"Christmas in July"

When I first began doing this "Christmas in July" letter, it was a thought we had to perhaps solve some very delicate issues on the collection side of the practice. Each month invoices needed to go out, and this was costly and also potentially annoying to the recipient who would receive these notices each month. We found they generated resentment (right or wrong) in the minds of the patients. Additionally, it is estimated that the cost in labor and materials to generate a letter is somewhere between $5.00 and $8.00. Our "Christmas in July" letter went something like this:

Dear (salutation):

This may be an unusual time for a Christmas gift, but we periodically review accounts owed to this office and we want to wish you a Happy Holiday and let you know that your bill in this office in the amount of $00.00 has been wiped clean. You now have no balance!

We hope you are feeling well and should you require chiropractic care, we would be most happy to provide you with care. There are unfortunate circumstances which cause an inability to catch up on old bills and we did not want that to be an impediment to any future care you may need.

Enclosed is a booklet on chiropractic, and I encourage you to take a few moments to read this informative book and to also remember that your health is precious. It cannot be purchased and is often lost due to neglect.

Hopefully you will find this early holiday gift a reminder to take care of your health.

Best regards,

Louis Sportelli, D.C.

Enclosure

What we found was interesting. Many patients who had balances came in or sent a check to pay the balance, many apologized and for others it was the reminder they needed to continue care. This is great PR and as for the patients who never pay, it removes the cost of labor from our office, it reduces the accounts on the books as a write off, it provides no impediment for these patients to return to our office, and most of all it removes any hostile feelings which may have eventually resulted in litigation-- spurious or unwarranted as it may have been.

One final note--the "Christmas in July" letter makes our entire staff feel good. Try it for those hard to collect balances and see if it works for you.