Patients receive a bill from your dental practice if their dental insurance doesn’t cover the cost of treatment or they have no insurance. Depending on the services rendered or their ability to pay, the patient may be unable to pay their entire bill in one lump sum.
A dental payment plan allows patients to pay for their care in installments instead of at once. Your practice has many ways to set up payment plans to benefit you and your patients.
How Dental Payment Plans Work
Dental payment plans are not a type of insurance or a discount plan — they make care more affordable for patients whose dental insurance doesn’t cover the cost or who have no insurance. Offering these plans to your patients can help your practice stand out, as some providers require one payment upfront.
Dental practices typically work with third-party finance companies to offer payment plans to their patients. The payment timeline can be weekly or monthly, with some plans offering interest-free payments throughout the payment period. Payment plans can cover a wide range of services, including cleanings, X-rays, and cosmetic work.
3 Types of Dental Payment Plans
Payment plans for dental practices differ based on their insurance agreements. The three most common dental payment plan arrangements are:
- Preferred provider organization (PPO): With a PPO plan, dental providers can provide specific services for a preset rate. PPO plans only work between participating providers.
- Discount plan organization: Also called a dental discount plan, this option offers discounted rates to patients subscribed to the plan. The discounted rates are made possible because your practice and the providing organization agree to decrease the fees for dental care.
- Dental health maintenance organization (DHMO): A DHMO plan provides your office with a set monthly payment to cover expected dental care services. This payment comes from your contracted providers.
Factors to Consider When Creating Your Dental Payment Plan
The third-party finance company you partner with may charge your practice a fee or seek to make a profit by charging penalties and fees to patients, including:
- Interest rates on payments.
- Administration and application fees for arranging the payment plan.
- Early repayment penalties if the patient repays their loan early.
- Late payment penalties for delinquent payments.
Get Started with Dental Payment Plans and Practice Management Software
Rectangle Health can support your practice’s dental payment plan with the Practice Management Bridge®. This software promotes payment flexibility through patient financing options. Our patient payment plans provide a consistent revenue stream for your practice while making it easier for patients to pay for necessary care.
