How One Practice Boosted Financing Applications 58%

When aesthetic patients hesitate at the money conversation, your whole growth plan stalls. At La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre (LJCSC), a simple shift in how the team talks about affordability moved financing applications from 26% of consults to +50%—and helped them surpass their revenue goals in a year when many practices are struggling.

We recently sat down with four top minds in aesthetics to unpack exactly how they did it, and how you can, too. See who.

The #1 Big Takeaway

If you’re not normalizing monthly payment plans early, often, and with a clear framework (like EASE), you’re leaving conversions and cashflow on the table.

LJCSC didn’t add new surgeons, new ad spend, or a discount campaign. They changed the words their team uses around money—on the phones, in consults, and in follow-up—and made monthly payments feel like the default, not a last-resort.

Cashflow follows conversation. The practices that make affordability feel easy are the ones still filling surgery schedules when everyone else is saying, “It’s just a tough year.”

PatientFi was built for exactly this: to make those monthly payment conversations simple, normal, and scalable across your whole team. Learn more at www.patientfi.com.

Q&A: Our 5 Biggest Aha Moments

1. Why do such small language changes move the needle so much?

Because in aesthetics, a “small” shift is rarely small. Janelle’s mentor, Marie Olesen, used to say she was always “looking for 5%”—because a 5% improvement in the right place can translate to hundreds of thousands in annual revenue. LJCSC didn’t find 5%. They found 58%: they increased the share of consults that applied for financing from 26% to +50% in under a year.

Why that matters:

• More patients applying for a plan = more patients who can actually say yes.
• Patients who know how they’ll pay before the consult are twice as likely to book at the consult, not “someday.”
• Even if they don’t end up using the plan, the psychological friction is gone. The money question is answered.

The lever wasn’t a new script or a new promo. It was:

• Changing when they introduce money (earlier).
• Changing who introduces it (a familiar coordinator, not a stranger at the end).
• Changing how they talk about it—from “if you want to apply…” to “this is just how smart patients plan for treatment here.”

At scale, that language is a revenue system, not a soft skill.

2. Why is “do it later” the most costly idea your patients have?

One of the most powerful moments in the conversation had nothing to do with spreadsheets, and everything to do with time. Janelle’s perspective is simple:

If a patient is going to do the procedure anyway, waiting five years to “save up” means losing five years of enjoying the result.

A few mindset shifts to build into your consultations:

• Affordability is about timing, not just budget.
  Life rarely lines up perfectly: interest rates, kids’ schedules, work projects, recovery time. Waiting for the “perfect moment” often means never doing it at all.
  
  
• Payment plans protect joy, not just cashflow.
  Monthly payment options (through platforms like PatientFi) give patients permission to:
  • Move forward when time is available for recovery
  • Avoid draining savings for a single lump-sum payment
  • Say yes without gambling on “maybe next year”
• “Enjoy it longer” is a legitimate value proposition.
  Whether it’s a better house for your kids or a long-wanted procedure, there is real value in enjoying the outcome for more years—not just getting a better rate on paper.

For practices, this mindset is good business and good care. When you normalize monthly payments as a smart, standard way to move ahead—not a last resort—you reduce shame, shorten decision cycles, and help patients get the result they came to you for.

If you want those conversations to be effortless for your team, tools like PatientFi can do the heavy lifting in the background: clear monthly options, soft credit checks, and patient-friendly plans that integrate neatly into your workflows. Learn more at www.patientfi.com.

3. What is the EASE method—and how do you actually use it on calls?

LJCSC uses a simple acronym so coordinators never have to “wing it” when money comes up.

EASE
E – Everyone asks
A – Assume interest
S – Share a story
E – Empower the choice

Here’s how that sounds in practice:

• Everyone asks
  You normalize the topic right away:
  “All of our patients ask about payment options—it’s totally normal.”
  
  
• Assume interest
  You don’t wait for them to “confess” they need financing:
  “Part of getting ready for your consult is setting up your payment options in advance, so everything feels clear and low-stress when you’re here.”
  
  
• Share a story
  You make it human and relatable, not transactional:
  “A lot of patients think they’ll pay cash, then life happens—kids, home repairs, travel—and they’re glad they set up a monthly plan as a backup.”
  
  
• Empower the choice
  You remove pressure and give control back:
  “Applying doesn’t lock you into anything! Applying now lets us look at all your options together—cash, monthly, or a mix—so you can choose what feels best.”

