In this episode of Profit Niche TV, Dr. Vince Leone explains how clinics should present payment options to self‑pay patients in order to maximize enrollment while maintaining cash flow. He frames the discussion within the second half of the Report of Findings (ROF), which follows confirming the patient’s commitment, schedule fit, and spouse support. Dr. Leone introduces a simple "3+2" framework: (1) full upfront payment with a 10% discount, (2) a 50/50 split (pay half now, half in 30 days) with a 5% discount, and (3) external financing (e.g., CareCredit, Denefits) with higher fees. He critiques certain lenders, noting credit‑score requirements and potential drawbacks. When external financing isn’t viable, he recommends using Stripe to set up in‑house installment plans, capping them at 12 months to limit risk. He provides scripting examples for offering each option, emphasizes keeping the presentation simple to avoid confusing patients, and outlines how to handle objections and follow‑up with patients who cannot currently afford care. The episode concludes with a call to action for clinicians to implement the strategy immediately and a reminder to subscribe and visit his upcoming website.
Chapters
Hey everyone, Dr. Vince Leone here, and welcome to this episode of Profit Niche TV. And we're going to talk about today how to present the different payment options so that we can help the most people move into care and take advantage of the amazing offers and treatment that we provide in the clinic. And I referenced on Monday's email about a very cool and simple and free tool to use called stripe.com, stripe.com, stripe.com. And now they still charge you a credit card processing of 3%, right? So it's not totally free, but every, you know, everyone's going to charge you that. Um, and what's really nice about that tool is, you know, instead of trying to keep, um, credit card information on file and all that good stuff, um, you just set it and forget it essentially. Now Let's go ahead and dig into today's topic, and what I want to cover is, you know, in the Report of Findings, after we've figured out that, you know, they're very much committed to getting the care. In other words, they really, really wanted to do this for themselves. They have the time after you've explained the schedule, and they have the support of the spouse. So, this is what I would call the back half of the Report of Findings. I divide the ROF into 2 halves. Front half, which is that stuff. Back half, which is basically financials. And so I'm not going to go into, you know, verbatim on everything. I just want to cover, you know, the actual financing options that we should— that I recommend that you present to a patient when offering a care plan for like decompression or neuropathy or knee pain, something where they have to write a check or it's a self-pay situation, there's no insurance coverage. So I like what I call the 3+2. And so what that means is we're going to— the first option, super simple, right? You can pay it all upfront and save 10%. Second option, you can pay half today, half in 30 days. Okay, so that's option number 2, and they save 5%. Then option number 3, we go into outside financing. Okay, so CareCredit or Denefits or healthcare payment solutions. I mean, there's now— there's tons of them out there. And, you know, I'm not a big fan of CareCredit personally. I had heard from a pretty good source that they don't like chiropractors, so that immediately kind of, you know, kind of skews my opinion of them. But they are, you know, one of the oldest, you know, have been in the space one of the longest amount of times. Their FICO score is relatively high. I think it's 650 now, maybe a little lower than that. So who knows? But You know, a lot of people don't have a FICO score of 650, so they can't get approved. So the reason— so let's just start at the beginning, right? We're trying to— because at this point it's just finances, right? We've taken everything out because if they don't really want to care for themselves, there's no way— it doesn't matter what it's going to cost, they're not going to move forward, right? It's just not as— it's not important enough to them. If they don't have the time Right? If they can't fit it into their schedule, if they live 3 hours away, they're not gonna move forward with care. So why talk finances? If they don't have the support of the spouse, why talk finances? They're not gonna write a check for $5,000 or whatever it is. They're not gonna do anything if they do not have the support of the spouse. And so ideally, obviously, the spouse is at the Report of Findings. And, you know, that, you know, goes back to setting up the whole appointments and all that good stuff. But as long as all that stuff's out of the way, then you move into the finances. And obviously, you know, we'd love to get paid upfront. You get the, you know, the entire check for $5,000 or whatever it is, whatever you're charging, minus 10% as a bookkeeping fee. That's a pretty safe discount to offer patients in most states. And, you know, it doesn't hurt you too much, and it's very enticing for the patient. If they have