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How does CareCredit work for dental offices?
- Thread starter Incis0r
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Care credit is basically like a medical credit card. A provider can sign up for an account or a patient can sign up on their own on carecredit's website. There are a few different options with carecredit the most offered being the interest free version. Usually, if approved for the card, you have he option to have up to 2 years to pay something off without paying interest on it. The catch is really for the provider: they pay the interest on the transaction. It sounds somewhat unbelievable but it's much better to pay CC $100 and have the patient pay you $1000 then not getting any money from the patient. It's a really great option for patients although most practices limit the "interest free time frame" to 12 months to avoid the practice paying more interest. I know a ton about this stuff so if you have any other questions let me know 
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Hm.. Maybe I misspoke or don't understand your question. Carecredit is a great option for people who can't afford their treatment (given that they are approved anyways.) If a patient is approved for 3500 and their treatment is $2000, as a provider you charge the patient's carecredit account for $2000 and then that money goes directly to you, the provider, while the patient has 12 months to pay off that $2000 interest free. I'm a firm believer in carecredit! Pushed it a lot while working at a dental office because it allows the patient to split a huge bill into small bills, and the provider is already prepaid for the treatment. I even used carecredit myself when I got lasik!
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It's not really interest payments so much as you charge the card $2000 and as an office you only receive $1900 (or something like that I don't remember the exact percentages.) It's still a very low rate and is definitely reasonable!
Hi, I know the thread is a little dated, but could you tell me if CareCredit can bill someone 'before' the procedure is performed? In other words, can someone choose not to go thru with a procedure and not be billed? Thanks!
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The best way to think of how Care Credit works for a dental office, is just like with a "regular" credit card (Mastercard/VISA/AMEX/etc) whenever my front desk swipes one of those as a patient pays for their procedure, the credit card company "charges" me a percentage of the fee the pateitn is having us charge their card with (in my office's case it's current 1.9%). The Credit Card Company then pays me the rest of the charged amount and the patient pays the credit card company the amount they had my office charge and possibly interest as well depending on how long it takes them to pay the credit card company the full amount charged.
Care Credit is exactly like that in essence. The patient "applies" to Care Credit for $X ahead of time (where $X is the amount of the proposed treatment plan that the patient's insurance won't cover, or above and beyond what they feel comfortable financially paying at that time). Care Credit will approve or deny their request for the loan they are taking out from care Credit to pay for their dental work. Based on a combo of the amount of the loan the patient is looking for, the length of time they want to pay the loan back to care Credit over, and the patient's credit history, will determine the payment terms that care Credit will offer the patient. My office has nothing to do with those final terms. My office will get paid the full amount, even if ultimately that patient defaults on their loan from care credit. Care Credit "makes" some money from me, in the form of the amount that they hold back from what we charge the patient and then "bill" the patients Care Credit account - this amount too can vary with the amount that the patient is approved for and charges, and then Care Credit, if it is an interest baring loan they issue to the patient also makes money from the patient.
In my office, Care Credit has been a very straightforward, GOOD program both for the business side of my practice and also the ability to deliver care to patients who may not be able to afford a larger sum at once. A win-win situation!
Care Credit is exactly like that in essence. The patient "applies" to Care Credit for $X ahead of time (where $X is the amount of the proposed treatment plan that the patient's insurance won't cover, or above and beyond what they feel comfortable financially paying at that time). Care Credit will approve or deny their request for the loan they are taking out from care Credit to pay for their dental work. Based on a combo of the amount of the loan the patient is looking for, the length of time they want to pay the loan back to care Credit over, and the patient's credit history, will determine the payment terms that care Credit will offer the patient. My office has nothing to do with those final terms. My office will get paid the full amount, even if ultimately that patient defaults on their loan from care credit. Care Credit "makes" some money from me, in the form of the amount that they hold back from what we charge the patient and then "bill" the patients Care Credit account - this amount too can vary with the amount that the patient is approved for and charges, and then Care Credit, if it is an interest baring loan they issue to the patient also makes money from the patient.
In my office, Care Credit has been a very straightforward, GOOD program both for the business side of my practice and also the ability to deliver care to patients who may not be able to afford a larger sum at once. A win-win situation!
