By David Crooks President, Easy Pay Solutions, Inc., CMT Special Contributor
David Crooks President, Easy Pay Solutions, Inc.
DECEMBER 18, 2015 – You’ve broken the mold and gotten outside ‘the system’. You are running your own business free from the dictates of insurance companies and corporate pressures. You can now practice medicine the way you’ve always wanted to. You are spending more time with your patients and giving them an improved experience. Both you and your patients are benefiting greatly from the risks you took.
Your patients, on the other hand, don’t know about the risks. They don’t know what it cost you in hard money and even harder sweat and emotional energy. You’ve not only invested your life preparing to heal them but now you’ve invested your own health and financial well-being to create a special place just for them. How do you communicate to your patients the value of what you’ve created?
Patients need to know that you are not just any doctor. They need to know that it’s a special privilege to be your patient. This can be communicated without sounding haughty or condescending. How do you tell your entrepreneurial story in a way that helps your patients understand your commitment without appearing uppity?
Tell them you’ve created a special place for them by telling them how you did it. Tell them about the years invested in researching and preparing to become independent. Tell them about the cost – it’s ok to let them know you invested tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a practice best suited to their needs. It’s ok to tell them how much it costs to maintain that special place. People want to know what they are paying for. Tell your story. Here’s a three point outline to get you started.
A Special Place: This is where you tell them all about your facility. The special touches you’ve added to make them comfortable. Tell them that you’ve spared no expense to create an experience just for them. Let them know about the equipment you’ve provided for their care and what it costs. Statements like, ‘We’ve invested $150,000 to outfit our practice with the latest diagnostic equipment to better serve you’ help patients understand that they are receiving the best.
Share with your patients the cost of doing business. Help them understand with statements like, ‘Your membership ensures that we will be able to maintain the highest level of professional care in the best of facilities. It takes about $500,000 to maintain our practice and you make that possible.’
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Sharing these costs is not offensive. Patients appreciate the extra time and exclusive amenities you offer and they don’t mind partnering with you to maintain a great level of service.
A Special People: Tell them about yourself, your training, your commitment, your vision for your patients. Tell them about the years you put in to be the best doctor possible. Mention the financial commitment you’ve made to their well being. Give them a view of the personal effort and attention to detail you’ve spent to prepare yourself and your staff. Show them your credentials and what it took to obtain them and do the same for your staff. Details like these help your patients to feel like you’ve done everything just for them. They will feel appreciated.
A simple patient friendly payment acceptance tool designed for healthcare to eliminate the high cost of patient collections. CONTACT INFO.: Jim Turner, VP Marketing Easy Pay Solutions http://www.easypaycollect.com | TEL: 877.715.7166
Let them know that you are more than a doctor. You are a family man. You are involved in your community. You have hobbies. And especially – You are a businessman.
Tell them your interest is giving them the best service possible by running the best business you can. Ask them for suggestions on how to improve your business. Tell them how much you appreciate their memberships and prompt payments. Show them how their participation helps you make improvements to their care. Reveal facts like, ‘We set aside 10% of our revenue to make improvements in technology and facilities every year. We will continue to make improvements that give our patients the best medical success possible.’ Or, ‘We donate 5% of our practice time/revenue to help the needy of our community. Your membership and prompt payment help us maintain this outreach.’
Don’t be afraid to share specific numbers and accomplishments. Patients will feel they are part of something bigger than themselves if you will simply inform them.
A Special Program: Show your patients that you are aware of their medical and financial needs. Let them know the unique programs you’ve created to accommodate folks. You may have some specialty services like massage, or certain lab tests, or minor surgeries. Let your patients know how those services work. Tell them how you tailored the programs to fit their needs.
On the financial side let your patients know that you care about their budgets. Patient surveys consistently show the importance of having financial options. Let them know you’ve created financial plans to fit their lifestyle. Explain your annual, quarterly, or monthly membership payments. Let them know that you have a convenient automated monthly payment plan or an online payment portal. These tools give your patients options. They will appreciate that you are making your practice accessible to them.
Tell them you keep their payment card on file to eliminate as much of the cost of billing as you can. That way you can invest more into quality care by having the best staff and equipment. Remind them that everything you do is to make their healthcare experience better than any they’ve had before.
Combine these tips with other reminders of what you’ve done to enhance the patient experience and you will cultivate patients that are informed and appreciative.
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Three simple steps will eliminate the perceived barrier for many people who can afford to be concierge patients and contribute to the growth of your practice. Patients will continue to renew their contract every year if the service is affordable and you make payment easy.
A simple patient friendly payment acceptance tool designed for healthcare to eliminate the high cost of patient collections. CONTACT INFO.: Jim Turner, VP Marketing Easy Pay Solutions http://www.easypaycollect.com | TEL: 877.715.7166
About David S. Crooks, President,Easy Pay Solutions, Inc.
CONTACT INFO.: David S. Crooks and/or Jim Turner, VP Marketing Easy Pay Solutions www.easypaycollect.com | TEL: 877.715.7166
Mr. Crooks is currently the president of Easy Pay Solutions, Inc., a Chicago-‐based company focused on helping healthcare providers expedite patient payments while reducing bad debts and patient receivables. The company’s Easy Pay cloud-‐based software provides an enhanced way to utilize credit/debit cards, storing the patient’s credit card information for later processing. This puts the provider in control of when he/she gets paid by patients. In addition, Easy Pay provides the traditional single payment feature, as well as the ability to use credit/debit cards for payment plans and phone collections.
Learn More About Easy Pay … CLICK HERE >>
