Approximately half of U.S. adults put their healthcare or dental care on hold in the past year because of the cost.
I’ll admit, I was one of those people. And when I finally bit the bullet, I was quickly reminded of why I waited so long. The cost of the services was painful, to say the least.
Could I have gone to the dentist more often and tried to avoid needing multiple cavities filled at once? Yes, but hindsight is 20/20 and the argument is irrelevant.
And to add insult to injury, I found out that the new practice I go to doesn’t offer payment plans. So when I ran across this particular subject, dentists and payment plans, I felt very seen.
Maybe I am being a bit dramatic, but medical billing in healthcare causes frustration for all parties involved. Not only patients like myself, but the billing department and practices on the other side just trying to get paid. So the question is, what can we do to make it easier for everyone?
Many Americans don’t have the funds to just drop thousands of dollars all at once. Especially not for unexpected situations such as a medical emergency. According to a study from PYMNTS.com, 52% of patients will use payment plans when they receive an unexpected bill.
In America, approximately 76.5 million adults don’t have dental insurance and thus pay out of pocket for services. And while states must provide dental benefits for children covered by Medicaid, they’re not required to cover adults. Although a few states will provide coverage for adults with Medicaid, at least in emergency services, less than half of the states provide comprehensive dental care.
On top of all this, there can be wide variations in prices when it comes to dental care. This depends on the region, the provider, and of course if you have insurance or not. Add that to the list of why even just thinking about paying your dental bill might cause you to sweat.
Let’s take a look at some national average costs of dental work in a study by The American Dental Association…
Exam and Cleaning: A routine check-up and cleaning can cost anywhere from $50 to $200.
Oral X-ray/CT Scan: If you need X-rays or a CT scan, the cost can jump to $300 or more.
Fillings: About 90% of adults 20 years and older have cavities. Cavities require fillings which can cost as much as $300 depending on placement and materials.
Root canal: Root canals are procedures that repair teeth with infection at the root. The average cost of a root canal can be anywhere between $400 and $1,500.
Braces: The average cost for adult braces is around $5,500.
With these prices, dentists should consider offering payment plans to keep patients in their chairs and their revenue flowing.
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Benefits of Dental Payment Plans
As you can see, dental work is expensive.
By utilizing dental payment plans, practices can offer a broader spectrum of financial options for their patients.
Instead of having to pay their bill upfront, patients can make their payments over a more reasonable timeframe depending on their financial status.
Let’s go over in detail why a payment plan is something your practice should consider.
Benefit 1: Build Better Client Relationships
First and foremost, your client wants a variety of financial options to choose from when it comes to making payments. This is because not everyone has the same ability to make payments all at once. Financial status varies from patient to patient and can be a sore topic for many people. Respecting someone’s financial situation can build a better relationship between you and them, which in turn keeps them loyal to your practice.
As a practice administrator or a provider, I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself, “Well that’s a no-brainer, but how does that benefit me?”
Think about your business as just that: a business. Modern patients act like independent shoppers and treat their healthcare visits with the same expectations as they have for the retail or service industry… to an extent of course.
Studies show that 87.8% of customer service professionals agree that customers have higher expectations than ever. We know that you can’t just give your patients everything they want. But if you don’t grow and change with those consumer expectations, they’ll find another practice that will.
Benefit 2: Collect Balances Faster
Being able to collect on balances faster is another perk of offering the option of a payment plan.
To the patient, being able to break up a grand total into bite-sized pieces makes the payment more manageable. This also increases the chances of you getting paid within a reasonable timeframe.
Having clear and easy access to making financial payments dramatically increases the likelihood that a person will make a purchase, according to research by Citizens Bank. More specifically, 76% of consumers were more likely to make a purchase in this case.
The same Citizens Bank survey states that 62% of consumers prefer monthly payment plans with clear payment terms. Trust in an organization to offer assistance with financing along with being able to understand how to pay the amount are two important requirements for consumers.
Remember, just because you are in healthcare doesn’t mean you are exempt from consumerism.
Benefit 3: Payment Plans are a Competitive Advantage
As mentioned earlier, patients are essentially consumers.
Patients will look for different options concerning payment experience along with quality care. In other words, your clients aren’t afraid to “shop around” for a dental practice that best suits their financial needs. In fact, 53% of patients want a tool that allows them to compare quality and satisfaction scores.
Thus, dental organizations must learn to offer patients the same experience and customization level when it comes to making payments, just like any other commercial sector. If you want to keep your revenue flowing, you want to avoid losing existing clients while staying competitive enough to bring in new ones.
Practices with better payment experience generally see better treatment plan acceptance as well as revenue collections. For example, a case study by FeatherPay saw a 27% increase in revenue and a 10% increase in same-day care by improving their patient payment experience.
Benefit 4: Payment Plans Through Online Payment
Payment plans not only make it easier for your clients to pay their bills, but they can open the door for your business to utilize online payments! It's no secret that today we rely on technology to stay connected and engaged with the world.
Heck, as many as 71% of us check our phones within 10 minutes of waking up in the morning!
We take in so much information, mostly through our phones and via the internet, it’s hard to even remember what you had for breakfast sometimes. So it’s unlikely that your first thought in the morning is to pay your medical bills.
Relying on paper invoices holds the risk of a patient tossing it aside to deal with it “later”. Then “later” never comes and you need to shell out more money to send another invoice and so on, still without receiving a payment.
Offering the convenience and easy accessibility for patients to pay online can help you collect your bills faster. It also gives you the chance to communicate with your patients via email or text, which gives you a better chance of getting their attention to pay a bill.
Think about it, practically everyone you know has a smartphone. Sure, you probably have a stubborn uncle who still insists on using a flip phone (I know I do). Just know that 70% of smartphone users admit to using their smartphone to pay a bill.
Online payments can also take pressure off of your billing office so they don’t have to constantly be inputting data and answering calls. This will help better streamline your organization's administrative duties.
Finally, online payments can allow your clients to customize their own payment plans through a payment portal, on their own time. This way they feel more in control of their financial needs all while you get paid!
Conclusion
Dental payment plans can help make your services more affordable to a wider demographic of clients. Spreading costs over time and offering different options for patients to make their payments can benefit both you and them.
Keeping up with current market trends and consumer needs can only help you grow your business and streamline administrative work more efficiently. Consider a payment plan option for your patients today and take advantage of the perks that allowing online payments can with it.
