Stripe Connect

Overview

The Avara Clinical Platform uses Stripe as its payment processor for all credit card, debit card, HSA, and FSA transactions. Stripe Connect enrolls your organization under the Avara Stripe umbrella so Avara can facilitate charges on your behalf — patients pay through the platform, funds settle to your practice, and you stay out of the card-data handling business.

You cannot begin accepting payments on the Clinical Platform until Stripe Connect is set up for your organization. Onboarding connects your legal entity and payout bank account so charges at booking, check-in, and in the patient chart route correctly to you.

Admin users configure Stripe Connect and practice payout settings from the platform. See Inviting Users — Is Admin for who can manage organization-level payment setup.

How Stripe Connect Works

When a patient pays — for example at public or Connect booking, at the front desk, or through a balance due in their chart — the charge runs through your connected Stripe account under Avara’s Connect program. Avara orchestrates the payment experience in the Clinical Platform; Stripe executes the transaction and handles settlement.

Payouts are deposited on a rolling schedule, typically every one to three business days, directly into the bank account you configure during Connect onboarding. You do not need to manually sweep funds — Stripe moves net proceeds to your account on its standard payout cadence.

Security and PCI Compliance

Avara uses Stripe so your organization remains fully PCI DSS compliant without building or certifying your own card vault.

• Patient card details never touch Avara’s servers — card numbers, CVV, and other sensitive payment data are entered and stored only by Stripe
• Avara stores references to Stripe objects (customers, payment intents, charges) so the platform can show payment history, issue refunds, and reconcile activity — not raw card data

That separation is intentional: your team gets a unified billing experience in Avara, while Stripe — a certified payment processor — owns custody of payment credentials.

Processing Fees

Stripe charges a payment processing fee on each successful transaction:

3.15% + $0.30 per transaction

This rate applies to card, debit, HSA, and FSA payments processed through Connect. The majority of processing fees go to the card networks and issuers — Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, and similar providers. These costs are non-negotiable under Stripe’s policies.

Refunds

You retain full ability to refund patients at any time from the Clinical Platform when your policy allows — full or partial refunds against prior charges.

Important considerations:

• Stripe processing fees are non-refundable — if you refund a patient, the original 3.15% + $0.30 (and any other Stripe fees on that charge) are not returned to your organization, regardless of refund reason
• Refund-related losses are your responsibility — net revenue after non-refundable Stripe fees should factor into your refund policies and cancellation rules

Design refund and cancellation policies with this in mind, especially for high-volume booking flows or large upfront payments.

Analytics and Auditability

The platform Analytics tab gives your team granular visibility into payouts and billing events over time — charges, refunds, failed payments, and payout batches tied to your Stripe Connect activity.

Use it for day-to-day reconciliation, month-end review, and full auditability when finance or compliance needs a clear trail from patient payment through to bank deposit. Event-level detail complements Stripe’s own dashboard while keeping payment context alongside appointments and patient records in Avara.

Getting Started

Stripe Connect onboarding is initiated from your organization’s practice settings (admin access required). The flow collects business verification details and links your payout bank account. Until Connect is complete and approved, payment collection features — including required payment at booking — remain disabled.

If you need help during enrollment or payout configuration, contact support@avarasoftware.com.