Billing at night is laughably annoying

A laugh? A yawn? An exasperated whinny? Whatever it is, this horse is definitely the avatar of veterinary practitioners contemplating billing clients after a long day in the field. (Shutterstock.com)The third-party payment plan provider CareCredit offers a Pay My Provider program to all medical professionals (including dentists and physicians), but company reps think it may find a special place in the hearts of equine professionals. Veterinarians can electronically bill their clients with CareCredit, and those clients can electronically pay any old time they feel like it (sooner rather than later, of course).

We at dvm360 heard a sales spiel from CareCredit higher-ups about the program, but then we asked the company to share some stories from satisfied customers.

'Our clients can go online at any time of day or night'

Kristen Grove, an office manager with West Coast Equine Medicine in San Diego, says her veterinarians and team members run into cell phone reception trouble all the time, hampering easy billing. And internet? Even worse in some places out in the Southern California hills. No horse owner wants to stand around trying to get a signal to pay a bill.

“This way our clients go to the website and pay on their own time,” Grove says.

Clients can also be squeamish about giving out credit card numbers during veterinary calls. And they're often too busy to call during business hours to make sure they're all paid up. “Now, clients go online and don't need to worry about giving their card number to anyone."

'I pull out my iPad and let the client do the rest'

DeAnn Hughes, DVM, owner of Southern Equine Veterinary Services in Knob Lick, Kentucky, says she just wants it all done on the visit: “I'm always looking for ways to complete all the paperwork in the field. Now, when I'm seeing clients, I literally pull out my iPad and let the client do the rest.”

And printers-don't get Dr. Hughes started on printers.

“This makes my printer go away. If I have to drag out my printer and connect through Bluetooth, it takes another five minutes.”

Curious? Head to Products360 to see more billing and third-party payment plans, and pit them against each other, gladiator-style. And if you want to know more about Pay My Provider, we'd start with CareCredit's online FAQ here.