12 Ways Dental Practices Benefit from Accepting Credit Cards

Competition among dental practices is fierce and practices like yours need to set themselves apart. But how? You can do this through payments. Most dental practice managers are surprised to discover that patient payment options can help differentiate one practice from another. And now with patients responsible for a larger chunk of the bill, they will be more satisfied at checkout if the form of payment they want to use is accepted at the practice.

Dental practices that accommodate patients by accepting credit and debit cards and digital wallets enjoy stronger loyalty, and likely more referrals. Unhappy patients can affect your reputation and bottom line by writing negative reviews about your practice or advocate switching to another dentist. Why risk frustrating patients and having them move to a competitor? Broaden your payment acceptance options with TSYS®.

Here are 12 ways dental practices can benefit from credit card processing with TSYS:

1. Collect more payments at time of service. Practices that accept credit cards increase the chance of being paid the balance in full at checkout.

2. Improve the patient experience. Paying is part of the patient experience. When a patient’s preferred form of payment is not accepted, their satisfaction can plummet. Keep patients happy and outfit your practice with the equipment and payment capabilities to accept whatever form of payment a patient presents.

3. Reduce errors. The acceptance of credit cards through your payment management system can eliminate dual entry of payment data by staff and, in turn, decreases errors.

4. Give patients more time to pay. Offer patients automatic payment plans. Through your PMS, you can set up a recurring payment plan secured by the patient’s credit card. Having more time to pay creates goodwill. Your practice receives steady payments on outstanding balances while reducing collection expenses.

5. Keep payments in focus as you manage your online reputation. When patients try to use mobile tap-and-pay and are told that you don’t accept it, you are not meeting their expectations. An Online Review report by Pew Research Center indicates that one in ten Americans almost always post reviews. No practice can afford the risk of 10% of their patients posting a negative review, which again is why it’s important to accept various forms of payment.

6. Boost receivables. Make it easier for patients to pay when and how they want and realize an increase in payments on current and past due balances.

7. Turn checks into immediate payment. Convert personal checks into electronic transactions for ACH processing. Get funds deposited faster and cut the number of bank runs.

8. Provide your patients with payment options. Whether it’s checkout time or night time, give patients the ability to pay in person (card-present), with digital wallet using smartphone (contactless) and online (card-not-present). This demonstrates your commitment to serving your patients’ needs in and out of the office.

9. Improve efficiency. TSYS can set up your practice with multiple workstation access to customized reports and patient payment data.

10. Options. Options. Options. No matter the size of your practice, we have point-of-sale terminals, online options mobile and other equipment choices that suit your needs.

11. Increase patient satisfaction by anticipating their payment needs. Be ready to accept HSA and FSA cards in the office and online.

12. Security never takes a backseat. Advanced risk mitigation and fraud monitoring tools by TSYS help keep sensitive data secure. We are fully PCI compliant and offer data breach protection.

People have many choices when it comes to dental care, but your patients chose you. Demonstrate your commitment to them by being ready to accept all forms of payment. At TSYS, we can help your practice meet the growing payment needs of your patients. Talk to a TSYS payments specialist today.

TSYS is a leader in the payment processing industry with an excellent reputation and an A+ rating for customer satisfaction from the Better Business Bureau. We serve over 37,000 healthcare providers and deliver 24/7, U.S.-based customer service and support.