Creating a Patient Partnership

The financial conversation is one of the most important dialogues you and your team will have with a patient. We know dentistry can be expensive and often patients don’t understand cost, how their benefits work, or the value of recommended treatment. That’s why we work hard to be authentic and transparent while building a partnership with patients.

Step One: Create Teams

We want patients to have one consistent advocate for their dental health, so we designate one person on our team — called an admin — to be responsible for each patient because it creates synergy between the patient and our practice. This way patients don’t need to talk to different people about treatment, cost, or payment options. For instance, if patients ask me about cost during the exam, I let them know that their admin will review the treatment plan, see if there are relevant insurance benefits, and work out the financial arrangements, including the use of a financing provider such as CareCredit. I don’t avoid the question, but we like to separate the clinical from the cost conversations.

Step Two: An Efficient Handoff

The key is training all of our team members to interact with patients and each other in a streamlined way. We’re specific about what we call the “handoff.” It’s critical that the admin has all of the detailed patient information including the patient’s urgency, objectives, lifestyle, work schedule, and more so the admin can have an effective conversation about treatment planning and financial arrangements. In our practice, we also employ visual aids during financial conversations. The software we use prints out a treatment plan with teeth diagrams and a list of the treatment per appointment — so it’s not just a laundry list of prices.

Step Three: No Surprises

Patients don’t appreciate surprises when it comes to their mouths or money. We know many patients put off needed dentistry due to fears about cost. So, we make sure to acknowledge there may be out-of-pocket costs and to offer payment solutions. This conversation takes place as the appointment is set and insurance is verified. If a patient is new or a treatment is new to a returning patient, we discuss financial logistics when the treatment is initially presented. How we structure a financial arrangement with a patient depends on the scope and size of the treatment. If it’s a limited treatment — maybe one or two appointments — the financial arrangement is discussed in whole because we like to schedule all treatments in sequence. The financial arrangements are typically discussed for each appointment. If the treatment plan is much larger, then it may take more time and a different conversation can occur. It may also be appropriate to suggest a third party, such as CareCredit.

Step Four: Cost Conversations

Informed patients can make decisions in the best interests of their oral and financial health. First, it’s important patients understand the value of treatment. If they don’t value the care, it won’t matter what it costs because they won’t move forward. During the treatment and fee discussion, we use open-ended questions to confirm that patients have all questions answered and understand what treatment entails, the benefits they can expect, and what may happen if they delay or decline care.

With the information obtained during the handoff, the admin has a sense of where the patient is in terms of payment preference, but we almost always offer financing as an option. After admins clarify the cost of treatment per appointment as well as total cost, they let patients know they can pay over the course of appointments or use third-party financing options such as the CareCredit credit card. It may sound something like, “Mr. Brown, the treatment Dr. Ong is recommending is $3,200. Your benefits contribute $1,000 to the cost of your care. To help make the balance of $2,200 manageable, we accept major credit cards and the CareCredit credit card.” Finally, we make securing and keeping their appointment as easy as possible.

From Decisions in Dentistry. May/June 2025;11(3):22.