Finalizing Payment Arrangements with New Patients
In most practices, converting the financing terms selected during the consultation to a contractual agreement involves a hand-off between the Treatment Coordinator and the Finance Manager. The way in which this handoff takes place from one staff member to another varies considerably among the practices that I work with, and this week we take a look at potential problems that can occur during this step in your new-patient conversion process.
It is for the benefit of everyone involved, especially the patient’s, that whenever possible, the payment arrangements between the practice and the patient’s family are finalized with the TC. In other words, the TC is the sole point of contact for negotiating, the TC and the patient arrive at agreement on the financing option, the TC provides the finance manager that information, and the finance manager then enters those figures into the contract. This is the best way to have this done, and if the process is not managed in this way, the process becomes counterproductive to starting new patients. Let’s take a look at why this is the case.
I worked with a couple of practices recently in which, during the fee presentation, the TC would defer to the finance manager as the next step if the patient family wanted to “talk to my husband” or “think it over”, which is a daily occurrence in your business. In other words, upon departing the visitor would be told “if you want to discuss arrangements other than these, give <finance manager> a call” or, in response to a voiced concern about payment arrangements, “<finance manager> can work with you on that”. Like many things that I observe in my work within practices, this process is simply a cultural development within the practices – “it’s the way we have always done it”.
That is completely understandable, but all you need to do is put yourself in the patient’s place to see the problems that arise from this approach.
First of all, since the issue of payment terms was left open to further discussion, additional negotiation must take place on the patient’s part to achieve resolution and start treatment. In other words, we have created additional work for the patient family, post-visit, by introducing flexibility into the financing decision. (My approach to presenting payment options eliminates, in most cases, the need to offer such additional flexibility –it simply isn’t needed).
More importantly, however, is how the hand-off protocol within the practice impacts the next step in the buying process. Now the practice visitor is being told that they must negotiate terms with an unknown entity, a staff member whom the visitor has never met. That’s an important thing to consider. Many practice visitors will find the idea distasteful and stressful, simply because this new staff person is a complete stranger to them and they therefore do not know what to expect. Here is what I do expect: rather than continue the negotiation process with the unknown person at your practice, the visitor is likely to take the easier route, which is to pick up your fee sheet and go shopping. Hence, the process being utilized has manufactured a problem that interferes with the objective of case acceptance.
My recommendations, then, are as follows:
-First, the TC should be given the authority to completely negotiate the payment arrangements to closure, and to continue to be the point of contact if further negotiation is needed after the initial visit;
-Second, the finance manager should get involved – with a personal introduction to the patient family by the TC – if special circumstances exist, such as your practice visitor requesting terms that are out of the normal parameters established for the TC. I would anticipate that some finance managers will fear losing control or influence in the decision process with these changes to the conversion process, but the issue here is not who is in charge, or what is best for the respective staff members. Rather, it is what is best for the patient. When it comes to your case acceptance process, looking at how you do business from the visitor’s perspective is the best way to eliminate obstacles that interfere with “yes”.
