How should a dental practice handle patients who genuinely cannot afford treatment?
Respectfully and quickly. Patients who have no financial path to your treatment deserve clarity, not strung-out hope. Charity cases happen at your discretion and on terms you set. Outside of that, the work is to design qualifying steps that let these patients exit the funnel themselves before the doctor’s chairside time is consumed. Diagnostic fees do this well. Fee-discussion strategies do this well. Both let the patient make the decision rather than the practice. The question ‘what are we going to do about patients without money’ is the wrong question. Other businesses selling expensive goods do not ask it. Focus your time on the patients who can move forward.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.