Educate your client about the bill

Chances are that someone in your hospital has interacted with a client who was miffed about their bill. What's the best way to avoid these blowups? Try these preventive strategies:

• Provide accurate treatment-plan estimates. Written estimates that give expected cost ranges are important client education and communication tools. Develop a treatment plan that itemizes the components of care and clearly explains what the client can expect in terms of patient care and cost. Then go over the treatment plan clearly and concisely with the client.

• Answer the client's questions about the plan. Don't get nervous, and don't take it personally when clients ask questions. They just want to understand.

• Ask the client to sign the treatment-plan estimate to acknowledge his or her receipt of the information and consent to proceed.

• Update clients if you need to revise the estimate. Enter charges for hospitalized cases each day and compare the total to the original estimate. If the total is near the original estimate and treatment isn't complete, call the client to explain the pet's progress and any modifications to the treatment plan, and provide a revised estimate. This eliminates any surprises when clients pay the final bill.

• Create a bank of standard treatment-plan estimates for commonly provided procedures. You'll review the estimate for each case and make any necessary modifications, but you won't need to create the estimate each time, which saves time and minimizes oversights.