QUESTION:  How important is it for my patients to be able to pay for services in my office by credit card?

ANSWER:  Payment by credit card is an important component of standard commercial practice.  Consumers of all services, including health care, now expect this option to be open to them.

We live in a credit card driven economy.  Consumers enjoy and heavily utilize the "charge" option for hundreds of billions of dollars of purchases each year.  It might even be argued that credit card payment is the preferred form of payment by consumers for a variety of reasons.  To not offer this option in your practice means that you will miss out on the advantages of the collections benefits it offers, and, some patients will feel inconvenienced, or even put on the spot because credit cards are the means they use to smooth over difficult cash flow periods.

Offering the credit card option means that you can collect payments instantly, with no cashing of checks, no returned checks and no concerns about accounting for payments in currency (cash).  Some practices even arrange for credit cards to be kept on-file and patients can exit quickly without any lengthy delay at your payment window.  

Offering the credit card payment option will require an agreement with a processing company, the installation of processing equipment, use of a telephone line for approval, and training for your staff.  Some companies will simply lease the terminal, called a point of sale terminal (POS terminal), and some may require you to purchase the terminal outright at the start of the contract.  Either way, this is not a high cost item, even in the short term.  Also, this equipment can be easily re-programmed if you decide to change providers after a period of time so you will not be stuck with useless equipment if you did buy one, and/or have to buy another terminal if you change providers.  In addition to a keypad with a card-swipe option, you can also purchase software that allows you to process credit cards on-line. These are not major obstacles at all, but do require planning and careful oversight to avoid errors, double charges, confusion and other difficulties that might interrupt your good relations with patients.  Careful oversight will also need to include security issues to make sure that credit card numbers are guarded and only made available to those who process the charges.   

You will need to decide what charge cards to take.  You can survey local merchants to see which cards they take, and which cards are preferred by local consumers.  Some processing services will also charge you additional fees for more than the commonly used credit cards.

Credit card processors charge a fee. Those fees can vary so you will need to compare rates very carefully.  Rates can be as high as 3 percent of the amount charged.  That charge comes out of your collections and is not charged to the consumer paying by credit card.

Finding a credit card service should not be difficult, but you will want to shop around for good customer service, a company that offers training, one that has been around for a while and one that one or more of your chiropractic colleagues in the area have used and can vouch for.  Your local bank can refer you to a company if they cannot do it themselves.

The International Chiropractors Association can also refer you to two processing companies which have established track records and have been active nationwide with chiropractic practices. Those are:

TOTAL MERCHANT SERVICES:  Contact Marty Franze at (888) 84-TOTAL ext. #320 or see ICA's website at www.chiropractic.org.  Members can save on credit card processing with discounted rates, transaction fees, and monthly service fees, and offer patients a convenient credit card payment option. 

NOVA - Provides transaction-processing services to all members at a discount. These transactions include credit card processing, debit card processing, check verification and detailed billing information, etc.  Contact NOVA at: 800-725-1243

or on the Internet at www.novainfo.com.

 

If you already have a credit card service, you will want to compare your current provider's rates with those offered by NOVA and TMS.  Choose the best service for you.  ICA refers members to the two services listed here but urges you to look at all options and make the choice based on your needs and who gives YOU the best value.