In this episode of Profit Niche, Dr. Vince Leone addresses doctors who run cash‑based specialty practices (e.g., decompression, neuropathy, stem‑cell, knee pain, weight‑loss). He explains that before presenting the financial portion of a Report of Findings (ROF), clinicians should ask three qualifying questions to ensure the patient is truly committed and to protect the practice’s conversion rates and reputation. The three questions are: (1) Does the patient really want to undergo the treatment? (2) Can the patient adhere to the required treatment schedule? (3) Is the patient’s spouse or primary support person fully supportive of the decision? Dr. Leone argues that without affirmative answers, moving into price discussion is wasteful and can lead to later rejection. He frames the ROF as having a “front half” (diagnosis, desire, schedule, and the three questions) and a “back half” (financial details). By qualifying patients early, doctors increase enrollment, avoid time spent on unlikely buyers, and position themselves as confident providers rather than needy sellers. The episode concludes with a call to implement the three questions immediately.
Chapters
Hey everyone, Dr. Vince here, and welcome back to the show. This is Profit Niche, and this is, you know, our weekly show for doctors who are in the niches like decompression and neuropathy, stem cell, knee pain, weight loss, those types of things. Basically, basically cash-based care plans, solving a big problem with a great solution. And today's topic is the 3— are the, the 3 questions that you need to ask before you move into the financial part of your report of findings. Okay, so at this point you have answered what's wrong, I can help or can I help, and what the schedule is, right? So before you move into the finances of how much it's gonna cost, we're gonna ask these questions. And the reason why is because if you don't get a yes to these questions, then there's no reason to go into the finances because you're gonna get a no, and you'll never know why if you didn't ask these questions. Okay, so, and I kind of, I call this the, the front half of the ROF, right? So we have the front half of the ROF What's wrong? Can I help? The schedule, and then these 3 questions, and then the back half, right, is then all the finances and figuring out how you can make it work for the patient. Okay, so, and I go in depth on, obviously, on the topic of the ROF with my clients because I think it's— I mean, it's— look, a lot of doctors, they want the script, they want, you know, the the keys to the kingdom, or what's the magic words to say in the ROF? And the reality is conversion starts at the first point of contact. And the analogy I gave to a client the other day is think of the Lady Justice, right? You know, the lady with the scales of justice. And for the— we talked about this last week. Yeah. You got skepticism on one side and you got confidence on the other. And we're always trying to put more weights on the side of the confidence of the patient so that they can trust us, right? And so, and as long as we have a, you know, a well-qualified patient and we have the means to get them better, then we want to move them into care. Okay, so question number 1, is this something you really want to do? Okay, so, and you know, so you finished with the schedule, right? So, and you say, so Joe, I just want to, you know, before we get into the finances, we know this is a self-pay situation. I just want to ask you, And make sure, is this something that you really want to do? Because, you know, it's obviously a commitment on a number of different levels, and I only work with really, you know, committed patients because, you know, I have a reputation in the community that I am working hard to, you know, keep up because I, you know, invested a lot into equipment and protocols, all this type of stuff. I want to work with people that are super committed. So, where are you at? Easy. I mean, look, at this point, you're the doctor, right? So, you can ask tough questions and you're not stepping over the line. It is your reputation because if you think about it, if you get someone that, you know, is, you know, whatever, they get into your care plan, they don't get the results, they're not compliant, they weren't really sure about the whole thing in the first place, then they go disparage you online, you have very little recourse about that, okay? So, what we want to do is Now, we're gonna, you know, further qualify the patient before allowing them into our care plan. Now, that may seem odd to you, like, allow them into our care plan? Gosh, I'll take, you know, I'll take who I can get. No. No, no, we want— it's our office, it's our protocol, it's our reputation, we're the doctor, we are gonna make sure that they are an excellent candidate for care. And it's not just them having the condition and having the finances. It's, are they going to be committed to care? Okay, because that means they're going to be a great patient in your office. Okay, and that is key. So