April 16, 2025 • 18 mins
In this episode of the MGMA Business Solutions Podcast, host Daniel Williams welcomes back Claude Royster, VP and GM of Health and Wellness at CareCredit and Synchrony. Claude shares insights on how rising healthcare costs are impacting patient decision-making and practice operations. He highlights why evaluating in-house financing solutions and exploring third-party partnerships can be critical for improving access to care and easing administrative burdens.
Claude also discusses:
- Why one in two patients delay care due to cost
- What providers are saying about financial barriers in care delivery
- The benefits of integrating third-party financing into EHR and billing platforms
- How CareCredit’s solutions can help improve patient access, reduce provider risk, and streamline operations
Key Discussion Points:
- [02:30] Claude’s role at Synchrony and CareCredit
- [04:30] How economic trends and inflation are shaping patient behavior
- [06:15] Survey data on care delays due to cost
- [08:00] In-house financing: Opportunities and challenges
- [11:00] Integrating third-party financing options
- [14:15] How CareCredit integrates with leading ISV platforms
- [17:00] Tools and training available to help providers have transparent financial conversations
- [20:00] Claude’s message to healthcare leaders navigating rising costs
Resources:
- CareCredit Provider Education Resources
- MGMA Sponsored Whitepaper - The Role of Third-Party Financing in the Health Payment Landscape
- MGMA Member Community Discussions
- CareCredit Research - How Cost Impacts the Patient and Provider Journey
- Connect with Claude Royster on LinkedIn
- MGMA DataDive — Benchmark data to guide smarter decision-making
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniel Williams (00:02):
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Podcast Network.
We're back with a guest we'vehad on many times. That is
Claude Royster, Vice Presidentand General Manager of Health
and Wellness at CareCredit andSynchrony. Claude, first of all,
(00:24):
I just want to welcome you backto the show.
How are things going with you?
Claude Royster (00:28):
Things are going very well. It's it's been a,
busy start to the year.Everything's just moving very
fast, but, pleasure to see youand pleasure to be here.
Daniel Williams (00:37):
Yeah. We were talking offline. We talked
previously when you when youwere on the show. You are a true
road warrior, but you said thatit dialed back just a little
bit, but it's about to ramp upagain. I believe you were
sharing that you're gonna be inMinneapolis at, MGMA's Private
Practice Conference in June.
(00:57):
Is that correct?
Claude Royster (00:58):
That is that is correct. And and a little bit
about my background, I actuallylived in Minnesota for about,
twelve years working for a priororganization, but, it's been a
while since I've been up there.So I'm looking forward to, you
know, spending time with theconference, but also going back
to a place at, at at one point Icalled home.
Daniel Williams (01:18):
Okay. Now you have been on the show before,
but it's always good. We neverknow if we'll get, new listeners
that may not have heard, before.So just tell us, if you don't
mind, just a little bit aboutyour background and then what
you're doing there at CareCreditand Synchrony right now.
Claude Royster (01:34):
Absolutely. So for the audience, again, my name
is Claude Royster. I have beenin the consumer finance industry
now for about thirty five yearsin a variety of different,
leadership roles, salesoperations, merchant experience,
etc. I'm currently with, JeffCredit and Synchrony right now.
(01:55):
I've been in this, this part ofthe business for about five
years.
And my responsibility is isbasically I provide, oversight
of over 40 different industriesin the healthcare space. And my
goal is to work with providers,multi specialty physician
groups, and come up withinnovative solutions that are
(02:16):
going to help them in theirpractices and their facilities
to help patients get the carethey need when they need
Daniel Williams (02:21):
Perfect. Yeah. And our main theme today is
navigating health care cost,evaluating that those in house
financing plans and third partypartners. And so that really
sets the stage for where we arewith our discussion. So with
that said, what are the trendsyou're seeing right now around
(02:41):
rising costs and how they'reimpacting patients?
Claude Royster (02:45):
Absolutely. So, I I did you know, we just talked
a little bit about, you know,some of the macro effects, but
if you, if you drill a littlebit further and understand
what's happening with thepatients, there's some
interesting statistics. We, we,periodically, we go out and do
some surveys and research, Andsome of the I'll just share some
of the comments that we havefound, some of the research we
(03:07):
found. One out of every twoconsumers, report that they have
delayed care that they need dueto cost. Over fifty percent said
that they struggle with payingfor the, for their cost because
of some of the out of pocketmedical expenses, deductibles,
things like that.
