How to Transition PI Patients into Life-long Wellness Clients
PERSPECTIVE
Miles Bodzin, DC, and Amber Shepherd
We have all seen it before. Jane Doe gets into a car accident, receives care with little to no out-of-pocket expense. The case is closed and you never see her again, or you may see her again, but it’s due to another personal injury case.
It’s just one of many holes that need to be tilled in the leaky bucket of client retention. Such is the curse of having patients who are not financially responsible for their own care. Whenever someone else is footing the bill, the two main causes for this hole in the bucket are: 1) they do not see the value of care, and 2) they are not accustomed to that additional payment in their monthly budget.
So, how do we solve this issue? How do we get such patients to transition to self-pay care once their case is closed?
1. Show patients the need for care beyond initial pain management
For example, a personal injury patient comes to see you after an auto accident. When care begins, in addition to all of the findings pertaining to the injury, present the patient with an objective measurement of his or her overall health. A great way to do this is to give the patient a report card with a health grade. We would perform an examination on the patient that measures not just pain and symptoms, but also overall health.
Then, to communicate most effectively to the patient on where he or she stands, we would present the patient a “report card” with a grade.
Let’s say the patient starts out with us as a D-. When the patient’s personal injury case is ending and we do our final exams, we can show the patient that, through the course of care, we were able to get him or her from a Dto a C+. The doctor would have the conversation with that patient that, although he or she made great progress, we can continue care to get the patient from a C+ all the way up to an A.
2. Have ongoing patient education teaching the value and importance of chiropractic care
One of the more obvious things you can do is to educate patients during the course of their injury care. Provide ongoing, repeated education about the benefits they are receiving, as well as to how they will benefit when they continue with care after their injury care has resolved.
Patients are like plants. Water them regularly and they grow. Educate your patients regularly and they’ll grow as well. It's kind of like drip irrigation, except we do drip education for our patient education. Rather than flooding the plants with water all at once, we give small amounts of water at regular intervals. Not only is this more efficient, but it’s also the most beneficial to the plant.
The same principal applies to our patient education. We can’t expect them to “get it” and change their lifestyle based on information that we have flooded (and most likely overwhelmed) them with. By using drip education, we would automate their education via e-mail. Once a week, they would automatically get valuable information about the benefits of chiropractic e-mailed directly to their inbox without any additional steps required from us.
Another opportunity to educate patients is every time they are in your office, whether it’s when they see you for an adjustment or via a physical handout, a slideshow on a TV by the front desk, or in your bathroom (yes, we did that!). These are all opportunities to open their eyes bit by bit to the value and importance of chiropractic care.
3. Even if someone else is at fault, collect a monthly amount automatically from the patient.
We know that it’s hard for PI patients to see the value of care when they aren’t directly paying for it. If they’re not paying, it is even more difficult to transition them to care after their case resolves.
One route to take during their injury care is to still have them pay for a small portion of their care each month. This puts them in the habit of paying monthly, and it’s not too far of a stretch once their case is closed to talk to them about money. For example, have them pay $100 to $150 per month on auto-debit.
By the time their case settles, they may have paid in over $1,000 to $2,000 of their own money. So if the patient’s total bill was $4,500, you would only be owed $2,500 to $3,500 at settlement. In essence, the patient would get their $1,000 to $2,000 back when the case settles.
Think of it as someone paying taxes who then gets a tax refund at the end of the year. In addition, if they do not settle their case for enough money, they have already been paying your office, so any amount they are responsible for afterward already has been paid down.
4. Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere
This should go without saying. Your office should create a gut reaction for patients every step of the way that they are in the right place. We have a simple formula for creating this gut feeling that can be several articles in itself. In a nutshell, we are creating an atmosphere where patients know they are welcome, that we care, and that we will guide them to optimum health. This type of experience is hard to walk away from when there is an established relationship with rapport.
When someone else is paying for care (especially in a personal injury case) the transition to continued care is probably the most difficult to convert. With these tips applied, the leaking bucket has another hole plugged.
Miles Bodzin,DC is founder and CEO of Inc. 5000-listed company, Cash Practice® Systems Learn more at www.CashPractice.com or call 877-3-13-8950. To book Dr. Bodzin for interviews and speaking, call 877-343-8950, ext. 201.
founder profession Amber the past Shepherd for seven and 10 CEO years years, has as of Cash she served a has CA Practice® served in to Dr. the Miles as Systems. Coordinating chiropractic Bodzin, For Manager for Cash Practice® Systems, where she has helped train thousands of DCs and CAs about how to run a cash-based practice. The Wellness Score,
Cash Plan Calculator, Auto-Debit System, and Drip-Education Email Marketing System all work together to help free a doctor from insurance dependence. For more information, visit www.CashPractice.com or e-mail Amberff CashPractice.com.
