alleviate the cost of those collections.”

He notes that Nexion is not intended to replace good practice management. It provides to tools to implement good practice management discipline without the need for onerous duplicated recording of transactions.

“It is part of good practice management discipline, in that it provides doctors with the tools to be proactive about money management, to run their practice like a business, and most importantly, to give them enough management information to identify problems.”

A year since founding Nexion, Melchior has turned the increased financial success of his clients into a growthsustained business of his own, on average growing 1015% per month.

About Nexion

Nexion removes the daily hassle of managing payments, and the laborious, complex reconciliation of bank statements, deposits and multiple receipt recording methods at monthends. It gives full, detailed, ondemand views into cash flow, right down to the transaction level, counteracting fraud and bad debt and allowing service providers to focus on their businesses. Since entering the market in 2006, Nexion has been adopted in the medical, legal and educational fields. The Nexion system is supported by a managed service that facilitates the movement of money, securely and proactively. It can be bought as a standalone solution, or integrated with various practice management and accounting applications. Nexion is bankneutral and has a 24/7 service centre.