Episode #519: Sameer Bhasin (CareCredit), at ADA SmileCon

You don't know what your patients can or can't afford. So, why not give them options and let them decide for themselves? To help you do that, Kirk Behrendt brings back Sameer Bhasin, vice president of strategic alliances at CareCredit, to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions about patient financing. CareCredit benefits everyone! To learn more and become a CareCredit provider, listen to Episode 519 of The Best Practices Show!

Episode Resources:

• Sameer’s email: [email protected] 
• Sameer’s phone number: (210) 792-8829
• CareCredit Partner Portal: https://www.carecredit.com/partnerportal/contactus
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Main Takeaways:

CareCredit is for everyone, not just a certain demographic.

Understand the benefits of CareCredit for your patients.

Your treatment acceptance is not as high as you think.

Patient financing is not just about making money.

Don't assume what your patient may want.

Understand the 80/20 rule.

Quotes:

“If I were to ask 100 offices, ‘What is a good patient financing percentage in your practice? What dollar amount would it be?’ I would probably get numbers from $10,000 a year in patient financing to $1 million. Nobody knows. Nobody knows what that is. So, 80/20 — or what I call the other side, 10/20 — is an easier metric to think about. So, what does that mean? 10% of your patients should be applying.” (3:56—4:24)

“It doesn't matter whether you are a specialist who only sees 10 patients a day, and it doesn't matter if you're a GP that sees 30 patients a day. 10% of your patients should be applying [for financing] because that's a good spot. That's a spot where you will find, a lot of the times, when patients say, ‘Let me think about it. Let me call you back. I need to talk to my spouse.’ So, these are the patients who may or may not have insurance benefits, may or may not have credit cards. They are saying no. Or, ‘Let me think about it,’ is a nicer way of saying no to treatment right now. So, 10% of your patients should be applying.” (4:27—4:58)

“The moment you start to hit that 10%, you start to see that your overall production goes up. Your overall collection goes up. And a good number for a good patient financing part of your practice should be 20% of your overall over-the-counter collection should come from third-party financing. That's a good, healthy number. The assumption is, ‘Oh, we want 50% of your business, 100% of your patients.’ No. 15% to 20% is a good, healthy number. That shows that you are utilizing patient financing in your practice as part of your process, not as a product, not as an afterthought. And that's the place you want to be.” (5:05—5:45)

“I'm sure the audience thinks like, ‘Oh, I don't think I have that problem. Our patients pay cash. Our patients are rich,’ or, ‘Our patients are not very rich,’ whatever that may be. The easiest and the best way to help meet that reality and step away from that perception is, pull up your diagnosed and unscheduled report. It is a great way for you to find out the demographics you're seeing and the mental ceiling that you may have. You will see the reports.” (5:49—6:19)

“Numbers tell a beautiful story, and facts don't care about your feelings.” (6:21—6:24)

“Once you see [your reports], you see the numbers will tell the trend of, ‘A majority of the people on this diagnosed and unscheduled report are $2,000, $3,000, $5,000. All right. I'm pretty good when it comes to treatment and they’re $500 or $700. That's not where my problem is. My problem is at $1,000.’ Or you might see that, ‘I am very good at crowns, but crown patients are not on here. But the moment I talk about aligners or talk about implants . . .’ Now you can see, is it the procedure? And now, you know, ‘Okay, what do we need to do differently?’ Because you can't ask your team to make a change when you don't even know what you're changing for or why. So, it’s a good place to start.” (6:27—7:12)

“We assume that patient financing, the only solution it can provide to you, as a doctor, is making more money. And if you've been practicing long enough, you're fee-for-service, from a monetary standpoint, you live a nice, comfortable life, you don't see a reason to. But here’s the difference: what if you can maintain the same lifestyle, instead of working five days, to four days? Or if you're at four days, to three days. What does that time do for you? So, you're right. You don't need it because you think, from a monetary standpoint, ‘I'm very comfortable. My kids go to a good school. I live in a nice house. I drive a nice car. I go on good vacations.’ Fantastic. So, you don't need to make any changes. But what would you do with that extra day?” (7:56—8:39)

