Providing patients with flexible payment options enhances their experience and ensures timely treatment. PbN offers robust tools for creating and managing payment plans tailored to patient needs. Practices can use built-in payment plan options or customize their own, offering "Pay in Full" discount plans or "Installment" plans. These plans improve patient satisfaction and help practices efficiently collect payment for services.
Why Use Payment Plans?
PbN's payment plans are designed to benefit both patients and practices:
Increase Case Acceptance: Patients are more likely to proceed with treatment when offered flexible payment solutions.
Enhance Cash Flow: Payment plans ensure timely collection of payments, whether upfront or incrementally.
Simplify Administration: Automated tracking and reminders reduce manual follow-ups, saving time and resources.
Built-in Payment Plan Options
PbN includes default payment plan templates that practices can edit to fit their needs. These templates serve as a starting point and can be modified to reflect the practice’s specific financial policies.
Creating Custom Payment Plans
Practices can create custom payment plans by selecting either:
Pay in Full: This is ideal for offering patients a discount if they settle the full treatment amount upfront.
Installments: Perfect for breaking down the treatment cost into manageable monthly payments, making it easier for practices to secure consistent revenue streams.
Steps to Create a Payment Plan:
Navigate to the Plan Options section in the Payments tab.
Click Create Plan and select either Pay in Full or Installments.
Fill in the required fields and configure the settings as described below.
Configuring Payment Plan Settings
When creating or editing a payment plan, practices can customize several key settings:
Pay in Full Plans
Plan Title: Clearly define the plan’s name (e.g., "10% Discount Pay in Full").
Discount: Specify the percentage or flat value discount offered for upfront payments.
Override Options: Allow for minimum and maximum discount limits if overrides are permitted.
Offering Pay in Full plans ensures practices can immediately collect full payment for services while rewarding patients with a discount.
Installment Plans
Plan Title: Add a descriptive title (e.g., "12-Month Installment Plan").
Number of Installments: Define the number and frequency (e.g., 12 monthly payments).
Discount: Optionally apply a discount for installments.
Management Fees: Set a percentage or fixed value as a management fee, calculated from the remaining or total cost.
Downpayment: Specify if a downpayment is required and adjust its percentage or fixed value.
Override Options: Allow minimum and maximum ranges for discounts, fees, and down payments.
Installment plans help practices collect payments incrementally, ensuring consistent cash flow while allowing patients to budget for their treatments.
Advanced Treatment Plan Controls
Practices can further refine the applicability of plans with these controls:
Eligibility: Toggle availability for Fee-for-Service (FFS) patients or those with attached insurance.
Treatment Plan Range: Set the minimum and maximum treatment plan value for which the payment plan is available.
Exclusions:
Exclude specific insurance plans.
Exclude patients with specific tags, such as "Collections" or "VIP."
How Payment Plans Help Practices Collect Payments
PbN's payment plans ensure practices can reliably collect payments for services rendered. Here’s how they help:
Upfront Payments: The Pay in Full plan offers a discount to patients who pay the full amount upfront. This approach eliminates the need for follow-ups on outstanding balances and ensures immediate revenue.
Structured Installments: For patients who prefer flexibility, installment plans provide a clear, structured payment schedule. Practices can automate payment collection, reducing the administrative burden of manually tracking and reminding patients about due amounts.
Downpayments: Setting an initial downpayment ensures that practices collect a portion of the treatment cost upfront, demonstrating patient commitment to the treatment plan.
Management Fees: Adding a management fee helps offset the cost of administering installment plans, ensuring that practices remain financially secure.
Automation and Tracking: PbN automatically tracks payment schedules, sends reminders, and notifies practices of any overdue payments, minimizing missed payments and enhancing efficiency.
By offering payment plans tailored to patients’ financial needs, practices can increase case acceptance, reduce payment delays, and maintain a steady cash flow.
Managing Payment Plans
Once created, all active and inactive payment plans are listed in the Plan Options section. From here, practices can:
Edit existing plans.
Activate or deactivate plans.
Delete outdated plans.
Duplicate plans for quicker customization.
PbN payment plans empower practices to offer financial flexibility to patients while ensuring timely payment collection. Whether through upfront discounts or structured installments, these tools simplify payment management and improve patient satisfaction.