How to make a little money when your doors are closed

Times are hard. The end of the month is close and that means the bills are due: at home AND at work. I don’t want to cry “Chicken Little” and yell to the town that the “sky is falling,” but I know for some of us it feels this way – maybe even worse. The problem is that you have plenty of patients and they need your help – they just can’t get to you. To make matters worse, you want to get out in the community, help them and position yourself as the premier HCP in town, but with your clinic doors closed – and social D I S T A N C I N G this feels impossible. Here is how I would kill two birds with one stone and make it a win-win for everyone.

1. Search your database for all of your Marvel clients in the last 18 months. Call them all to check in and say:

“Hi Mr. Smith – it’s Dr. Rachel Bishop from Bishop Hearing Aids. I wanted to check in on you and Mrs. Smith to see how you were coping with the quarantine. You guys holding up? … I’m glad to hear that – I’ll be in the neighborhood tomorrow and can drop some toilet paper or food on your door step if you’re running low… ok let me know.” Hey, you’re a stand-up citizen.

“How are your hearing aid supplies? Wax Traps? Batteries? Desiccant bars? … Sure – I’ll be happy to drop some in the mail for you – they’re $10 a pack for the wax traps and $60 for the box of 312 batteries, is that ok for you?… I can mail you an invoice and you can mail me back a check or I can transfer you to Betty and she can run your card now….Ok cool, I’ll send you straight to Betty after we chat.” You’re not only a good person, you’re a good audiologist and you can bill $100 for supplies.

“How are you hearing these days?”
From here depending on the scenario you can make an appointment for a remote session for finetuning, make an appointment for a curb-side cleaning, or if the TV is still a problem, you can send them a TV connector and bill for another $300. Now you and Mrs. Smith are happy.

2. Conduct a follow-up Remote Support session. Depending on if your services are bundled or unbundled, this may also be billable. In this scenario, follow your local, license, and reimbursement regulations religiously. Check out ABCs of eAudiology No. 5 – 10 steps to Scheduling and Reimbursement.

3. Get the cash flowing. First go through your entire Marvel database. Then go through the rest, check in, and see what supplies they need. Bring home envelopes and invoices and let the kids have fun with the ‘lick and stick’ invoice assembly line.

While I know that the margin on a single order of supplies and accessories isn’t substantial enough to pay your office rent, shavings do make a pile, and we’ll get through this with new ways to support our clients.

For guidance on how to conduct Remote Support sessions, I invite you to our eAudiology page on phonakpro.com.