What You'll Learn
- Connect Stripe and set up payment collection
- Define services, create invoices, and manage subscriptions
- How the AI Receptionist collects payments during calls
- Fee structure and security details
- Review payment analytics across all collection sources
Collecting Payments With AI
The AI Billing page, accessible from the sidebar under AI Billing, turns DeepCura into a payment collection platform. Powered by Stripe Connect, it lets you accept payments from patients across multiple channels: the AI Receptionist (during phone calls), the AI Scribe (after visit summaries), the AI Nurse (during intake), invoices, payment links, and recurring subscriptions.
DeepCura never holds your funds — payments go straight to your connected Stripe account.
Stripe Connect Setup
Before collecting payments, you need to connect a Stripe account:
- Go to AI Payments in your DeepCura dashboard.
- Click Connect Stripe Account.
- Complete Stripe's onboarding (identity verification, bank account details).
- Once approved, your account status shows Charges Enabled and you can begin accepting payments.
The Five Tabs
AI Billing is organized into five tabs:
Dashboard
The Dashboard tab provides a high-level view of your payment activity. You see total revenue, payment counts, and status breakdowns (succeeded, pending, failed, refunded). Payment sources are categorized and color-coded: AI Receptionist (blue), AI Scribe (indigo), AI Nurse (green), Subscription (amber), Invoice (teal), Payment Link (cyan), and Manual (gray).
An analytics section shows trends over time, helping you identify which collection channels are most effective for your practice.
Services and Fees
This tab is where you define what you charge for. Each service includes a name, amount, category, and optional description. Categories cover 18 healthcare-specific types including Copay, Procedure, Lab, Imaging, Telehealth, Consultation, Surgery, Physical Therapy, Vaccination, and more.
Once defined, services become available across all collection channels. When the AI Receptionist collects a copay or the AI Nurse facilitates a payment, they reference these predefined services.
Invoices
Create and send professional invoices to patients. Each invoice includes line items from your services, patient details, and a payment link. Stripe sends the invoice directly to the patient's email with a hosted payment page and downloadable PDF. Invoice statuses are tracked: Draft → Open → Paid → Void → Uncollectible. You can void invoices that were created in error and resend invoices that have not been paid.
Subscriptions
Set up recurring payment plans for patients. Subscriptions are useful for concierge medicine, membership plans, or payment installments. Configurable intervals include weekly, monthly, and yearly. Each subscription has a status (Pending, Active, Paused, Canceling, Canceled, Past Due) and can be managed directly from this tab — pause, resume, or cancel as needed.
Payment Logs
A detailed transaction log showing every payment processed through your practice. Each entry shows the amount, status, source, patient name, and date. You can issue refunds directly from this view for payments that need to be returned.
Payment Methods
Payment Links (SMS)
Create a shareable payment link for any service. The AI Receptionist can text this link to a patient during a call, or you can send it manually.
- Amounts from $0.01 to $10,000.00
- Each link is unique per transaction
- Patient clicks the link and pays on Stripe's hosted checkout page
- Payment status tracked automatically in your dashboard
Invoices (Email)
Formal invoices sent directly to the patient's email via Stripe. Includes a hosted payment page and a downloadable PDF.
Checkout Sessions
Full-page Stripe checkout for ad-hoc payments. Redirects the patient to Stripe's hosted payment page with custom success and cancel URLs.
Recurring Subscriptions
Recurring billing for patients on payment plans or ongoing services, with configurable intervals and pause/resume/cancel support.
AI Receptionist Payment Collection
During a live call, the AI Receptionist can collect payments automatically in two ways:
Payment Link via SMS
When a patient asks about a balance or needs to pay, the AI sends a secure Stripe payment link to their phone:
- AI identifies the service and amount during the conversation.
- System validates the caller's phone number via Twilio (not from conversation — verified caller ID).
- Stripe generates a unique payment link.
- Patient receives SMS: "{Practice Name}: Your payment of $XX.XX for {Service} is ready. Pay securely here: {link}"
- Payment record is saved and linked to the call log.
Invoice via Email
If the patient provides their email, the AI can send a formal Stripe invoice:
- AI collects the patient's email address during the call.
- System creates a Stripe invoice with the service and amount.
- Stripe emails the invoice directly to the patient.
- Invoice includes a payment page link and downloadable PDF.
Both methods include deduplication — the AI will not send the same service and amount twice in the same call.
Ideal Use Cases
- Self-pay and cash-pay practices collecting patient payments directly
- Copay collection before or after visits
- Balance follow-ups via AI outbound calls with payment links
- Subscription-based services (concierge medicine, wellness plans, payment installments)
What DeepCura Does NOT Do
- Pull patient balances from your EHR — DeepCura does not read outstanding balances from eClinicalWorks, Athena, or other EHR systems. Amounts are entered by you or specified by the AI during the call.
- Process insurance claims — DeepCura is not a claims clearinghouse. It handles direct patient payments only.
- Estimate copays from insurance — no insurance eligibility verification or copay calculation.
- Act as a payment processor — Stripe handles all payment processing, PCI compliance, and fund transfers. DeepCura facilitates the connection.
Fees
A 2.5% application fee applies to each transaction processed through DeepCura's Stripe integration. Standard Stripe processing fees also apply (typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction). These fees are in addition to your DeepCura subscription.
Security
- All payments processed through Stripe's PCI-compliant infrastructure
- DeepCura never stores credit card numbers or payment credentials
- Caller phone numbers verified via Twilio (not user-supplied)
- Email validation before invoice creation
- Webhook signature verification for all payment events
- Full audit logging of payment operations
Next Steps
Continue to Lesson 4.5 — AI Tasks & Automation.