And three out of four said thatthey, they would pursue
additional medical services ifthey had the means to pay for
(03:29):
them. So when you when youbottle that up, you think about
some of the the sentiments fromconsumers. Financial discussions
play a large part in when theyget care, perhaps where they get
care, and the timing of allthat. So, again, we are are my
responsibility is to work withthe providers to ensure that
(03:52):
they are taking time to havethose discussions, educate the
patients, whether it's, youknow, you're an in network, out
of network. What does that meanto you financially?
And and here are ways that youcan get this care by thinking
about the financial of takingthat off of their plate and
focusing more on the care thatthey need.
Daniel Williams (04:13):
Yeah. What are you hearing then from providers
about what they're seeingspecifically when it comes to
barriers around care financing?What's going on in that space?
Claude Royster (04:28):
It's really just it's education and and ensuring
that they understand the optionsthat they have. There are, you
know and as as the as theindustry evolves, you know,
we're trying to digitize how wedo business with providers to
make it seamless, make itfrictionless, make sure they
(04:49):
understand how it benefits themfrom a practice perspective. And
and so it's it's reallyimportant for us to not only
focus on the patient but alsothe provider and how we can help
them alleviate some of theadministrative costs associated
with providing care to to topatients and you know, many of
(05:09):
them have taken on theresponsibility of doing in house
financing or in house billing.You know, we're a bank and and
and we lend money and we collectmoney, non recourse. We would
like to be that partner with theproviders to ensure that they
can focus on delivering care.
(05:31):
They can focus on making surethat that patient is comfortable
and and getting the care thatthey need while we focus on the
administration need to ensurethat those customers have the
ability to meet those financialneeds related to the care that
they receive and it meant freesup, you know, receivables and
things like that for theproviders so that they can
(05:52):
really truly focus on thepatient experience and the
outcomes, and we can focus onthe, you know, financial side of
things.
Daniel Williams (05:59):
Right. We know that demand for health and
wellness care is rising. We havean aging population. There is a
need for that. So talk aboutthat in house financing.
You brought that up previous.You just a moment ago brought up
in house financing. So talkabout how our providers can
(06:20):
optimize that for spreading outcost over time, how it can make
their businesses more efficient,more profitable from a financial
standpoint.
Claude Royster (06:29):
Abs absolutely. And and and I can't stress
enough how important it is tohave that conversation early in
the patient journey as opposedto on the end of the patient
journey. Because it it gets itit takes the the burden and the
ease off the patient to makethose decisions and convert more
patients to get the care thatthey need right away. When when
(06:50):
it when you when you think aboutthe, you know, some of some of
the trends that you've seen insome of the benchmarking,
there's, you know, there's anadditional burden that's placed
on the the health systems andand and practices when you have
to collect monies and theadditional expense that you will
(07:10):
incur by trying, you know,working with third parties and
and trying to collect onreceivables based on what you're
you're allowing patients tofinance through the through the
practice. That that could becomean additional burden with all
the the the challenges that thethe health systems and the
(07:31):
practices have as far asstaffing.
You know, just burnout andthings like that. Financing can
certainly enable that and orcertainly help to eliminate some
of those strains because we'rewe're providing an easier way
for patients to be able to getthe care that they need and, you
(07:51):
know, those additional overheadcosts related to, you know,
having the staff, having to payfor third party vendor to
collect. Those monies can beincorporated into potentially
adding more staff so you can seemore patients and provide more
care. So, we try to think aboutthis from a big picture
perspective. It's not justabout, you know, financing.
(08:14):
We wanna make sure that ourpractices have the tools that
they need to be able to care forthe patients that are coming in
to see them on a day to daybasis.
Daniel Williams (08:23):
Okay. I'm trying to get my head around it.
I've, obviously financed a fewcars over time. So Yeah. I've
been on that side of it.
But when we're talking aboutthese providers, what are some
of the solutions they're lookingfor? And what are some of the
ones that CareCredit's providingfor them to make their lives
(08:44):
easier in in the fact of runningtheir business?
