Tips for In-House Financing

In-house financing will allow more of your patients to go ahead with treatment that they would otherwise struggle to afford.

It can also attract more new patients. Consumers today expect the option of paying by installments for goods or services, whether they’re buying a big-screen TV or shopping around for dental treatment.

As well as increasing treatment acceptance and practice revenue, keeping patient finances in-office also eliminates middleman costs.

In the past, dentists may have been deterred from offering in-house finance because of the extra burden of responsibility in managing an efficient system and the possibility of losing money through payment backsliding.

These problems can now be easily solved with a digital dental office in-house-financing solution.

Key Features to Look for in a Digital In-House Financing Software

The best dental office digital in-house financing software not only makes it simple for patients to sign up – completing applications on any device, at home, or in your office – but also minimizes risks of defaulting.

Your finance package should also make it clear for patients to see how their payments will be spread out.

In-House Financing vs. CareCredit

When setting up in-house financing, it’s advisable to look for a solution that allows you to offer patients an instant finance deal, which increases the likelihood of them proceeding with treatment.

Unlike financing options such as CareCredit, same-day financing means patients don’t get the hassle of having to apply for financing themselves when they get home.

Patients may also be reluctant to go down the external financing road because it could adversely affect their credit score. So it’s important that your in-house financing system incorporates a soft credit check that won’t show up on their credit rating.

In-house financing also eliminates hefty CareCredit third-party interest payments for both your practice and your patients.

Talking to Your Patients About In-House Financing

Offering your patients in-house financing allows them to go ahead with preventive, restorative, or cosmetic dental treatments they may otherwise shy away from in the face of having to pay in full upfront.

Your patients may well assume you or your staff will mention in-house financing if it’s available. Similarly, your practice team may believe that the patient will ask about finance if they need it.

If this happens, nobody brings the subject up, and the patient either doesn’t proceed with treatment or looks for a practice with a proactive approach to in-house financing.

Adopting a Proactive Approach

While in-house financing can increase treatment uptake, practice revenue, and patient satisfaction, some dentists are reluctant to bring up the question of finance because they don’t want to be regarded as a pushy salesperson.

A well-structured in-house finance solution can make it a lot easier to approach the matter of finance with your patients – it simply becomes another set step in the patient journey.

Ensuring your dental team understands the benefits to patients of in-house financing will allow them to proactively approach the subject with confidence.

Ideally, discussions about your in-office payment plan should take place face-to-face. Try to avoid dental and financial jargon and explain the plan in plain English a layperson can understand. If you get too technical, the patient is unlikely to accept a financing deal they don’t properly understand.

A useful tool to have in your finance set-up package is a payment slider for more comprehensive treatment plans, showing the patient how they can spread the cost to match their budget.

Streamlined In-House Financing Packages

Offering in-house finance and mentioning it early during the patient consultation can preempt one of the major obstacles to treatment uptake – affordability – especially when it comes to more advanced, costly procedures or a wide-ranging treatment plan.

Increasing treatment acceptance is good for both your practice and your patients. The key is to make it as easy as possible for them to say yes. The ideal solution is a streamlined in-house financing package that enables your patients to proceed with dental care by spreading the cost according to their budget.

The benefits of offering in-house dental financing include increasing patient loyalty. You should find that many patients appreciate you’re working to help them get the treatment they may otherwise be unable to afford.

As well as building meaningful relationships with your patients, in-house financing enables you to extend your practice’s reach while increasing revenue rather than handing money over to third parties.

In-House Financing and Covid-19

An in-house payment plan makes it financially more attractive for patients to go ahead with more than one treatment or accept a comprehensive treatment plan.

More people are unlikely to be able to afford payments in full for dental treatment because of the disastrous financial consequences of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

This makes it more important than ever for dental offices to evaluate their patients’ needs and remove barriers to treatment uptake. Setting up in-house financing for dental treatment is likely to be an increasingly significant consideration in treatment acceptance and for generating new patients.

Offering your patients an easy and more affordable way to spread the cost of treatment allows them to get the dental care they need now to avoid more serious issues oral health issues in the future.

It also gives you the satisfaction of knowing that you’re doing your utmost to help your patients in, particularly challenging times.

Harnessing the Power of Technology

When incorporating advanced technology, in-house financing can play a huge role in helping small businesses such as dental offices, with a payment plan that cuts out third-party costs and eliminates reliance on the financial sector.

Thanks to technology, having your own in-practice financing platform is now cost-effective and simple to manage – from risk assessment through integration with leading credit bureaus to innovative payment sliders.

Setting up a cutting-edge in-house financing package provides your patients with a valuable service that can actually improve their credit history while making dental treatment affordable, which encourages them to stay with your practice for years to come.