Jeckyl and Hyde patients

Normal day today.

Had about a dozen patients.

But same days seem like old movies. One movie I only saw bits and pieces of was Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. I knew one was good and the other evil. I googled their names to find out which was which.

I am getting better at knowing which patient's in my practice are Jeckyl's and which are Hyde's.

An example below:

Jeckyl:

One new patient referred from her boyfriend who is already a patient in my practice. She was not happy with her previous doctor. She felt he did not listen to anyone but himself. At the beginning of the visit she was subdued. By the end of the visit, she asked if we had a form to get her old records transferred to my practice. She paid my full fee. She was not yet interested in a wellness plan. She felt she received good value for her money. So I had a talk with my medical assistant. It went like this:

ME: " Did the new patient have any problems with the fee?

MA: " No she did not. And in all the time I have been working here, no one has complained about your fees. They just pull out their checkbook or credit card and hand over payment."

ME: " It makes me wonder why I have kept fees so low. I should have raised them a long time ago!"

MA: "Let me know when you do, so I can ask for that raise ;) "

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HYDE:

This is different from the husband and wife who called up for refills on some meds. The wife also asked me to call in an antibiotic for a "sinus infection". This is the same couple who I saw in January, and left without paying, a combined $200 bill. So I had my MA call them back and tell them they need to send in payment, and if they need to pay it out over time, include a timeline they feel can work. Their answer was that they never received a bill from me. Well, if I was on the phone I might have lost it. When this couple was in my office in January, they came with no intention of paying. I did not find this out until they were about to leave. My assumption was they would put down some payment and pay the rest out over a few months. When they said they could not pay anything, they were given the full bill before they left. They were being disingenous to say the least about payment.

====================

I learn something new every day.

If I feel a patient will be non-compliant with payment, have an entitlement attitude towards my office, or just be plain untrustworthy, they will not be scheduled again. This is not being mean. This is not allowing myself or my office staff be taken advantage of or enabling of bad behaviour. And yes, lying or twisting the truth about payment for my medical services is BAD behaviour.

DoctorSH