Do Your Patients Expect Something for Nothing?

I would say yes. However, I would submit that the reason our patient’s expect something for nothing is our fault, not theirs. The truth is, we’ve given away so much over the years. And now that we want to charge for things (that have always cost us) like forms, after hour phone calls, and others, and people think we are wanting to collect for something that they were lead to believe has no value. Not to mention they often think we are nickle-and-diming people. But some practices have been very careful about not falling into this trap of giving away their time and their resources. Take Village Pediatrics for example. Dr. Gruen and Dr. Gorman charge parents between $150 and $325 (depending on how many children) for a plan they call the added benefits plan. Here is what their website says about the plan: This modest per-child administrative fee includes services that may be non-covered or non-reimbursed by your insurance company and are typically billed for at other medical offices. Such services include: e-prescribing, unlimited school/camp forms, as well as 24/7/365 access to the doctors without the use of a phone triage service. This fee has allowed Village Pediatrics to offer prompt and personalized care without dramatically increasing our practice volume, dropping insurance plans, or significantly raising our cash fees. Why would parents pay above and beyond their health insurance premium every year to visit Village Peds? Because Village Peds from the beginning ...
Source: Pediatric Inc - Category: Pediatricians Authors: Tags: Leadership Lessons Note to Self The Business of Medicine Health Insurance Parent Patient Pediatric Source Type: blogs