Eligibility checklist

Print this and keep it at the front desk. It is the habit. The payer’s answer is still the record. Do not write patient names on a copy you do not control.

Patient’s name and date of birth match the card, not last year’s sticky note.
Member ID is copied from the card, including the suffix for a dependent.
You know which plan is primary when there are two cards.
The electronic check, or the payer’s portal, says the plan is active on the date of service.
Copay and remaining deductible are written where the person collecting money can see them.
If the plan is inactive, the patient is told before the visit is billed, and a current card is requested.
If the service usually needs an authorization (imaging, a procedure, a block of therapy visits), that request is open before the patient is scheduled.
Same-day and walk-in visits are checked at arrival, not the next morning.
A change of job, a Medicare Advantage plan, or a Medicaid renewal is treated as a new plan even if you know the family.
The result is stored on the appointment so billing does not check it a second time from scratch.