Modernize Your Practice with Patient A/R Automation

11.08.2022 - By Dr. Glenn Vo and Dr. Vinh Nguyen Play

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Notes:

This week, Dr. Glenn Vo was super excited to talk with Oliver Gelles, CMO of OrthoFI/CFI. During this livestream, Oliver filled Glenn in on a few exceptional services to add to your arsenal if you want to make more money and serve more patients. Oliver has been in the industry for over twenty years. He’s seen the clinical side of things, but most recently, Oliver has been part of the financial sector. OrthoFI’s mission is all about making patient care more affordable and accessible while ensuring doctors get paid for their valuable work. This way, everyone’s needs are met, which makes for a happier and healthier community all around.

Oliver was proud to present us with information on Compassionate Finance, a powerful tool that helps practices enact this mission. There’s a plethora of financing services to choose from, but Compassionate Finance takes the cake. Many companies claim to offer a generous amount of financing for patients, but this is often tricky marketing. They fail to discuss what percentage of the actual diagnosed treatment is approved. For example, there may be as much as $10,000 worth of dental care diagnosed and presented, but the patient gets approved for a mere $500. So, these companies can boast a high approval rate—as much as 87% — but when a patient cannot afford the rest, they decline the care. “The average lender out there today is rejecting anywhere from 40-60% of applications,” Oliver says. “It really leaves the treatment coordinator, the doctor, and the practice in a very uncomfortable and awkward position.” Compassionate Finance is all about getting as close to 100% approval as possible. This allows you to present every patient an offer before they leave your practice without needing to give you a large down payment or large pay-in-full sums. This makes life much easier for patients who need help to afford care. But, Compassionate Finance also strives to benefit your practice. With the software, you don’t have to give up 10-15% of your hard-earned fee, and you net even more thanks to Compassionate’s low default rates. Compassionate is a great tool for practices using it as their primary in-house financing tool and even as a supplement to third party financing.

Many practices can be guilty of what Dr. Glenn calls “sticky note financing.” This is when you make a note of what individual patients owe for treatment, which can lead to an AR mess on your hands. If you don’t keep track of AR, you may find yourself yelling at your team to call all these patients, which may not lead to money in the bank. It doesn’t have to be this way! There’s an easy-button, and it’s called Abella AR. The average practice carries about $50,000 of ninety-plus day AR—that is, AR accumulated ninety days or more after treatment. That’s a significant sum you’ve rightfully earned getting left on the table. Abella is all about automating the process of collecting these payments without putting the strain of phone tag on your busy team. The software uses multi-channel communication techniques to contact patients on a consistent basis. Now your patients will receive emails and texts regarding the money they owe, and there’s no need for your staff to spend time drafting them. Patients can then pay directly from their phones with ease thanks to the simple interface.

Learn about:

Why did some practices need to dial back on using Abella AR in their first week?Hint: the software worked almost too well!And more!Don’t forget to visit compassionatefinance.com and abellaar.com to find out what the two can do for you.