The Importance of Policy

Among the many questions that families ask during the initial consultation, some involve the request of special “favors” – things that are not within the normal scope of services which your practice provides its patients. Some common examples from my experience in working with your peers include:

• A request to lower your fee to match that of another practice
• In a divorce case, a request to be the liason for arranging payment with the ex-spouse
• A request to only schedule appointments after normal school hours

There are others; what they all have in common is that it would not be fair to your other patients to accommodate such requests. Therefore, the question becomes how to say “no” to the request in a way that does not offend the requester. This is why having established policies is so important.

When you cite a policy that you have in place for such issues, the “no” is impersonal, because the policy applies to every patient. Having a policy also virtually eliminates the ability of the person to argue with you, because the decision being made on their request was already made previously, so it does not involve them.

Note, in each case, how the use of “policy” shuts down the discussion in the examples cited earlier:

“Our policy on the fee issue is that it would not be ethical for us to charge two different fees to two different patients for the same amount of value, so for that reason we cannot do that.”

“Our policy regarding divorce cases is that we will need for the two of you to determine independently of our practice which of you will be financially responsible.”

“Our policy on appointment scheduling is that it would not be fair to the other parents of our patients to have a policy guaranteeing after-school appointments, and for that reason we cannot accommodate such requests.”

The most important aspect of an effective policy is that you have strict adherence to it – no deviation. Sometimes you will be tempted to make an exception. This is never a good idea. Stick to your principles and you will have a much easier time of things when dealing with special requests.