Best Practices to Ensure Success During Active Care
By Holly Jensen
As chiropractic assistants, we are trained in handling calls for new patients. We understand that some people call the office shopping around, so we do our best to nurture them and make a great first impression to schedule them for a new patient appointment.
When the new patient arrives at the office for the first time, we welcome them. Once the consultation and the exam have been completed, we collect money for the visit and schedule their report of findings (ROF).
The ROF is one of the most important visits the patient will ever have because they will make a decision that will impact their overall health and wellness. When they arrive at this visit, we're hopeful that the doctor can help them achieve the results that will be outlined for them. Once the patient has said yes to the treatment plan that's been outlined by the doctor, we're thrilled to add another member to the practice. We handle the patient's financials and set up their future appointments.
The patient comes in and gets care. They never miss appointments, pay on time, and get the big idea of chiropractic. It's that easy, right?
Wrong!
We've all had patients start care to drop out later because "the pain went away" or because their "insurance benefits were exhausted." It's painful when these excuses come up, and the patient discontinues care, leaving the practice and never experiencing the true miracles of chiropractic. They don't get to achieve the results outlined by the doctor in the ROF because they failed to follow through with the plan.
As soon as patients start a program of active care, we need to focus on ensuring that they stick to the treatment plan for them to get the full benefits of chiropractic, which makes them more likely to transition to wellness care. So what can you do to make sure that the active-care phase is a success?
The CA must ensure four key factors occur to have a successful active-care phase that sets the patient up for success.
Active Care Must Be Forecasted
For a successful active phase of care, we must begin with the end in mind. Care needs to be clearly outlined from the beginning. List all services and products that will be needed during a clearly specified time frame. You'll also want to include the costs involved up front so that there are no surprises.
There are many benefits for the practice and the patient when active care is forecasted:
1. Patients appreciate knowing the game plan from the start.
2. Patients comply better with the treatment plan because they understand what is taking place and the expected time frame.
3. The front desk flow is streamlined.
4. No confusion about patient finances.
5. More time to focus on patient care and education.
6. Increased patient retention.
Imagine having all phases of active care already planned and agreed upon by the patient. It takes the guesswork out and streamlines the patient's journey. Forecasting care alone will reduce patient dropout during the active-care phase.
Create a Frictionless Payment Experience
Once you have successfully forecasted care for the patient, the next step is to automate how you will collect their payments.
We want the process of paying to be as frictionless as possible by securely storing their billing information on file. The best practice for this would be automatically charging their card on file as a recurring monthly payment throughout the treatment period.
Reasons to set up automated monthly payments instead of pay-per-visit or prepays:
1. It streamlines the flow at the front desk.
2. No awkward financial conversations.
3. Increased cash collections.
4. Monthly payments help establish a habit, making it easier for the patient to smoothly transition to the next phase of care.
5. Most people pay their bills monthly, so it is normal for them.
6. Monthly payments are more affordable than other payment options.
7. Automation removes the thought of money and allows the patient to focus on their care.
Monthly payments streamline a lot of what you do at the front desk. The patient doesn't have to stop at the front desk every visit to make a payment and isn't constantly reminded about money. Moving away from pay-per-visit to monthly payments will impact retention during active care alone.
We prefer monthly payments to prepays because it establishes care into the patient's monthly budget. When it's time to transition from active care to wellness, there's no new purchase decision for them to make because their monthly payments are simply lowered. We still offer the option to prepay because some people choose that, but we don't push it as the only option.
Creating a frictionless payment experience during the active phase (and all phases) of care will ensure the patient is set up for success and make your job at the front desk easier.
... "Providingpatients with feedback helps them know that they are making improvements and allows the doctor to communicate that with the patient."...
Staying on Top of Their Scheduled Appointments
During active care, we need to ensure that we keep the patient on the recommended treatment plan. There are situations when patients may call to cancel an appointment because they feel ill. We need to make sure to let our patients know that getting adjusted when they don't feel well can boost their immune system. Now, of course, considering current times, be sure to take necessary precautions and follow guidelines.
If a patient does miss an appointment, make sure they aren't just simply skipping the appointment, and that they make it up within the same week. That is how we ensure that we stick to the plan and things don't get out of sync and fall behind.
Another situation you may encounter is when a patient calls in and says something such as, "I'm feeling much better. Do I really need to still come in two times a week?" or, "I feel good. I don't think I'm going to come in today, and I will see you at next week's appointment." Now, it could be that it really is time for them to drop down to less frequent care, but only the doctor can make that decision based on what the patient clinically needs.
So how do we handle a patient wanting to come in less? "Susie, I'm not authorized to make changes to your treatment plan. Let's set aside some extra time with the doctor at your next appointment, and he can determine if you are ready to come in less frequently." The patient keeps the scheduled appointment, and we make sure it's a clinical decision that changes the frequency of treatment.
Make Sure Reexams or Progress Checks Take Place
When we get a new patient, we ask if they have seen a chiropractor before. If they have, we ask why they no longer go to that doctor. One of the most common things we hear is, "I never knew how I was doing over there." Patients need feedback about how they are progressing toward the goal of active care, or they will assume that when the pain goes away, the treatment is done.
Providing patients with feedback helps them know that they are making improvements and allows the doctor to communicate that with the patient. It also shows the patient a clinical reason why they should continue care even though their symptoms are gone.
So if reexams are this important, then it's crucial to make sure they take place at the proper times. It's so easy to let those fall through the cracks. The CA's role is to keep an eye on it, audit patient accounts, and notify the doctor when the patient is due for a reexam.
Applying these practices during active care is sure to help the patient achieve better clinical outcomes. When we nurture every patient that way, we cultivate patient retention. By setting our patients up for success during this active-care phase, we can smoothly transition them to wellness, ultimately creating lifetime practice members.
Holly Jensen has served the chiropractic profession since 2002 as a CA and Office Manager where she oversaw the operations of Dr. Miles Bodzin's Chiropractic Wellness Center in San Diego, CA. For more than a decade she has continued to serve the chiropractic community as a Professional Speaker and the Chief Operations Officer for Cash Practice® Systems, the software & training company founded by Dr. Bodzin. To date, she has trained thousands of DC's and CA's on how to successfully attract, enroll and retain more patients while skyrocketing cash collections. Holly may be booked for interviews and speaking engagements at bookings@cashpractice. com or reached directly at [email protected]. Her inspiring story can be watched at TheCallingMovie.com.
