The Terrible Cost of An Under Trained Team

From the few times that I have actually gone fishing I learned one valuable trick for hooking extremely large fish.  It was this simple, just wrap your line around the trolling motor several times after casting your bait into a likely big-fish hiding place.  That's right, just make sure that if a large fish does grab your bait that you're not ready to reel him in.  I know that sounds strange but I've found that this technique works when nothing else will.

Of course you realize that I'm sort of making a joke here, but the technique I'm describing actually works.  The downside is that even though you finally did lure one of the big ones to your bait, there's no way you'll ever get the line unwrapped from the motor quick enough to set the hook and land the fish.  In other words, the lack of preparation seems to attract opportunity that will ultimately mock you.

Every week that passes I'm more aware of practices that aren't ready to deal with the occasional large case that shows up in the practice. The title of this article is "The Terrible Cost of An Under Trained Team", well here's one of the most common points where the practice is punished for lack of preparation.

Most doctors don't even know this is going on in the office.  While they're in the back, head down, drilling, filling and crowning for all they're worth, the staff assigned to make financial arrangements are consistently finding that treatment plans greater then one or two thousand dollars always result in patients deciding to return for treatment when their finances improve.  In the fully trained office, the financial arranger is able to consistently collect on five figure treatment plans.  Most doctors don't really know how to respond to a staff person that routinely finds that none of the big-case patients has the money for treatment.

My point in this article is to emphasis the cost of this lack of preparation. Think of how many doctors set off in search of sedation riches only find that all the phobics are broke.  On the other hand, there are offices where every phobic that can overcome their fear of treatment is able to somehow come up with the money for needed treatment, the staff's training and commitment making the difference.

As we struggle to cope with the ever mounting discounts demanded by insurance companies, many doctors are fearful that there will literally be no profit whatsoever to take home if this unrelenting trend continues.  The office that can fully maximize its larger case opportunities will have a greater profit cushion to throw against the 30 - 40% in-plan discounts that currently stalk the industry.

I've found that each staff person has their own individual financial arrangement qualifications.  Some are good up to $1,500 (quite common) and a few can go all the way past $25,000 (very rare).  As you read this you may be thinking that your practice gets access to larger cases so seldom that there's really no point in pushing a staff person to learn these skills.  I disagree.  For years Whitehall's emphasis has been on consumerism and seeing that no one is oversold.  While that's true, were finding that the handful of large cases that actually could change your life are usually mismanaged at the front desk by the financial arranger.  All they have to tell you is that yes, the patient wants the care agreed to with the doctor, but no, they don't have the money to pay for it.

While there are a few offices that actually do have someone trained and motivated to collect on larger treatment plans, this skill usually resides in just one person.  As soon as the office gets busy enough to occupy this one great collector, the big case will float up out of the back, only to land with the new person who believes that in this economy, no one can afford five figure treatment plans.

If a patient really does want the care, there is a way for them to pay for it.  Maybe you don't really believe that, but you'd better hope your financial arranger does, because there lies the profit that could save your practice from the ravages of deeply discounted insurance plans.  I'm not talking about pushing large cases on reluctant patients, I'm talking about knowing the techniques for making F.A.s that could add $2,000 - $5,000 per week to your bottom line.  If you're a bit non assertive and you hesitate to show willing patients what they really need, and if that same lack of assertiveness causes you to accept your staff's claim that patients can't afford the care they agreed to in the operatory, then you're headed for a very thin paycheck.

In that sense, practice is a lot like fishing.  Quit wrapping the treatment plan around the weak F.A. skills of your front desk.  Yes, it causes the big cases to show up in the office, but you never get to treat them.  A very costly mistake.