Building Blocks
A practice’s needs and concerns can stack up What’s the trade-off for Dr. Ben’s credit card dilemma? Ben added yet another piece to the enormous castle he and his son were building. Jonathan scooted around to see the other side and knocked down the eastern battlement. “Oh, shoot!” “That’s okay,” Ben assured him. “We’ll build it again. The building is the fun part anyway.” Carmen agreed, admiring the turrets. “That’s true of so much in life, isn’t it?” Ben smiled. “So, what did you decide about your credit card system? Were you able to negotiate a better rate?” “Not yet. The bank where we have our merchant account doesn’t seem to feel that we’re big enough to be bothered with,” Carmen grumbled. “Speaking of building. I’m going to do some comparison shopping, but I think I might just have to wait till next year to get much of an improvement in the fees.” “It is always based on volume,” Ben agreed, placing a block for a drawbridge. “I’m concerned about that for the practice, too. Manual processing can cost more than swiping, too, in addition to the possibility of errors.” “Do you think errors really happen much?” Carmen asked. “I don’t know about our office, but I read some startling statistics recently,” Ben said. “7.8 percent of recurring transactions are declined. That’s $780 for every $10,000 in transactions. And for that same $10,000 in manual transactions, you can expect another $15 lost just from address verification failures. If we do that every month, the amount we lose could pay for Jonathan’s college tuition by the time he graduates high school.” “That’s sobering.” “The fact that we have both a POS system and manual posting and recurring transactions also makes me wonder if we’re completely PCI compliant. Sending out paper bills and then taking the payment information by phone might not be completely correct — and those bills can cost $1.61 apiece, since I’m throwing statistics at you.” “Never mind the bills,” Carmen said. “The fines for being out of compliance can run you $25,000 a month. That’s high priority.” “So I’m looking into solutions, but integrating and automating everything is going to be expensive. The POS system is separate from everything else in the office, so we might have to make changes there, too. And that’s all in addition to the fees.” “It’s like when we first started our businesses. We used to have to run the numbers every time to make decisions. Now, we’re established, so we know what we’re doing most of the time. When something new comes up, though, we still have to run the numbers.” Jonathan stood and stretched up to add one more block to the top of a tower and it rocked, tipped, and crashed. After a moment of stunned silence, the little boy laughed, so Ben joined in. Building often is the fun part, he thought. What’s the trade-off for Dr. Ben’s credit card dilemma?
To Swipe or Not to Swipe?
Credit card processing has an effect on a practice’s bottom line. Now that Dr. Ben sees the potential problems with his credit card system, what is he going to do about it? With their son down for a nap and the afternoon stretching out ahead of them, Dr. Ben Wilson thought Carmen might be in the mood to hear some sweet nothings from him, but he was mistaken. “No way,” she said firmly. “You can talk about my eyes later. Right now I want to discuss credit cards. Don’t laugh! So often when you talk to me about your practice, I don’t really know what you’re talking about. But I know credit cards.” “I bet most of the payments you take at the pizzeria are credit or debit cards.” “You know it,” Carmen agreed. “We don’t take checks, and cash transactions are maybe 20% of the total. I know people who aren’t even accepting cash any more.” “As you say, people are used to paying with plastic at a restaurant. We still get lots of checks, though,” Ben assured her. “Lots of cash for copays. Some of the major employers around here give their workers debit cards for their tax-deferred health savings accounts, and some of our patients use special healthcare credit cards, but it’s still a pretty mixed bag.” Carmen nodded. “You were saying you have both POS sales and also some you have to post manually, too.” “That’s right, and of course that’s an opening for errors. Glitches in the payment processing can lead to stress, distraction from patient care, and even losing patients. Declined payments can fall through the cracks and get overlooked for so long that they never get taken care of. Plus, I think there’s a psychological barrier in having to pull out a wallet.” Carmen laughed at that. “Our customers are prepared for it, but yours may be thinking it’s all covered by insurance.” “Right. And of course many of the items we sell at the counter are not. If a patient is going to pay out of pocket, he’ll add in nutritional supplements or something, but if there’s no immediate transaction, I think they’re less likely to open their wallets.” “Sounds like an improvement in your credit card situation could actually improve your bottom line.” Ben nodded slowly, holding his wife’s gaze. “I think it could.” “You could be right,” Carmen said, leaning closer. “The question is, what are you going to do about it?” Now that Dr. Ben sees the potential problems with his credit card system, what is he going to do about it?
