The 72-Hour Playbook After a Processor Hold or Closure

Most healthcare accounts that are lost after a review are lost to silence, partial answers, or changes made mid-review, not to the original trigger. This playbook is the response sequence that dedicated healthcare processors expect to see, written for a telehealth clinic or med spa owner who has just received the notice and has patients on recurring plans.

• Hours 0 to 2: read it properly

  Review, hold, or termination: three different processes with three different clocks. Capture the reason code, the deadline, and the portal thread before doing anything else.
• Hours 2 to 8: answer in one package

  Every document they name, sent once, inside their portal, with receipt confirmed in writing. Partial answers restart the queue.
• Hours 8 to 24: freeze and communicate

  No changes to descriptors, pricing, policies, or the website while the review is open. Pause volume spikes. Tell patients on active plans how billing continues.
• Day 2: file the second application

  A dedicated healthcare processor takes weeks to approve. The application goes in the same day as the notice, whether or not you expect the review to clear.
• Day 3: continuity and records

  Reserve release schedule and final settlement date in writing, refund obligations mapped, records kept for the dispute window, and a decision on whether to appeal.
• What not to do

  The six moves that turn a survivable review into a closed account, and the reply template that keeps the response short and complete.

The reasoning behind each step, plus reserves, dispute thresholds, and how a dedicated telemedicine merchant account differs from an aggregator, is in the telehealth payment processing guide. Processor-specific walkthroughs: Stripe closed my telehealth account and Square is reviewing my med spa account.