Concerned About Price?

Many times over the years, physicians have asked me whether or not their fees might be too high, especially for cosmetic services. My answer has nearly always been the same, "It depends." Certainly, patients seeking cosmetic services are concerned about price, but what I've found is that patients are much more interest in finding "value" for their dollar.

Value is one of those attributes that can be confounding because so much in the purchasing process is emotional. The three attributes that describe a good value are, price, access and quality. The combination of these attributes is interpreted by your patients as value.

Price represents the cost to deliver a service, plus a reasonable profit. Clearly, if you are charging 50% more than the community norm, then your fee may be too high. There are always exceptions to price, and those exceptions are due in part to the access and quality the patient receives. For example, I know of two medical providers that charge vastly different from each other for BOTOX Cosmetic. One practice charges $8/unit, while the other charges $18/unit. Believe it or not, both practices conduct very healthy BOTOX Cosmetic businesses. The patient that visits the $8/unit practice receives their injections and good care. The patient that visits the $18/unit practice receives their injections and good care, AND, a perceived better patient experience. It's the same mentality for the consumer who shops at Nordstrom. The level of customer service at Nordstrom typically ranks much higher than other clothing retailers.

Access to care is the second attribute that defines value. If you find your practice cannot accommodate a new patient for 4 or more weeks, then your patient's perception of high value is diminished. The classic benchmark ratio for new patients is about one-third of your overall schedule. In other words, every provider in your practice should reserve 33% or so of all appointment slots for new patients. If you can achieve this goal, your access is further aiding the patient's perception of value.

Lastly, deliver high quality. For most practices, high quality medical care is a given. Quality for the overall patient experience may vary widely. It is important that the physician-owner be responsive to the need of their patients in term of quality medical care and patient/customer service. Schooling your team in terms of high quality patient/customer service is your responsibility, and, your responsibility to inspect. Practice Performance Surveys that measure your staff's responsiveness to patient expectations, can aid you in determining your practice's strengths and weaknesses as it relates to quality.

So, you can see, price is not everything. It is one component of the attributes that patients use to arrive at their perception of value. If we are all providing value to our patients/customers and clients, we can effectively minimize patient "shopping" and develop loyal patient advocates.