Chiropractic Software | New Network Members December 2013
Thirty-five new members across 25 practices joined Genesis Chiropractic Software and Billing Network in December 2013! There is strength in numbers due to the shared knowledge – we call it the “Billing Network Effect,” as the billing performance of each member practice improves in step with the total volume of processed claims. Each office uses our chiropractic software to thrive. Please welcome our new Genesis network members: Maria Douglas, Hannah Zimmer, Paul Stine, and Bethany Pettit of Abundant Life Chiropractic, Woodlands, Texas Paul Willemse of Advanced Healing & Pain Relief Center, Union, New Jersey Eunice Rizo-Tabora of Aliante Chiropractic & Integrated Health, Las Vegas, Nevada Jacquelyn Rose of Brittian Chiropractic Center, Winston Salem, North Carolina Joshua Eddings of Cascade Family Chiropractic, Colorado Springs, Colorado Rosemary Tobias of Central Jersey Spine & Wellness, North Freehold, New Jersey Bethanie Telep of Chiropractic Works, Oakland, New Jersey Gisela Maldonado of City Of Bridges Chiropractic, Brentwood, Pennsylvania Ashley Anderson of Cook Chiropractic, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Yadira Puntiel of Drs Choice, Rahway, New Jersey Amanda Salameh of Dr Glen R Burford DC, Collierville, Tennessee Summer Cockayne of Elevation Chiropractic, Boise, Idaho C. Gonzales of Family Chiropractic Center Of Bayonne, Bayonne, New Jersey Myong Ok Om of Family Chiropractic Center Of East Rutherford, East Rutherford, New Jersey Cindy Sulla, Adrianna Natale, and Ashley Sulla of Iannelli Chiropractic Centers, Turnersville, New Jersey Lauren Reilly and Christie Fosina of John P Maher, DC, Carmel, New York Jessica Kiewlich, Tina Dieterich, Brad Grgurich, Chrystal Zavala, and Jeff Meyers of Longmont Spine and Physical Medicine, Longmont, Colorado Karen Schwietering of Lori A. Nuzzi, DC, of Midland Park, New Jersey Joshua Madrigal of Miles Chiropractic, Glasgow, Kentucky Kim Qualls of Natural State Health Center, Little Rock, Arkansas Dametria Farris and Heather Bladel of Next Level Health, Rockford, Illinois Elizabeth M Ruegsegger of Premier Chiropractic, Stockton, Illinois Candice Bierle of Inspired Chiropractic, Sioux Falls, South Dakota John Chevigny of Stability Spine & Wellness, Seattle, Washington Tawny Jenna Mcinstosh of Wickiser Clinic Of Chiropractic, Anderson, South Carolina
How This Chiropractor Built His Own Call Center To Bring In Droves Of New Patients On Autopilot!
Dr. Jonathan Hyslop is the Founder and Chief Marketing Executive of NEA’s Call Center. They can help you bring droves of new patients into your office without the hassle of hiring marketing staff and engaging in marketing activities that are expensive, time consuming and ineffective. Like most chiropractors who have been in business for a while, Dr. Jonathan Hyslop has tried everything. From events, fairs, and other time consuming marketing procedures he felt like nothing was working. So he decided to try telemarketing. Finally, he had some great success with something, but the problem was the cost! It was so expensive that it would eat into his R.O.I. until it just almost wasn’t worth it. That’s when Dr. Hyslop took it upon himself to create a sales team and train them on how to bring in chiropractic specific, quality new patients over the phone. This method worked so well for him that he stopped all other marketing strategies, and focused on his personal call center. This method brought in droves of new patients on autopilot for many years with minimal stress on Dr. Hyslop. Today he is making his tried-and-true, chiropractic specific, call center available for a few special chiropractors. He is offering this service at a rate comparable to you hiring two people for $10 an hour. (And you don’t even have to worry about training them, because they are already trained!) To learn more, check out the recent webinar interview we did with Dr. Hyslop by clicking the link below:
