‘Buy Now, Pay Later,’ Credit Lines and More: A Multi-Option Approach to Healthcare Payments

As affordability pressures persist and out-of-pocket healthcare costs rise, patients are looking for fast, simple and predictable ways to pay over time. They also expect a more retail-like checkout experience: quick decisions, clear terms and fewer surprises.¹

Many healthcare providers already offer patient financing with a similar checkout experience, giving patients a structured way to pay over time. The difference is that healthcare wants and needs aren’t always “one and done.” Patients may want or need follow-up visits and additional services or care later.

This is where “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) has helped shape consumer expectations. Yet in healthcare, patients may want options that work for both one-time procedures and ongoing care.

For providers, understanding the similarities between BNPL-style experiences and other health and wellness financing options can help you reframe cost conversations with your patients and support higher case acceptance rates. It can also help you accept a financing approach that includes both one-time procedures and ongoing care wants and needs without adding complexity to your team’s workflow.

Rising Healthcare Costs Are Accelerating the Demand for Pay-Over-Time Options

Rising out-of-pocket costs continue to influence patient behavior. In Synchrony’s Healthcare Journey Research Consumers and Providers study, 53% of patients surveyed reported delaying or postponing care due to out-of-pocket expenses.²

At the same time, many patients expect the same convenience in healthcare payments that they experience in retail. Long, complex billing processes can feel overwhelming for patients and create administrative challenges for providers.³

That’s where a quick-apply financing solution, often with a Buy Now, Pay Later-like checkout experience, can help bridge the gap, offering simplicity for patients and efficiency for practices. And because patient wants and needs vary, practices often benefit from offering more than one pay-over-time structure: a one-time installment option for larger planned expenses and a reusable credit line for ongoing expenses.

Buy Now, Pay Later and Other Financing Options: Considerations For Patients and Practices

Healthcare costs can be significant, and treatment often continues beyond a single visit. That’s why it helps to position BNPL-style solutions alongside a reusable financing option like the CareCredit credit card, so patients and clients can choose the option that fits their wants or needs.

BNPL has become a familiar checkout option for everyday purchases, with 37% of all consumers — and half of consumers under 40 — saying they’ve used it within the past 90 days.⁴ That same “pay-over-time” experience is showing up in healthcare, and it can be a smart addition to a practice’s financing toolkit. For patients and clients, it offers another way to say yes to care; for practices, it can help reduce cost-related hesitation at checkout.

Through the trusted CareCredit platform, your practice can offer two ways to help patients or clients finance their care — the CareCredit credit card for ongoing care wants and needs, and CareCredit Pay Later for larger or more defined care costs — with one application that can unlock more ways to pay, support more approvals and help more patients or clients move forward with care.

Use this chart as a quick guide to help patients explore pay-over-time options at checkout:

Help Improve Case Acceptance and Cost Conversations With Patient Financing Options

Offering patient financing isn’t just about payments. It’s about helping your patients feel confident moving forward with care.

That starts with trust. Choosing a well-known financing partner and equipping your team to have clear, consistent cost conversations can make a meaningful difference in patient decisions. When practices can offer both an installment option and a reusable credit line, they can offer patients multiple options without forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.

Present patient financing options during treatment planning

Once you have a strong partner, normalizing cost conversations during different patient interactions can help patients feel more prepared to move forward with recommended care.

Although it can feel uncomfortable, patients welcome transparent discussions about cost and payment options. Synchrony’s survey found that 61% of patients prefer to learn about payment methods directly from their provider, and more than half want that information before scheduling.² A best practice is to train your staff to mention financing options at multiple touchpoints: initial inquiries, appointment reminders, treatment discussions and case presentations.

Learn More: CareCredit’s tools and resources can help your team have more effective financing conversations with patients.

Smooth the payment conversation with clear, consistent choices

By the time patients reach checkout, clarity matters. This is the time to address any lingering doubts by reiterating their payment options. About 40% of patients describe healthcare payment decisions as stressful, frustrating, challenging or confusing, so anything your practice can do to reduce that friction can help improve the patient experience.²

Consider presenting options simply, based on the patient’s wants and needs:

• CareCredit Pay Later loan. For one-time-use loans with fixed monthly payments that close once paid in full
• CareCredit credit card. For repeat visits, follow-ups or ongoing care with special financing options

Build patient confidence with a trusted, healthcare-specific financing experience

Patients may be more likely to move forward with care when they feel confident in how they’ll pay for it. Offering healthcare-specific financing options can help reinforce that trust. These solutions are designed with healthcare expenses in mind, which can make the process feel more relevant, transparent and manageable for patients.

Get paid fast and help reduce A/R by avoiding manual in-house payment plan follow-up

Managing in-house payment plans can be time-consuming and unpredictable. Synchrony’s study revealed that between 8% and 18% of patient accounts become delinquent.²

With both the CareCredit credit card and CareCredit Pay Later, providers receive payment within two business days, helping improve the flow of payments, reduce accounts receivable and minimize collection efforts.

A Seamless Pay-Over-Time Experience for Patients and Clients

Payment flexibility can help make care feel more within reach and cost conversations easier to navigate. By offering clear pay-over-time options and introducing them consistently throughout the patient journey, practices can help patients and clients feel more confident in their decisions while supporting a smoother payment experience for the team.

Offer Flexible Financing at Your Practice

If you are looking for a way to connect your customers with options that empower them to pay for the care they want or need, consider offering CareCredit as a financing solution. CareCredit offers individuals two ways to pay for out-of-pocket health and wellness expenses over time — the CareCredit credit card or a CareCredit Pay Later loan — while helping enhance the payments process for your practice or business.*

When you accept CareCredit, patients or clients can see if they prequalify with no impact to their credit score, and those who apply, if approved, can take advantage of special financing on qualifying purchases.* Additionally, you will be paid directly within two business days.

Learn more about CareCredit as a financing solution or start the provider enrollment process by filling out this form.

Author Bio

Dawn Papandrea is a journalist with more than two decades of experience covering personal finance and consumer issues. She has written for leading financial publications and organizations, including U.S. News & World Report, Investopedia, Bankrate and others.

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