Dr. R. A. Foxworth, FICC, MCS-P
It won’t be long. Soon your diploma will be matted and framed, and your license will arrive in the mail. You will begin focusing on the best ways to attract new patients to your practice. It won’t take long for you to figure out that getting patients through the door is not nearly as difficult as keeping patients from falling out of care.
As important as the Clinical Report of Findings, the Financial Report of Findings (FROF) is an essential key to success for any chiropractic office. I am surprised to hear that many of my colleagues skip this step. Today’s patients are healthcare consumers and want us to help them to feel better physically without hurting them financially. In fact, many insured patients walk into a chiropractor’s office under the assumption that their insurance is going to cover all of the care they need with minimal out-of-pocket expense. Raving fan patients can turn angry when they receive bills several months later for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for care that was not covered by their insurance.
The best way to keep patients happy, improve clinical outcomes, and enhance collections in your practice is to clearly and openly discuss your fees and payment policy up front. By conducting a formal Financial Report of Findings in your office, you can clearly outline the treatment plan as well as the patient’s estimated out-of-pocket expense. If you provide ways to make the care affordable and offer payment options that your patients can afford, you have a win-win situation.
One of the simplest ways to provide affordable payment options is by offering automated payments. This is a great tool to ensure that your patients complete their recommended care, reduce missed visits, and eliminate the sting of out-of-pocket payments at the end of each visit. In fact, orthodontists have successfully used this technique for years. I walked into an orthodontist’s office with my sons and walked out 30 minutes later with an affordable payment plan for over $12,000 in orthodontia. The staff clearly explained the need for care, the cost of the care, and gave me an affordable payment option. I never thought twice about the total expense because the monthly payment fit in my budget.
Patients need and want care or they wouldn’t come to your office. Provide a thorough consult, exam, and Report of Findings to establish the need and benefit of care. Then offer a simple, compliant, Financial Report of Findings. We offer some free tools you can use to show patients how you can help keep their care affordable whether they have insurance or not. Click here to download our simple 1-page financial policy, a simple 1-page financial report of findings, and to learn how to create compliant care plans.
Dr. Ray Foxworth is the founder and President of ChiroHealthUSA. Since its inception in 2007, ChiroHealthUSA has donated over $750,000 to help support state associations, COCSA, F4CP and the CCGPP. The Foxworth Family Scholarship is funded by ChiroHealthUSA and will be awarding one student a $10,000.00 scholarship in August 2016. The winning student’s school will also receive a donation of $10,000.00. For more information on how to apply, go to www.chusascholar.com.
Why is the Discount Challenge prize amount $11,181? Because that is the average “per-occurrence” fine for Medicare inducements. That’s not $11,181 per patient, that’s not per provider, that’s PER VISIT. Stinks, doesn’t it? To us, the prize amount is worth the investment if we can help our profession better understand proper discounting.