Thanks to advances in veterinary care and technology, veterinarian practices are able to offer more treatment options than ever before to pet owners. The trick now is discovering how to help patients feel that veterinary care is not a luxury they cannot afford. Premium pet care is only useful when patients actually bring their animal companions into the office for treatment.
Overcoming Patient Hesitation
As a veterinarian, you need to charge a fair price for services rendered, but when the public is feeling a financial pinch even a reasonable charge can cause hesitation. So how can your office keep patients coming in when the economy is tight? One answer is veterinarian financing.
Veterinarian Financing
According to a 2010 NCVEI (National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues) poll a significant majority of patients are taking advantage of creative payment plans. Nearly three-quarters of those polled said that they were using pet insurance or payment plans to cover the costs of veterinary care. The veterinary office which offers a financing program is therefore better poised to keep pet owners coming through the door.
Financing a Proven Method
One pet insurance company reported that 71 percent of its cardholders said that payment options directly affected decisions made on pet care. In other words, having a pet insurance card made it more likely that they would make well-care visits or pursue healing therapies for their pet. The same report found that clients were 40 percent more likely to get regular pet care and that they paid out double the amount for pet care over their pets lifetime compared to those without an insurance card.
If setting up a payment schedule or using delayed billing seems like too much work or is out of your comfort zone, veterinarian financing is a viable option. And it doesnt have to be that you push for a specific pet insurance program. You could split the difference and work with a third party financing company.
Benefits on Both Sides
In this scenario patients apply for a pet care card right in your office. The financing company takes care of all the background checking and makes the determination regarding approval. The vet pays the finance company a fee similar to that paid to a credit card company. The benefit to patients is the ability to pay for services in installments, often without interest. The benefit to the practice is receiving payments within a short time after treatment is given. Both sides win.
Companies like UGA have been helping small businesses for more than a decade with financing options. These companies offer veterinarian financing along with a host of accessible consumer credit options to help business attract and maintain customers.
