HELPFUL TIPS

Overcoming the Challenges of Charging for Your Diagnosis

Your three o’clock patient lies in Chair #2, watching and waiting for your diagnosis. She’s had impressions taken, along with extensive photographs and x-rays, all of which you’ve thoroughly evaluated to develop a treatment plan for her severe lower anterior crowding. As you retrieve her chart from the front desk, the thought crosses your mind...”What if she decides to forego treatment? What if I’ve been wasting my time?”

Why should you charge?
Experience has found that charging for a patient’s initial diagnostic workup is entirely appropriate. Here are our top reasons:

Patient Commitment
When a patient is willing to pay for your time, he or she is demonstrating his or her commitment to the treatment plan you spend time developing.

Time
If you charge for the time you have personally taken to evaluate and diagnose the patient’s case, you won’t feel rushed to produce a treatment plan for a patient who has no obligation to follow through.

Incentive
If the patient decides to proceed with treatment, the costs associated with the initial diagnostic workup can be applied (credited) to the overall treatment fee.

Simply put... Your time is valuable!
So, when a patient asks if you can fix his or her crooked teeth, you need to have the “fee discussion” before you take any records.

The discussion should go something like this:
“Sally, based on my initial examination, I think I can help you. But to be sure I will need to take some records. Once I have these records I will evaluate them carefully and develop a treatment plan. Then at your next visit I will go over your proposed treatment, how long I think it will take and how much it will cost. The fee for the records and my diagnostic time will be $_________. If you decide to go ahead with the treatment I will apply part of your record fee towards your treatment.”

Even if you are not sure whether Sally’s problem is something you want to treat, you still need to get paid for your time. That discussion may go something like this: “Sally, although I treat a lot of orthodontic problems I don’t do them all. Some orthodontic problems are just better handled by a specialist. To be sure I would like to collect some records. Once I have these records I will evaluate them carefully and develop a treatment plan. Then at your next visit I will go over your proposed treatment. If I think that you should see a specialist, you will be able to take these records along with you.”

When setting your fee - sometimes you may need to utilize an outside service like the Second Opinion to aid you in your initial diagnostic workup. Factor in your time, not only to obtain all these records, but also to evaluate the case thoroughly until you have created a comprehensive treatment plan. A patient deserves a thorough diagnosis, and you deserve his or her commitment. By charging for the initial diagnosis, both you and your patient will benefit.