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How to Fire Bad Patients

How to Fire Bad Patients

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Every practice has them. They sometimes go undetected until it’s too late. I’m talking about bad patients who make your life difficult.  Here’s how the trouble begins….

  • They come up with lots more questions for you to answer before they schedule
  • They demand to see you for a second consult to go over more options
  • They want to add or subtract procedures and negotiate your fees
  • They are not happy during the recovery and call you every day and on and on

Sometimes this escalates to them complaining about you in a forum or consumer directory online. And sometimes, they leave a scathing review that you can’t make go away, and other times, it’s gets legal and now you’re losing sleep over it.

I’m sorry to say, oftentimes, there were signs that you missed or chose to overlook and that’s what gets you in trouble.

So, here are strategies to help identify, qualify, and/or “free” unacceptable patients sooner rather than later so you continue to enjoy practicing and working with cosmetic patients…

Make Your Standards Clear Upfront

Cosmetic Surgery Branding

Make educational content to set expectations. Highlight realistic results and recovery and the potential complications that could happen because:

Education comes BEFORE
Excuses come AFTER

Being transparent about possible complications such as infection, drains, hematoma, seroma, scarring, etc. helps the cosmetic patient understand the risks. You can even send them a detailed document using Docusign they must digitally sign, acknowledging they have been informed and they understand.

Are They of Sound Mind, Body and Financial Means?

Spend more time at the beginning of the process assessing the patient’s mental, physical, and financial readiness to help both of you determine if this is a good fit.

Get the patient talking. Ask questions. Lots of them. For example:

  • Mental Readiness:
    • Why are they considering plastic surgery? (no external pressure)
    • What’s your goal? (to determine realistic expectations)
    • Have you had surgery before? (do they bad talk other surgeons)
    • Why are you ready NOW? (trying to solve personal problems is a yellow flag)
  • Physical Readiness:
    • What’s your BMI
    • How much do you smoke and/or drink?
    • What prescribed and/or recreational drugs are you taking?
    • Diabetes, heart trouble, etc.
  • Financial Readiness:

    • Are you interested in learning about our pay plans, or do you have your finances in order already? (get them approved now before moving forward)

Branding Yourself for the Public

Common Warning Signs

The sooner you identify and acknowledge yellow flags, the better your life will be. Please listen to your gut and your staff to determine if you really want to move forward even if patients are showing you celebrity photos or are fixated on an unattainable result.

Or, entitled patients who demand to see you right away, negotiate so you lower your fees and/or are rude to your staff but sweet as pie to you.

Or, they are obsessing over tiny details right from the beginning so you know they are likely going to be challenging and disappointed.

How to Fire Bad Patients

Saying no to patients can be uncomfortable but so worth it to dodge a bullet. Just do it in a way that maintains your reputation and leaves the patient feeling respected. For example:

How to Fire Bad Patients

·  Acknowledge their concerns: Listen and then validate their feelings by saying, “I understand why you’re considering this procedure and the results you’re looking for.”

·  Explain your professional recommendation: Now explain why you think the procedure might not be the best choice by saying,  “Based on my experience, I believe this procedure may not give you the results you’re hoping for.”

·  Suggest alternatives or resources: First, admit you are not able to give them what they want, but you’re happy to refer them to someone else or give them helpful resources to help them quit smoking, lose weight, etc.

·  Refund their consultation fee: If the patient has paid for a consultation, offer a refund as a goodwill gesture. This helps to soften the rejection and lessens the chance of a negative review.

I highly recommend you and your team meet to review your processes, standards and boundaries that state who you want to work with, so you can free all other potential patients to go elsewhere.

