If two parents are going to split responsibility for treatment payment should you grade both parents?

Which Parent Should I Grade?

The primary wage-earner is the only person to be rated in a marital situation.  However, you may not rate a step parent without that persons direct permission and you may not ever rate a non custodial parent without direct permission.

How often should we grade a person?

1. Anytime the patient is requesting additional treatment, if the existing grade is more than one year old or there has been any change in job, address, or marital status.

2. Any time the patient becomes 60 days or more past due.

Won’t this reduce my case acceptance?

Thousands of healthcare practitioners have been obtaining credit reports and grading their patients credit worthiness over the past 30+ years.  The result is always better case acceptance.  A practice properly utilizing a credit grading process could not possibly have a reduction in the rate of case acceptance.

Why obtain credit Grades?

The orthodontic and dental profession is, overwhelmingly, selling “optional” treatment.  In other words, patients can choose to accept treatment now, to postpone treatment, to phase treatment (in general dental offices) or to have treatment completed in a competitor’s office.  One significant rule of marketing is the absolute necessity of making it easy for your customer (patient) to purchase what it is that you are selling.

To a significant degree, a health care practice’s financial policies determine the ability and willingness of that practice’s patients to accept and schedule the treatment plan that has been diagnosed.  During the past couple of years, during one of the worst economic downturns we have seen in recent history, most dental and orthodontic practices had declines in new patient flow and, more importantly, declines in the rate of case acceptance.  The result has been a period of one of the largest declines in net profitability in the past 50 years.  Most of the practices that have not done well during this downturn are those whose financial policies were more about being paid rather then obtaining the best possible case acceptance.  Those practices that have always had flexible financial policies, those that did not require auto debit, those that did not push outside financing, and that did not require payment at the time of service, were the practices that had the least negative impact from this downturn.   Many of these practices enjoyed significant growth during the past two years!

Of course, it is critically important that the doctor have the ability to identify, for certain, which patients are credit worthy and which are not.  Obtaining a credit grade on your patient/responsible party allows you to have solid information regarding their maturity, stability, and their integrity on the subject of money and finances.  With that knowledge you have the ability to grant a reasonable amount of credit to those deserving of credit while also having the ability to identify the relatively small percentage of patients who cause 80% of patient related problems such as poor clinical cooperation, missed appointments, and delinquency.  Spending $5 to know, for certain, that you have a responsible person of high integrity seeking your care, or a person who may be a “credit criminal” seeking your care, can bring returns a 1000 times over!

Is ZACC Integrated with my Practice Management Software?

We are in discussions with most practice management systems and have made it very simple for them to integrate ZACC into their system.  The list of current providers is below.  If your practice management software provider is NOT listed below please e-mail or call them an encourage them to respond to our invitation to make ZACC available to you and their other clients.  Most of our users access ZACC online via a simple log-in on the internet.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE:

• IMS — orthodontics

IN BETA OR DEVELOPMENT:

• Dolphin — orthodontics
• OrthoTrac — orthodontics
  

Contact us

OrthoBanc, LLC.
2146 Chapman Road
Chattanooga, TN 37421

Phone: (888) 758-0585

E-mail: marketing@orthobanc.com

Paul Zuelke: Why I Created ZACC

Dear Doctor,

For years I have been working on designing a product that would automate the patient grading process that we teach at Zuelke & Associates.  I wanted an inexpensive, simple, and quick way to consistently and accurately identify the credit worthiness of patients.

I am pleased to say that I have finally accomplished my goal, and the result, the Zuelke Automated Credit Coach (ZACC) is even more accurate and easy to use than I had hoped it would be.  This new online software service (ZACC) is now available from OrthoBanc, LLC.

Sincerely,

Paul Zuelke,

President, Zuelke & Associates

ZACC is About Case Acceptance

What is it worth to your practice to know, for certain, that the patient you are speaking with is rock solid stable, and has never failed to pay a debt?  What is it worth to your practice to know, for certain, that the patient you are speaking with is not credit worthy and does not keep promises regarding money?

With the Zuelke Automated Credit Coach (ZACC) you can know, for certain, the financial risk presented by your patients and tailor payment options that help you earn more case acceptance.

Never Lose an A Patient

Many patients (even many with high credit grades) do not have the financial means to pay in full, or to make huge down payments for medical or dental treatment.  While outside patient financing is an option for some, most patients reject the very thought of financing their care at a bank or finance company, but they will pay their doctor.

Don’t allow your practice to lose a $5000 case, even temporarily, because the patient just had to repair the transmission in their car.  With ZACC you can know if the patient is a person of high personal integrity and is financially stable.  With ZACC you will know that you offer payment options that fit their current budget and financial needs and can start the case today!

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