deductible health plan from canceling a surgery. You want the tech-
nology to make it as easy as possible for the patient to get instant
approval at the desk of the hospital or ASC, says Mr. Crawford,
who's tech interface provides facilities with a tablet to hand over to
prospective patients and fill out some very basic info (3 webpages)
before getting approved for a loan within minutes.
Of course, technology isn't worth much when there's an issue and
you can't get ahold of somebody to work you through an issue. So
you want to make sure the financing company has dedicated cus-
tomer service reps readily available. Your financing company should
also be able to provide you with scripting on precisely how to pres-
ent the financing option to prospective patients ("A lot of our
patients choose to take advantage of this convenient 12-month …").
An ongoing process
One final thought to keep in mind: Selecting a patient financing com-
pany isn't permanent. "Evaluate your lender every year," says Ms.
Thomas. "You're not locked into a contract, so if the lender isn't
approving enough patients, if the credit limit has dropped, if they
aren't easy to get ahold of, maybe it's time to look elsewhere."
OSM
7 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 9
"If your lender is only set up to approve a certain portion of
your patients, you're cutting off an entire population.
And chances are, they're your most credit-needy patients."
