How to Create a Seamless Dental Patient Payment Experience

Running a successful dental practice is a multifaceted operation — keep the patients happy, keep employees happy, keep an eye on competition and stay on top of trends. In addition, one thing that will enhance the experience for everyone involved is delivering a smooth, transparent financial transaction.

Creating a more seamless dental payment process aligns with today's digital standard.¹ Along with the growing use of AI tools and the increasing popularity of telehealth, the use of digital payments is an integral part of adopting technology that is not just for the sake of being part of the latest tech trend.² A digital payment process is an important strategy that can help make the patient financial experience easier, not more complicated.

A seamless payment process is also what the general consumer has come to expect anywhere they spend money — a convenient financial transaction and smooth experience all around. Now, patients are demanding the same from their healthcare providers in a growing trend that's been referred to as patient consumerism. Give your patients what they want, and they may keep coming back.³

Let's look at the benefits of developing a seamless dental payment experience for patients — and how to make it happen in your dental practice.

Gaps in Dental Insurance Make Costs a Challenge for Patients

Did you know that nearly 70 million adults currently do not have dental insurance?⁴ Even seniors with Medicaid do not receive this added coverage to protect their dental health. And for those who do have dental insurance, there's been a rise in out-of-pocket expenses for dental patients. A recent study published in Health Affairs Journal found that lower-income adults who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, which includes dental coverage, reported unmet dental needs due to cost barriers.⁵

Additionally, Synchrony's 2023 Dental Lifetime of Care Study found that:⁶

• 58% of people believe dental care is not affordable
• 92% of people would consider holding off on general dental care because of the cost

Footing the bill for dental visits can be a struggle for some patients, so anything your dental practice can do to remove common points of friction in the patient financial journey can benefit the individuals you treat while making your dental office stand out.

Tips to Help Streamline Dental Payments

When deciding on the implementation of a seamless patient payment process, consider these best practices:

Communicate costs early on

Clear and up-front communication about costs helps build trust and prevents misunderstandings.

• Be transparent about all the costs and fees. Have conversations early on with patients about the pricing and the dental payment options available. When a new or existing patient inquiries about a procedure for the first time, spend a little time informing them about the exact costs involved up front, including the prices for follow-up visits, medication, implants, optional costs and more.
• Help your patients understand what their insurance will and will not cover. Research shows there's a lot of room for improvement when it comes to patient understanding of benefits — 1 out of 2 respondents in the Synchrony study said they did not know their annual maximum; 1 out of 4 did not know their annual premium.⁶
• Educate patients on the payment options that are available to them. If they have never used dental patient financing before, explain how the process works and how payments can be made over time.
• Play an active role in every facet of care and service. Whether it's in person, over the phone or via a chatbot, strive to be the kind of dental practice that is never too busy to answer patient questions. That means functioning at the initial point of contact or at any point afterward. Patients will remember you for it.

Use technology to enhance the payment process

Leveraging tech tools for payments not only makes life easier for your patients but can also streamline your practice's operations.

• Adopt digital patient payment solutions. Things like QR codes and custom links allow patients to conveniently pay from their phones, whether that is through a digital wallet like Apple Pay or Google Wallet or a digital application for financing.
• Link your financing and payment tools with the software your team uses every day. Payment technology that integrates with your practice software will help you manage appointments, communication and accounting, saving time and maximizing efficiency. This kind of seamless, all-in-one platform experience can reduce errors, increase accuracy and speed up the entire dental payment process for employees and patients.
• Don't overlook the power and simplicity of leveraging patient portals and digital payment communications. Features like text and email reminders that notify patients about upcoming payments in a timely manner can be a game-changer. According to a 2023 survey, 51% said a text message reminder would prompt them to pay their bills faster.⁷ Scheduled reminders can help improve patient communication and streamline dental billing operations.
• Make sure your invoices are clearly structured, contain only the key elements and properly label all billing information. Anything else can create confusion for the patient and staff and may lead to errors or delays in payments. The advantages of digital invoices are many: They're instantly delivered to the patient via email or text and contain a link for fast and easy payment. Let your patients know that digital invoices can be emailed, texted or printed out for the patient to take home.
• Keep everyone in the know. Be sure to train employees on how to use the payment technology so they are able to explain it to patients who aren't accustomed to using this option.

Offer flexible payment options

A patient's insurance may not cover all or any of their dental visits or procedures. You can make things easier on your patients if your dental practice has flexible payment options to help ease the financial pressure.⁸

• Explore third-party financing. A dental payment plan solution that allows patients to pay the cost of their dental care over time can make treatment more accessible and ease the burden of up-front costs. When searching for a patient financing solution, be sure to look for a trusted third-party financing provider that's committed to full transparency so both you and your patients are properly informed in advance about any rates or fees.

With over 30 years of experience, the CareCredit credit card has earned a reputation as a leader in dental patient financing as well as financing in other health and wellness industries. CareCredit is transparent with providers and patients, and there are no hidden fees, no annual fees and no down payment for cardholders unless your practice requires it.

Fifty-eight percent of people surveyed said they would probably or definitely use a payment option that provided predictable, set, equal payments without having to use their general purpose or retail credit cards.

2023 Dental Lifetime of Care Study, Synchrony

When taking steps to improve your practice's payment process, the key is to put yourself in the shoes of the patient and think about the type of experience you would want. By modernizing and simplifying this process, you have the opportunity to increase workplace efficiency while simultaneously creating an enhanced experience that keeps patients coming back to your practice.

A Dental Patient Financing Solution for Your Practice

Want to help more patients move forward with the dental care they want or need? Consider offering CareCredit as a financing solution. CareCredit allows patients to pay for out-of-pocket dental care costs over time while helping enhance the payments process for your practice.

When you accept CareCredit, patients 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 the CareCredit credit card as a dental patient financing solution or start the provider enrollment process by filling out this form.

Author Bio

Suchi Rudra is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience in journalism covering tech trends across various industries. She has written for leading publications including The New York Times, WSJ, WIRED, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company and others.

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