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TESTIMONIALS

Rated 5 out of 5
"Catherine outlined a plan that put key metrics in place, gave us a clear plan to follow throughout the year and trained our staff to increase their conversions by at least 10%. Since engaging with Catherine, I’m happy to report that revenues are up 15% over the last three months - 22% in the last month alone! I highly recommend Catherine’s consulting services to any practice looking for “best practice” additions to their operation."
drsigal 3
Robert Sigal, MD
"I have finally tapped into the most efficient way to grow my cosmetic practice and that is to “fish in the pond of my own patients”. When patients return to my practice, over 85% will purchase another service, product, or procedure. Not only was it worth over $200,000 in revenues this past year, it also reminds my patients I’m still around so they don’t wander off to my competitors. Catherine’s group has far exceeded our expectations and goals we had set up for them to achieve."
Victor Ferrari, MD
Victor Ferrari, MD
"Our consult conversions were running at 40-50%. Then we attended Catherine’s online training and implemented her strategies. They immediately increased conversion rates to 75-80%."
Anthony Corrado, MD
Anthony Corrado, MD
"I know how to run a profitable practice; however, it was not without major staff issues, inefficiencies and unproductive drama. With Catherine's guidance, I reorganized staff, set up processes for them to carry more of the workload and hold them accountable so I have more time to focus on patient care. The changes we put in place and the staff training to convert more callers and consultations will easily increase my revenues by 15% as well as save us time, money and costly mistakes. "
Evan Sorokin, MD
Evan Sorokin, MD
"Working with Catherine and her team has been very profitable. We’re only half way through the year and I’m up $200K and I’m booked out for the next 2 months even though we typically go into our slow summer months now. Her recent promotion brought in an extra $63,782 with more surgeries scheduled. I never realized how much money was sitting in my patient list but I’m a believer now!"
Plastic Surgeon Consulting Services
Robert Langdon, MD
"Catherine Maley has one of the best Marketing Minds in the aesthetic industry, bar none. She understands the aesthetic patient and she also understands the challenges and frustrations we face as aesthetic surgeons. You will benefit from Catherine's tools whether you are new in practice or a seasoned professional.Turn to Catherine for guidance - she knows what she's talking about."
Edwin Williams, MD
Edwin Williams, MD
“Catherine’s Cosmetic Patient Marketing Service has been a great addition to our practice-building overall plan. While we still invest in our online presence, we also found immense value in the internal marketing efforts. We especially like that all results are tracked so we know we are getting a great return ... last year it was 1,148% and no staff time was used. That’s a much easier way to grow my cosmetic practice.”
Mark Mason, MD
Mark Mason, MD
"Catherine Maley turned our practice around. We converted more consultations in one week than we did in an entire month. Our practice went from a painful 50% no show rate to a remarkable 85% show rate. Even more impressive was our close ratio - from 35% to 80% and still increasing. We would recommend her to any practice that’s looking to not only increase their profits today, but sustain a healthy flow of income for many years to come. Thanks Catherine!"
Sam Assassa, MD
Sam Assassa, MD
"Catherine found me the best patient care coordinator I could have asked for. She worked out a payment plan that was fair to me and motivating to my coordinator. She also provided training tools to help my coordinator convert better, even though she was already experienced. The results have been phenomenal. So good, in fact, that my income increased 250% and I’m booked out for 3 months. Don’t waste any more time or money doing it yourself. Outsource to someone you trust!"
Andrew Lofman, MD
Andrew Lofman, MD
"Since we’ve been working with Catherine and her team for the past 5 months, we’ve brought in $79K in surgeries and have booked an additional 17 surgical procedures and 20 non-invasive body procedures since then. This does not include the additional new patient referrals and revenues we are seeing from the on-going nurturing of my current patient database."
Verne Weisberg, MD
Verne Weisberg, MD
"I had given my staff the goal to convert at least $35K per week in surgeries AND I gave them the tools to help which was Catherine’s Online Learning Center at More Patients Academy. They watched Catherine’s modules and implemented her strategies and converted $80K! That equaled a 2,550% ROI. Nice!"
Adam Stein, MD
