Loans for patients RESPONSES
Randy McFarland
Description
Collection
Title:
Loans for patients RESPONSES
Creator:
Randy McFarland
Date:
11/6/2007
Text:
Original Question:
Care Credit is the name of a company that fronts funds to dental
offices for their services and lets the patients spread the payments out
for a fee, generally at a lower rate than most loans. This prevents the
office from having to drag out A/R and helps patients say yes to
recommended procedures.
Have you used this or offered a similar loan service in your O&P
practice? I will post responses anonymously.
Randy McFarland, CPO Fullerton, CA
Responses:
My practice signed on with CareCredit over 1 year ago. I heard about it
from John Michael during one of his presentations at a conference. We
offer it to any patient that may have to pay out of pocket in full or if
they have a copay. The service unloads the burden of extending credit
and payment is made in 1-2 days by ACH transfer. The fee is a small
price to pay to reduce the worry about collections.
Care Credit has been advertising to the OP field for some time. They are
a very helpful resource for patients who have co-pays and other reasons
for a portion to pay of the services we provide. It is also a great way
to allow patients to obtain their own funding, rather than OP facilities
functioning as lending institutions and accepting payments long term. We
offer this option regularly to patients in our office.
Yes, it seems to help patients and providers.
Also check Capital one and other major credit card companies as they
seem to all have similar programs and at better rates. You can negotiate
your rates and fee as well (considering that we do expensive single
ticket items and not hundreds of smaller ones)
We offer Care Credit to our patients and they seem to appreciate it.
Patients usually choose the three-month interest free option. Instead
of offering self-pay patients a discount, we pay the interest fee for
the three-month period.
We have used Care Credit often or co-pays and other balances. We no
longer carry balances for patients. We offer them bank cards or care
credit. If they will not or cannot qualify for care credit, do we want,
as O&P providers to get into the business of loaning money? Care Credit
is a good deal for them. They can finance care for no interest as long
as they make their payments on time. My wife had Lasix surgery a couple
of years ago for $4200. When given the option of paying it out over 18
months with no interest, I jumped on to it! I do advise patients to make
the payments on time ( if they don't it reverts to 29% APR, OUICH!)
Ugly as it sounds, we are professionals who provide a needed service. We
should be paid for that service! If you have a dog or cat, have you
taken it it a vet lately? They demand their money before you get your
pet back! Our margins have dropped past the point where we can forgive
co-pays.
Ours is a business that must maintain a profit, or we won't be there
tomorrow!
Any of the fine print I have read, reveals that the healthcare provider
underwrites a lower interest rate with some hefty fees, or whatever term
they may use, for paying the Financing expense. Not unlike the car
dealers underwriting low or no interest loans.
We have used for about 12 months. Very good alternative. Highly
recommend it.
My office has used Care Credit quite successfully for about a year and
it seems to be a win-win. Our patients opt for the No Interest Plan.
This makes our services affordable for patients who otherwise might not
be able to obtain the care they need. GO FOR IT!
We have a contract with the company. To the best of my knowledge we
haven't had a client
approved for a loan by Care Credit.
We have used Care Credit for some time now and it has proved very
successful. It takes a lot of pressure off the administrators and makes
the collecting of co-pays much more straightforward. Patients can get
approved in a matter of minutes and I believe they offer interest free
options also. The key is for the patient to pay off their balance
promptly to avoid interest charges (just like your Home Depot card!)
look forward to reading the responses you receive on this subject. I
have looked into one such service but had reservations about placing it
in my lobby, or actually suggesting it as a credit source. The interest
rates did not seem to be a lower rate than most loans, and were in fact
higher than any credit card rates I've seen lately. I would especially
like to hear about any such service or plan that offers a low,
competitive rate.
We offer Care Credit to patients. It doesn't take very long for them to
be approved (or denied) and I usually have an answer before we finish
the
evaluation. Cash flow is always a bugger in this field. Anything that
helps is most welcome.
I've used Care Credit for a number of my patients and it seems to work
well
for both the facility and the patient. There are enough payment options
that
the patient can make payments easily and we do not end up as the bank.
We
tried a different company before but it did not work out. We have so far
had
only good results when patients use this service. I have had patients
use it
for long term payments of 48 months as well as short term, interest free
for
under 6 months.
We offer the Care Credit program in our office and have found it to be
useful for some of our patients. Unfortunately, the people who usually
need the financing the most do not qualify for the program because of
poor credit history or lack of income.
When we do use it, the payments are very fast and the fees are an
acceptable trade off to doing a long drawn out payment plan in house. I
also appreciate that it is a no recourse program, so if the patient
defaults on the agreement with Care Credit they don't take our money
back.
We signed up with CareCredit about 9 months ago. A few patients have
signed on with it; very few. We actually had one patient who already
had an account. Dealing with CareCredit has been as little trouble as a
credit card and we received payment as promptly. Most of the patients we
have presented CareCredit to, don't seem to be interested.
We have been signed up for about a year. They have yet to approve ONE
person.
I was the pilot office in FL to try CareCredit. It's a great tool to
have, however what we found was with most of our pts, if they couldn't
come up with the 20%, chances were they wouldn't qualify for care
credit. We still have opportunities to use it, and it comes in handy.
We are getting ready to set that up at our office. In the past we have
carried our own A/R and it is not fun. I personally don't believe in
credit cards, but this appears to be a pretty legit company. I think
that OPGA recommends us using it. If you have any questions contact Jim
Andreasen at www.opga.com if you are not a member you should be!
