Point-of-Care Payment Options Expand Access to Dental Care for Patients

Dental services represent a $155 billion market that is projected to grow to $254 billion by 2032.

Against that backdrop, it’s critical, especially in an inflationary environment, to include financing at the point of treatment to marry patient care with dental services and help ensure that practices collect on the monies owed.

Dr. Steven Rasner, DMD, MAGD, of Pearl Smiles and Ed O’Donnell, CEO of Versatile Credit, told Karen Webster that financing can do much to smooth the initial conversations between dentists and patients when it comes time to discuss what it all costs — before the treatment is delivered.

Avoiding the Awkward Moments

O’Donnell — whose platform matches lenders and patients to craft payment terms that stretch out over time — said finance options should be offered at the point of care, not just as each dentist visit is completed.

“It’s awkward for everyone,” said O’Donnell. “It’s awkward for the patient and is often awkward for the financial person in the office.”

Patients may be concerned about how to pay for it all. Many households already carry credit card debt, which means there may not be all that much wiggle room.

By spreading payments over time, the conversations get a lot easier, are friendlier, and all is transparent as the relevant data is inputted through the user’s cellphone or iPad and no one is passing information that might be considered sensitive back and forth across a desk, he said.

Taking a Bespoke Approach

Rasner observed that dentistry, in practice, spans a spectrum of business models. The traditional, insurance-based practice operates in a rather simple fashion: If one’s right top molars hurt, one goes to the dentist, who looks at those specific molars and treats those particular teeth. The bill goes through the traditional insurance channels, and the individual pays the out-of-pocket copay and deductible. The practice pockets about 60% of the service provided, which indicates that a high volume of procedures, treatments and exams is necessary to keep margins positive.

It’s a pressure cooker environment, said Rasner, who added that dentistry as a profession tends to have high burnout rates. Getting paid is no sure thing, as patients may opt to skip treatments signed for and payments promised. The balancing act of volume and collecting on payments owed has been so complex that Rasner penned a book several years ago titled “The Art of Getting Paid.”

“I realized that this approach would never work for me,” said Rasner.

He said he embraced the fee-for-service model, where patients go out of network for procedures and pay wholly out of pocket. It’s a comprehensive approach to dentistry, said Rasner, who added that fee-for-service practitioners take a holistic approach to dental care, beyond the confines of a particular tooth or immediate procedure.

“It’s no different from going to the physician, [who] looks at all your vitals, not just the symptoms that you came in with,” he said.

The out-of-pocket costs can be high — tens of thousands of dollars, for example, — for implants and lengthy procedures that take place over weeks or months.

Platforms such as Versatile Credit, said O’Donnell, match lenders and financing options to patients, allowing them to move beyond traditional insurance-based dentistry to more bespoke, fee-for-service options, and to feel comfortable doing so and loyal to their providers. Patients avoid buyer’s remorse that might come with committing to high upfront costs.

“Through technology and our lending partners,” he said, as the full spectrum of lenders covers the full spectrum of procedures and financial obligations, “we can increase that kind of access.”

Rasner added that patient financing has helped expand his patient profile to include blue-collar workers, a retired fisherman and a checkout clerk at a dollar store.

By spreading payments over months or even as long as a year, dental services can fit within a consumer’s “traditional way of thinking about their household budget,” O’Donnell said. “Yes, it’s a significant expense, but it’s an investment in their own health, and now it can be prioritized.”