9 Jun 2023  •  Blog, Finance  •  4min read By  • Medenta

Keeping your cash flow smooth with patient finance

Since he took on ownership of Courtyard Dental practice in 2006, Dentist, Marcos White, has worked to create a fully private high-end practice with a welcoming environment. Specialising in cosmetic dentistry, he and his team strive to make patients feel safe and comfortable as soon as they set foot through the door.

Although the team can offer patients the full range of dentistry from a simple scale and polish to complex full rehabilitations, Invisalign™ is still one of their most popular treatment requests. As well as purely cosmetic procedures, the practice also carries out full arch dental implants for patients with missing teeth due to damage or disease. “These more complex treatment plans are typically a larger financial investment which is one of the reasons why being able to offer patient finance is a must for us,” says Treatment Co-Ordinator (TCO), Sarah Mann.

However, like many other practices offering cosmetic dentistry, she has noticed greater numbers of patients wanting simply to improve the appearance of their smile. “Composite bonding has surged over the last couple of years as it offers a fantastic aesthetic outcome with a non-invasive technique,” she observes.

As well as ensuring patients understand the treatment plan being offered to them, Sarah also has responsibility for guiding them through the various options available to pay for their treatment. It’s at this stage that she sees first-hand the difference patient finance can make.

“Having an interest free finance facility allows patients to invest in treatment that they potentially wouldn’t be able to pay for in full,” she explains. “Being able to offer them the option to spread the cost means treatments may become more affordable. Some patients will even opt for more extensive treatment plans than the ones they originally thought they would be able to access because they only need to be able to meet the monthly payments, not the total cost.”

Sarah also believes offering patient finance has a positive effect upon the practice’s bottom line. “We find it encourages greater patient uptake of treatments as they can pay monthly and have the flexibility of being able to pay a deposit to reduce the monthly repayment,” Sarah comments. “Patients also like the fact that they can make overpayments or pay the agreement off at any point without a penalty.”

She’s a great fan of how patient finance also helps reduce the admin burden upon the practice. Any money for treatments to be financed is paid when treatment has started which helps with cash flow. As well as this, all responsibility for collecting and chasing any payments falls with the lender, to quote Sarah ‘Chasing late payers is everyone’s least favourite task!’ All of this saves the admin team time and frees them up to concentrate on the practice’s needs.  Sarah also finds the flexibility of being able to process finance applications in-practice or by emailing a link to the patient so that they can complete the application at their leisure, a great benefit. Sarah speaks highly of the additional support available to the practice from Medenta.

She is also very complimentary about the customer service team; “Medenta have always been a helpful team, just a phone call away,” she comments. “It’s always been friendly and helpful. To be honest though, the application platform is so easy to use it’s been rare that we have needed much help!”

Asked what advice she would give anyone considering whether to offer patient finance through Medenta she replies: “Just do it! Once the practice is set up and trained, any applications that are accepted will then be paid out within 3-4 working days, so it helps keep cash flow smooth which is a great benefit.”

 

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