GET PAID FOR YOUR
SERVICES
Simple, Sensible Payment Arrangements That Work!
by Debbie Castagna, Jody Catalanello, Pam Bringman-Gorrell,
Virginia Stockinger Moore, and Linda Wooton Valencia
(MOSAIC Management Group)
For dentists to stay in business, payments must
be made!
To provide dentists with an easy-to-use, straightforward process that
will glean 98% of their collections, the five consultant members of the
MOSAIC Management Group (of San Francisco and ChicagoDebbie
Castagna, Jody Catalanello, Pam Bringman-Gorrell, Virginia
Stockinger Moore, and Linda Wooton Valencia—combined their in-office expertise to write GET
PAID FOR YOUR SERVICES: Simple, Sensible Payment Arrangements That Work!
The three-ring binder book with accompanying floppy disk (for IBM/compatible
or Macintosh computers, in Word, Word Perfect, or Rich Text) costs only
$100—less than one stray payment!—and is now available. The book is also
available at the same price as an email attachment.
What’s it like? Take a quick look at the table of contents and two sample
chapters that follow.
In addition to a 98% collection rate, what other benefits can a solid
payment arrangement and collections process bring?
-
Patients will be clear about their financial responsibility to the practice.
-
Your accounts receivable will be healthy.
-
Your case acceptance rate will be higher.
-
You’ll have fewer “difficult” accounts, bad debt write-offs, or accounts
sent to the collection agency.
-
You’ll have an improved cash flow, for things like facility enhancements,
the best dental supplies, a salary increase for the doctor and team, and
better employee benefits.
-
You’ll be able to know, with confidence, that your written credit policy
can be communicated with integrity and care so that patients understand
that their health is your priority.
-
You’ll have consistent win-win payment arrangements that support your office
credit guidelines.
The five authors provide 35 processes, sample letters, and forms in standard
operating procedures (SOP) format that can be read in print, opened on
the disk, modified to fit your practice needs, and printed right then—or
used as is! In fact, every word of the book is reproducible in office,
to customize the MOSAIC collection concepts to other steps already working
well for you, to create a super collection process that leaves your patients
pleased; your staff informed and consistently applying a sensible, straightforward
system, and you PAID virtually every time FOR YOUR SERVICES!
Table of Contents
Dedication / Acknowledgment
How to Best Use This Book and Disk
Introduction, 1
1 Payment Arrangements are a Team Effort! 3
2 Developing Credit Guidelines, 15
3 Preparation for the Payment Arrangement, 26
4 How to Negotiate a Payment Arrangement, 33
5 Paperwork, 46
6 Collecting Past Due Accounts, 51
7 Monitoring Success, 65
8 Congratulations! 77
Appendix
Forms, 78
About the Authors, 85
INDEX, 87
Table of Contents of the SOPs, Letters, and Scripts
[Chapter / SOPs Titles or Sample Letters and Scripts
/ (File Name) / Page]
1 / Job Description: Financial Administrator / (finadmjd.1)
/ 4
1 / Performance Statement: Financial Administrator
(psfinadm.1) / 5
1 / Editing a Simple Job Description / (editjob.1)
/ 9
1 / How to Make Payment Arrangements a Team Effort
/ (teameff.1) / 10
2 / Creating Your Own Credit Guidelines / (creditgd.2)
/ 16
2 / Office Credit Guidelines Questionnaire / (creditqs.2)
/ 17
2 / Sample: Office Credit Guidelines / (sampcred.2)
/ 22
3 / Payment Arrangements Without a Consultative Appointment
/ (paywout.3) / 27
3 / Payment Arrangements With a Consultative Visit
/ (paywith.3) / 28
3 / Payment Arrangement for Emergency Procedures
/ (payemer.3) / 31
4 / How to Negotiate a Payment Arrangement / (negopay.4)
/ 33
5 / Payment Agreement System and Risk Management /
(pay-risk.5) / 46
6 / Collection Follow-Up System Using the Telephone
(followup.6) / 51
6 / Sample Telephone Reminder Script / see (chap.6)
/ 52
6 / Sample Solution Call Script / see (chap.6)
/ 53
6 / Sample Urgency Call Script / see (chap.6)
/ 54
6 / Delinquent Accounts Routine / (delinqt.6)
/ 56
6 / Sample First Delinquency Call Script / see
(delinqt.6) / 56
6 / Sample Reminder Collection Letter / see (delinqt.6)
/ 57
6 / Sample Solution Collection Letter / see (delinqt.6)
/ 58
6 / Sample Final Notice Collection Letter / see
(delinqt.6) / 60
6 / Sample Dismissal Letter / see (delinqt.6)
/ 61
6 / Sample Collection Follow-Up Schedule / (sampsche.6)
/ 63
7 / Monitoring Success / (msuccess.7) / 65
7 / Completion Instructions for New and Existing Patient
Monitors / (complete.7) / 66
7 / Completion Instructions for Calculating Month
End Totals... / (calculat.7 ) 70
7 / Completion Instructions for the Month End Finance
Monitor / (mthend.7) / 71
Forms / Payment Arrangement / (parrange.5) / 79
Forms / Payment Plan Follow-Up / (payplan.5) /
80
Forms / Sample: Patient Dismissal Letter / (sampdism.6_)
/ 81
Forms/ New Patient Monitor / (newpatmr.7) / 82
Forms / Existing Patient Monitor / (existmon.7)
/ 83
Forms / Month End Finance Monitor / (mthendmr.7)
/ 84
A S.O.P. on the Best Way to Use
Get Paid for Your Services:
Simple, Sensible Payment Arrangements That Work!
