Offering patient finance is all about choice

The acceptance of patient finance in the Australian dental market is continuing to gain momentum with a number of offerings now available that provide a range of choices to patients. Practices that have initially been dubious about offering finance plans have quickly discovered that their patients have no such hesitation about accepting high quality treatment and a means to pay for it over time.

"I'm absolutely petrified of the dentist and when I chipped a tooth, I kept putting off getting it fixed until the tooth started to discolour," said Tracy French from the Perth suburb of Beechboro.

"As I hadn't been to the dentist for several years and as a typical patient who has prolonged the inevitable, a great deal more work was required than just fixing the chipped tooth. In the end, I needed a total of seven white fillings and one extraction over three visits.

"My next thought was 'Oh great, now how am I going to pay for all this!' That's when I picked up the mediCHOICE brochure on the waiting room desk. This made it so easy. The process was brilliant and the staff very easy to deal with. I would not have got all the work done had I not had the option of the Interest Free period with the option of then spreading the payments over a further 12 months. The good part is that I really don't miss the monthly amount that comes out of my account," Ms French said.

Today's economic demands and the strict budgets that people set themselves ensure that every person who walks through your door could possibly benefit from being offered an easy payment plan. Research indicates that the average household debt is $45,218.00*. Paying debt is more economical than earning low interest rates so having $5,000 sitting in an everyday account is not an everyday event for most people.

Convenience was the major attraction for Barbara Cameron who lives in remote South Australia. From a finance point of view the Cameron family would be considered high net worth. However, the benefit of an easy application and quick turnaround enabled Mrs Cameron to have her crown and bridge work done immediately and without fuss.

"Living 50 kms from a bank would have meant taking a day out to arrange payment. Lombard's mediCHOICE was a great option," she said.

* Source. ABS 2003 Australian System of National Accounts.