Should Your Dental Practice Offer Financing Options?

Why don’t we just cut right to the chase on this one: Of course your dental practice should offer financing options! Being a conscientious provider of dental healthcare and aesthetic treatments means that you want nothing to stand in the way of your patients’ access to your top-notch services, right?

In today’s blog post, we’re talking about delegating some of your collections to large financing institutions like Citi Health Card through Henry Schein Dental or Care Credit. We know you’re familiar with these company names, as they likely send you their own marketing propaganda quite regularly. Today we’re going to give you some reasons to save those mailers from the recycling bin, and hopefully give at least one of the big financing companies a call!

Let’s discuss how implementing financing options into your practice model is a great thing for you, and terrific for your patients too:

• Give your clientele access to the best possible dental treatments. Often, concerns over how to pay for major services like dental veneers, implants, or crowns can be a roadblock for patients.  Removing that obstacle can increase treatment acceptance, improving your bottom line while ensuring that your patients maintain optimum oral health.
• Take some weight off your shoulders.  Your billing department (in most cases, just one person) is swamped! When patients are able to take care of their portion at the time of treatment using a dedicated healthcare line of credit, it improves the overall efficiency of your collections. Take some envelope-licking off your billing person’s plate so they can expend their efforts on more important tasks.
• Stay competitive.  Rest assured that your peers nationwide and competitors in your own community are clamoring to offer financing options to their patient base. Don’t risk losing even a single crown case before you learn more about dental financing through an outside source.
• It’s a great marketing opportunity! That’s right! Why else would we be covering the topic of financing options on our blog? Both Care Credit and Citi Health Card give members access to a variety of health care professionals (like vision, cosmetic, hair restoration, etc.). If someone has an existing account, they can search the company’s database to find other participating providers in their area. What a terrific opportunity to garner high quality new patients—ones that are sure to pay their bill too! Get your name on those databases so no marketing opportunity is missed!

Has utilizing a third party financing source improved the state of your practice, or are you still holding out due to skepticism? Leave your comments below, and contact Roadside Multimedia for additional solid marketing strategies!