Successful, high profit, cash-based practices have one thing in common…
Every practice is faced with the challenge of keeping patients from dropping out of care. Why spend time and money getting new patients if you don’t keep them? If you know that patient retention is your best-kept secret for growth, financial independence, and better clinical outcomes, wouldn’t you want to improve that? Implementing strategies and solutions to retain patients is the foundation for long-term success!
Patient Loyalty is easy to achieve when you have the right systems to properly implement Cash Practice’s Four Retention Principles (AKA The 4 F’s). Our step-by-step process to attain patient loyalty is what makes this journey so effective.
Let’s follow Dr. John, Liz (the assistant), and Scott (the patient) through the process of achieving patient loyalty.
Scott calls Dr. John’s office, and Liz cheerfully answers. After scheduling Scott’s first appointment, Liz assigns a new patient email campaign using the Drip-Education® System. The campaign welcomes him to the practice and includes information on what to expect at his first appointment.
After Dr. John performs Scott’s new patient exam, Liz collects his payment and assigns an email campaign to prepare him for the report of findings. All this is done using the Auto-Debit and Drip-Education Systems in one straightforward step.
Dr. John enters Scott’s exam findings into The Wellness Score® resulting in a “D” grade. Dr. John then builds a treatment plan including all necessary services to reach the goal of care and hands it off to Liz to prepare for the care plan presentation.
Liz enters Dr. John’s recommended treatment plan into the Care Plan Calculator®, producing a comprehensive, customized, and compliant care plan with affordable payment options. This preparation will give Liz the confidence to successfully present the care plan to Scott at his report of findings.
When Scott returns for the report of findings, Dr. John demonstrates Scott’s need for care by presenting the “D” grade from his Wellness Score. Once Scott agrees to the treatment plan, Liz then offers him a choice of affordable payment options from the Care Plan Calculator, making it easy for him to say “Yes” to enrolling in care.
In less than 60 seconds, Liz enrolls Scott into care with the Care Plan Enroller™. Liz collects his first payment, schedules his recurring auto-debit, produces his copy of the plan, captures his electronic signature, and assigns a patient education email campaign all at once! Scott is officially enrolled and committed to care!
Throughout care, Dr. John shows Scott the progress he’s making using The Wellness Score. Scott is excited to see his “D” become a “C” and then a “B”. All the while, his payments are automatically collected with the Auto-Debit System®, and emails educating him on the benefits of care are sent with the Drip-Education System. Altogether, the systems apply the 4 F’s to build patient loyalty.
When Scott completes the care plan, Dr. John is thrilled he finally gets to present him an “A” from his Wellness Score and deliver the good clinical news that he’s ready to transition to wellness care! Coupled with the good financial news Liz will share next, this once stressful process is now stress-free for Dr. John since patients, like Scott, have now become accustomed to regular monthly payments.
Liz has prepared a new care plan using the Care Plan Calculator, based on Dr. John’s new treatment plan. She gets to deliver the good financial news that Scott’s monthly payments will be less! He’s thrilled and says “Yes!” to continuing care with the new program.
In one simple step, Liz collects Scott’s payment, schedules his monthly auto-debit, produces his copy of the plan, captures his electronic signature, and assigns him a wellness education email campaign. Scott is now enrolled in lifetime wellness care, never needing to be asked about money again!
Scott is happy, feeling better, and tells Dr. John and Liz that he would love to purchase gift cards for referring family and friends! He is now a loyal patient and will continue to be managed with all of the systems.
We’ll show you how easy it is to grow your practice following the Loyal Patient Journey™.
See how Cash Practice members consistently cultivate patient loyalty and grow their revenue year after year after year.
From the eBook you’ll also learn how to:
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Cash Practice members who implement these systems report their collections consistently increase year after year after year...
See the Case Studies below to hear from actual members and how they've grown their practices.
Cash Practice users that consistently use the four systems report diminishing dropout and increasing referral rates, which compounds the speed at which growth occurs!
Cash Practice users that consistently use the four systems report less time spent dealing with collections, marketing, or dealing with never-ending clerical and repetitive tasks, and more time with their loved ones and the financial means to fully enjoy those moments!
We’ll show you how easy it is to grow your practice following the Loyal Patient Journey™.
Cause: When Scott got off the phone with Liz, he wasn’t sure this was the right place for him. Whether that was due to Liz’s tone of voice, her inability to focus on Scott, or simply not connecting with him, he decided to shop around for another doctor.
Solution: Liz answers the phone with a smile and eagerly assists Scott, putting all other jobs aside to give him 100% of her focus. To avoid the danger of Scott not showing up for his first visit, Liz will email him a warm welcome message with a brief explanation of what to expect on the first visit. This email helps put Scott’s mind at ease and build even more rapport, making it easy for him to show up.
Tools: Liz will use the Drip-Education System to assign a pre-made email campaign.
Cause: Dr. John and Liz failed to build rapport, giving Scott hope that Dr. John would be able to help him.
Solution: When appropriate, patients should leave the first visit with a feeling of “I sure hope, when I come back for the report of findings, Dr. John tells me he can accept me for care.” Liz will send Scott an email after he leaves stating what he should expect when he returns for the Report of Findings. It states explicitly Dr. John will let him know if he can accept him as a patient, motivating Scott to return.