Claude Royster (08:47):
Absolutely. So so one of the things that, we
have, really focused on and andwe're investing in is working
with third party, you know,ISVs. And those are those are
those are companies you thinkabout the epics of the world or
Salud Bros. We try to partnerwith these companies because
(09:08):
they provide a platform thathelps facilitate a lot of the
transactional services for thepatients as well as the
providers. You know, they haveprovider facing, websites.
They have patient facing portalswhere the patient can go in and
pay their bills. One of thethings that we look to do is we
try to integrate our solutioninto those platforms. So, when
(09:30):
an administrator is working witha patient and they are focused
on, you know, how are we goingto pay for this bill now? We are
integrated into those platformsso that the patient can can use
their CareCredit card to makethose transactions seamlessly
and first just frictionlesslythrough those platforms. So,
(09:50):
that's just one of the many waysthat we try to help support the
providers by plugging intoplatforms that they're already
using and just creatingadditional utility by adding
CareCredit to that menu ofoptions for patients to be able
to pay.
Daniel Williams (10:03):
Okay. Now you've talked about third party
financing options a couple oftimes already, so let's go down
that road a little bit. What aresome of the benefits that
providers should be aware of?What are some of the options
that they have when they utilizethat third party financing?
Claude Royster (10:20):
So I I think the biggest thing is is is
convenience, and conversion. Andconvenience meaning that, a very
simple, easy way for forpatients to be able to pay for
the care that they need, whetherit's to a they can do it from
their phone. They can do it fromtheir keyboards. Again, working
(10:41):
with ISDs. If you're doing, pre,you know, if we're plugged in
with a, a company that doesappointment setting, we can
actually facilitate paymentbefore.
So it takes some of thatadministrative burden off when
someone has to come into theoffice and they have to collect
payment prior to services beingrendered. So, the ease of use is
(11:02):
in in in the convenience of thatallows the administrators and
the doctors and, and nursepractitioners to be able to
focus on the patient. It also,you know, and and and that also
helps with savings. You know, wecan help the practices save
money because anytime we have apatient who decides that they're
(11:23):
not going to get the carebecause they're worried about
cost, that's revenue. That'sthat's revenue that won't be
collected from the practice.
And then on the back end, youthink about, the collection
services and, you know, thethose balances start to roll and
potentially become bad debt. Youknow, that's a that's a that's a
financial burden for practices.So, the earlier you can work
(11:46):
with patients and collect thatmoney, the more savings you're
gonna get that's gonna help youryour PNL. So, we try to help
educate practices and make surethat things are frictionless and
really try to adopt CareCreditearlier in the process so that
they can benefit on the back endby, one, patients having good
(12:08):
outcomes, patients beingsatisfied, and then being able
to pay directly to CareCredit,as opposed to the doctors trying
to collect on the fees.
Daniel Williams (12:16):
Okay. Couple of questions in before we sign off.
I'd really like to talk aboutsomething we've talked about
previously, and that's abouthaving those transparent
financial conversations withpatients. When the providers are
in that situation, is therecoaching? Is there any tools,
(12:37):
scripts, anything thatCareCredit can provide them with
so they can have morecomfortable transparent
conversations?
Because those can be a littlebit tricky to navigate. So where
can y'all come in, provide somecoaching, some guidance to have
those transparent financialconversations?
Claude Royster (12:56):
Absolutely. First and foremost, we we have a
lot of educational materials outon our website, CareCredit.com,
w w w CareCredit Com. And andyou can find a host of different
information on having thefinancial conversation,
understanding payment options.One of our val val props is
(13:19):
deferred interest, paymentoptions. So they use the analogy
of, you know you know, youbought a car or you bought a
piece of furniture.
Deferred interest financingsimply allows patients to buy,
pay over time, and if they're ona twelve month, what we call
deferred interest, if they paythat full balance in full at the
end of the the twelve months,the interest that has been
(13:42):
accruing will be waived. So,you've essentially financed the
product, and not have to pay anyinterest on that. So that's a
savings to that to that patient.So it's so it's it's it's
important to make sure that ourdoctors and and practices
understand how to have thatconversation, how to explain how
(14:02):
deferred interest works whenpayments start. And a lot of
these tools are not only at thefingertips of the practice but
they're at the fingertips of thepatient so that they can see
that.
