Bridging the Gap: Compassionate Finance for Better Patient Care

In the years since the Great Recession, many dentists and dental specialists have noticed a disturbing trend. People reacted to the housing crisis, job losses, and stagnant interest rates by keeping a cushion in savings. It’s a rational decision, but it means that they’re no longer willing to tap into those savings to pay for necessary dental care. Many also struggle from paycheck to paycheck, worrying about paying their rent or mortgage, much less dental expenses. The results of this shift in priorities are higher costs and lost function down the line for the patients, and empty chairs and wasted office hours for the practitioners.

Compassionate Finance bridges this gap between the care your patients need and the amount they’re willing to pay at any one time. The company has created a new financing method that helps your patients afford the care that they need – without depleting their emergency funds. Compassionate Finance also covers dentist’s hard costs, mitigating his or her financial risk. With Compassionate Finance, you, not a third party, can decide who receives a flexible payment plan.  That means good patients who’ve already suffered from bad luck and ruined credit don’t have to live with dental problems.

Payment Worthy Patients

Dr. Bruce Baird, founder of Compassionate Finance and Productive Dentist Academy likes to draw a distinction between ‘Credit Worthy Patients’ and ‘Payment Worthy Patients.’ Credit worthy patients have great credit scores. Companies are falling over themselves to lend them money and they have no problem putting treatment on a credit card.  ‘Payment Worthy Patients’ may have had some tough breaks. They may have lost a job or had a medical issue that ruined their credit. But they’re honest people and they’re committed to paying their debts. They work with rent-to-own companies, make payments on their cars, and keep up with their mortgages. They can’t come up with a lot of money up front, but if you can find a way to offer them a different financial solution, they find a way to make monthly payments.

With Compassionate Finance, you can offer these patients payment plans. You, not some faceless accountant in a faraway office, can make decisions about who gets financing and treatment. Compassionate Finance handles the collections and patient relations, so you don’t have to be the bad guy if a patient misses a payment.

Michael D. Brown, the President and CEO of Compassionate Finance, took the time to talk with PDA about their service, their philosophy, and how they can help dental practitioners connect patients with necessary treatments.

What inspired you to offer this option to dentists and other medical practitioners?
Compassionate Finance was developed with one goal in mind; to make even the best care affordable for all patients.  It is our belief that the number one reason patients refuse treatment is cost of recommended treatment exceeds their ability to pay all at once.

By offering Compassionate Finance, practitioners now have a tool that benefits the practice by significantly increasing case acceptance while eliminating the fear of patients being rejected by traditional third-party financing. This alleviates stress for both the practice and the patient.

How do collections from Compassionate Finance compare to collections from other financing options?
The Compassionate process for ensuring payments are made is very different than traditional attempts at collections. We work with the patients to make sure they stay on track. Because of our approach, we maintain a positive relationship with the patient, resulting in over 97% of patients successfully paying off their obligation.

What happens if a patient is having trouble making payments?
Again, we work with the borrowers; many times, by changing their payment due date or delaying a payment for example, we are able to get them back on track. Along with constant communication like email reminders and text messages, we help keep them on track.

How has your service transformed practices?
The amount of positive feedback we receive from our practices on a weekly basis is enormous. To quote a recent article by Dr. Russell Schafer from NOLA Dentures, “The simple act of letting all my patients know we get them an affordable monthly payment through Compassionate Finance has led to a substantial increase in case acceptance for my practice.”

What’s your favorite story of a patient Compassionate Finance has helped get necessary treatment?
We get hundreds of calls a month by patients looking to find a Compassionate doctor. Just last week we received a call from a patient who was looking for a dentist who could improve their smile (a full mouth restoration). We helped locate a dentist near them that offered Compassionate and they were able to an appointment right away. The patient received $20k worth of treatment and got the smile they so desperately wanted with a payment they could afford.

How can partnering with Compassionate Finance help Productive Dentists meet their goals?
We have hundreds of productive dentists that already utilize Compassionate Finance. Most of them are looking to offer the very best dentistry and Compassionate Finance has proven to be a valuable tool at helping them obtain their financial and case acceptance goals. If you’re ready to increase production while connecting more patients with care, call 866-964-4727 for more information.  Mention PDA to get a discount on your enrollment. To stay in the loop about all the exciting things going on at Compassionate Finance, please like and follow us on Facebook.

Click here to learn more about how to give your patients the choices they need while making your business goals at a PDA Productivity Workshop.