Payment Processing Solutions for Dentists That Work With Your Existing Practice Software
Dental practices depend on specialized software to manage appointments, patient records, treatment plans, insurance, billing, and day-to-day office operations. Once a dental office has built its workflow around a particular practice-management or scheduling system, changing that software can be disruptive, expensive, and time-consuming.
Fortunately, upgrading your payment processing does not necessarily mean replacing the software your team already knows.
The right payment processing solution can work alongside—or, where supported, integrate directly with—your existing dental practice software, giving patients more convenient ways to pay while helping your front-office team reduce manual work.
Your Dental Software and Payment Processor Should Work Together
Dental practices have payment requirements that are different from many traditional retail businesses.
A patient may owe a copay at the time of an appointment, receive a remaining balance after an insurance claim is processed, make payments toward a larger treatment plan, or need to pay an outstanding balance weeks after leaving the office.
That means a dental office may need to accept payments in several different ways, including:
- In-person credit and debit card payments
- Online payments
- Electronic invoices
- Secure payment links
- Recurring payments
- Cards securely stored on file
- Payment plans
- Virtual terminal payments taken by authorized staff
Modern dental practice-management systems increasingly connect scheduling, billing, patient accounts, and payments. Your payment solution should complement that infrastructure rather than unnecessarily forcing your practice to rebuild it.
Keep the Scheduling and Practice Software Your Staff Already Knows
Imagine that your office has spent years configuring its scheduling system, treatment workflows, patient database, insurance procedures, and staff processes.
Switching all of that simply because you want a different credit card processor rarely makes sense.
A better approach is to determine whether a payment gateway or processor can connect with the systems you already use.
Depending on the capabilities of the practice-management platform, integration may allow payment information to move between the payment system and patient account without requiring employees to repeatedly enter the same information.
The exact integration capabilities depend on the dental software, gateway, processor, API availability, and configuration of the practice.
Reduce Double Entry at the Front Desk
Consider what happens when payment processing is completely disconnected from the rest of the practice.
A staff member may have to locate the patient’s balance, manually enter an amount into a terminal, process the transaction, return to the practice-management software, record the payment, and later reconcile the transactions.
Every additional manual step creates another opportunity for an incorrect amount, missed posting, or reconciliation problem.
With the right integration, some of those steps can potentially be automated. Integrated payment systems may be able to send transaction amounts to terminals and post completed payments back to patient ledgers, reducing duplicate data entry.
For a busy dental practice processing dozens of patient payments every day, eliminating even a few unnecessary steps per transaction can make front-desk operations significantly more efficient.
Collect Payments After the Patient Leaves the Office
Not every balance is known when a patient checks out.
Insurance adjustments, treatment changes, deductibles, and other factors can leave a remaining patient balance after the appointment.
Instead of relying entirely on mailed statements and telephone calls, dental practices can use electronic payment tools to make it easier for patients to resolve outstanding balances.
For example, a practice may be able to send an electronic invoice or secure payment link by text or email. The patient can review the amount and make a payment without calling the office or returning in person.
Making payment convenient does not just improve the patient experience. It can also reduce the amount of staff time devoted to chasing outstanding balances.
Payment Plans for Larger Dental Procedures
Dentistry also creates another challenge: many procedures represent a substantial out-of-pocket expense.
Implants, crowns, bridges, orthodontics, dentures, cosmetic procedures, and extensive restorative work can create balances that patients may not want—or be able—to pay in one transaction.
Depending on the payment solution and applicable rules, practices may have access to recurring payment functionality or third-party financing options.
Practices considering their own extended financing arrangements should also review applicable federal and state consumer-finance requirements before offering in-house payment plans.
Securely Store Payment Credentials for Future Payments
For practices with repeat patients, securely storing a payment method through a compliant tokenized system can also simplify future transactions.
Instead of keeping card numbers in notes, spreadsheets, paper files, or other inappropriate locations, the payment gateway can tokenize the payment credentials where supported.
That can be useful for recurring arrangements and authorized future payments while reducing the need for staff members to handle raw card information.
A modern dental payment environment should be designed around both convenience and appropriate payment-security practices.
Better Payment Processing Without Rebuilding Your Practice
When evaluating a payment processor, dentists should look beyond the advertised transaction rate.
Ask what the processor can actually do for the practice.
- Can it work with your current dental software?
- Can it connect to your existing workflow?
- Can patients pay remotely?
- Can your staff send electronic invoices?
- Are recurring payments available?
- Can transactions be reconciled efficiently?
- What happens when your office needs technical support?
Those operational questions can be just as important as the processing rate.
The objective should be to create a payment workflow that fits into the way your dental practice already operates—not force your practice to change everything simply to accommodate its payment processor.
How Cobalt Payments Can Help Dental Practices
Cobalt Payments can work with dental practices to evaluate their existing payment environment and determine which payment-processing and gateway options are compatible with the software and workflows they already use.
Rather than beginning with the assumption that your practice needs an entirely new scheduling or management platform, the process can begin with a simpler question:
What software does your dental office already use, and how can we make payments work better with it?
Depending on the software and available integrations, Cobalt can help evaluate solutions for in-office card acceptance, payment gateways, virtual terminals, electronic invoicing, payment links, recurring transactions, and other payment-processing requirements.
For dental groups with multiple offices, Cobalt can also help evaluate a payment architecture that provides individual locations with the tools they need while giving management better visibility across the organization.
The goal is straightforward: make getting paid easier without unnecessarily disrupting the systems your dental practice already depends on.
Talk to Cobalt About Your Dental Practice
If you are happy with your scheduling or dental practice-management software but want a better payment-processing solution, you do not necessarily have to start over.
Tell Cobalt Payments what software your practice currently uses and what you want to improve. We can evaluate the available payment and integration options and help determine an appropriate solution for your practice.
Whether you are looking for better in-office payment processing, electronic invoicing, recurring payments, remote payment options, or a gateway that can work with your existing technology, Cobalt Payments can help you build a payment setup around the way your dental office actually operates.