And and understand the differentoptions that they have when
they're deciding on getting carethat they need. So it it it's
very important that we we wecontinually try to share that
(14:26):
information and we communicateout to our practices on the
different tools that they have,right at the fingertip. There
are tools that we push out thatexplain promotional financing.
We explain some of the researchthat we have that that really
help understand how patients areviewing some of the options that
(14:47):
they have or in some cases, someof the mis conceptions. You
know, trying to explain topatients, you know, there's a
difference in cost between innetwork and out of network,
understanding your deductiblesas a result of where you choose
to get the care that you need.
And then, we can talk about,okay, there's care credit, and
there's options that you can useto get that care through this
(15:10):
financing tool.
Daniel Williams (15:12):
What have we not talked about here that's on
top of mind for you? You aswe've talked about it, you are a
financial road warrior outthere. You hit a lot of the
conferences and things. You'rehearing from those providers
directly. Mhmm.
What would you like to sharewith us to our listeners before
we sign off today?
Claude Royster (15:30):
Yeah. I I think that the main thing I would say
is, again, I I I think that ourour capabilities, our financial
products, and and suite ofproducts are very valid and
valuable options that should beincorporated into those
financial discussions. We westrive to continually make these
(15:53):
products better, more efficient,and allow practices to focus on
the care that they need to getthe patient and allow us to be
the experts in, you know,lending money and collecting
money. But we are you know,we've been doing this for thirty
five years in this spacestarting in the dental space,
(16:15):
and we've expanded into, avariety of other industries. But
the reality is, you know, we'rein a we're in a we're in an
interesting time right now, andI think that everyone's feeling
the strain in some form orfashion when it comes to cost,
when it comes to what do some ofthe things that are happening
(16:35):
macroeconomically mean to them.
We may not feel it now. We mayfeel it tomorrow, and it's going
to affect decisions that wemake, particularly in the health
and wellness space, on whetherwe're going to get care. We want
to make sure that CareCredit isin the forefront of those
conversations as well because wedon't want patients to devalue
(16:57):
the care that they want to getor delay or postpone because
they're concerned about cost.And that's where we come in. So
we want to make sure that we'reproviding financial options that
are, going to allow patients tomake good decisions without
overburdening them financially,but most importantly, taking
care of their health.
Daniel Williams (17:17):
Okay. Well, Claude Royster, thank you for
joining us again on the MGMApodcast.
Claude Royster (17:23):
Thank you for having me.
Daniel Williams (17:25):
Appreciate You got it. So we've been talking to
Claude Royster. He's vicepresident and general manager of
health and wellness atCareCredit and Synchrony. And
we're going to provide directlinks to some of their research
so you can click right to it,learn more about what they're
doing. Until then, I wanna thankall of you for being MGMA
(17:45):
podcast listeners.
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Podcast Network.
We're back with a guest we'vehad on many times. That is
Claude Royster, Vice Presidentand General Manager of Health
and Wellness at CareCredit andSynchrony. Claude, first of all,
(00:24):
I just want to welcome you backto the show.
How are things going with you?
Claude Royster (00:28):
Things are going very well. It's it's been a,
busy start to the year.Everything's just moving very
fast, but, pleasure to see youand pleasure to be here.
Daniel Williams (00:37):
Yeah. We were talking offline. We talked
previously when you when youwere on the show. You are a true
road warrior, but you said thatit dialed back just a little
bit, but it's about to ramp upagain. I believe you were
sharing that you're gonna be inMinneapolis at, MGMA's Private
Practice Conference in June.
(00:57):
Is that correct?
Claude Royster (00:58):
That is that is correct. And and a little bit
about my background, I actuallylived in Minnesota for about,
twelve years working for a priororganization, but, it's been a
while since I've been up there.So I'm looking forward to, you
know, spending time with theconference, but also going back
to a place at, at at one point Icalled home.
Daniel Williams (01:18):
Okay. Now you have been on the show before,
but it's always good. We neverknow if we'll get, new listeners
that may not have heard, before.So just tell us, if you don't
mind, just a little bit aboutyour background and then what
you're doing there at CareCreditand Synchrony right now.
