Question
I am not currently set up to offer financing or payment plan options in my practice, but would like to be. Are there any options you can recommend that do not require much extra time or manpower on my part?
Answer
That's a good question. Sycle.net has an integrated financing option that is both cost and time efficient. We found that a lot of clinicians were using paper forms for financing applications, and asking the patient to complete them. The clinician would leave and five minutes later the patient may have only completed their name. We think we have a better solution.
HealthiPlan is a financing program that provides payment options to fit each patient's budget, including no down payment and flexible plans for a variety of procedures. Patient Financing is fantastic because of the way it is integrated within Sycle. When you hold the mouse over the patient name in Sycle, you can see their pre-screening status, which is based on their name and address. This soft screen does not affect their credit at all. You know how you can receive credit card offers in your mail that tell you you've been approved for a $10,000 line of credit? Those offers use a similar pre-screening system based on your address and name.
After the pre-screening, if you do want to offer financing, you can simply hit a button in Sycle, add the patient's social security number, and you instantly find out how much credit is approved for the patient. When you sell the hearing aid, you simply select HealthiPlan as the payment source and you receive the full payment within 2 to 3 days. The rate is very competitive, likely better than most other plans available. This takes 15 to 30 minutes out of the financing process, which adds up when you multiply that by numerous patients over several months.
All the patient information is in Sycle and it auto-populates the financing information completely for you. This is an option to provide patients with what they really need, not just what they can afford.
More information about Sycle.net can be found at Sycle.net or on the Sycle web channel on AudiologyOnline.
Tom Harris is Director of Sales and part of Sycle.net's product development team, for which he manages products and services that support Sycle.net users.