Desired Outcome: Fullest utilization of the information in this
book and the accompanying disk.
Measurement: Realization of the nine benefits listed in the Introduction.
1. Browse through the book, front to back.
2. Then read closely those areas of prime interest.
3. If you simply want to share that information with others on the
staff, let them read it too.
4. If you wish to incorporate the information into your collections
program, install the computer disk into your hard drive. (It is self-installing:
follow the instructions.)
5. You will probably want to print out the information you most wish
to use, so you can modify it to more closely match your practice needs.
6. If the information you want to copy is chapter text, that will appear
under the chapter title, i.e., Chapter 3. Open to that chapter and print
it out.
7. If it is a standard operating procedure (SOP), it will have its
own file. That file name will appear in brackets under the SOP’s title;
you can also find it in the SOPs Table of Contents. Open that file and
print it out.
8. Then hand write any changes you wish to make on that printed copy.
Let others involved in the collection process read and comment on those
changes too.
9. Go to or open the computer file that you wish to change. Type in
the changes to match your hand written copy. Print out the new, changed
file. Save it to your hard drive with a new name (thus preserving the original
copy should you wish to return to it later.)
10. If you are creating your own three-ring binder about collections,
simply three-hole punch the printed copy and insert it in your new binder—or
replace that page in Get Paid for Your Services. That customizes our binder
for your needs and keeps all related information in one location.
11. Remember to duplicate the copy on your hard drive, saving
it on a back-up floppy disk.
12. Also put the Get Paid for Your Services computer floppy disk
in a safe place should you wish to use it at some later date.
A final thought. If the SOPs process works well for your collections,
remember that Dental Communication Unlimited offers other SOPs books, reports,
and both audio and video cassette programs that might also be of assistance.
Two sample segments from the book: the Introduction and
Chapter 5
INTRODUCTION
During the Persian Gulf War, a man and his wife visited their son in
Tokyo, Japan. He worked as a jet fighter mechanic on the aircraft used
in the war missions.
The son took his parents on a tour where the mechanics repaired the
multi-million dollar aircraft. His father was amazed that his boy and the
other young men he observed, all in their early twenties, could be entrusted
to do such vitally important work. He didn’t want to offend his son by
commenting on their youth, so he asked him, “What happens when one of these
guys gets transferred?” The son replied, “It doesn’t matter Dad, we have
systems. You don’t have problems when you have systems.”
When we heard this story, trumpets blared and the angels were singing!
Hallelujah! For years we have been teaching that systems—systems well thought
out and executed—bring success and consistently superior service. Without
them, the dental practice is in chaos.
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “system” this way: “a set of facts,
principles, rules, etc., classified or arranged in a regular, orderly form
so as to show a logical plan linking the various parts.”
This is a book on payment arrangements, a system so important to the
dental practice that it warrants an entire book on the subject! These are
some of the benefits that the patient, the practice, and you can achieve
with a rock-solid payment arrangement system.
• Patients are clear about their financial responsibility to the practice.
• Healthy accounts receivable.
• 98% collections.
• Higher case acceptance.
• Fewer “difficult” accounts.
• Less bad debt write-offs or accounts sent to the collection agency.
• Improved cash flow allowing for things like facility enhancements,
the best dental supplies, a salary increase for the doctor and team, and
better employee benefits.
• The confidence of knowing that your written credit policy can be
communicated with integrity and care so that patients understand that their
health is your priority.
• Win-win payment arrangements that support the office credit guidelines.
