Enrolling patients in memberships
Enroll a patient in an available recurring membership plan, review membership status, and understand the plan and payment setup required first.
Patient memberships are managed from the patient's chart: in the left sidebar, click Patients, click the patient's name, then select Memberships in the patient sidebar. Membership plans are managed by owners and admins: in the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom), then in the settings menu, under Billing, click Memberships.
How do I check that memberships are ready to use?
In the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom). In the settings menu, under Billing, click Memberships before enrolling patients if your practice has not set up recurring memberships yet. Owners and admins can turn on memberships and create the plans patients can join.
- In the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom), then in the settings menu, under Billing, click Memberships.
- Turn on Memberships.
- In Membership plans, select Create plan if there are no plans yet, or New plan if plans already exist.
- Enter Name and Price (USD).
- Choose Billing interval: Monthly or Yearly.
- Select Create plan.
The plan becomes available for patient enrollment when it is created. If Settings → Memberships sends you to Stripe setup, finish connecting Stripe before managing membership plans. See Connecting Stripe for patient payments.
Description is optional and can be up to 500 characters. Price (USD) must be greater than 0.
How do I enroll a patient in a membership?
In the left sidebar, click Patients, click the patient's name, then select Memberships in the patient sidebar to enroll a patient into a plan they can still join. Available plans exclude plans the patient is already active on.
- In the left sidebar, click Patients, then click the patient's name.
- In the patient sidebar, select Memberships.
- Review the patient's current memberships.
- Choose an available membership plan.
- Complete the enrollment confirmation shown on the page.
After enrollment, the membership appears on the patient's memberships page with its status. The settings overview also lists active members grouped by plan.
If enrollment fails, use the message to decide what to fix. Card declined means the payment method was declined. Can't enroll yet can mean a card on file or payment setup is missing. Already enrolled means the patient already has an active membership on that plan. Plan unavailable means the plan is no longer available.
How do I review membership status and renewals?
In the left sidebar, click Patients, click the patient's name, then select Memberships in the patient sidebar for one patient. For the practice-wide member list, click Settings (at the bottom), then in the settings menu, under Billing, click Memberships. The settings list groups enrolled patients by plan and shows each patient's status and next renewal date when one is available.
| Status | What to know |
|---|---|
| Trialing | Treated as active-like for enrollment decisions. |
| Active | Treated as active-like for enrollment decisions. |
| Past due | Treated as active-like for enrollment decisions. |
| Unpaid | A membership status you may see on a patient's membership. |
| Cancelled | A membership status you may see on a patient's membership. |
| Expired | A membership status you may see on a patient's membership. |
Do not re-enroll a patient into the same plan while their membership is Trialing, Active or Past due.
How do I update or archive a membership plan?
In the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom). In the settings menu, under Billing, click Memberships when you need to change what future patients can enroll in. Owners and admins can edit active plans or archive plans that should no longer be offered.
- In the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom), then in the settings menu, under Billing, click Memberships.
- In Membership plans, select Edit plan for the plan you want to change.
- Update Name, Description, Price (USD) or Billing interval.
- Select Save plan.
Changing the price or interval applies to new enrollments only. Patients already enrolled keep their current rate.
To stop offering a plan, choose Archive plan, then select Archive. Archived plans are hidden from new enrollments. Patients already enrolled keep their membership and continue to be billed until cancelled.
What can't I do here?
When you open Memberships from the settings menu or from a patient's chart, membership access and billing are limited in these ways:
- Staff and clinicians cannot manage membership plans from Settings → Memberships.
- Settings → Memberships is available only when Stripe charges are enabled for the organization.
- Price (USD) must be greater than 0.
- Description must be 500 characters or fewer.
- Archived plans cannot be used for new enrollments.
- Editing a plan's price or interval does not change the rate for patients already enrolled.
- A patient should not be re-enrolled into the same plan while their membership is Trialing, Active or Past due.
Common questions
Can staff enroll patients in memberships?
Yes. Owners, admins, staff and clinicians can use the patient membership page for patients they can access: in the left sidebar, click Patients, click the patient's name, then select Memberships in the patient sidebar. Only owners and admins can manage plan setup in Settings → Memberships: in the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom), then in the settings menu, under Billing, click Memberships.
Why don't I see a plan when enrolling a patient?
When you open the patient membership page from Patients, the patient's name, and Memberships in the patient sidebar, it shows plans available to that patient. A plan may be missing because the patient is already active on it, the plan is archived, or membership and payment setup are not ready.
What happens if the patient's card is declined?
Enrollment stops and Ona shows Card declined. Update the patient's payment method, then try the enrollment again. See Payment links and charging a card on file.
Can I change a membership price for existing members?
No. When you edit a plan's price or billing interval, the change applies to new enrollments only. Existing enrolled patients keep their current rate.
What happens when I archive a plan?
The plan is no longer available for new enrollments. Existing memberships stay in place and continue billing until cancelled.
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