Complaints of High Fees
by Cathy Jameson

We are hearing more and more doctors express frustration and concern about patient’s complaints about fees. In fact, as a company we did not recommend fee increases last year to most of our clients. If they wanted to implement a fee increase, we supported that, but did not initiate the recommendation. (We usually recommend a soft increase every year, in coordination with the increased cost of living).

First of all, with this patient that expresses difficulty or gets upset with your fees, I would recommend that you try to get the patient on the phone or send them a letter telling them that you appreciate their concern and want to speak with them in person to work things out. Tell them that you have appreciated them as a patient and want them to continue to be a part of your patient family. Then express how much you would like to have that conversation face to face rather than on e-mail.

As you know, e-mail or regular mail, are the worst ways to communicate because you do not have any interaction of body language or tone of voice. These two factors account for 90% of the perception of the message. Thus, so much can be misinterpreted with the written word.

I wholeheartedly encourage you to make a personal call to this patient and ask her to join you for a conversation for the purpose of hearing her concerns and working out the situation. What you may want to do is offer her complimentary dental cleanings and evaluations for a family member for the next year, if they proceed with treatment (or for the whole family or something like that). In fact, you may want to use that concept as a marketing tool. When someone concludes their treatment with you, offer them one year of complimentary cleanings and evaluations. The cost to you would be minimal compared to the fees received from a completed treatment. This is just one idea—you can think of many others.

Also, remember not to let the minority rule the majority. If there are a few patients complaining about the fees and leaving as a result of them, then this is not a big problem. If this is happening to such a degree that your overall turnover is suffering, you may want to consider lowering your fees to an acceptable level for both you and the patient or you may want to do more added value marketing options, like the one I suggested above. Certainly, be ever cognizant of your own overhead and if you reduce fees, you may need to look for areas you would have to lower costs of operation.


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