Credit Card Processing for Pediatricians
The classic advice for show business professionals is never to work with kids or animals. While it is impossible for a pediatrician to follow this advice, it is very easy for some pediatricians to relate to it. Children fall ill often, and overprotective parents worry over every little sneeze or cough. So, at least it’s a good choice financially-speaking. But a good pediatrician needs to think of more than the money. It helps if they love kids, because they’ll be drowning in them!
It also requires intense patience, because they’ll be constantly surrounded by crying kids and their anxious, sometimes testy parents. Even for the quieter children, it can be difficult to calm a child that’s hurting. Especially when the thing that soothes their pain could cause even more short-term discomfort (e.g., shots, yucky medicine, unpleasant equipment). So it’s a career to select with care.
On the business side of things, emotions can complicate things. When a child is in danger or agony, their parents’ first thought isn’t cost. They’ll rush their kid to the nearest medical facility, whether they can afford it or not. And even if they have the money to pay, the situation is intense. They’re focused on getting their kids better, and cashiers are low on their priority list.
Pay first, patient later
Many hospitals won’t even look at a patient until payments are confirmed and verified, but in situations with a wailing child, the wait doesn’t go well. Every additional second feels like a death toll to their offspring. And because this is pediatrics clinic, every ‘customer’ is in the same loud, agitated state. You can make things easier for everyone with the right payment system.
If your patients’ parents can pay in just seconds, that means their kids can be attend to faster and everyone’s day will be better, from the children to your front office staff. And if there are additional payments required after treatment, they can be done just as fast, before the babies get antsy and start acting up. With the right payment process, it is almost instantaneous.
When your pediatrics business is scouting payment partners, it’s important to consider convenience and speed, in addition to service and cost. Find a payment processor that does all the heavy lifting, providing you with POS terminals (electronic keypads, shopping carts for online payments, mobile payment apps, etc.).
High volume, low cost
Your payment processor needs the capacity to handle high traffic, because kids are annoyingly contagious. The moment an infection starts, everyone in the neighborhood, school, church, or mall will be at risk, so you could get hundreds of patients within just a few hours. You don’t want your card system crushed under the weight.
For more information on credit card processing for pediatricians, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.