write off vs adjustment

[articaine]

In OD, what is the difference between write off vs adjustment. Meaning, if I zero out a procedure off the bat in the treatment plan that would be considered an adjustment? And when payments are posted, whether by insurance or patient payment, the difference is not collected then OD considers that a writeoff?

[jordansparks]

I will assume you are using cash basis accounting rather than accrual basis accounting. You would only use writeoffs on PPO plans that you were contracted with. The only reason for using writeoffs is so that you can run reports on them later to see what your fee reduction is costing you. Adjustments reduce production, so it's exactly the same to put in a negative adjustment or to reduce the fee up front. Either way, your production goes down. Usually, adjustments are used later, like for situations where you decide not to collect the money. You could just as easily reduce the fee later, but it looks cleaner and is easier to track if you put in an adjustment instead.

At the risk of complicating the matter, some users have asked for two different kinds of adjustments. One type would affect production, and the other would not. There is a discussion here:
http://70.90.133.65/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1645
You can skip everything after the first post. There are some issues related to this request that I still can't quite wrap my brain around, such as how it would affect the A/R report. This is a feature which SoftDent has but Dentrix does not.

[articaine]

Great info to know. Now, if I go in there an make a MISC NEG ADJUSTMENT it does not seem to tie in with the Appt Module, in that, in the Appt Module when the cursor hoovers over the patient the production amount is still there and also in the chart it's still there. I presume that one has to go in there and manually change them either in the Chart or Treatment plan module. Also, if running a monthly report with these Misc Neg Adjustments will that correctly reflect production for that month or does one have to manually change the Fee in the Chart and/or Treatment plan module for a correct reflection in the report?

[jordansparks]

Adjustments are a column in the production and income reports. So yes, it will correctly reflect production. But not on the appointments.