“At the end of the day, sometimes, you've got to work with the willing. If you don't care, for whatever reason, I can't really fix it. Because when you don't care — I can't be the only one caring in this situation. It’s the same thing as the patient who comes in. You know you can help that patient live a fantastic, healthy life with a beautiful smile. If the patient is not ready, there is no amount of your clinical skills. So, where is the value of the treatment? So, if you were to say, ‘I don't need it,’ that's absolutely correct. You may not need it. Financially, you're pretty good. What is it that makes you get to the next level of dentistry you want to do? Are you doing the treatment you want to do, or are you doing the treatment that's coming through your door?” (8:45—9:32)

“Here’s something to think about. If I were to look at 10, 15 years ago, if I saw a Mercedes on the road, or a Lexus or a BMW, the assumption was it’s a doctor or lawyer or a high executive. It was a pretty safe assumption. Expensive cars. Fast-forward 10 years, you see a lot of those cars. And it’s not because, all of a sudden, the demographics have gotten richer. The financing got to a point where it allowed for people to be able — it’s not like people didn't want to drive a Lexus or a Mercedes. They just couldn't afford it at that point in time. But now, the financing has helped it. So, if you look at the transition, the same thing from there to dentistry, I honestly do personally believe when a doctor talks about a $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 case, patients do want to get that treatment. They know that this would be life-changing for them. But their reference is, ‘It’s not broken, bleeding, or hurting, so I can't. I can't because holidays are coming around.’ Life takes over. So, this is where when it becomes part of your process, the conversation is amazing. When the patient actually accepts the treatment that you are recommending, not a portion of it, and not, ‘Let's spread it out over the next five years,’ treatment. It’s, ‘I believe it. I can do it. You showed me the way to do it, and I want to do it.’” (10:14—11:49)

“Doctors get to excel on their clinical skills by CE courses, and going to conventions, and taking next-level advanced courses. The hygienists get to do the same thing. Assistants get to do the same thing. But when it comes to the business team, who is discussing this? Where do they go? So, when I don't have a team that’s comfortable and trained, and I give them those resources, human nature automatically says, ‘I'm not going to talk about something I'm not comfortable talking about. So, let's not talk about it, and let the patient do it.’ Now, this is where it starts to click. And we understand that. This is where CareCredit, as a company, our constant focus is, how can we make it easier? How can we make it easier for the team members? That's why we are integrated with every practice management software. How can we make it easier to have that conversation? There are tools and resources. How can we make it easier? That's where we have experts. We have content that we can share. It’s all free. So, it’s easier for us to do that. But the question becomes, are you open and willing to learn that? Or do you want to continue to do the same thing over and over again?” (12:17—13:32)

“We are here to help. That is all we do. The CareCredit rep is not going to come into your office and say, ‘You are not doing enough CareCredit.’ It will be more about, ‘I don't think we’re helping as many patients as we could. How can we help you change that?’ There are tools where the offices can know ahead of time whether the patient will get approved or not without running their credit. How does that change in your conversation? The patient experience, it’s all in communication.” (13:33—13:59)

“Money is the easier thing to fix. That's where we come into play. But the harder part is for the patient to believe the treatment that you recommended, there's value in it. And I have heard it so many times from the doctor, to the hygienist, to the team members, to the business team members, ‘Okay, there's something I need to do. How do I get it done?’ And that's where, the majority of the time, in my experience, the ball gets dropped. It comes down to, ‘It’s $10,000. How would you like to pay?’” (13:59—14:28)

“The assumption [dentists make about CareCredit is] that they don't think they need it, or their patients need it, that they have good treatment acceptance. That's the big one. The moment we ask the question, ‘How is your treatment acceptance?’ Sometimes, I don't even get to finish my question, and the answer is, ‘90%. It’s 90%.’ Like, ‘Well, it can't be 90%. That means you're presenting 10 cases of $9,000 to 10 patients, and all nine are accepting it.’ ‘Well, no . . .’ So, that's where they get it incorrect.” (14:49—15:18)

