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What to Do When Patients Can't Afford Dental Care
Patients refuse treatment procedures because they are afraid, they don’t have time, they don’t have money or they don’t want to spend money. Modern, painless technology, anesthetics and flexible office hours generally take care of the first two excuses. Patients’ financial considerations, which present a more complex and sensitive challenge, can also be effectively addressed and handled. It is important to understand that the patient who doesn’t want to spend money on a recommended treatment plan is a patient who has not been properly educated on the importance of oral health. If the information is presented in such a way that the patient fully understands the condition, the consequences of leaving the condition untreated, and the long term value of the proposed treatment, the problem stops being a problem. This leaves the patient who truly cannot pay.
Recognizing the difference between the can’t pay patient and the won’t pay patient is crucial and means running a credit check. To run a credit check, become a member of a local credit bureau. Research the credit bureau to see how long it has been in existence and how far its market reaches. It may be worth a little more money each month to join a bureau that has a more extensive database. A credit check may be obtained in writing, over the telephone or by fax. A written report will be more accurate and more detailed; a telephone report is quicker but may be less accurate.
The credit report provides the dental practitioner with information that determines whether the patient in question can afford the fees typically charged for the services offered by the practice. It is at this juncture that a decision needs to be made whether to accept the patient into the practice. For many dental practitioners, this is an unpleasant task which seems to conflict with the healer’s creed of administering to those who need skilled and dedicated healing service. All dental practitioners should understand that no conflict exists. We live in a country where skilled and dedicated healing is available to even the poorest of the poor. We also live in a country which offers individuals a great deal of professional latitude. If your practice is a business, you must learn to treat it as a business. This means being comfortable with the fees you have set for your services and for the services performed by your entire dental team.
No practice is obligated to accept patients who cannot afford the customary fees that are normally assigned to the treatment procedures and plans it offers its patients. If you value your work as a healer, you need never be embarrassed by expecting fair compensation for the services you provide, nor should you be expected to lower your fees or to justify them. Patients who are genuinely unable to afford the customary fees can be referred to other practices with lower fees for comparable services or to dental clinics which provide very good care for nominal fees.
Referring patients elsewhere need not be an offensive or unpalatable exercise. If it is done politely and honestly, it does not lessen the patient’s dignity and it does not make the practice appear an inhumane establishment where the bottom line is the only line. The procedure is easier and more effective if the office has a written collection policy and a designated financial coordinator who can effectively communicate that policy.
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