Costs Are Critical in the Patient Journey: Leverage CareCredit to Help Patients

When your patients or clients come to see you, you are undoubtedly focused on the best solutions for their health and wellness. However, they are thinking about a lot more than just the treatments and procedures that will benefit them.

They’re also likely trying to figure out how to make those treatments and procedures a reality, and with that comes thoughts about out-of-pocket expenses.

In addition to determining insurance logistics related to deductibles and patient responsibility for payment (if the care is even covered under insurance), patients and clients may also be deciding how to prioritize their health and wellness expenses against other financial needs, such as their regular bills, auto repair costs, upcoming vacations and more.

Additionally, with rising interest rates, inflation impacting everyday goods and services and rising healthcare costs, health and wellness patients and clients today have even more hurdles to overcome when it comes to paying for the care they want or need.

This is why it is critical for providers to understand how cost impacts the patient journey, or essentially how it impacts the decisions that patients make through each stage of their care experience, from the point they initially seek out health and wellness services to the delivery of care and after.

How to Use CareCredit to Help Patients and Clients Overcome Cost Concerns

So, what can you do as a provider to address the elephant in the exam room? If you accept the CareCredit credit card* at your clinic or practice, one option is to ensure that your patients or clients are properly informed about this flexible financing option. The ability to spread the cost out over time through budget-friendly monthly payments may be just what the patient or client needs to say “yes” to the care they are considering.

Here are three things to remember when telling your patients or clients about CareCredit:

1. Let every patient or client know that you accept the CareCredit credit card.

Don’t assume that some individuals may not be interested. Additionally, some people may simply prefer promotional financing over traditional payments so they can spread out their payments over time. Synchrony’s Lifetime of Healthcare Costs study found that 2 out of 3 millennials and Gen Xers prefer to pay for medical expenses over time through set, equal payments.¹

2. Talk about financing early.

A 2023 patient journey study by Synchrony found that 55% of patients prefer payment option discussions prior to scheduling their appointments and 33% prefer them at the time of scheduling. However, 77% of providers say those discussions happen at the appointment, while 45% say they happen after the appointment.²

Make sure your team is prepared to have cost and financing discussions with patients or clients at various stages of the patient journey, from initial calls when they set up an appointment to the consultation to checkout. Explore our tips for how and when to talk to patients and clients about financing.

3. Let patients know how easy it is to apply for a CareCredit credit card.

Or they can use their existing card for new health and wellness out-of-pocket expenses. You can inform them that:

• There’s no need to fill out paper forms — they can use a QR code or custom link right on their mobile phone to check if they prequalify, apply and make their first payment.

• They can see if they prequalify with no impact to their credit score.

• If approved, they can break up the cost into monthly payments with special financing on every qualifying purchase.*

Learn more about how CareCredit works for health and wellness practices so you and your team are prepared to have these discussions with patients or clients.

And if you want to begin offering CareCredit as a financing option at your clinic or practice, you can start the provider enrollment process by filling out this form.