Oral health is essential for good overall health, which is why the Optima team are advocates for any product or service that can assist in making dental care affordable and attainable for as many individuals as possible.
Over our 28 years of industry experience, we have seen a shift in the focus to more convenient, customer-centric operations that improve health outcomes. Dental payment systems especially are continuing to evolve and are becoming a big part of this growing trend.
The complexities of running a dental practice can be challenging, particularly in the current market. Competition is tough, and costs are ever-increasing. In such times, its important to align oneself with industry partners that are committed to your success. MediPay is one such partner.
MediPay is a specialist provider of lending and payment solutions, combining smart tech with a wealth of experience in the dental sector. The company delivers innovative products and superior service, one of which is its patient finance solution. The MediPay Payment plan has seen significant uptake over the past couple of years, resonating with both patients and practitioners. We speak with Jack Meagher from MediPay, who explains how you can make use of this tool to simply and easily increase treatment plan acceptance and grow your practice.
Q: What is the MediPay Payment Plan?
A: MediPay was established with the aim of assisting dental practitioners grow their practice by increasing treatment plan acceptance. We do this by providing payment plans for any dental treatments over $2,000 and up to as much as $30,000.
We firmly believe that, as the dentist, you should be able to provide the treatment necessary for your patients without affordability being an obstacle.
Q: How does MediPay differ from other financial providers?
A: The MediPay payment plan assists with affordability and access to treatment for your patients, while providing you with the peace of mind that you are going to receive payment upfront and in full without any administrative hassle.
“MediPay pays you the practitioner directly, in full and does not charge any administration or merchant fee”- Jack Meagher, MediPay.
Q: What do dentists need to do to enjoy the benefits of MediPay?
A: All dental practitioners need to do to start offering MediPay as a payment solution is refer their patients to medipay.com.au. The patient fills out our eligibility form and within seconds will know if they are eligible to apply.
Once the application is submitted, a decision is provided within 60 minutes. Once approved the funds are made available same day. It’s that simple.
Q: What is the term of the MediPay payment plan?
A: Our plans are structured to be repaid in full over 48 months. However, patients have the flexibility to pay off their payment plan at any time with no penalties.
Q: Why have you structured the MediPay payment plan over 48 months?
A: We believe that 48 months is a good balance between providing the borrower with a low payment amount per cycle (i.e. per fortnight or month) versus the cost of the interest over the full term of the loan. The longer the term of the loan, the more expensive the interest payments become for the borrower.
Q: Why not offer ‘interest free’ type products like others in the market?
A: We have specifically stayed away from offering an ‘interest free’ type of loan as we believe some of the products are potentially a debt trap for borrowers and often the practitioner bears the cost of the interest free period. With MediPay, for the duration of the loan, the borrower pays both principal and interest payments on each repayment so that they are debt free after 48 months.
Q: Why do you say they are potentially a ‘debt trap’?
A: Interest-free products typically have an agreed period in which to repay in full or in part. This means if the borrower doesn’t pay the debt within the agreed period they will start to incur interest costs, which can be punitive.
With some credit cards for example, assuming the borrower only meets the minimum repayments it could take up to 18 years to pay off the facility. This becomes a very expensive option, and with the financial pressure on families it’s easy to fall into the trap of making the minimum repayment per month.
MediPay’s repayment schedule requires the loan to be repaid within 48 months which helps with budgeting and financial management.
Q: What is the best interest rate you offer?
A: Our interest rate is risk-based which we believe is a fair way to assess a borrower and allows MediPay to provide payment plans for a wider range of patients. This means that people who are an excellent or very good credit risk get the benefit of lower pricing. The interest rate for people who are assessed as an excellent credit risk is 11.95% p.a. (comparison rate 13.51%) – you can see our website for more details.
Q: Are there any upfront costs?
A: There is no requirement for a deposit and we do not charge a fee for applying.
We charge a documentation fee that is added to the loan amount should the borrower take up the loan. In other words, the fee is only charged once the patient proceeds with the payment plan.
Q: To sum it up for us, why should dental practitioners consider MediPay?
A: MediPay is dedicated to the dental community and have created a payment plan based on the community’s needs – zero cost to the dental practitioner and fair and easy payment plans for the patient.
As part of Optima’s involvement in helping practices to provide high quality, professional dentistry, we support MediPay and the role it plays in making dental care both excellent and accessible for everyone.
To find out more about Medi Pay please call 1300 810 950 or email [email protected], or if you would like to get in contact with the Optima team please fill out our contact form here.