Claude Royster (01:34):
Absolutely. So for the audience, again, my name
is Claude Royster. I have beenin the consumer finance industry
now for about thirty five yearsin a variety of different,
leadership roles, salesoperations, merchant experience,
etc. I'm currently with, JeffCredit and Synchrony right now.
(01:55):
I've been in this, this part ofthe business for about five
years.
And my responsibility is isbasically I provide, oversight
of over 40 different industriesin the healthcare space. And my
goal is to work with providers,multi specialty physician
groups, and come up withinnovative solutions that are
(02:16):
going to help them in theirpractices and their facilities
to help patients get the carethey need when they need
Daniel Williams (02:21):
Perfect. Yeah. And our main theme today is
navigating health care cost,evaluating that those in house
financing plans and third partypartners. And so that really
sets the stage for where we arewith our discussion. So with
that said, what are the trendsyou're seeing right now around
(02:41):
rising costs and how they'reimpacting patients?
Claude Royster (02:45):
Absolutely. So, I I did you know, we just talked
a little bit about, you know,some of the macro effects, but
if you, if you drill a littlebit further and understand
what's happening with thepatients, there's some
interesting statistics. We, we,periodically, we go out and do
some surveys and research, Andsome of the I'll just share some
of the comments that we havefound, some of the research we
(03:07):
found. One out of every twoconsumers, report that they have
delayed care that they need dueto cost. Over fifty percent said
that they struggle with payingfor the, for their cost because
of some of the out of pocketmedical expenses, deductibles,
things like that.
And three out of four said thatthey, they would pursue
additional medical services ifthey had the means to pay for
(03:29):
them. So when you when youbottle that up, you think about
some of the the sentiments fromconsumers. Financial discussions
play a large part in when theyget care, perhaps where they get
care, and the timing of allthat. So, again, we are are my
responsibility is to work withthe providers to ensure that
(03:52):
they are taking time to havethose discussions, educate the
patients, whether it's, youknow, you're an in network, out
of network. What does that meanto you financially?
And and here are ways that youcan get this care by thinking
about the financial of takingthat off of their plate and
focusing more on the care thatthey need.
Daniel Williams (04:13):
Yeah. What are you hearing then from providers
about what they're seeingspecifically when it comes to
barriers around care financing?What's going on in that space?
Claude Royster (04:28):
It's really just it's education and and ensuring
that they understand the optionsthat they have. There are, you
know and as as the as theindustry evolves, you know,
we're trying to digitize how wedo business with providers to
make it seamless, make itfrictionless, make sure they
(04:49):
understand how it benefits themfrom a practice perspective. And
and so it's it's reallyimportant for us to not only
focus on the patient but alsothe provider and how we can help
them alleviate some of theadministrative costs associated
with providing care to to topatients and you know, many of
(05:09):
them have taken on theresponsibility of doing in house
financing or in house billing.You know, we're a bank and and
and we lend money and we collectmoney, non recourse. We would
like to be that partner with theproviders to ensure that they
can focus on delivering care.
(05:31):
They can focus on making surethat that patient is comfortable
and and getting the care thatthey need while we focus on the
administration need to ensurethat those customers have the
ability to meet those financialneeds related to the care that
they receive and it meant freesup, you know, receivables and
things like that for theproviders so that they can
(05:52):
really truly focus on thepatient experience and the
outcomes, and we can focus onthe, you know, financial side of
things.
Daniel Williams (05:59):
Right. We know that demand for health and
wellness care is rising. We havean aging population. There is a
need for that. So talk aboutthat in house financing.
You brought that up previous.You just a moment ago brought up
in house financing. So talkabout how our providers can
(06:20):
optimize that for spreading outcost over time, how it can make
their businesses more efficient,more profitable from a financial
standpoint.
Claude Royster (06:29):
Abs absolutely. And and and I can't stress
enough how important it is tohave that conversation early in
the patient journey as opposedto on the end of the patient
journey. Because it it gets itit takes the the burden and the
ease off the patient to makethose decisions and convert more
patients to get the care thatthey need right away. When when
(06:50):
it when you when you think aboutthe, you know, some of some of
the trends that you've seen insome of the benchmarking,
there's, you know, there's anadditional burden that's placed
on the the health systems andand and practices when you have
to collect monies and theadditional expense that you will
(07:10):
incur by trying, you know,working with third parties and
and trying to collect onreceivables based on what you're
you're allowing patients tofinance through the through the
practice. That that could becomean additional burden with all
the the the challenges that thethe health systems and the
(07:31):
practices have as far asstaffing.
