Published: 2009-09-10 23:21:16
Author: Victoria Stagg Elliott | American Medical News | August 17, 2009
Surveys show that more and more physicians no longer accept credit and debit cards, in large part because of the expense. But these charges can be contained by shopping around, paying attention to added fees and processing in the most secure manner.
For instance, Fayth Breeding, the office manager of Chatham Facial Plastic Surgery in Louisville, Ky., and New Albany, Ind., collected sales pitches sent to her by credit card processing companies and decided to call them when the one they were using increased its rates.
Armed with information on the various arrangements, she had companies bid for their business. In the end, the practice was able to get the processing machine at no charge and reduce the average percentage paid on each transaction by about a point. This is saving the practice hundreds of dollars annually.
"Every little bit helps," she said. "That's enough for a big order of office supplies."
Merchant service organizations charge approximately 2% to 5% of the value of a transaction, and experts say it is possible to keep these costs on the low end. A practice can reduce this expense by approximately $800 to $1,200 per physician per year. Physicians may be able to get lower rates, as Chatham Facial Plastic Surgery did, by calling several processing companies to compare costs and use the information to negotiate lower fees.
Smaller practices may get better deals by joining with other small businesses and using a processor linked to a local chamber of commerce or a professional association. The American Medical Association has an arrangement with First National Merchant Solutions for its members.
"There's always the option for [physicians] to negotiate and shop around," said Randy Phelps, associate manager and First National's liaison to the AMA. "Everybody negotiates to some extent, although, when practices are small, it is going to be more difficult to get as competitive a rate."
When shopping for a processor, however, determining what exactly is a good deal can be extremely complicated. Credit card processing fees rival medical billing in complexity, although there are some common areas that can cause the most problems.