Dental practices have struggled for years to provide financing options to patients with moderate to low credit scores.
As a result, many patients simply cannot afford necessary dental treatments and often go without care. Or, many patients who would be approved with traditional options don’t want to apply for a medical credit card just to get their dental care. During a webinar hosted by Becker's Dental + DSO Review and sponsored by Sunbit, four industry leaders discussed a new, streamlined approach to financing that is expanding access to dental care.
Panelists were:
- Ryan Heroy, COO, BDG Dental Services (Las Vegas)
- Amy Eveland, COO, The Smile Group (Hudgins, Va.)
- Jay Letwat, Executive Director of Business Development, Sunbit
- Tim Tursonoff, CEO, Alfa Dental Management (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Four insights:
1. Formany dental practices, many patients seeking financing are declined by prime lenders. According to Mr. Heroy, only 35 to 40 percent of his organization's customers who apply for financing are approved by prime lenders. Mr. Tursonoff reported that his organization's numbers were even worse; the average approval rate in some of his offices was as low as 22 to 24 percent. Mr. Letwat explained that many people in the United States do not have high enough credit scores to qualify as prime patients. "Then, you have lenders that cater only to the subprime market," he said. "They typically have onerous processes and sky-high fees and interest rates.
2. The current financing application process is time-consuming and uncomfortable for patients and staff. "Previously, it could take 30 minutes to an hour for our staff to work out some sort of payment arrangement before patients could get their treatment," Ms. Eveland Paperwork was cumbersome and asked questions about income levels and other invasive questions that many patients were not comfortable sharing during a dental visit. Then, after the application was completed, office staff often tried both prime and subprime lenders on behalf of patients. "Sometimes, they get denied for both and we never see those patients again," Mr. Heroy said.
3. Sunbit's solution offers a simple application process, approves over 85 percent of patients and provides flexible payment options. The staff scans the patient's government-issued ID, the system is automatically populated with information, a soft credit check is performed and patients are offered payment plans ranging from 6 months to 72 months within seconds. "We're able to approve a wide spectrum of folks from super prime all the way down to subprime," Mr. Letwat "We want to present a 30-second solution to get approved and get patients on their way to the dentist chair, getting the care they need. That's how it should be."
4. Dental staff see Sunbit's solution as an excellent way to help patients. "Because Sunbit financing is so easy, the staff tend to offer it between two to four times more than prior solutions," Mr. Letwat "The fact that no hard credit check is done is very appealing to the staff. They're excited to talk to the patients to show them how we can help them get their treatment done."
The Smile group has been using Sunbit for only seven months but has seen amazing results. "We've been able to help 165 patients who were subprime whom we would never have been able to help in the past," Ms. Eveland said. "The revenue was $252,000; that's income the business wouldn't have gotten and treatment that patients wouldn't have been able to receive."
By offering an easy-to-use, one-stop-shop financing solution, Sunbit enables dental practices around the country to help more patients get the treatment they need with an affordable way to pay.
Learn more about Sunbit by visiting sunbit.com/dental.
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