You know, just burnout andthings like that. Financing can
certainly enable that and orcertainly help to eliminate some
of those strains because we'rewe're providing an easier way
for patients to be able to getthe care that they need and, you
(07:51):
know, those additional overheadcosts related to, you know,
having the staff, having to payfor third party vendor to
collect. Those monies can beincorporated into potentially
adding more staff so you can seemore patients and provide more
care. So, we try to think aboutthis from a big picture
perspective. It's not justabout, you know, financing.
(08:14):
We wanna make sure that ourpractices have the tools that
they need to be able to care forthe patients that are coming in
to see them on a day to daybasis.
Daniel Williams (08:23):
Okay. I'm trying to get my head around it.
I've, obviously financed a fewcars over time. So Yeah. I've
been on that side of it.
But when we're talking aboutthese providers, what are some
of the solutions they're lookingfor? And what are some of the
ones that CareCredit's providingfor them to make their lives
(08:44):
easier in in the fact of runningtheir business?
Claude Royster (08:47):
Absolutely. So so one of the things that, we
have, really focused on and andwe're investing in is working
with third party, you know,ISVs. And those are those are
those are companies you thinkabout the epics of the world or
Salud Bros. We try to partnerwith these companies because
(09:08):
they provide a platform thathelps facilitate a lot of the
transactional services for thepatients as well as the
providers. You know, they haveprovider facing, websites.
They have patient facing portalswhere the patient can go in and
pay their bills. One of thethings that we look to do is we
try to integrate our solutioninto those platforms. So, when
(09:30):
an administrator is working witha patient and they are focused
on, you know, how are we goingto pay for this bill now? We are
integrated into those platformsso that the patient can can use
their CareCredit card to makethose transactions seamlessly
and first just frictionlesslythrough those platforms. So,
(09:50):
that's just one of the many waysthat we try to help support the
providers by plugging intoplatforms that they're already
using and just creatingadditional utility by adding
CareCredit to that menu ofoptions for patients to be able
to pay.
Daniel Williams (10:03):
Okay. Now you've talked about third party
financing options a couple oftimes already, so let's go down
that road a little bit. What aresome of the benefits that
providers should be aware of?What are some of the options
that they have when they utilizethat third party financing?
Claude Royster (10:20):
So I I think the biggest thing is is is
convenience, and conversion. Andconvenience meaning that, a very
simple, easy way for forpatients to be able to pay for
the care that they need, whetherit's to a they can do it from
their phone. They can do it fromtheir keyboards. Again, working
(10:41):
with ISDs. If you're doing, pre,you know, if we're plugged in
with a, a company that doesappointment setting, we can
actually facilitate paymentbefore.
So it takes some of thatadministrative burden off when
someone has to come into theoffice and they have to collect
payment prior to services beingrendered. So, the ease of use is
(11:02):
in in in the convenience of thatallows the administrators and
the doctors and, and nursepractitioners to be able to
focus on the patient. It also,you know, and and and that also
helps with savings. You know, wecan help the practices save
money because anytime we have apatient who decides that they're
(11:23):
not going to get the carebecause they're worried about
cost, that's revenue. That'sthat's revenue that won't be
collected from the practice.
And then on the back end, youthink about, the collection
services and, you know, thethose balances start to roll and
potentially become bad debt. Youknow, that's a that's a that's a
financial burden for practices.So, the earlier you can work
(11:46):
with patients and collect thatmoney, the more savings you're
gonna get that's gonna help youryour PNL. So, we try to help
educate practices and make surethat things are frictionless and
really try to adopt CareCreditearlier in the process so that
they can benefit on the back endby, one, patients having good
(12:08):
outcomes, patients beingsatisfied, and then being able
to pay directly to CareCredit,as opposed to the doctors trying
to collect on the fees.
Daniel Williams (12:16):
Okay. Couple of questions in before we sign off.
