Eight payments in, three missed
Many families pay for orthodontic treatment by monthly instalments over the course of treatment. Payments are collected by direct debit or card through a payment provider. Most run smoothly. Some fail: a new bank card, a changed account, a tight month.
The failure appears on the provider's dashboard. If nobody checks, the practice only learns months later, perhaps at debond, that the family is several payments behind. Now the conversation is harder for everyone.
Practices that collect through more than one route, with some families on direct debit, some paying by card and some through a finance provider, have the problem several times over, because each route reports failures in its own place.
Why failed instalments go unnoticed
- The payment provider and the practice management system do not share information.
- Failures are few each month and easy to overlook.
- Treatment is long, so arrears accumulate slowly.
- Nobody owns checking failures and contacting families.
- Reception does not know about arrears when the family comes in.
What quiet arrears cost
Unpaid fees, obviously. But also awkward conversations late in treatment, when a family discovers they owe more than they thought. Staff time spent reconciling at year end. And a relationship strained over something that a friendly message in month three would have fixed.
Long treatments add a particular wrinkle. The adult who set up the plan at the start may not be the one bringing the child now, and family circumstances can change over a long course. A failure message that reaches the right person early avoids a lot of misunderstanding.
The payment plan tracking we build
- We connect to your payment provider, for example GoCardless or Stripe, through its API or webhooks, and receive each successful and failed payment as it happens.
- Each payment plan is linked to the patient, the treatment and the total fee in your practice management system.
- When a payment fails, the family gets a message in your wording with a secure link to update their details. The provider's retry is used where available.
- If a payment is still unpaid after a period you set, the treatment coordinator gets a task with the plan history.
- Reception sees a note the day before the family's next appointment if the account is behind.
- A view shows every active plan, what has been paid, what remains and any arrears, so there are no surprises at debond.
| Event | What happens |
|---|---|
| Payment succeeds | Recorded against the plan |
| Payment fails | Message to family, retry scheduled |
| Still unpaid | Coordinator task with history |
| Appointment coming | Reception note if behind |
| Plan complete | Marked paid in full |
What happens to treatment when payments stop is your practice's decision and depends on your terms. We do not advise on credit or collections.
Plans that stay current
Most failures are fixed by the family using the link within days. Coordinators deal only with the few that are not. Reception is never caught out at the desk. And at debond the account position is already clear.
Plans that end early, for example when a patient transfers out or treatment finishes ahead of schedule, are also easier to settle, because the practice can see exactly what was paid and what is outstanding against the agreed fee.
Year end is simpler too, because the plan list and the payment provider agree, and anything that does not match has already been dealt with during the year.
Is this your payment plan situation?
- You find out about arrears late in treatment.
- Failed payment reports are not checked regularly.
- Reception does not know when a family is behind.
- Reconciling payment plans takes time at year end.