01/11/2017    Tom Silver, DPM

Help In Reducing Overhead By Passing Some Costs On To Patients

In reviewing my office overhead for 2016, two
items stuck out: 1) $4,342 ($361/mo) in credit
card service fees & 2) over $8,000 for MN Care
Tax-the 2% tax in Minnesota on all medical
services & goods provided to those not on Medicare
or a State Health Plan...for a total of over
$12,000 less income!

As a result, when a patient pays with a credit
card for orthotics not covered by their ins. plan
($460), we are actually paying a $9.20 tax &
almost $15 credit card fee-therefore getting $24-
25 less for our services (a 5.25% reduction)! So
to actually get $460 for orthotics, I would have
to charge about $25.50 more! This also applies to
any creams, gel pads, etc that patients purchase.
Also we get some patients who don't have any
insurance & for things like ingrown procedures we
don't add in an office visit or itemize charges as
much, but are loosing a % on this too!

The dentists in my area all add on the 2% MN Care
Tax to their patient's bills. I have also been to
some small stores & restaurants that charge an
additional fee when credit cards are used.

I don't really want to raise fees a lot higher to
compensate for this or charge patient 5.5% more
(we just raised prices on Jan. 1), but would like
to pass on at least part of these costs on to our
patients. I have asked my staff if they have any
ideas on how we should do this & they just
answered "we'll do whatever I decided." So I would
like to see what ideas my esteemed colleagues
might have regarding this. I look forward to your
responses!

Tom Silver, DPM, Minneapolis, MN

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