Adam Stein, MD
"Catherine outlined a plan that put key metrics in place, gave us a clear plan to follow throughout the year and trained our staff to increase their conversions by at least 10%. Since engaging with Catherine, I’m happy to report that revenues are up 15% over the last three months - 22% in the last month alone! I highly recommend Catherine’s consulting services to any practice looking for “best practice” additions to their operation."
Robert Sigal, MD
Robert Sigal, MD
"I have finally tapped into the most efficient way to grow my cosmetic practice and that is to “fish in the pond of my own patients”. When patients return to my practice, over 85% will purchase another service, product, or procedure. Not only was it worth over $200,000 in revenues this past year, it also reminds my patients I’m still around so they don’t wander off to my competitors. Catherine’s group has far exceeded our expectations and goals we had set up for them to achieve."
Victor Ferrari, MD
Victor Ferrari, MD
"Our consult conversions were running at 40-50%. Then we attended Catherine’s online training and implemented her strategies. They immediately increased conversion rates to 75-80%."
Anthony Corrado, MD
Anthony Corrado, MD
"I know how to run a profitable practice; however, it was not without major staff issues, inefficiencies and unproductive drama. With Catherine's guidance, I reorganized staff, set up processes for them to carry more of the workload and hold them accountable so I have more time to focus on patient care. The changes we put in place and the staff training to convert more callers and consultations will easily increase my revenues by 15% as well as save us time, money and costly mistakes. "
Evan Sorokin, MD
Evan Sorokin, MD
"Working with Catherine and her team has been very profitable. We’re only half way through the year and I’m up $200K and I’m booked out for the next 2 months even though we typically go into our slow summer months now. Her recent promotion brought in an extra $63,782 with more surgeries scheduled. I never realized how much money was sitting in my patient list but I’m a believer now!"
Robert Langdon, MD
Robert Langdon, MD
"Catherine Maley has one of the best Marketing Minds in the aesthetic industry, bar none. She understands the aesthetic patient and she also understands the challenges and frustrations we face as aesthetic surgeons. You will benefit from Catherine's tools whether you are new in practice or a seasoned professional.Turn to Catherine for guidance - she knows what she's talking about."
Edwin Williams, MD
Edwin Williams, MD
“Catherine’s Cosmetic Patient Marketing Service has been a great addition to our practice-building overall plan. While we still invest in our online presence, we also found immense value in the internal marketing efforts. We especially like that all results are tracked so we know we are getting a great return ... last year it was 1,148% and no staff time was used. That’s a much easier way to grow my cosmetic practice.”
Mark Mason, MD
Mark Mason, MD
"Catherine Maley turned our practice around. We converted more consultations in one week than we did in an entire month. Our practice went from a painful 50% no show rate to a remarkable 85% show rate. Even more impressive was our close ratio - from 35% to 80% and still increasing. We would recommend her to any practice that’s looking to not only increase their profits today, but sustain a healthy flow of income for many years to come. Thanks Catherine!"
Sam Assassa, MD
Sam Assassa, MD
"Catherine found me the best patient care coordinator I could have asked for. She worked out a payment plan that was fair to me and motivating to my coordinator. She also provided training tools to help my coordinator convert better, even though she was already experienced. The results have been phenomenal. So good, in fact, that my income increased 250% and I’m booked out for 3 months. Don’t waste any more time or money doing it yourself. Outsource to someone you trust!"
Andrew Lofman, MD
Andrew Lofman, MD
"Since we’ve been working with Catherine and her team for the past 5 months, we’ve brought in $79K in surgeries and have booked an additional 17 surgical procedures and 20 non-invasive body procedures since then. This does not include the additional new patient referrals and revenues we are seeing from the on-going nurturing of my current patient database."
Verne Weisberg, MD
Verne Weisberg, MD
"I had given my staff the goal to convert at least $35K per week in surgeries AND I gave them the tools to help which was Catherine’s Online Learning Center at More Patients Academy. They watched Catherine’s modules and implemented her strategies and converted $80K! That equaled a 2,550% ROI. Nice!"
Adam Stein, MD
Adam Stein, MD
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