Should you offer “in-house” financing?

A popular consultant to dentists nationwide, sent me an email with the following content:

How To Get Your Money
Asking patients for money is easy if you know just what to do. It’s essential to have both the financial arrangements and the verbal skills.

Let’s review:

Cash or Check | Major credit card | Outside Patient Financing | 50% in advance of scheduling, the remainder in full one week prior to the day of treatment.

Remember: our purpose is to eliminate dentist financing!

You want to first try to get payment in full via cash or check; you can even offer a 5% bookkeeping adjustment as enticement.

The next best option is to have the patient put their treatment on a major credit card.

If those don’t work out, you can try long-term patient financing. It’s best to offer patients several financing companies. You never want to offer in-house financing!

His comments are above, in red, and inset.

Here’s my reply to his email:

Hi [name], appreciate your emails.

However, I have to disagree with your statement below about never offering “in-house” financing.

If it’s done right, just like every other business system a dentist/businessman should use, it’s very profitable.

We have a nice little income from finance charges and late fees. How do you think banks make it?

Further, if it’s done right, you’ll actually INCREASE patient retention and referrals.

You’re assuming since a patient does not qualify for financing by a 3rd party, they’re not worthy of treatment by your clients.

I’m not bragging, but I don’t qualify for Care Credit. And, why would a doctor want to write off 14% of his fee for using Care Credit on a 24-month interest-free repayment plan they offer to their patients?

Seems nuts to me.

Not that it matters, but most of what you write, I agree with, the exception for sure, being the above.

Have a good day [name], Jerry

There are SOO many reasons why his thinking, while popular (and the “easy way out”), is corrosive to dental practices wishing to maximize patient relationships AND revenue.

What are your thoughts? Post them below… And, if you’re a ClearPath member, you have free access to my 1 hour patient financing seminar I conducted with a ClearPath member and my expert in finance business partner who made a very nice living before retiring, managing a $5 BILLION portfolio of loans…

Tags: care credit, financing, patient financing