Understanding Credit Card Association for Patient Charges in DocVilla EHR

Why Credit Card Information May Not Match Between Screens

In DocVilla, patient credit card details can be managed from the Patient Profile and from within the Patient Encounter. However, providers may notice discrepancies when performing patient charges during a consult if older card details still appear.

This is due to how credit card information is linked to appointments and encounters for PCI Compliance and security standards.

When Does This Happen?

If an appointment or consult was created before the patient updated or added a new credit card, the system will continue to show and use the old card for that particular appointment. This ensures:

✔️ The patient's original consent to use a specific card is honored.
✔️ Sensitive payment details tied to scheduled appointments remain unchanged without manual intervention.

Example Scenario

On March 4th, an appointment for July 3rd is scheduled, and the patient consents to use card ending with 1234.
In April, the patient adds a new card ending with 6789 and sets it as the default under their profile from the patient portal or the medical staff changes the credit card details in the patient profile.
However, when the provider accesses the July 3rd consult, card 1234 will still appear in the consult (rather than 6789), as that was the valid, consented card when the appointment was created. Practices have to manually change the credit card details for July 3rd appointment.

The new card will only apply to appointments created after the update in April.

What Should Providers Do?

For existing or older appointments where the patient's card has been updated after scheduling:

✅ You must manually update the card information during the consult or charge screen for that specific encounter.

This ensures the most recent payment details are used for billing, while maintaining compliance with payment processing regulations.

Key Takeaways

Credit card details are linked to the encounter based on when the appointment was created.
Updating or adding a new card after the appointment creation does not retroactively apply to existing appointments.
Manual update is required for older encounters if the patient wishes to use a new card.