Take this “set of facts, principles, and rules” and create your own “logical
plan.” In the pages that follow, you will find practical theory, step-by-step
standard operating procedures (SOPs), and exceptional communication skills
that can make your payment arrangement system sing. We hope this information
makes your job easier. Apply it and you’re on your way to receiving all
of the good things that this system can bring.
Doctors and team members, you’ll never have to worry about what will
happen if someone “transfers” out of your office again!
Chapter Five: PAPERWORK
The financial administrator and the patient have come to a verbal agreement
about how the patient will pay for the dental expense. Now the agreement
must be put in writing.
What is documented, how it’s documented, and where it’s documented are
vitally important for these reasons:
• The patient feels well cared for because they are clear about their
financial commitment to the practice.
• The written payment arrangement serves as a reminder to the patient
to make timely, accurate payments.
• Written payment arrangements that include payment amounts and due
dates help the financial administrator follow up on current and past due
accounts.
• Written payment arrangements provide legal recourse to the practice
attempting to collect past due accounts.
The proper paperwork also provides a valuable form of risk management!
Payment arrangements forms can protect you from some forms of liability.
There is a federal truth-in-lending law which requires a practice to use
a “truth-in-lending” form every time it assesses a finance charge and/or
when a patient agrees to pay their charges in four or more installments—that’s
installments, not months!
This SOP is designed to help you improve patient relations, your payment
arrangement system, and risk management.
PAYMENT AGREEMENT SYSTEM AND RISK MANAGEMENT [pay-risk.5]
Desired Outcome: To ensure complete and accurate payment plan
documentation on all treatment plans. To be able to effectively and promptly
monitor and follow up on accounts receivable based on the documented information
contained within your paperwork.
Measurement: Written payment plans signed by both the patient
and the financial administrator for all treatment plans that have been
discussed with the patient. Completion of payment arrangement follow-up
cards with due dates for receipt of payment, for use in the accounts receivable
monitoring program.
After verbally negotiating a payment arrangement, do the following:
1. Document the arrangements on either a two-part NCR Federal Truth-in-Lending
form or a Payment Arrangement form. (For a blank form, for later use, see
Sample A in the Forms Section.)
A. Use a Federal Truth-in-Lending form if there will be four or more
payments in the payment plan and you will be assessing a finance charge.
B. Use a Payment Arrangement form for other payment plans than those
listed in A.
2. Include the following documentation on all forms used for payment arrangements:
A. Fee for total treatment plan or phase
B. Initial payment amount
C. Payment plan for the balance
D. Number of payments
E. Due dates
F. Amounts due and how they will be paid
3. Both the financial administrator and patient sign the form.
A. The financial administrator says, “To acknowledge what you and I
have agreed upon, please review and sign this information.”
4. Give the patient the second copy for their records.
Example: “I’m giving you a copy of this agreement, along with my business
card. You may wish to keep this copy with your monthly bills. If you need
to discuss anything about this agreement, my name and number is on this
card. Please don’t hesitate to call me.”
5. File the original signed agreement in a separate accordion-style file
or hanging file.
A. File in alphabetical order by patient’s last name.
B. This file is to contain all payment agreements for patients in your
practice.
(Book includes a Payment Arrangement form not
transferable to the website.)
6. After dismissing the patient
A. Complete the Payment Plan Follow-Up form. (For a blank form, for
later use, see Sample B in the Forms Section.)
B. Designate a tickler file to be used for payment plan follow-up only.
C. File the “Payment Plan Follow-up” form
1) Chronologically, by the payment due date,
2) In the tickler file for subsequent monitoring. (See Follow-up
section.)
D. Enter the patient’s specific information on either the
1) New Patient Monitor or
2) Existing Patient Monitor
7. If the patient does not close on a payment arrangement, do the following:
A. Ensure follow-up by completing a Lost and Found card.
B. File this card in a chronological tickler behind the date you want
to follow up, usually about one week. (If you have a computer tickler,
document this information there instead of a manual tickler.)
C. Designate a particular time each week to follow up on open payment
plans.
- - - - - - - - - -
Patients may delay commitment to a payment arrangement for various reasons,
i.e., check with spouse, timing, think about it. Let the patient know you
will follow up with them to see where they are with making a decision.
Example: “Mary, let me know your decision after you talk with your
husband. If for some reason I don’t hear from you, I’ll give you a call
in about a week.”
You have now successfully completed the steps of a payment arrangement.
Congratulations! This thorough approach will serve as an asset to the practice.
It can be one of the important reasons patients appreciate your care—they
are fully involved and informed before treatment is rendered!
(Book
includes a Payment Plan Follow-Up form not transferable to the website.)