question number 1, and if you get anything other than, yeah, oh no, absolutely, Doc, I want to get better, then it's a no, right? Because if they say, well, you know, I'm thinking about it, why would you go into finances if they're, you know, if they're You know, wobbly or vacillating in terms of whether they even want to do it. If they if they kind of well, I'm thinking about it. You know, I kind of want to do it. Well, when they get to the price tag, they're going to be like no way. So why even get there? What does it make? Save yourself some time. And if they say no or no, hey, that's okay. You know, I did. I don't know that it really makes sense to move forward because if you know, if you're if you're not really interested in in in getting care, then you know, it doesn't matter what it. What it costs, right? Let them out. Release them from care. It's your office. You you can do what you want. Okay. Now if they if they say no no no no look I really want to know what the finances are. You know I I want to hear that. I I am very interested. Then then then they now realize that you actually mean business. When when you start qualifying them. You know, it's a subtle shift, right? But it's a mindset shift where now they're thinking it's almost like a takeaway. We're not trying to trick people, but we are trying to only accept people that are really committed to care. So they say, no, no, yeah, absolutely, Doug, I'm in 100%. Great. So we talked about schedule. Is that going to work for you? I know that it's, you know, all healing takes time. I mean, even if you do a surgery, maybe the surgery only lasts a few hours, but your recovery is going to last 2 months, right? So For you, you're gonna need to come over in here, you know, 3 times a week for 4 weeks and then whatever else after that. Can you commit to that schedule? Oh yeah, no, no, absolutely, Doc. I'm retired. Or, no, no, no, I can, you know, we can, you know, I work talks my time and I can get here right after that, or I can come here on my lunch hour. But anything other than that, Why does it make sense to go into finance? If they if they can't even, if they don't even know if they can get in, then why go into finances again? It's going to be a no. So, so, so we get a yes there too, right? Oh yeah, no, no, I can make this work, Doc. Great, obviously. Next, next, is your spouse you know completely supportive of you moving doing this protocol? Now, ideally, the spouse is there, right? And then you can just ask them, hey, I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page. Are you totally supportive of your husband or your wife getting this care? And again, anything other than a yes, why go into finances? It's going to be a no, right? Because you have to— again, you got to qualify. You got to clear out all these other things. 'Cause what happens is, rarely does a doctor do any of this stuff, right? Now, maybe they have an intuition or whatever, but the point being is, if you get into your financial portion of the report of findings, and you don't ask these questions, then you could get a no there, and then you think, oh, it's money, oh, they don't have any money. People have money, man. People have plenty of money, especially in this economy, okay? And don't talk about Medicare. Medicare patients have plenty of money. They've been working their whole life. Now, they may be on a fixed income, but that doesn't mean they don't have savings. It's a matter of value, right? And do they associate that value with you? So, my point is, ask these questions before you get into your financial portion or your report of findings, and you will see more committed patients, and you'll see your conversion go up, or your enrollment, whatever you want to call that percentage of patients that, you know, come into your report of findings and then those that move forward into care, right? So, So, is this something that you really, really want to do? Can you make it work for your schedule? And does your spouse support you in this decision? Ask these questions and you will get a better outcome in the financial portion because either you won't even move into it and you'll save yourself time, or when you do get into it, they'll be, one, have more respect for you because They see you as not needing them, right? We never want people that are needy, right? I mean, that— it's like the worst thing in the world, and you don't even have to say it. People sense it, okay? So people's BS meters are off the charts these days. So immediately you're shifting the mindset a little bit of them, and they're thinking, oh, okay, this, you know, this is someone I want to work with versus someone that wants me to work with them. Does that make sense? So, ask these 3 questions, use them before your financial portion of your ROF, and you will have more success and you'll have better patients under care. Okay, so I'm Dr. Vince. This is Profit Niche. I hope this has been helpful for you. Go ahead and use this on Monday, and I will see you on the next episode. Take care.
