Many of your patients will pay on time, but every patient could use a nudge. Learn 4 effective ways to encourage dental patients to pay their balance soon after treatment through clear communication, flexible payments, reminders, and incentives.
It’s a tale as old as time — at least, it is for the dental industry!
You perform treatment, then go to collect from the patient afterward. They have some questions or disputes (or both) about their bill, so they ask if they can pay another day. You, being a gracious dental professional, tell them, “Of course!”
But then weeks go by, and it becomes clear this patient may never pay their bill.
This is a frustrating predicament for every dental professional and business owner. We all know dental work isn’t cheap — but you performed a service and deserve to get paid. So where did things go wrong?
Generally, collecting from patients often becomes challenging due to a lack of communication, a lack of education, and/or a lack of information.
What causes those missing pieces in your dental business?
- When your team doesn’t deliver treatment presentations
- Conversations about your payment policies are brief, vague, or non-existent and/or
- Your collections process is convoluted or complicated for your patients — and your team.
But don’t worry: We’re here to help! This article will give you 4 effective strategies for collecting faster from your dental patients.
Key takeaways for collecting from dental patients:
- An accurately communicated out-of-pocket estimate goes a long way
- The easier it is for your patients to pay, the more likely they will — and the sooner
- That stack of aging patient A/R backlog is hurting your bottom line
1. Use clear communication to remove payment obstacles
Communication, transparency, and clarity are keys to any successful relationship — the dentist-patient relationship is no exception. When it comes to bills that include insurance coverage, it’s easy for patients to get confused about what or why they owe the listed amount.
This is where your team’s stellar communication skills need to come in: for presenting treatment and estimates, as well as answering patient questions.
Actionable tips for communicating with dental patients:
- Educate patients on what their insurance covers and what they will owe during treatment presentations. Like we mentioned earlier, patients typically don’t understand their insurance benefits. That’s why it’s your team’s job to educate patients during the treatment presentation. This is a chance to explain why the recommended treatment is needed, and also to provide an estimate on what insurance will cover. Which leads us to our second tip…
- Provide cost estimates before treatment — ideally not on the same day. When a patient knows ahead of time what their costs will be, they can better prepare to pay them. And when they understand why their estimate is what it is, they will have no need to dispute the expense. Be sure your team knows how to calculate these estimates, and also how to present those calculations during treatment presentations, if needed.
How to implement easy communication with patients:
- Prioritize the treatment presentation. If your team can’t make time for this one-on-one conversation with patients, then change their workload so they can. Yes, it’s that important to talk directly to your patients about not just their costs, but why their oral health depends on the suggested treatment.
- Bill while the treatment and its costs are fresh in their minds. Immediately after their treatment, send patients an easy-to-understand bill that includes what their insurance covered. You’ll expedite payment when your bill includes payment plan options (we’ll get to this later) and easy payment methods.
Key takeaways for effective patient communications:
- Clear communication can prevent billing disputes and encourage prompt payment. When there aren’t any surprises about what they owe, your patient is more likely to pay promptly in full or agree to a payment plan that ensures you will gradually collect everything you’re owed.
- Transparency builds trust. When you’re honest about what a treatment will cost, suggest options on how to best use their insurance coverage, and offer flexible payments, you’ll build real trust with your patients and gain something invaluable: A patient for life.
Related: 5 ways to help patients use their dental benefits by end of the year
2. Offer multiple payment options for your patients’ convenience — and to benefit your bottom line
Every patient is in a different boat financially, and some of them may be close to sinking. If your goal is to be more accessible for your patients, including those who can’t easily afford treatment, then you need to offer multiple payment options.
If you don’t provide a selection of ways to pay, you might not collect what you’re owed, or those patients might not accept treatment at all.
Actionable tips for offering multiple payment options to patients:
- Accept a variety of credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay). The easier and more convenient it is to pay, the more likely your patients will pay promptly. Taking only one brand of credit card or only cash limits their options — and limits your cash flow.
- Utilize affordable in-person card terminals. Choose an in-office terminal that’s easy to use with a cost-effective credit card fee. When a patient can pay by simply tapping their card, they’re more likely to pay before they leave your office.
- Include a financing option in their treatment presentation. When you’re giving your patients an estimate, if they look scared or stressed, assure them that they can pay for the treatment in monthly installments that you’ll customize to what works for them. It’s better to collect from your treatment in smaller increments than not at all.
