“What has that got to do with it? What difference does it make to you how much my income is, or where it comes from?”
“We’re not treating people for nothing here. We must know that you are able to pay the fee.”
“But you have not told me what the fee is.”
“No, and I don’t intend to until I know what your income is. My rule is to get about one-quarter of a patient’s income for the time he is under treatment.”
“Then you have a sort of sliding scale as to fees?”
“Certainly. If you are earning $50 a week the treatment will cost you $12.50 a week. If you are earning $100 a week it will cost you $25 a week.”
It is any wonder the caller went away disgusted? And yet this doctor is unable to understand why he cannot succeed in special practice. He can see nothing wrong in his method of handling callers.
CHAPTER IX
DECIDING UPON THE FEE
Having ascertained the financial status of the caller, and developed the fact that he wants to take the treatment, the next move is to fix upon an acceptable fee. Here, again, tact must be used. Ability to pay is not everything. You must know your man. Take two men of equal financial rating. To one a fee of $1,000 would be an extortion; the naming of that amount would give him a violent attack of heart disease, and yet he could well afford to pay what was asked. The second man, with no greater financial resources, would write out his check for $1,000 without a murmur, and think himself lucky to get off so cheaply.