Tools: Liz will use the Drip-Education System to assign a pre-made email campaign. This email is quick and easy to assign while using the Auto-Debit System to process his initial visit payment.
Cause: Dr. John doesn’t take the time to Forecast Care and build a comprehensive treatment plan that’s based on clearly defined objective findings or with a clear patient goal in mind. This failure to Forecast Care makes it nearly impossible for Liz to build a care plan. How can Liz be expected to go over payment options for Scott if she can’t create the care plan?
Solution: First, Dr. John needs to know the goal of care for Scott. Second, this goal will allow Dr. John to forecast how long and how often Scott will need care and precisely what that will involve. Knowing this information is vital for Liz to build a care plan.
Tools: Dr. John inputs Scott’s exam findings into The Wellness Score to generate his graded report. Not only does this help Liz create the care plan, but more importantly, Dr. John will have a much easier time demonstrating the need for care to Scott.
Cause: Liz failed to build a comprehensive and compliant care plan in advance of Scott’s report of findings. For Scott to say “Yes” to care, affordable payment options must be forecasted.
Solution: Liz takes the treatment plan Dr. John forecasted for Scott and builds it into his care plan. Because Scott can see the end goal and has payment options that fit into his existing budget, he will feel more comfortable enrolling & committing to care. This gives Liz the confidence she needs to go over finances.
Tools: Liz inputs the treatment plan into the Care Plan Calculator, producing a customized care plan for Scott. Now, not only is the treatment plan forecasted, but Scott’s financial options are as well.
Cause: There can be several reasons why Scott says “No” to care. It could be that Dr. John has poor communication skills, isn’t prepared with a forecasted plan, didn’t demonstrate the need for care in an easy-to-understand format, didn’t show Scott the expected results, or failed to make a good case presentation.
Solution: Dr. John is prepared to present his clinical justification using The Wellness Score to accept Scott as a patient. Once Scott says “yes” to the forecasted treatment plan, Liz will present the prepared care plan and allow Scott to select a payment option. Scott loves that he can see what to expect while under care, with no hidden surprises, both clinically and financially.
Tools: Dr. John uses The Wellness Score to present feedback that’s Intuitive for Scott to say “Yes!” to care, and Liz uses the Care Plan Calculator to offer affordable payment options. The one-two punch of showing the need for care along with affordable payment options avoids the danger of hearing your patient say the dreaded “let me think about it.”
Cause: Scott may end up dropping out of care when his symptoms and pain go away or when his insurance benefits are exhausted. Patients often lose motivation once their symptoms are gone, leading to missed visits and the risk of dropping out of care. Those solely using their insurance typically fall out of care when their insurance stops covering care, and their out-of-pocket cost goes up.
Solution: When Scott enrolls into a well-forecasted care plan, he knows what he’s committing to in advance. Simply having that agreement upfront significantly reduces the likelihood of Scott dropping out early. Since Scott’s insurance was already incorporated into the care plan right from the beginning, there’s never a need for Scott to have his out-of-pocket cost go up, even when the insurance ends, or his symptoms go away. Scott enrolling in a care plan neutralized both of these common causes of premature drop-out.
Tools: The Care Plan Calculator was used to forecast care and enroll Scott into care. The Auto-Debit System is used to automate his payments for a frictionless payment experience, so he’s not being repeatedly reminded of money. The Drip-Education System is used to continue the frequent contact, so his care is top-of-mind for Scott.
Cause: By the time Scott arrives at this point, he’s committed to a forecasted care plan, is making automated monthly frictionless payments and is frequently contacted with emails. The most likely reason Scott would start missing visits is due to Dr. John failing to do regular progress exams and giving Scott feedback that’s intuitive. Scott not knowing the progress he’s making towards the goal of care makes it easy for him to lose motivation and drop out early.
Solution: Throughout care, Dr. John performs regular progress exams and reports to Scott the progress he’s making. This feedback is essential once Scott’s initial symptoms no longer motivate him to stay under care. This feedback reinforces to Scott that he benefits from the care and alleviates Dr. John from the awkwardness of convincing Scott to keep up the course.
Tools: Dr. John uses The Wellness Score to motivate Scott to start and stay under care. Meanwhile, during care and behind the scenes, the other three retention principles are automatically utilized with Cash Practice Systems. Scott’s auto-debits are running, his care plan is still in play, and the emails are going out frequently to educate him.
Cause: Scott will likely drop out of care at this point if there are any considerable financial hurdles. For example, Scott had prepaid instead of making automated, frictionless monthly payments. He will now have to decide if he wants to make another big purchase for care. If Scott were on anything other than the monthly payments, he would likely have to think about the new program. This new “purchase decision” is the most significant reason patients drop out during the transition to wellness care.
Solution: Knowing the great clinical news Dr. John gave Scott in Step 8, Liz confidently delivers the good financial news that Scott’s payment will go down. Since Scott’s monthly payment was already part of his monthly budget, the fact that the new payment is less makes it a no-brainer for him to continue.
Tools: Liz inputs the new wellness treatment plan into the Care Plan Calculator, producing a customized plan for Scott with lower monthly payments. This new plan is month-to-month and auto-renews, making it easy for Scott to commit and stick with it.