I'd really like to talk aboutsomething we've talked about
previously, and that's abouthaving those transparent
financial conversations withpatients. When the providers are
in that situation, is therecoaching? Is there any tools,
(12:37):
scripts, anything thatCareCredit can provide them with
so they can have morecomfortable transparent
conversations?
Because those can be a littlebit tricky to navigate. So where
can y'all come in, provide somecoaching, some guidance to have
those transparent financialconversations?
Claude Royster (12:56):
Absolutely. First and foremost, we we have a
lot of educational materials outon our website, CareCredit.com,
w w w CareCredit Com. And andyou can find a host of different
information on having thefinancial conversation,
understanding payment options.One of our val val props is
(13:19):
deferred interest, paymentoptions. So they use the analogy
of, you know you know, youbought a car or you bought a
piece of furniture.
Deferred interest financingsimply allows patients to buy,
pay over time, and if they're ona twelve month, what we call
deferred interest, if they paythat full balance in full at the
end of the the twelve months,the interest that has been
(13:42):
accruing will be waived. So,you've essentially financed the
product, and not have to pay anyinterest on that. So that's a
savings to that to that patient.So it's so it's it's it's
important to make sure that ourdoctors and and practices
understand how to have thatconversation, how to explain how
(14:02):
deferred interest works whenpayments start. And a lot of
these tools are not only at thefingertips of the practice but
they're at the fingertips of thepatient so that they can see
that.
And and understand the differentoptions that they have when
they're deciding on getting carethat they need. So it it it's
very important that we we wecontinually try to share that
(14:26):
information and we communicateout to our practices on the
different tools that they have,right at the fingertip. There
are tools that we push out thatexplain promotional financing.
We explain some of the researchthat we have that that really
help understand how patients areviewing some of the options that
(14:47):
they have or in some cases, someof the mis conceptions. You
know, trying to explain topatients, you know, there's a
difference in cost between innetwork and out of network,
understanding your deductiblesas a result of where you choose
to get the care that you need.
And then, we can talk about,okay, there's care credit, and
there's options that you can useto get that care through this
(15:10):
financing tool.
Daniel Williams (15:12):
What have we not talked about here that's on
top of mind for you? You aswe've talked about it, you are a
financial road warrior outthere. You hit a lot of the
conferences and things. You'rehearing from those providers
directly. Mhmm.
What would you like to sharewith us to our listeners before
we sign off today?
Claude Royster (15:30):
Yeah. I I think that the main thing I would say
is, again, I I I think that ourour capabilities, our financial
products, and and suite ofproducts are very valid and
valuable options that should beincorporated into those
financial discussions. We westrive to continually make these
(15:53):
products better, more efficient,and allow practices to focus on
the care that they need to getthe patient and allow us to be
the experts in, you know,lending money and collecting
money. But we are you know,we've been doing this for thirty
five years in this spacestarting in the dental space,
(16:15):
and we've expanded into, avariety of other industries. But
the reality is, you know, we'rein a we're in a we're in an
interesting time right now, andI think that everyone's feeling
the strain in some form orfashion when it comes to cost,
when it comes to what do some ofthe things that are happening
(16:35):
macroeconomically mean to them.
We may not feel it now. We mayfeel it tomorrow, and it's going
to affect decisions that wemake, particularly in the health
and wellness space, on whetherwe're going to get care. We want
to make sure that CareCredit isin the forefront of those
conversations as well because wedon't want patients to devalue
(16:57):
the care that they want to getor delay or postpone because
they're concerned about cost.And that's where we come in. So
we want to make sure that we'reproviding financial options that
are, going to allow patients tomake good decisions without
overburdening them financially,but most importantly, taking
care of their health.
Daniel Williams (17:17):
Okay. Well, Claude Royster, thank you for
joining us again on the MGMApodcast.
Claude Royster (17:23):
Thank you for having me.
Daniel Williams (17:25):
Appreciate You got it. So we've been talking to
Claude Royster. He's vicepresident and general manager of
health and wellness atCareCredit and Synchrony. And
we're going to provide directlinks to some of their research
so you can click right to it,learn more about what they're
doing. Until then, I wanna thankall of you for being MGMA
(17:45):
podcast listeners.
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