Care Credit is the name of a company that fronts funds to dental
offices for their services and lets the patients spread the payments out
for a fee, generally at a lower rate than most loans. This prevents the
office from having to drag out A/R and helps patients say yes to
recommended procedures.
Have you used this or offered a similar loan service in your O&P
practice? I will post responses anonymously.
Randy McFarland, CPO Fullerton, CA
Responses:
My practice signed on with CareCredit over 1 year ago. I heard about it
from John Michael during one of his presentations at a conference. We
offer it to any patient that may have to pay out of pocket in full or if
they have a copay. The service unloads the burden of extending credit
and payment is made in 1-2 days by ACH transfer. The fee is a small
price to pay to reduce the worry about collections.
Care Credit has been advertising to the OP field for some time. They are
a very helpful resource for patients who have co-pays and other reasons
for a portion to pay of the services we provide. It is also a great way
to allow patients to obtain their own funding, rather than OP facilities
functioning as lending institutions and accepting payments long term. We
offer this option regularly to patients in our office.
Yes, it seems to help patients and providers.
Also check Capital one and other major credit card companies as they
seem to all have similar programs and at better rates. You can negotiate
your rates and fee as well (considering that we do expensive single
ticket items and not hundreds of smaller ones)
We offer Care Credit to our patients and they seem to appreciate it.
Patients usually choose the three-month interest free option. Instead
of offering self-pay patients a discount, we pay the interest fee for
the three-month period.
We have used Care Credit often or co-pays and other balances. We no
longer carry balances for patients. We offer them bank cards or care
credit. If they will not or cannot qualify for care credit, do we want,
as O&P providers to get into the business of loaning money? Care Credit
is a good deal for them. They can finance care for no interest as long
as they make their payments on time. My wife had Lasix surgery a couple
of years ago for $4200. When given the option of paying it out over 18
months with no interest, I jumped on to it! I do advise patients to make
the payments on time ( if they don't it reverts to 29% APR, OUICH!)
Ugly as it sounds, we are professionals who provide a needed service. We
should be paid for that service! If you have a dog or cat, have you
taken it it a vet lately? They demand their money before you get your
pet back! Our margins have dropped past the point where we can forgive
co-pays.
Ours is a business that must maintain a profit, or we won't be there
tomorrow!
Any of the fine print I have read, reveals that the healthcare provider
underwrites a lower interest rate with some hefty fees, or whatever term
they may use, for paying the Financing expense. Not unlike the car
dealers underwriting low or no interest loans.
We have used for about 12 months. Very good alternative. Highly
recommend it.
My office has used Care Credit quite successfully for about a year and
it seems to be a win-win. Our patients opt for the No Interest Plan.
This makes our services affordable for patients who otherwise might not
be able to obtain the care they need. GO FOR IT!
We have a contract with the company. To the best of my knowledge we
haven't had a client
approved for a loan by Care Credit.
We have used Care Credit for some time now and it has proved very
successful. It takes a lot of pressure off the administrators and makes
the collecting of co-pays much more straightforward. Patients can get
approved in a matter of minutes and I believe they offer interest free
options also. The key is for the patient to pay off their balance
promptly to avoid interest charges (just like your Home Depot card!)
look forward to reading the responses you receive on this subject. I
have looked into one such service but had reservations about placing it
in my lobby, or actually suggesting it as a credit source. The interest
rates did not seem to be a lower rate than most loans, and were in fact
higher than any credit card rates I've seen lately. I would especially
like to hear about any such service or plan that offers a low,
competitive rate.
We offer Care Credit to patients. It doesn't take very long for them to
be approved (or denied) and I usually have an answer before we finish
the
evaluation. Cash flow is always a bugger in this field. Anything that
helps is most welcome.
I've used Care Credit for a number of my patients and it seems to work
well
for both the facility and the patient. There are enough payment options
that
the patient can make payments easily and we do not end up as the bank.
We
tried a different company before but it did not work out. We have so far
had
only good results when patients use this service. I have had patients
use it
for long term payments of 48 months as well as short term, interest free
for
under 6 months.
We offer the Care Credit program in our office and have found it to be
useful for some of our patients. Unfortunately, the people who usually
need the financing the most do not qualify for the program because of
poor credit history or lack of income.
When we do use it, the payments are very fast and the fees are an
acceptable trade off to doing a long drawn out payment plan in house. I
also appreciate that it is a no recourse program, so if the patient
defaults on the agreement with Care Credit they don't take our money
back.
We signed up with CareCredit about 9 months ago. A few patients have
signed on with it; very few. We actually had one patient who already
had an account. Dealing with CareCredit has been as little trouble as a
credit card and we received payment as promptly. Most of the patients we
have presented CareCredit to, don't seem to be interested.
We have been signed up for about a year. They have yet to approve ONE
person.
I was the pilot office in FL to try CareCredit. It's a great tool to
have, however what we found was with most of our pts, if they couldn't
come up with the 20%, chances were they wouldn't qualify for care
credit. We still have opportunities to use it, and it comes in handy.
We are getting ready to set that up at our office. In the past we have
carried our own A/R and it is not fun. I personally don't believe in
credit cards, but this appears to be a pretty legit company. I think
that OPGA recommends us using it. If you have any questions contact Jim
Andreasen at www.opga.com if you are not a member you should be!
Citation
Randy McFarland, “Loans for patients RESPONSES,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 2, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/228744.