How to implement more payment options for dental patients:
- Use technology to integrate different payment platforms and make it easy for patients to pay at their convenience — online or in the office. This can be done with the use of an automated patient billing solution, like what we offer at DCS. You’ll get a terminal that accepts all forms of payment with a low per-transaction fee, and also an online portal where you can customize payment plans and the system sends payment reminders automatically. Learn more about DCS Patient Billing here.
Key takeaways about payment options for dental patients:
- The more options you provide, the easier it is for patients to pay their bills ASAP. And you’ll demonstrate flexibility and offer conveniences that they’ll appreciate. In turn, you’ll appreciate the steady cash flow. With patient billing, it’s better late than never: collect in any way you can, rather than write off the patient’s treatment as lost revenue.
Related: Patient Billing Made Easy: Watch How Automation Improves Dental Practices
3. Send payment reminders regularly to stay top-of-mind
Patients often forget or procrastinate about payments, but well-timed reminders cut through their daily chaos and put their bill in mind. What’s even better? When this friendly payment reminder includes a direct link to where the patient can pay today.
Actionable tips for sending dental patients payment reminders:
- Send automated reminders via email, text, or phone calls for upcoming or overdue payments. We’re all always looking at our phones, but we check our mailbox once a day at most. Delivering a payment reminder via text is a really easy way to get your patients’ attention when they have an outstanding balance.
- Schedule reminders at strategic times. You can customize how often reminders are sent or use the default settings. It’s typical to send them 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days after the treatment. Likewise, consider whether your patient base is more likely to spot your messages during business hours, on weekends, or both.
How to implement automatic payment reminders at your dental practice:
- Use DCS Patient Billing Solutions. Our easy-to-use software will sync seamlessly with your practice management software, show when a patient has an outstanding balance, and begin sending payment reminders with a direct payment link. Your team won’t have to do anything — no calling dozens of patients, no crafting dozens of emails, no stuffing dozens of envelopes, or anything. They’ll be able to focus on your in-office patients while our patient billing solution collects for you.
Key takeaway for dental billing payment reminders:
- Proactive reminders can significantly reduce the number of overdue payments. It’s easy to forget about these things when life gets busy, and isn’t always?. These reminders will make it easy to collect what you’re owed while making it as easy as possible for patients to pay. And when you use automated payment billing to send reminders, you can truly sit back and watch the payments roll in…
Want a sneak peek of what DCS Patient Billing Solutions looks like? Click here.
4. Secure patient commitment with a financial agreement for clarity and accountability
Create a document that your patients will sign before their treatment that has them agree to pay the entire balance you are owed — no matter what insurance does or does not pay. Present this document during your treatment presentation and explain their financial responsibility. This further reduces the risk of surprise when their bill arrives, and is another step toward ensuring full payment.
Actionable tips for presenting patients with a financial agreement:
- There’s no need to be defensive or aggressive when presenting this document. You’re a place of business — you perform a service for payment. But you still want to maintain a pleasant relationship with your patients. If they think they will have a problem paying the full amount, gently remind them that you offer payment options and a variety of payment methods.
- Ensure they sign this before treatment. This is worth repeating—it will reduce all chances of a ‘surprise’ bill and make it that much easier to collect what you’re owed.
How to implement a financial agreement at your dental business:
- We highly recommend consulting your lawyer or financial advisor when creating this financial agreement. It doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. In fact, it might scare your patient if it’s lengthy and complex legalese. The agreement just needs to state in clear, simple terms that the patient will be responsible for the full cost of their treatment, no matter what their insurance does or does not pay.
Key takeaway about legal agreements with dental patients:
- This legal document clarifies your expectations for your patient. It also gives you written documentation that shows exactly how much the patient owes you, and that they promised to pay. If the patient does decide to dispute their bill, you can always refer to this signed document where they agreed to pay the full fee for their treatment.
You care about your patients, but you’re also building a business: Collect what you’re owed easily — and ASAP
To recap, here are 4 ways to get dental patients to pay their balance soon after their treatment:
- Use clear communication to remove payment obstacles
- Offer multiple payment options for your patients’ convenience — and to benefit your bottom line
- Send payment reminders regularly to stay top of mind
- Secure patient commitment with a financial agreement for clarity and accountability
Your patients’ out-of-pocket payments provide approximately half, or perhaps all of your revenue. It’s essential for your business’s sustainability that you collect from your patients early and often.
And with our 4 tips in mind, plus our automated patient billing solution, collecting your due from patients will be easier than ever.
DCS Patient Billing eliminating our customers’ patient A/R month after month without adding more work to their teams’ plates. How great would it be to use a software that simply collects from patients for you — hands-free?
Stop chasing down payments and give your in-office patients the attention they deserve: Book a free 30-minute consultation with us today.
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