Stop Letting Patients Walk Away: A Practice Guide to Patient Financing & Membership Plans
Oct 31
5 min read
As a practice owner or office manager, you’ve seen it countless times. A patient is in the chair. You've diagnosed the treatment they need, the clinical team has built rapport, and the patient understands the value of the procedure.
Then comes the financial conversation.
The patient’s face drops. You hear the dreaded words: "Let me think about it," "I need to check my finances," or "Does my insurance cover all of that?"
In that moment, a gap opens between the care your patient needs and the care they think they can afford. This is where case acceptance plummets, and your practice’s revenue walks right out the door.
Offering flexible patient financing isn't just a "nice to have"—it's a critical component of a high-performing revenue cycle. By empowering your front office with the right tools, you can close that gap, increase case acceptance, and ensure your patients get the care they deserve.
Let's explore the leading third-party financing options and the most powerful retention tool you can implement: your own in-house membership club.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes. Renew Dental Consulting is not a licensed financial planner or lender. We recommend practices perform their own due diligence to determine which providers best fit their patient demographic and practice workflow.
The "Big Three" in Third-Party Patient Financing
Not all financing partners are created equal. Each has unique strengths that appeal to different patient demographics. Offering a mix of options is the best strategy.
1. CareCredit
What it is: The most established and widely recognized healthcare credit card.
Pros for Your Practice:
High Patient Trust: Many patients have already heard of or used CareCredit, reducing friction.
Great for Large Cases: The 0% APR promotional periods (e.g., 6, 12, or 24 months) are a powerful tool for your team to present, making large treatment plans feel immediately affordable.
Practice Management Integration: Often integrates directly with your existing practice management software (PMS), streamlining the application process.
Cons & Considerations:
Strict Credit Requirements: As a traditional credit card, approval rates can be lower for patients with sub-prime credit.
Deferred Interest: This is a major training point for your team. You must ensure patients understand that if the balance isn't paid in full by the end of the promo period, interest is charged retroactively from the purchase date. Patient confusion can lead to frustration with your practice.
Learn More: Visit CareCredit's Provider Page
2. Sunbit
What it is: A modern "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) technology that focuses on "financing for everyone."
Pros for Your Practice:
Extremely High Approval Rates: Sunbit is designed to approve a much wider range of credit profiles (reportedly ~90%). This is your tool to capture the patients who would be declined by traditional lenders.
Fast, Simple Application: The "30-second" application process is done via a soft credit check (no impact on the patient's score) and can be completed by the patient on their own phone.
Reduces "No"s: This is the solution for turning a hard "no" on a $1,000 treatment into a "yes" for $90 a month.
Cons & Considerations:
Provider Fees & Rates: As with all BNPL, understand the provider fees. The trade-off for the high approval rate is that patient interest rates can be higher, but the focus is on a clear, simple monthly payment.
Learn More: Visit Sunbit for Dental
3. Cherry
What it is: Another fast, tech-forward BNPL option with a focus on a seamless patient experience.
Pros for Your Practice:
Soft Credit Check Application: Like Sunbit, Cherry's application process is fast and only requires a soft credit check, which patients love. This "no-risk" application makes patients more willing to see their options.
Flexible Payment Plans: Offers a variety of plans, including 0% APR options for qualified patients.
Modern Patient Experience: The sleek, user-friendly interface makes your practice look modern and accommodating.
Cons & Considerations:
Market Penetration: While growing fast, it may not have the same brand recognition as CareCredit, requiring a bit more explanation from your team.
Learn More: Visit Cherry's Patient Financing Page
The Most Overlooked Tool: Your In-House Membership Club
Third-party financing is for treatment. What about your uninsured patients, or those fed up with traditional insurance? What's your strategy to keep them coming back for preventive care?
The answer is an In-House Dental Membership Club.
This isn't insurance. It's a simple, direct relationship between you and your patients. For a recurring monthly or annual fee, patients receive a bundle of preventive care (e.g., 2 cleanings, 2 exams, X-rays) and a significant discount (e.g., 15-25%) on all other treatments.
Why a Membership Club is a Non-Negotiable for a Modern Practice:
Creates Predictable, Recurring Revenue: This is the holy grail of any business. Monthly membership fees create a stable cash flow baseline for your practice, independent of insurance reimbursements or treatment spikes.
Eliminates Insurance Headaches: No pre-authorizations, no claim denials, no waiting periods, no "least expensive alternative treatment," and no insurance-mandated write-offs. You and the patient decide on the care.
Boosts Patient Loyalty: When a patient is "on the plan," they are no longer a free agent. They are your patient. They are significantly more likely to return for preventive care and accept diagnosed treatment.
Attracts Key Patient Demographics: This is a perfect solution for retirees, self-employed individuals, gig economy workers, and any patient without traditional employer-based coverage.
Increases Case Acceptance: Patients who are already in your office for their "free" cleaning are far more likely to say yes to restorative work, especially when they know they get an automatic 15% discount.
Financing is the Tool. Your Team is the Key.
Having these options is one thing. Implementing them effectively is another.
Your front office team must be trained to have confident, compassionate, and clear financial conversations. They need to be a "financial concierge," not a "gatekeeper," guiding patients to the solution that works best for them.
This is where systems and coaching become critical. Does your team know...
...when to introduce financing? (Hint: early and for everyone, not just those who ask).
...how to present a large treatment plan in affordable monthly payments?
...how to pivot from a declined CareCredit application to a Sunbit approval in seconds?
...how to effectively market and manage your membership club?
If your answer to any of these is "I'm not sure," you are leaving money on the table and letting patients walk away untreated.
Are you ready to optimize your front office, streamline your financial conversations, and dramatically increase your case acceptance?
At Renew Dental Consulting, we specialize in building these exact systems. We provide the personalized coaching your team needs to master financial conversations and implement tools that drive practice growth.
