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_HOW TO COLLECT
A DOCTOR BILL_
BY
FRANK P. DAVIS, M. D.
Secretary Oklahoma State Board of Medical Examiners, 1908-11.
Superintendent Oklahoma State Institution for Feeble Minded,
1910-11. Member County, State and American Medical Association.
Member American School Hygiene Association. Member State and
National Eclectic Associations. Member Oklahoma Association of
Charities and Corrections. Member Oklahoma Press Association. Member
Southwestern Medical Association. Late Editor Davis' Magazine of
Medicine, Etc.
Publishers
PHYSICIANS DRUG NEWS CO.
NEWARK, N. J., U. S. A.
1913
COPYRIGHT 1913 BY
FRANK P. DAVIS, M. D.
Contents
Page
CHAPTER I
The Successful Physician 1
CHAPTER II
Attitude Toward Debtors 11
CHAPTER III
Proper Time to Collect 16
CHAPTER IV
Books and Bookkeeping 19
CHAPTER V
Letters and Forms 24
CHAPTER VI
Statutes of Limitations 31
CHAPTER VII
Exemption Laws and Their Application 33
CHAPTER VIII
Extracts from Exemption Laws of All States 35
PREFACE
My excuse for presenting this little book to the profession is that I
have often felt the want of just such information as is herein
contained. In fourteen years of practice I have made it a point to study
my patients and the business problems that confront the man in our
profession. Some of the things that I have learned are embodied in this
book. Taking my professional experience as a whole I have collected over
=ninety per cent= of my accounts.
If this book shall be the means of causing any physician to study the
business side of professional life, and get what is due him, I will feel
that I have not worked in vain.
Enid, Okla., June 6, 1912.
FRANK P. DAVIS, M. D.
CHAPTER I
THE SUCCESSFUL PHYSICIAN.
A man with a bulging forehead once said that "Life is what you make it."
This is very true in the profession of medicine. The successful
physician must live in the manner of successful men. To do this, most
men must live upon the income from their practice. If the physician
properly cares for his wife and children, he must realize on his
investment--his medical education. A man's first duty is to his own, and
it is written that the man who fails to collect that which is due him,
and "provides not for his own, and especially for those of his own
house, is worse than an infidel."
To successfully conduct any enterprise it is necessary to adopt business
methods. System is the key-note of modern business, and the simplest
system is the best. A cash system is by far the simplest.
No man can succeed in practice, nor can he be considered a safe medical
adviser so long as he is handicapped by poverty, a worried mind or poor
health; or if he is compelled to dodge around corners to escape his
creditors.
There are men who tell us that they are not in practice so much for
money as for the glory and honor of the profession. If these men are
sincere, I pity them from the bottom of my heart, and feel sorry for
their wives and children. Nor can I understand where the profession can
gain much honor from men who are financial failures. Not that money is
the only thing for which we should strive, but that the man who provides
not for his own, cannot be representative of the noble profession of
medicine. Also, I have observed that the path of glory leads in the
direction of the cemetery, and checks on the National Bank of Fame are
generally protested when the rent comes around.
The applause and compliments of the multitude are no doubt sweet, but it
only lulls to rest the voice of duty, and fails to provide sustenance
for those dependent upon us. Man cannot live on air alone--even though
it be flavored by the ambrosia of sweet compliments and the hypnosis of
applause. Again, I have observed that a larger crowd will turn out any
time to see a man hung than to compliment him on a duty well performed.
The man who answers calls at all hours of the day and night, for any and
every one who may request his services; with no assurance of ever
receiving pay; and who is afraid to demand settlement for fear of losing
practice, is not competent to conduct his own affairs, much less to
practice medicine. It is this class of men who make dead-beats of our
patrons, and thus reduce the income of physicians to a point where a
bare existence is all we can hope for.
To be a safe medical advisor requires that the mind be free from the
petty cares of life. He should live in a manner in keeping with the
dignity of the profession to which he has given his life. He must have a
neat office, wear good clothes, have a happy home and a contented mind.
It is well to achieve the reputation of being an indefatigable and
shrewd collector. It pays. It will influence your regular patrons to pay
more promptly. It will also help to keep away those who trespass upon
your time and never pay you. The only sure way to hold practice is to
require your patrons to pay their bills promptly. If they do not owe you
they are not so liable to avoid you and cease to employ you. Let a
family once get greatly in arrears, then it will happen that--not having
the cheek to face you--they will call another physician, and give every
reason but the true one for deserting you. Thus, through your own
neglect you lose patronage, friends and your good name and reputation.
The public will never place any higher value on your services than you
do yourself. The death-knell of any physician's success is tolled when
he becomes known as a "cheap doctor."
Not only must you require others to pay you, but you must also pay your
own bills. Physicians, as a rule, are considered poor pay by business
men. It is a very good rule in life to discount all bills that you owe,
and never to discount a bill due you. Make it a rule to never owe any
man anything, and to have as few owe you as possible.
Many physicians will cut their bills to whatever the debtor cares to
pay. In this way they lose a large part of their fees, and achieve the
reputation of being poor business men.
I heard an old Arkansas doctor relate his experience in discounting a
bill that well illustrates the weakness of many physicians. A client
owed him $60, and after the account had run about six months, the man
came in and said, "Doc, I hain't got the money, but if you will cut that
bill in two I'll borrow it from my father-in-law." The doctor thought
$30 would be better than waiting, so agreed. Three months later the man
returned and said, "Doc, I couldn't get the money from my father-in-law,
but I have a fat hog I can sell and get some money if you will cut that
bill in two." The account was growing old and the doctor thought he had
better take the $15, so he said all right. Six months from that time the
fellow hove in view again. This time he said, "Doc, my wife thought we
needed that hog for meat and I couldn't get her consent to sell it, but
I have a job now, and if you will cut that bill in two, I'll pay you."
This time the doctor thought he saw $7.50 in sight, so again he agreed.
"All right, Doc," said the debtor, "as soon as I get in a few weeks
work, I'll be in and pay you." The doctor said the fellow did come
around a few months later and began a similar story, but he told him to
go to a country where rotary snow plows are not much in demand.
One of the greatest mistakes is in allowing accounts for different cases
to accumulate until the amount becomes so large that it is difficult to
pay. It is always best to require settlement as soon after each case is
dismissed as possible. In sending statements, be careful to itemize by
cases only, as "John, fever, $15," "Wife, confinement, $25," etc. I
seldom give the disease unless it is some special case that required
much attention. In some cases it refreshes their memory when reference
is made to the disease.
You must know your business. Give every man a square deal, and require
others to do the same by you. When you have completed your work,
remember the advice of old Prof. Joslyn, "Get money, still get money,
boy, no matter by what means" so long as it is justly due you for
services rendered. If you fail to require your patrons to pay you for
your services, you have not done your full duty.