Two key moves LJCSC made:

• Pre-approval is framed as part of the process, not a maybe:
  Their confirmation email now lists “Apply for your payment plan” right alongside “Complete your forms.” It’s written as a step, not a suggestion.
  
  
• Payment worksheets are used by coordinators for every consult, not just “financing patients”:
  Even when a patient says, “Oh, I’ll just pay cash,” coordinators still present monthly payment scenarios so they can compare cash vs. monthly on the spot.

Practices using PatientFi monthly plans can mirror this easily: bake your PatientFi application link into your confirmation flow, and train coordinators to use an “everyone asks” and “assume interest” posture rather than waiting for patients to bring up money.

4. How do you actually coach coordinators to be confident with money talk?

Telling your team “talk about financing more” is useless. LJCSC got results because they matched the EASE framework with serious coaching and accountability.

Their playbook looks like this:

• Start with lived experience.
  Janelle worked her way up from marketing coordinator to patient coordinator to COO. She knows how it feels to be the person on the phone. That credibility matters when she’s introducing new approaches.
  
  
• Make the coordinator a familiar face.
  Before diving into the money talk, make sure the relationship isn’t just beginning. If the coordinator has already met and connected with the patient earlier in the visit, they’re far more likely to think, “I like her—I’m starting to trust her,” instead of, “Who is this person with the scary clipboard?”
  
  
• Listen to calls every week.
  LJCSC didn’t just roll out EASE and hope. They:
  • Created a call evaluation form that scores not just whether financing was mentioned, but how.
  • Hold weekly reviews to ask: “Where did this feel awkward? Where did it flow?”
  • Use standout calls as training examples and shout-outs, so the team actively wants their calls in the “training file.”
• Coach with questions, not criticism.
  Instead of saying, “You did this wrong,” leaders ask:
  • “At this point in the call, did you feel like she was with you?”
  • “Where do you think you might’ve lost her?”
  • “How else could you have introduced payment options here?”
    When coordinators diagnose their own missed opportunities, they own the fix.
• Tie it to what’s in it for them.
  EASE isn’t presented as “this boosts practice conversion.” It’s framed as:
  • Easier conversations
  • Less awkwardness at the money moment
  • Better results tied to their own bonus structures and confidence

If you’re rolling out PatientFi (or any monthly payment option), this is the difference between “we told the team” and “we built a system.” One is a memo; the other is a culture.

5. How do you introduce change without burning people out?

Every owner says they want a culture of improvement. In reality, constant change can tank morale and performance—fast. This panel was brutally honest about change management:

• Change has a cost. Any new process, script, or software slows people down at first. If you’re going to ask your team to push through that learning curve, it has to be for something that clearly advances a shared goal.
  
  
• Anchor changes to a few clear priorities. If your yearly goals include “increase consult-to-surgery conversion” and “grow monthly payment utilization,” it’s much easier for your team to say yes to:
  • Updating confirmation emails
  • Adding PatientFi calls-to-action
  • Re-training on phone flow
    Because they can see: this is how we hit the goals we already agreed on.
• Invite disagreement, then act. The healthiest teams:
  • Encourage honest debate behind closed doors
  • Welcome different personality types 
  • Are willing to adjust if something truly isn’t working
    What kills trust is when leadership asks for input—and then never acts. LJCSC protects morale by following through and visibly iterating based on team feedback.

When you’re rolling out something like PatientFi or the EASE framework, the question isn’t, “Can we?” It’s, “Can we do this without creating collateral damage?” And you can—if you’re deliberate.

Meet our top minds from this post

• Janelle Robinson — COO, La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre
  As Chief Operating Officer at LJCSC, Janelle oversees day-to-day operations and the patient coordinator team, turning smart affordability conversations and payment options into full surgery schedules and smooth patient experiences.
  
  
• Bridgette DeBrino — CEO, Belvara Collective
  Bridgette is a seasoned aesthetics leader with 15+ years across clinical care, marketing, and operations, now helping independent providers build profitable, sustainable practices through her work at Belvara Collective.
  
  
• Eva Sheie — Founder & Podcast Producer, The Axis
  Eva is a startup veteran, content strategist, and founder of The Axis, a podcast production agency. She brings a deep background in aesthetic practice education and patient-centric content.

• Blake Lucas – Senior Director of Customer Experience, PatientFi
  Blake leads Customer Experience at PatientFi, helping practices and patients enjoy a seamless and easy financing experience with PatientFi.