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Checks by Phone for Doctors
Americans love to write checks. All of the statistics point toward an ever-increasing usage of checks in the United States. Did you know that 94% of Americans have a checking account, but less than 43% have a working credit card (not over limit)?
Consider that in 2005 over 83 billion checks changed hands. Even in today's high-tech, e-commerce-driven economy, paper checks are consumers' preferred method of payment.
With Checks by Phone, doctors can give patients the option of paying by check without the hassle of mailing a check or driving over to the office to deliver a check. Why would a doctor’s office need to accept checks by phone?
Six key benefits make this an attractive option to doctors.
- Faster payment for medical visits and treatment.
- The doctor pays nothing. All fees are paid as service charges to the patient.
- Reduced in-house paperwork.
- Increased patient loyalty.
- A payment option costing less than accepting credit cards.
- No monthly fees or minimums.
One example of how Checks by Phone can be used in the doctor’s office is when a patient has agreed to pay a balance from a single visit. These small one-time balances would be from patients who don’t need to use the Patient Payment Plan designed for multiple-month payments.
If a patient misses the due date, the office calls and asks for the check information over the phone. This prevents further delay in getting paid by eliminating common excuses or promises from the patient such as, “I don’t have time to run over to your office,” or “I’ll get it in the mail in the next day or so.”
Checks by Phone help the doctor get a handle on those smaller, one-time bills, which can add up every month. This is just one more service you can offer to improve cash flow.Here’s how Checks by Phone work.
Accepting a customer's check over the phone or fax is the same process as accepting a credit card.
- The doctor’s office manager simply asks the patient for the bank routing and account numbers, which are printed on the bottom of every check.
- She forwards this information to you by fax or mail. Using ABS's proprietary software, you produce the paper demand draft (check) for the doctor.
- You deliver the check(s) to your client, ready for immediate deposit. Or, depending on the volume of checks, you might offer to deposit them into their bank account as an additional service.
How Checks by Phone provides recurring revenue for you.
This additional service costs the doctor nothing, so it’s easy for him or her to agree to use it in the practice. How you get paid is simple. A small service charge is added to each patient’s payment. That fee is entirely yours.
What you charge usually depends on the volume of checks to be processed. A small percentage rate of 2% to 5% is typical, or you can charge a flat rate fee of $2-$8 per check (draft). There are no minimums or maximums for you to worry about. You can process 1 or 100,000 transactions for the business owner to deposit the next day.
Like several of the ABS cash-flow services, it’s easy for doctors to say “Yes, let’s try it” because there is no up-front charge to them.
Usage of Checks by Phone generally increases as the office staff sees how convenient it is to collect those smaller, one-time invoices. For instance, it’s useful in cases where the patient is allowed to pay part of the charges at the time of the visit and the balance in 30 days.Request more information and learn more about this exciting service.