“The other [thing dentists get wrong] is assuming that patient financing is only for a certain income demographic. I walk into some offices where they say, ‘We don't require patient financing because our patients are very wealthy.’ Or, the other side of that is, ‘Our patients won't get approved because they are not.’ So, that's the assumption, that patient financing is only for large treatments. Large is very subjective. Large to some people is a $300 payment, and large to some is $3,000. So, that's a big gap, going back to not understanding who your patient base is, and the assumptions are, ‘Everybody pays cash,’ or, ‘It’s only for large treatments.’ No. It’s for everyone. I have financed things that were $1,500, and I have financed things that were $50,000. So, it has nothing to do with that. It’s more about making it available to the patient and letting them decide.” (15:19—16:39)

“That's one of the biggest misses we see, is assuming what the patient may want. And it’s the hardest place to be. Nobody has that, first of all. If somebody out there has that, we would love to invest in it, that you would know who can afford what. We don't know that. And that's where the consistency comes into play of, keep it consistent. Keep it up front. Have that conversation. Educate your patient. Let them make the decision.” (16:40—17:08)

“I have even had conversations with some practices, like, ‘I've gone to your website, and patient financing is buried so deep, far in there, I can't even find it. So, to me, as a patient, that tells me you don't want to offer it, or you don't offer it.’ So, either, a) you are going to be very inexpensive that I don't need it, or, b) it’s not an option so I may need to look someplace else. Or I need to phase it out over the next five years.” (17:32—17:58)

“What is more important, having 90% of something, or 100% of nothing?” (18:26—18:29)

“Interest rates, those are some of the things you and I can't control. But I can tell you how the patient changes their behavior. More and more will start to hold on to their cash. More and more will start to keep their credit cards open because they don't know when an emergency may show up. So, now, when it comes to patient financing, it really becomes more important to give them an option that's not handling their cash, and it’s not taking space on their credit card. It’s keeping it separate so I still have that option.” (19:16—19:50)

“Have interest rates changed the way treatments are planned? Have interest rates changed the way patients are walking in? It’s not. So, why add on one more barrier? It’s a mental barrier. At the end of the day, I, as a patient, know whether I can afford it or I am ready to get this treatment done or not. So, there is a lot of external noise, and that's what it is. You can't do anything about it. We have had great economies, and we've had not-so-great economies. Ultimately, the only thing I can control is how I show up and how I show up for my patients.” (19:54—20:30)

“Keep an eye on what the market is doing. But don't make every decision about your patient based on that. Let the patients make that decision. They're smart people.” (20:37—20:47)

“It’s not going to be a flip of the switch and saying, ‘All right. Tomorrow morning, things are going to look very different.’ It’s a process, just like anything else. So, let's take that first step to see where you're at, what are some of the challenges, what is your focus that you are looking at for this year or at the end of the year. Are you looking at your reports? I'm sure that you are looking at your benefit reports. Are you looking at CareCredit reports of the patients who have money available on their card? It’s available to you. Why not pull the patients who have treatment, who have benefits left, and have CareCredit on their credit card come in? Make it attractive.” (21:51—22:28)

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

1:02 Sameer’s background.

2:42 It’s okay to wear Lulu pants.

3:32 The 80/20, explained.

7:12 Why you need third-party financing.

9:36 Be an advocate for your patients.

11:49 How CareCredit can help your practice.

14:29 What people get wrong most about CareCredit.

17:08 Educate patients about their options.

18:43 Don't make assumptions based on the market.

21:02 Last thoughts and how to get in touch with Sameer.

Sameer Bhasin Bio:

Sameer Bhasin is the vice president of strategic alliances at CareCredit. He is dedicated to working with dentistry’s key opinion leaders and leading educators. One of his key initiatives is to gather the latest insights, ideas, and practical tools presented at dental meetings and conventions. To help increase recommended patient care, he shares these best practices with CareCredit’s community of more than 110,000 enrolled dental providers. Prior to his current role, Sameer acquired more than a decade of front-line business practice experience in his position as practice development manager, and subsequently as regional sales manager. He earned his MBA from the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, where he currently resides.