Help PCCs understand what’s behind the cost of care
Now that a new patient has arrived for care, your PCCs should be celebrating, because THEY did that!
But their responsibilities don’t end there. And neither are some of the struggles they often deal with.
Patient management isn’t just about schedule control; it’s also about building agreement and selling your services.
So, your PCCs need training across all sales areas, including explaining the cost of care. Everything they do is related to getting patients scheduled, arriving as expected, calling with notice when they can’t come in, and paying what’s due at the time of service.
One area where things can get challenging for everyone involved, especially the PCC and the patient, is presenting and discussing the patient’s cost of care.
Since your PCCs present ‘benefits’ information and collect patient payments, they need to be comfortable discussing the cost of care, and the patient’s responsibility toward it.
But that can be tough because money is a button and can create a whole range of emotions, not just for the patient.
Why your PCCs must understand the cost of care
The PCC can have their own emotional reactions when it comes to the topic of money, and costs; and they can have objections to the cost of care.
These emotions, considerations, and objections might be present when a PCC is explaining the cost of your services to a new patient. They might arise when trying to handle someone who expresses their objections to the cost of care.
The PCC is making around $15-20/hr, barely making ends meet, and they’re being asked to comfortably explain the total cost of care to patients:
A $4000 deductible and owe between $70-120 per visit
A $40-75 per visit copay
That your private pay rate is…
Or that your services are out-of-network
And then tell the patient that you’ll be collecting the total cost of care at the time of visit.
The PCC must watch the patient’s reaction or listen to a negative reaction while they’re probably thinking: “I couldn’t afford that…”
Believe me, their worries are very real.
Without the proper training, a PCCs feelings and emotions can carry over to the patient through their tone of voice or how they explain the cost of care…
Without realizing it, the PCC might create a problem for the patient where there shouldn’t have been one.
If the presentation of a patient’s benefits and their related costs aren’t handled properly, the patient becomes worried about the cost of care, and that’s when objections and issues occur.
And that worry continues into the evaluation appointment and their succeeding visits.
This worry also makes it harder for the provider to sell the patient on the required plan of care that would help them recover from their problem and reach their true goals.
These issues may also arise when the patient needs to schedule out the full plan of care.
Or once the pain has decreased, the patient discontinues the plan of care because the patient thinks they’re better and they don’t need to continue.
All these have a direct effect on schedule control. These issues also increases costs while decreasing efficiency and effectiveness as a practice.
To maximize your practice’s ability to help your patients achieve their goals and fully recover to live their best lives, your PCCs need training in sales and in how to properly explain the cost of care.
Without it, your patient care will suffer, and you’ll feel the effects of declining reimbursements.
With The Front Office GURU Training Academy, your PCCs will learn:
how to talk to patients to get the desired results
how to present the cost of care effectively
how to handle the patient’s negative reaction to costs
how to manage objections to the cost of care
and most importantly, WHY it’s crucial to the patient’s recovery
It’s easy to get started. Just CLICK HERE to learn more and begin your training today.
If you want the time and freedom to step away and do other things, or to dream big and take your practice to the next level, the best thing you can do is provide training for your PCCs and team.
The better trained they are, the better they can explain the cost of care, and ultimately, they’ll be better equipped to help others. With this, they’ll also help your practice and themselves.
If you’re unsure whether you would do best with my virtual academy or if you need higher level coaching, click here and Schedule a FREE Discovery Call today.
With The Front Office GURU Training Academy®, you can have the tools you need to provide consistent training to your front desk.
When you provide consistent training, your team is more successful and success in their position helps to decrease turnover.
Here are just a few of the essential topics we cover in this program:
How to have the right mindset when speaking with patients.
How to get more new patients to schedule and arrive for their evaluation appt
How to talk about the cost of care and handle patient worries about costs
How to PREVENT cancels and no-shows (and also how to handle someone to keep it from happening again)
How to fill your schedule and keep it full
Watch this video to learn more:
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