A medical assistant is reviewing a patient's balance on their account and notices a previous overpayment. The patient has come in for a new office visit which incurs a charge of $150. The patient's overpayment from the last visit is $200. After posting today's charges, what is the next appropriate financial action to take for this patient's account?
Ignore the overpayment and require payment for the new charges in full
Keep the overpayment as a credit towards any future visits without issuing a refund
Increase the patient's current charge to use up the overpayment amount
Apply the overpayment as a credit to the current charges and issue a refund for the remaining balance
The correct action would be to 'Apply the overpayment as a credit to the current charges and issue a refund for the remaining balance'. Since the patient overpaid by $200 on a previous occasion and the new charge is $150, the $150 charge would be covered by part of the overpayment, leaving a surplus of $50, which should be refunded to the patient. It is not correct to ignore the overpayment or to increase the patient's current charge. Additionally, overpayment should not be retained as a credit unless specified by the patient for future visits.
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