the money and they are really, really interested in care, they can fit it into their schedule, and they have the support of their spouse, Why not save 10%? You know, that's $500. So, so that's why we do that. I don't really recommend doing much more than that. Now, some doctors do, and if it works for them, great. But, you know, my recommendation is 10%. Now, option number 2, the 5% discount for half and half. Now, this is really helpful for people that have— are still working, right? So it's not the You know, the retired folks, and it's good for cash flow reasons, right? So that's why I like to be able to present that solution, especially for people, you know, under 65. And then option number 3, you're going to take typically a bigger hit on that, right? So, you know, I think CareCredit's somewhere in the neighborhood of 14%. You know, I think it depends on, you know, what plan they take and all this type of stuff. So The good news is you're not the bank, you know, so if they qualify, you get the check minus 14% or whatever it is, and you're not the bank. So if they don't— so if they renege on the agreement, they typically can't come after you, as far as I know. Now there's one called— what the heck's it called? ClearGage, I think, is what it is, where they'll come back after the doctor. That doesn't seem fair to me, right? If they're gonna They're gonna take the percentage and, and, and they are a financing company, that, that should be built into their operating costs, right? But whatever. So I don't recommend clear gauge because that doesn't sound great at all. So that's your 3 options right now. If you get to that point, they can't write a check, they can't, you know, for, for the full, you know, with full amount with the 10%, can't do the half and half, can't get financed, and you still want to work with them, then I suggest you Stripe, right? But only 2 methods, right? So if— now let's say that the care plan's $6,000. Just easy on the math and the mind because I got a little bit of a cold, if you can't tell, because I'm a little stuffy-headed. Point being is you say, hey, Mrs. Jones, so look, I don't want to let money stand in the way. I mean, obviously I can't give away my care, but we do have a company called Stripe, and essentially there's no credit check, and we can just divide your care plan up into 6 equal installments. So that would be just $1,000 a month. So $1,000 starting today and $1,000 each month for the next 6 months. Would that work for you? No. Okay, no problem. Hey, well, we do have one option left, and we don't typically do this, but, you know, again, I would love you to get— for you to get the care. You seem really committed to the whole process. We can spread it out Over 12 months, so it'd be just $500 a month. Would that work for you? Now, if they say, no, I can't do that, can we do $100 or $200? I don't— I wouldn't recommend doing that because that's gonna spread out so far that the chances of them canceling on you and bailing with very little recourse, right? I mean, you could send out, you know, collections after them and all that, but what a pain in the butt. So I would say cap it at 12. If they can't do that, then they're just, you know, unfortunately just not a good Qualified candidate for your office. Now you may have different feelings and different opinions and all that type of stuff. Just telling that's what I would recommend. So that's it, right? So it's super simple. I mean, there's an old saying that a confused mind will say no. So what we want to do when we present the finances is just super simple. Keep it as clean as possible, right? And and if it works. Great. If it doesn't, hey, you know, I'm Miss Jones. I'm always here. Okay, and and what I've seen in in the past is patients, you know, finances change whether they get a refund from on their taxes or you know they get an inheritance or you know they get a raise or whatever. The point being is I'm not going anywhere. I would love to help you in the future. Unfortunately, we can't do it now. But you know we have your information, and we'll make sure to just check in on you once in a while to see. How you're doing and see if anything changed. How does that sound? Just try to leave it on a good note, right? Because, you know, unfortunately we can't help everybody, right? And we're— it just— it is what it is. And it stinks when finances comes in the way, but that's just the type of society that we live in at this point. You know, we have to pay for things that we value, so— and not everyone's going to be able to pay, okay? And so you You know, we just got to get comfortable with that. So, I'm Dr. Vince. I hope this was helpful for you, right? And you can start implementing this right away. Use those resources that we talked about. And if you have any questions, comments, please leave them below. Please subscribe to the channel. And I have a new website coming up very soon, drvinceleone.com. And I am going to be putting all this on the blog there so it'll be readily accessible. Okay, guys. Have a great day. Thank you. Again, hope this was helpful. We'll see you next week on Profit Niche TV. Take care.
