Financial Triage
This one-on-one training is for all veterinary staff members who have conversations about cost of care and money with clients.
What Financial Triage Means:
Financial triage is the process of having a discussion with a client about their current financial capacity and identifying a payment solution most likely to result in 1) their pet getting the treatment it needs and 2) the clinic getting paid for services without heavily discounting or subsidizing for all clients.
The 3 general buckets into which veterinary clients can be triaged are:
Can Pay Up Front
The clients you don't have to worry about!
Can Pay Over Time
A majority of clients fall into this category and may also be "financially fragile," "credit invisible" or "credit unscorable"
Subsidies
These are clients who may be unemployed, homeless, or experiencing situational or systemic poverty.
Applying "financial triage" can help clinics better understand what level of affordability they're dealing with so they can match clients with the most appropriate payment solutions. When we do this it allows people to focus on the value of services and say yes to more treatment plans rather than focusing solely on price and declining or delaying care due to worry about cost. It also helps practices reduce moral distress of veterinary teams by not having to turn people away without care.
What This Training Covers:
- Design of a tailored financial triage plan for your practice so your team knows what options are available and when to use. We’ll review multiple options and plans and find the right ones that work for your practice.
- A toolkit with customizable templates, tools and marketing materials
- Tips for making conversations about money less stressful and more natural for staff
- Practice using sample wording and conversations provided for staff
- Virtual training for front staff with role playing and Q&A
- Setting up and utilizing an Angel Fund with guidelines
- Successful usage of pay-over-time plans without "getting burned" on payment or carrying large A/R (for staff or clients)
- Sample resources including a list of national financial aid organizations
- Access to our more detailed Financial Triage 3-hour online self-paced course for a staff member with RACE and CVPM approvals (value of $135!)
Download our flyer about this training
Cost: Ranges from $1,500-$5,000 depending on number of staff and size of practice. Some grant funding may be available to help with the cost.