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👁️‍🗨️ How to Run a Manual Vision or Medical Eligibility Search

Quick steps to check a patient’s insurance—even for walk-ins or last-minute appointments

Written by Kyla Lightfoot

✨ When You Need This Guide

If you’re wondering:

  • How do I run a manual insurance check?

  • How do I check insurance for a walk-in or unscheduled patient?

  • Can I run a quick eligibility search without an appointment?

  • How do I verify vision or medical coverage for a patient not on today’s schedule?

You’re in the right place! Whether it's vision or medical, Aloha makes it easy to run a manual eligibility search using basic patient details—even if they’re not scheduled. This guide shows you how.

🔎 What This Covers

This guide includes:

  • How to manually check Vision insurance eligibility

  • How to manually check Medical insurance eligibility

  • How to read eligibility status, results, and plan details

✅ Run a Manual Vision Eligibility Search in Aloha

  1. Click the “Eligibility Search” button in the upper-left corner of Aloha.

  2. Enter patient info:

    • Either: Last Name, First Name, and Date of Birth

    • Or: Full Member ID and select VCP Payer

    • 🔍 For VSP, always search under the primary insurance holder—dependents will show underneath.

  3. Click “Search.”

  4. Review the patient results once loaded:

    • Blue Highlight = Results pulled within last 48 hours (active)

    • Red Highlight = Older than 48 hours (refresh for updated info)

    • Green Dot = Eligible

    • Red Dot = Not Eligible

    • Yellow Dot = Authorization being held

    • 📌 A number next to the vision payer? That means the patient has more than one plan with that payer (like a discount plan).

  5. Click the patient’s name to view full plan details.

    • At the top right, you'll see the “Eligibility as of” date (when the benefits were last verified).

    • You'll also see next eligible date and frequency rules (how often benefits reset).

  6. Click “Plan Details” to open a simplified, standardized plan summary—perfect for new staff.

  7. Click “Plan Snapshot” to open a downloadable/printable PDF.

    • You can save or print this for your records.

    • Aloha automatically stores this in the Eligibility History tab and integrates it into your EHR (if connected).

⚠️ Out-of-network benefits are not shown. Aloha uses your portal credentials to retrieve in-network only data.

✅ Run a Manual Medical Eligibility Search in Aloha

  1. Click the “Eligibility Search” button in the upper-left corner.

  2. Click the “Advanced Search” option below the name fields.

  3. Enter patient info:

    • Last Name, First Name

    • Date of Birth

    • Medical Member ID

    • Medical Payer

  4. Click “Search.”

  5. Once the results load, click “View Patient’s Medical Details.”

  6. A pop-up will appear showing:

    • Plan Coverage (including Optometry, if available)

    • Family & Individual Deductibles

    • Stop Loss Deductibles (if any)

    • Co-pay/Co-insurance breakdown

🎉 You’ll Know It Worked When:

  • You see the patient’s insurance info populate in the results

  • Status icons (green, red, yellow) clearly show eligibility

  • You can open Plan Details or download a Plan Snapshot

  • The date shown is within the last 48 hours (or updated by you)

  • Vision/medical data appears clearly in a unified format

💡 Common Scenarios & What To Do

Scenario

What To Do

Walk-in needs insurance check

Use manual search with DOB + name or Member ID

Patient not on schedule

Use manual search; appointment not required

Eligibility shows red

Results are older than 48 hrs, click refresh

VSP results missing dependents

Search using primary subscriber info

Patient coverage isn't populating

Confirm that the spelling of the patient's name is exactly as stated on their insurance card or their Driver's License.

💬 Need Help? We're Here!

Email: support@getaloha.com
​Phone: 1-800-563-0469

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